School Supplies Distributed to the Children of Diria

In late July Proyecto Laguna distributed over 750 packets of school supplies to the students of Diriá. July is the middle of the school year in Nicaragua. The packets included notebooks, pencils, pens, colored pencils, and more. The children and parents were very thankful for this help.

Thank you to all of you who sponsor children and help us ensure that the children of Diriá are able to have the appropriate supplies to attend school. Many children in Nicaragua do not attend school for the sole reason that their family cannot afford to buy them paper and a pencil. You can make a difference.

If you would like to sponsor a child please see our website-www.proyectolaguna.com.

June Newsletter

May was a very busy month for us here at Proyecto Laguna. The rainy season has definitely started and each day it pours down rain, shutting down everything in Nicaragua until it stops. The roads out to Anne Frank and La Nicaroa are turning into rutted muddy lanes and soon it will be difficult to get to these two schools until the rains stop. It also was a month full of celebrations, fundraisers, and new projects.

A lot happened this month; we started construction at the Anne Frank School, had a movie night, held a garage sale, started working with a local furniture maker, and participated in Mother’s Day and Children’s Day celebrations.

Mother’s Day is the second largest holiday in Nicaragua (the first is Easter) and the festivities were wonderful. Unfortunately, due to a very intense tropical storm on Mother’s day, festivities were delayed a few days, but there weren’t any less fun. The children did folkloric and modern dances, read poems, and sang songs.

Children’s Day was also a fun day. Jennifer, our Community Development Director, was asked to hand out candy, in a clown suit! The teachers and school staff did dances and sang songs for the children in crazy costumes, and Jennifer danced around in a clown outfit handing out lollipops (she learned that dancing in a clown outfit in the sun is a sweaty business).

Construction
We have started a remodel/refurbishment of the kindergarten at the Anne Frank School. The existing pre school building is dark and dank, very little light comes in the windows, the wooden roof beams are rotting, there are holes in the ceiling, and the doors are hanging on their hinges.

We are replacing the rotting roof beams with longer lasting metal beams, replacing the tin roof, amplifying the windows, replacing the doors, and building an attached office for the school directors with a storage room in the back. The school directors currently have no office and have been using part of a classroom divided off by a couple of bookshelves.

For the past several months we have been working on getting all of the permits and finding a contractor so it is very exciting to finally have started construction.

We would not be able to do this project if it were not for the large donation made in the name of Stephanie Lerner which is paying for the majority of this remodel. Thank you so much for making it possible for us to provide a safer, nicer preschool classroom.

Movie Night and Garage Sale
The parents groups at Ruiz Castillo and Anne Frank are going strong. They have set the goal of buildings kitchens in both schools this year and are working on raising money for smaller projects and to save in their maintenance fund.

This month Ruiz Castillo had a movie night. The parent group raised over $100 by charging children 25 cents to watch a movie projected on a big screen, and selling snacks during the movie. The parents were so excited with the results that they plan to start doing movie nights more often.

At Anne Frank the parents group had a garage sale. Many people have donated clothing and toys to Proyecto Laguna. We brought these things to Anne Frank on a Saturday and the parents had a garage sale. This is a great model in a couple of ways; the parent’s group is able to raise money to use to meet their goals and the townspeople are able to buy nice toys and clothing for very low prices. The parent’s group raised close to $250!

Furniture
A few weeks ago the La Nicaroa School asked us for help. In this three room school, housing preschool through sixth grade, there was a problem. The pre-schoolers and first graders were sharing a classroom and they were constantly distracting each other. The first grade teacher asked if we could pay for a temporary wall to be put in the middle of the classroom. We took this a step further and are currently working with a local carpenter, Alfredo Ortega, to make a series of book shelves, some with doors and some without, to use to divide the classroom. This way, not only will the classroom by divided but the divider will be useful and more able to muffle sound.

Also, through working with a local furniture maker, who is the father of a child attending Ruiz Castillo, once again we are putting the money we spend to improve the schools back into the community.

We would like to thank St. Vincent de Paul High School of Petaluma, CA. We would not be able to build this furniture were it not for the donation they made to us. Thank you for helping us improve the quality of the educational environment at La Nicaroa.

Thank you

Thank to everyone who made a donation in the month of May. We depend on donations from persons such as you. A special thank you to those of you who are renewing your sponsorships-thank you for choosing to help a child succeed in school and in life.

May Newsletter

May Newsletter
After the heat of April we are all looking forward to the rainy season. It has been so many months since the last rains that it is hard to believe that in a couple weeks the rain will start and not stop for several months.
April has been another month of planning and preparing for future projects. The parent groups at both Ruiz Castillo and Anne Frank completed applications to solicit funds to build kitchens in their schools. We have met with the Ministry of Education in Managua, with builders, and with school administration.

Seeking Sponsors
Proyecto Laguna currently has 685 students registered in our sponsor program and that number is growing all the time. Less than 20% of these children are currently sponsored.
We have a big school supply distribution coming up in July and we hope to have more children sponsored by then.
Sponsorship costs $100 a year and your sponsored child is provided with shoes, uniform, backpacks, and school supplies at the start of the year, a supplemental packet of school supplies in June, basic medical care, and supplies are provided to their classroom.
Please take the time to sponsor a child today. Child’s sponsorships make great gifts.

Medical Support
Proyecto not only provides basic medical care through our school nurse but we have also been able to help children with serious medical problems.
Last week as Jennifer was at the Anne Frank school she was approached by a woman who reported her daughter had been having severe abdominal pain for over a week, she couldn’t walk and she couldn’t eat. The mother couldn’t afford transportation to a doctor’s office let alone the price of the doctor and asked if Proyecto Laguna could help. Dina, the school nurse, accompanied this mother and daughter to a doctor and an ultrasound appointment in Masaya and a follow-up with an endocrinologist. The doctor reported that the little girl had a blocked colon that was threatening to perforate her small intestine. Luckily, we were able to start treatment before this little girl needed surgery, a colostomy, or had a dangerous infection due to a perforated colon.
Proyecto Laguna has paid for CT scans for an epileptic girl and medications to manage her epilepsy which has significantly reduced the frequency of her seizures. We have bought orthopedic shoes and/or braces for several children. We have paid for a dermatologist for a child with severe eczema and a physical therapist for a child with congenital hip dysplasia. We have purchased thousands of dollars in prescribed medications that families can’t afford to buy.
When we are approached by a family with a child in medical need, we pay for the treatment if we have the funding. If we don’t have the funding we seek it out.
When you donate to the general fund of Proyecto Laguna you help us meet the medical needs of children in Diria.

Shoes
The cobblers just finished an order of 124 shoes which were distributed to the children last week. So far this school year we have provided 328 pairs of shoes to children in need. Not only has this benefited the children but it has also provided employment to cobblers in Diria. We have about 20 more pairs of shoes that we plan to make, for sponsored children.
Please help us ensure that all of the children in Diria have shoes to wear by sponsoring a child or making a donation today.

Incentive Program
Proyecto Laguna is currently launching a new program in the hopes of rewarding and motivating students. Proyecto Laguna is going to provide a monthly “reward” to two students in each classroom. The rewards will go to the student with the best grades and the student with the best attendance and effort. Rewards will be something small, a fancy pencil, or a small coloring book. We hope that providing this reward will help motivate students to work hard in their class. As part of this program, we will also be providing larger rewards to the top students in these two areas at mid-year and at the end of the year.

Thank you
We would like to thank Rebecca Krzywda for her help with our accounting. Rebecca has been kind enough to assist us in setting up our accounting program and teaching us how to use it. Thank you Rebecca!

Thank you to everyone who made a donation in April, especially those of you who renewed your child sponsorships. We can’t do the work we do without your donations. Thank you for deciding to help a child in Diriá, Nicaragua to succeed in school and in life.

April Newsletter

April Newsletter
March has been a month full of holidays, fundraising, planning, and setting goals for the future. Semana Santa fell in March this year. Semana Santa is the week leading up to Easter and is the biggest holiday of the year in Nicaragua. School was out for a week as many people went to the beach and/or participated in innumerable street processions. Semana Santa is a beautiful week where the churches are decorated with flowers and fruit, fireworks are constantly going off, and there are frequent parades in the streets.

March was a great month for us for fundraising. We are very thankful by the generosity of our donors. Tracy Finch, co-founder, utilized a vacation to the states to do fundraising in Maryland and Virginia.

We are continuing to work with the Living Earth Institute on the water-tank/rain gutter project, and with the Ministry of Education on the school gardens project. Also, we are starting construction this month on remodeling the preschool at Anne Frank.

A Family in Need
Blanca is a single mother of 3 children; Alondra, Miguel, and Isidro. Recently, Blanca separated from the father of these children because of domestic violence. She now is struggling to get by. Blanca has no stable source of employment. She takes in washing and does odd jobs when she can find them. She is struggling to provide adequate food to her children and doesn’t have any extra money to provide them with school supplies, shoes, or medical care.

Blanca’s children have been enrolled with Proyecto Laguna for a year, but have not yet been sponsored.

Isidro is 7 years old and in the 2nd grade. He reports that his favorite food is bread and butter and he wants to be a lawyer when he grows up. Miguel is 8 years old and in 4th grade. He likes to play basketball and wants to be a doctor when he grows up. Alondra is a charming little preschooler who likes playing with dolls.

To help these children succeed in school and in life please sponsor one or all of them now. Sponsorship is just $100 a year per child and provides the child with all necessary school supplies, shoes and uniform, basic medical care, and provides didactic supplies to their classroom. To sponsor these children please contact us at info@proyectolaguna.com.

Goals
This month we worked with the parent groups at Ruiz Castillo and Anne Frank to set goals for this school year. The parent groups both set the goal of building a kitchen with an attached cafeteria.
Currently, one mother from each classroom cooks each day, on a rotating schedule. The mother picks up the dry rice, beans, and corn and the next day brings it to the class for lunch. This system is difficult and inefficient. The parents, who already have scarce resources, are responsible for providing wood to make a fire to cook and for paying to grind the corn. If a mother forgets to pick up the food, the children in that class don’t eat, and sometimes food gets picked up from the school but never makes it back. It is also hard to control food hygiene when the food is prepared off site.

With a school kitchen only three mothers a day, on a rotating schedule, would have to cook. Two would prepare rice, beans and cereal, and one would prepare tortillas. There would be less wood used because all of the food would be prepare in one large batch instead of several small batches. And a cafeteria would provide an eating space for the children to use where we could ensure there are always available plates, cups and silverware-currently some children do not eat lunch because they cannot afford to buy a plate to keep at school.

The parent groups are currently working on writing up a proposal soliciting donations for this project. The photo in this section is of the parents and school directors at Anne Frank who are applying for funding for a kitchen.

We estimate that the cost of building a kitchen is $3000 with $2500 extra for the attached cafeteria. If you are interested in donating toward this project please contact us. If you are interested in fundraising at your school, church, place of work, or other organization, for this project, please contact us, and remember all donations are tax deductible!!

Fundraising Success in March
“A Night for Nicaragua” charity event was a success. The Kiss Café in Baltimore, was gracious enough to donate the event space and cook delicious Latin/Caribbean food. Over $3000 was raised for Proyecto Laguna including 12 new child sponsorships.

On Easter Sunday, Tracy Finch, our co-founder, spoke at the Westminster Church in Richmond, Virginia. Tracy gave a presentation on our project; what we do, why we are here, and what the realities of life in Nicaragua are. Parishioners donated over $2000 including 18 new child sponsorships. The Parishioners reported they were touched by Tracy’s speech and that the pictures she showed helped make the stories real.

Last week we received a check from the Baraca Bible Class from Westminster for $1248! In an attached note they told us, “we especially liked the fact that you seem to have found the best solution to empowering people to help themselves.”

We would like to say Thank You to the Kiss Café, Sammy Williams at Westminster Church in Richmond, VA, and the Baraca Bible Class. We truly appreciate all of the support you have given us!

Pre-School Remodel
The pre-school building at Anne Frank is in a state of disrepair. The walls are crumbling, the wooden beams holding the tin roofing is rotting, the paint is chipping off, there are no lights or electric sockets in the classroom, and the room is dark and uninviting.
Next week we will start construction and remodel this classroom. We plan to replace the wooden roof beams with metal, replace the roof, replace the doors, expand the windows, connect electricity, and patch the walls. We also plan on adding an attached office that will be used by the directors of the school. Currently the directors have a very small room that is sectioned off from a classroom by a bookshelf. We will build an office that is attached to the preschool that has a storage room in the back to store the dry rice and beans for the school lunch and plenty of space for the directors to work.

We are very excited for this project and look forward to working with the parents of Anne Frank who are will be volunteering their labor for this project.

Thank you
Thank you to everyone who made donations this month. We depend on your donations to make a difference in the lives of the people of Diria.

March Newsletter

“A Night for Nicaragua”
As most of you know, Proyecto Laguna is hosting our first annual fundraiser on March 20th at the Kiss Café (2400 Boston St) in Baltimore, Maryland. Tickets are $45 in advance and $50 at the door. Ticket price includes Latin cuisine, beer and wine, mojitos, and entertainment. There will also be a silent auction featuring Nicaraguan crafts as well as many local donations. Tickets can be purchased online from our website, clicking on “donate now”. Even if you can’t make it, all donations are welcome and appreciated. We are looking forward to seeing many of you at this great event!
To buy tickets or make donation click here - http://www.proyectolaguna.com/

Living Earth Institute
We are making progress toward our goal of installing rain gutters and a back-up water tank at the Ruiz Castillo School. This is a goal the parents and school administration set in March of 2007 and it has been wonderful to see the pride and empowerment they have felt as this project has taken steps forward. Two engineers, Robin Kirschbaum and Pam Elardo, visited from the United States in February. Robin and Pam are from the Living Earth Institute (www.livingearth.org) and worked with Proyecto Laguna to earn a grant from Pangea (www.pangeagiving.org.)The engineers visited the Ruiz Castillo School and met with school personnel, our parent group, and a local contractor. They are currently working on their final technical designs. We hope to start construction in April.

School Gardens and Health Education
We continue to work with the Ministry of Education on the school garden project. In the month of February a Ministry of Education representative gave a seminar to Proyecto Laguna and school personnel on nutrition and how best to utilize a school garden.We are also in the process of coordinating with the Ministry of Health to set up health and hygiene classes for the schools. We hope to start these classes in the next few weeks

Thank you
Thank you to everyone who made donations this month. We depend on your donations to make a difference in the lives of the people of Diria. A special thanks to the Robeson family who, after reading our previous newsletter, decided to sponsor to the Guadamuz family. Thanks to the Robeson’s generosity, the Guadamuz children will be able to attend school this year.

Photographer
Photos in this update are courtesy of Kristine Ambrose. To see a selection of the photographs of our project taken by visiting photographer Kristine Ambrose please link to her website: http://www.kristineambrose.com/events.asp

How You Can Make a Difference Today
To make a donation now connect to our website: http://www.proyectolaguna.com/
For questions or comments feel free to contact us at news@proyectolaguna.com

Website and Blog Updates
You can find complete details and read current and past blog updates on our web site:
Proyecto Laguna Website - http://proyectolaguna.cmail4.com/l/355704/8i4irlyi/www.proyectolaguna.com
Pass It On! Please Share This Newsletter With Others

February Newsletter

School is in Session
The first day of the new school year in Nicaragua was on February 4th. The weeks leading up to this day were busy for us!
Proyecto Laguna distributed over 500 backpacks filled with school supplies to children registered in our program at the three schools we work in. We were also able to supply a backpack to each of the teachers filled with notebooks, markers, pencils, pens, glue, scissors, and more. Each school also received supplies of blank paper, art materials, and office supplies.
Children and their parents renewed their contracts with Proyecto Laguna agreeing to be responsible, attend school, and complete their school work. Over 100 new children registered with us and will receive school supplies starting in July.
The children and teachers were happy to have their new backpacks and the community gifted Proyecto Laguna with oranges, toasted corn, kisses on the cheek, and blessings as a way of showing thanks. Parents thanked us for giving their children an opportunity to attend school.
We were thankful to have two of our board members, Kathy and Buzz Belcher, as well as three volunteers, Hazel Alemanza, Raul Planas, and Christy Myers, to help us distribute backpacks. We couldn’t have done it without their help.
The cobblers have finished the first batch of shoes and they did a great job. The shoes are well made in high quality leather. The cobblers should be finishing up our initial order in the next week.
There are still children who will not receive shoes this year, as we receive more donations we hope to continue providing more shoes to more children.

Special Cases
In the last month Proyecto Laguna was approached and asked to help two families in great need.
The Guadamuz family was recommended by the vice principal of the Ruiz Castillo school. He reported that this family was extremely poor, the children had not attended school the previous year as the mother could not afford shoes, uniforms, and school supplies. In this family there are 4 generations living in a one room house. The grandmother and mother take in washing but the money earned from this barely pays for food.
The vice principal helped the mother register the children for school but he knew the children would not attend school without shoes or uniforms and would be unable to do their school work without paper and pencils.

The Leyva family lives in a small community called El Arroyo, about 30 minutes down a rough dirt road. We do not normally work in this community but were touched by the story of this family. Five months ago a mother of 5 was tragically killed in this poor farming community. The 5 children were taken in by their great-grandmother, Berta. Berta is an old woman and is unable to do any physical labor. She has no source of income and now lives with her 5 grandchildren in her one room house made from sticks tied together. The whole community has tried to help support this family by providing them with food but due the crops loss and prices increases no one has much to spare. The director of these children’s school had heard of our program and approached us to ask if we could help.
We visited both of these families and explained how Proyecto Laguna works; we would provide them with the necessary school supplies and in return they would be responsible for attending school regularly and completing their school work. Both families registered with us.
Upon hearing about the Leyva family Christy Myers agreed to sponsor all 5 children. The Leyva’s are very grateful. Due to Christy’s help we are able to make a difference in the lives of these children.
We do not yet have a specific sponsor for the Guadamuz family. Please contact us if you can help out with this family.

Penny Wars
We would like to thank The St. Vincent de Paul High School of Petaluma, California for choosing Proyecto Laguna to benefit from their Penny War fundraiser. As one of the charities benefiting from this fundraiser we have received a $1500 donation. This money will make a big difference in the lives of the children of Diria.
Penny Wars are a fun and effective way of raising money in a school, dorm, church or office setting. If you are interested in raising money for Proyecto Laguna please contact us and we will provide you with the information you need.

The American Nicaraguan Foundation
The American Nicaraguan Foundation has accepted applications from Proyecto Laguna’s schools. This means that our three school with benefit by receiving a shipment of teaching supplies twice a year. This will greatly benefit the schools and supplement the supplies that Proyecto Laguna is already supplying. We look forward to working further with the American Nicaraguan Foundation.

Sofia Kelly sets a great example
Sofia Kelly, a recent kindergarten graduate from the US, decided that she wanted to raise money to help Freddi, the boy her family sponsors. Along with a friend, she set up a lemonade stand and raised over ten dollars. Sofia mailed her earnings to us along with personal letters to Freddi wishing him well. We were impressed by Sofia’s caring and her willingness to work hard to try and help out a little boy who lives so far from her. If a young girl can raise $10, imagine what you could do.

Photogragher
To see a selection of the photographs of our project taken by visiting photographer Kristine Ambrose please link to her website: http://www.kristineambrose.com/events.asp

February
February is shaping up to be an exciting month for Proyecto Laguna. Mid month the engineers from Living Earth Institute will be visiting and completing their technical designs for the water/sanitation project at Ruiz Castillo. The school’s staff are very excited about this project and we look forward to it as well.
We also will be kicking off the school gardens project this month, working in conjunction with the Ministry of Education. We hope to have working gardens at our schools that will help to provide nutrition to the students as well as providing a hands-on natural science laboratory.
Proyecto Laguna will also start working with the Health Ministry to provide a variety of workshops for the students at our schools.
We hope that this year we continue to grow and flourish. We thank you all for your support in our first year and hope for your continued support.


Thank You
Thank to everyone who made a donation in the month of January. We depend on donations from persons such as you. We would like to say a special thank you to Karen Ameloot, Rebecca Parr and Natalie Christensen who donated several personal hygiene kits to Proyecto Laguna.

January Newsletter

Non-Profit Status

Proyecto Laguna received a wonderful holiday gift this year, non-profit status! Proyecto Laguna is now officially a 501c3 Certified Non-Profit Public Charity in the United States. We are very excited for the opportunities this brings us and the benefits it brings to you, our donors. All donations are now tax deductible, and having governmental recognition opens a lot of doors for us.As a result of our non-profit status, all donations made in 2007 are tax deductible. We will be sending out receipts to all of our donors in the last year to use for tax purposes. If you don’t receive your receipt by the end of January please contact us at info@proyectolaguna.com.



Sanitation Project

In other good news, the Living Earth Institute has been awarded a grant from the Pangea Foundation to come to the Ruiz Castillo school and install two water tanks, rain gutters, and repair/replace the latrines. Our parent group is very proud of themselves as they helped solicit this grant, and the teachers and parents are all very much looking forward to the benefits the children will receive as a result of this project. The engineers from Living Earth plan on visiting in February to work on their plans. They are working in conjunction with Proyecto Laguna. We will be responsible for doing the community organizing and educating that is necessary to make this project a success.



Packing Day
In December teachers and parents from Diria came into Granada and helped us pack the backpacks that will be distributed to the children later this month. About 15 people showed up and helped us pack 700 backpacks with notebooks, pencils, erasers, dictionaries, pencil sharpeners, crayons, etc. Next week we will be distributing these bags to all of the children enrolled in our sponsorship program. Your efforts have made this happen and will make an incredible impact in the lives of these children.



Making Shoes
Proyecto Laguna is working with shoemakers in Diria to make pairs of shoes. Yes, there really are still cobblers! As we didn’t have enough money to make shoes for all the children, we asked the teachers to help us pick out the children who were most in need. The ones who are most in need are those who wouldn’t be attending school next year because they had no shoes. The teachers helped us gather shoe sizes for hundreds of children.Proyecto Laguna is working with local shoemakers because we believe it is important to keep investment within the community. By employing local workers, the money we pay to make shoes will go right back into Diria. If we were to buy shoes in the marketplace our money would go to shoes made in China. We have also found that by employing locals we get much higher quality goods, people take pride in making goods for their own community.As we receive more donations we hope to continue making more shoes for the other children registered with us. We need your help in this matter as there are children who need shoes who will not receive them at this time.



Photographer
At the end of December we had a visit from Kristine Ambrose, a professional photographer from Los Angeles. Kristine visited several of our families and took some truly amazing pictures. She plans on displaying her photos and donating a portion of the money she makes to Proyecto Laguna. We are also able to use her photos for our website and other advertisements. All the photos in this newsletter were taken by Kristine.
You can visit her website at: http://www.kristineambrose.com/



Thank you
We would like to send out a special thank you to Turf Valley Country Club located in Ellicot City, Maryland. They collected over $600 and donations of medicine. Thank you for your generosity.
We would also like to thank everyone who sponsored a child and those who donated money this month. Thank you for supporting the work we are doing and helping the children in Diria succeed in school and in life.



This newsletter will be sent out monthly and will keep you informed of our news and the projects we are currently working on. Your help is greatly appreciated.