Proyecto Laguna Receives Grant From Google!

It is with great pride that we formally announce that Google, the internet and information powerhouse, has enthusiastically provided Proyecto Laguna with a grant to help increase awareness of our work in Nicaragua. After many, many months of communication we received the approval and notification from their organization two weeks ago. This is incredible news for us and also a sign of the impact that we are having in this area of the world.

So what does this mean for Proyecto Laguna and what is the grant for?

The grant given to us by Google is a marketing and advertising grant valued at US $120,000.00 per year. The grant is a permament grant and will be made available to Proyecto Laguna for as long as we operate in good standing within the regulations of our US 501(c)(3) status. The grant will provide advertising and marketing services from Google for increasing awareness of our programs and will help spread the word to potentially millions of people around the world. The importance of this is immense because now we have permanent "like kind" funds for an internet marketing budget, which is our greatest marketing and awareness resource.

The impact this grant will have on our work is substantial and the fact that we received this support and recognition from one of the largest, most well known and influential companies in the world reenforces the value of our work and programs here in Nicaragua. It is our hope that other companies will recognize the importance of what we do and will follow suit. So, if you are a company, business, corporation or group trying to locate a reputable foundation to support take note - Google has found unsurpassed success in making wise decisions - and they have chosen Proyecto Laguna as a foundation to support, this says great things about the value and integrity of our programs.

Thank you for your continued support and thank you Google! If you have any questions about Proyecto Laguna or would like to know how you can help please contact us.

Local Seamstresses Employed by Proyecto Laguna

Proyecto Laguna recently met with local tailors and seamstresses to get started on making 850 backpacks for the start of the new school year in January. We work with local skilled workers in order to provide employment within the community of Diriá instead of spend our money on products shipped in from other countries. With this model we are able to empower locals, provide employment, and the money we are spending stays within the community of Diriá.

Attached is a photo of our parent’s group and the 10 seamstresses and tailors who will be making our backpacks this year. They are excited for this opportunity and we have hopes that we may be able to market their skills and have them make backpacks for other organizations in Nicaragua too.

Preschool Building at Anne Frank Inaugurated

We have finished the remodel of the preschool building at the Anne Frank School. We were able to replace the rotting roof beams with longer lasting metal beams, replace the tin roof, amplify the windows, replace the doors, and build an attached office for the school directors with a storage area in the back. A group of students from the University of Washington visited last month and painted the newly remodeled building and also painted murals all over the school.

Last week the school had an inauguration party for the new school building. The children performed traditional dances and had a piñata. The parents of the kindergarteners presented Tracy Finch, founder of Proyecto Laguna, and Jennifer Schwinn, Community Development Director, with baskets of fruit to show their appreciation.

New Water Tanks Installed to Improve Access to Potable Water

Thanks to a donation from Carol Caldwell we were able to install two new water tanks at the Anne Frank School. This school currently has to buy water that is transported from 3 kilometers away by ox-cart. The old tank was broken and had several leaks. Access to potable water is integral to health and now the students of this school have improved access to this resource.

Rain Gutters and Water Tanks Installed

For the past year we have been working with the Living Earth Institute and Pangea to install rain gutters and water tanks at the Ruiz Castillo School. Construction is now done and the children of this school will no longer have to wade through standing water in the rainy season and they have a water storage tank that will provide potable water even when the municipal source is unavailable. This improvement of the school environment makes the school a safer and healthier place for the children to study.

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.