Sponsor a Child Today

There are over 500 children who need sponsors.

Help a child succeed in school and in life.

Proyecto Laguna hopes to provide all of our enrolled children with a packet of mid-year school supplies in July, provide shoes to the children who still don't have them, and keep providing free basic medical care to all.

We need your help to make this happen. Please take the time to sponsor a child today.

http://proyectolaguna.com/sponsorachild/index.html

For $100 a year you can supply a child in Diria with school supplies, basic medical care, and support their school. You will receive a picture of your child and letter from him or her. You will also receive information on your child‘s family and your child’s goals for the school year. All children available for sponsorship have completed a contract with Proyecto Laguna. They have set goals for the school year and have agreed to attend school regularly and to put forth their best effort. The parents have agreed to support their child in attending school and completing their schoolwork. The parents have also agreed to participate in the school; attend parent meetings, assisting the teacher as needed, etc. All children who are sponsored will receive school supplies at the beginning of the school year in January; including uniforms, shoes and backpacks. A supplemental supply of school supplies will be provided in July (pencils, notebooks etc.). Sponsorship money will also be used to meet the child’s basic medical needs and to support their school.If you would like to help a child in Diria succeed in school and life, sponsor a child now. If you are interested in sponsoring more than one child we can assist in finding a sibling group so you can sponsor children from one family. If you would like to challenge your place of business, church, or other group to sponsor a large number of children please contact us and we can provide you with information on how to do this, contact@proyectolaguna.com

Click below to sponsor a child now: http://proyectolaguna.com/sponsorachild/index.html

April/May Newsletter

Update
The last two months have been busy for Proyecto Laguna. We have been moving forward with our plans as well as gearing up for our child sponsorship program. We have registered over 500 children between 3 schools who need sponsors to help pay for their school supplies, medical care, and support their school.
Also, we have started working with the parents at Ruiz Castillo to set goals and fundraise for larger projects.
We met with a local shoemaker in Diriá and put in an order for over 270 pairs of shoes! Buying directly from a shoemaker helps increase the quality and durability of the shoes. It also provide a job within the community. So far, he has delivered half of the order and the shoes are high quality. The children and their families are very happy with them.
We also decided to start helping a third school.


Nicarao School
The headmasters of Anne Frank are also headmasters of the Nicaroa school in the rural community of La Zopilota. They approached Proyecto Laguna and asked us to work with this school. They explained that this community is very poor and needs help. The Nicaroa school serves just over 50 children in 2 multi-age classrooms. The nearest water source for this school is 6 kilometers away. Many children are unable to go to school because they are busy transporting water during the day. This is a rural community and many children work in the fields to help support their families. The children at Nicarao were a beautiful and polite group. As we entered the classroom they all stood and said "Buenos Dias", at recess time many of the children stopped to chat with us. We at Proyecto Laguna feel that this school deserves whatever assistance we can lend.

Child Sponsorship
For $100 a year you can supply a child in Diria with school supplies, basic medical care, and support their school. You will receive a picture of your child and letter from him or her. You also will receive information on the family of your child and the child’s goals for the school year. All sponsored children and their families have completed a contract with Proyecto Laguna. They have set goals for the school year. The children have agreed to attend school regularly and to put forth their best effort. The parents have agreed to support their child in attending school and completing their schoolwork. The parents have also agreed to participate in the school; attend parent meetings, assisting the teacher as needed, etc. We have completed registration at all three schools and have over 500 children in need of sponsors.
If you would like to help a child in Diria succeed in school and in life, sponsor a child now. If you are interested in sponsoring more than one child we can assist in finding a sibling group so you can sponsor children from one family.

To sponsor a child see our website- http://proyectolaguna.com/sponsorachild/index.html

Here are some examples of children who need sponsors:


Naydelin Nohemy Roderiguez, Pre-School
Naydelin is 4 years old and in pre-school. She has an older brother who also goes to Ruiz Castillo. Naydelin’s father works as a money taker on a public bus and makes $2.25 a day.
Naydelin’s favorite animals are bunnies and her favorite color is red. She likes to eat beans and rice and hopes to be a teacher when she grows up.


Jonny Pedro Franco Gómez, 3rd grade
Jonny is 10 years old and in the third grade. He lives in a large extended family with 13 children and 6 adults in the home. His mother makes and sells tortillas and brings home approximatley $10 a week.
Jonny’s goals for this school year are to study, attend class daily, and to pass his grade. He likes to play basketball and his favortie animals are dogs. Jonny hopes to be a police officer when he grows up.

Berta Adilia Gutierrez Mercado, 6th grade
Berta is 11 years old and has a brother, Francisco, who is also in 6th grade. Berta lives with extended family, there are 3 adults in her home, and 4 children. Her mother, Margarita, works cleaning and ironing clothes. Margarita makes $40 a month to support her family. Berta works before school and on weekends selling clay whistles to toursists, in nearby Granada, to help support her family.
Berta reports that this school year she wants to graduate from primary school and improve her reading skills. She hopes someday to have a career with computers.


Parent Meeting
Proyecto Laguna held the first parent meeting at Ruiz Castillo. There was an impressive turn out of 26 parents who were all motivated to improve their children’s present and future. In this meeting we explained to the parents the model we are using of community involvement and investment. We explained that our position is to help the community learn how to set goals, plan, fund, implement, and support projects. We will assist in facilitating this process and in funding, but that the community would be responsible for raising money to make a symbolic donation toward the project. The parents were excited and motivated and had many ideas on how to proceed.
The parents, and school administration, set the goals of building new latrines and setting up a water tank (this would be back up water as the municipal water system is often off). The parents have started fundraising and in their first raffle raised 1000 cordoba (about $55 dollars)! The parents were very excited about their success and plan on having regular raffles as well as setting up a monthly movie night at the school to raise more money.
Proyecto Laguna is working with engineers in the states on latrine design and implementation.
If you are interested in donating towards the building of a latrine and/or a water tank please visit www.proyectolaguna.com to make a donation.

Clean Water
Proyecto Laguna has also been busy contacting organizations who specialize in installing wells to see if they may be able to help in this area. There are three small villages in this area, without access to water; Palo Quemado, Los Jirones, and La Zopilota. We are hoping to join with a well building organization who can help these villages. If any of you could help link us to organizations who build wells please contact us at contact@proyectolaguna.com.

Fundraising
If you are interested in fundraising for Proyecto Laguna there are many options. You can put out a challenge to your business, church, professional group, or extended family to raise money or to sponsor a large number of children. You can start a penpal/fundraising relationship with a classroom in Diria. You can have a fundraising event in your community. Proyecto Laguna can provide you with fundraising information, including a slideshow explaining our project, the community, and the needs of the community.
For more information on fundraising, e-mail us at jen@proyectolaguna.com.

Donations
Thank you to all of you who made donations in March, your donation is appreciated and has made a difference in the lives of the children in Diria.
A special thank you to Hazel, Raul, and Ramon who helped greatly registering the children for sponsorship, and to the Nicholls State University in Louisiana's nursing program for thier donation, we look forward to working with you in the future.

How you can help - To make a donation now connect to our website www.proyectolaguna.com
For questions or comments feel free to contact us at contact@proyectolaguna.com

This newsletter will be sent out monthly and keep you informed of our news and the projects we are currently working on. If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter send an e-mail to: contact@proyectolaguna.com

March Newsletter

Update
February was an interesting and busy month. We met with the parent administrations at both schools and with the Ministry of Education. We are hoping to form a committee of parents at both schools who will work more closely with us and assist us in our work. We feel that community involvement in the project is integral in long term sustainability and hope to assist the community in learning how to plan, complete, and sustain necessary projects. We also hope that working closely with the community will help us identify the issues and projects that the community values and will be motivated to participate in and sustain. One of our big tasks in the coming months will be forming this committee of community members and starting to identify and work on projects with them.

Penpals
We completed out first round of penpal letters with the pre-school at Anne Frank. The children answered a variety of questions such as their favorite foods, activities, etc. These were sent off to the states to respond to letters from a class in Virginia. We look forward to receiving more letters from the class in Virginia.
If you know of a class that would be interested in fundraising for Proyecto Laguna and having a pen pal relationship with a class in Nicaragua, send an e-mail to jen@proyectolaguna.com.

Casino Night Success
On February 10th we had a Casino Night benefit at Euro Café. It was a great night and we raised over $850. Over 30 people attended and we had a nice evening of chatting, gaming, and telling people about the work we are doing. Thank you to Euro Café, the local businesses who donated to our silent auction, and to everyone who attended, your support is appreciated.

Medical Exams
In the third week of February, two volunteers, Robin Kirschbaum and Staci Morgan, assisted the school nurse in performing physical exams on the majority of the children in both schools. We plan on completing exams on the children who were absent in the coming weeks. Children were weighed, measured, and checked for a variety of illnesses. Children with medical issues were provided with vouchers to go to the medical clinic in Granada. Many children were found to have parasites, lice, and suffer from malnutrition. We now are going to provide treatment for the lice and parasites and work on implementing vitamin treatments. Thank you to Robin and Staci for their hard work and thank you to everyone who donated money to assist us in paying for the necessary medications and medical care.

Donations
Thank you to all of you who made donations in February, your donation is appreciated and has made a difference in the lives of the children in Diria.

A special thanks to the people of Turf Valley Country Club and to the friends of Robin Kirschbaum. Each group sent down a suitcase stuffed with much needed medical supplies. Your donations are appreciated and will be put to good use.

How you can help
To make a donation now connect to our website www.proyectolaguna.com
If you are interested in doing a fundraiser at your place of business, church, or other organization send an e-mail to jen@proyectolaguna.com. We will assist you with information and materials to use for fundraising.

For questions or comments feel free to contact us at contact@proyectolaguna.com

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

If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter send an e-mail to: contact@proyectolaguna.com

February Newsletter

Start of School
January was an exciting month for us as we geared up for the start of the new school year. We were able to use out initial donations to provide school supplies to the neediest children and some basic supplies to the schools.

The first day of school was January 29th and once again the school yards are filled with children. We installed wall mounted pencil sharpeners at both Anne Frank and Ruiz Castillo. The children had never seen wall mounted pencil sharpeners before and lined up as soon as they were installed to use them. We also provided pencils, erasers, and paper to both schools. These supplies will be given out throughout the school year to the neediest students. We also provided shoes to many students who were not attending school because they had none. The smiles on the faces of these children as they proudly wore their new shoes were wonderful. Both schools received donations of jump ropes, basketballs, volleyballs, soccer balls, baseballs, and baseball bats for use at recess and in physical education classes. We are off to a good start and hope to be able to continue to provide much needed supplies to these schools.

Casino Night Benefit
Proyecto Laguna is having a casino night and silent auction at Euro Café on Saturday, February 10th, at 6:30pm. Euro Café is on the northwest corner of the central park in Granada, Nicaragua. Entrance is 200 córdobas and includes gambling chips, a free drink, and a free dessert. All proceeds will go directly to Proyecto Laguna. We are looking forward to this opportunity to raise funds and spread awareness of the work we are doing. We hope to see you and your friends on Saturday.

Pen Pals
Proyecto Laguna has started a pen pal program with classrooms in the United States. We are starting with a pre-school class in Virginia that is fundraising for us. They have sent us introduction letters and pictures and the pre-school children at Anne Frank have drawn pictures and been helped to write letters to be sent back. If you know of a class that would be interested in fundraising for Proyecto Laguna and having a pen pal relationship with a class in Nicaragua, send an e-mail to jen@proyectolaguna.com.

Children's Medical Care
Our school nurse, Dina Morales Alemán, started working with the start of the new school year. She is working at each of our schools one day a week. Dina is able to provide basic medical care to the students; wound care, medicines for minor illnesses, etc. In just the first days of school Dina has been approached by a girl in need of eye surgery, a boy who, due to a fall, was unconscious for 30 minutes-his parents couldn’t afford to take him to a doctor, a girl with a serious skin condition, and many others.

Children who require medical care beyond what Dina can provide need assistance paying for that care. We are able to refer these children to the Alabama Clinic in Granada, where, for $1.70, they are able to receive all of their medical care throughout the course of their illness or disease.

We are planning on conducting physical examinations on all of the children at both schools in March. We hope to see each child and assess physical health and refer children on for further medical, dental, or eye care, as needed. After conducting the medical exams we are planning on treating the children for parasites and lice and providing vitamins. We hope to conducts these examinations and treatments every 6 months.

To this end, we are requesting donations to assist in treating these children with much needed medical care. The cost will be a total of $3 per child; 50 cents for parasite treatment, 1 dollar for lice treatment, and 1.50 for vitamins. With a total of 750 to 800 children being served we need to raise $2,400 dollars. If we are able to raise extra money we will be able to provide this service to other children in the community.

At a cost of $3 per child for basic parasite, lice, and vitamin treatment and $1.70 for medical treatment for serious illness, how many children can you afford to help?
Please connect to our website to make a donation today http://www.proyectolaguna.com/.

If you are interested in doing a fundraiser at your place of business, church, or other organization send an e-mail to jen@proyectolaguna.com. We will assist you with information and materials to use for fundraising.

Donations
Thank you to all of you who made donations in January, your donation is appreciated and has made a difference in the lives of the children in Diria.




To make a donation now connect to our website www.proyectolaguna.com
For questions or comments feel free to contact us at contact@proyectolaguna.com

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

If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter send an e-mail to: contact@proyectolaguna.com

Newsletter January 2007

Getting Started
Proyecto Laguna is getting started as is the new school year in Nicaragua. School starts on January 29th and there will be approximately 750 students in the two schools we are currently working with.

We have been meeting with the headmasters and the mayor’s office to get things off the ground and are meeting with all the teachers next week to introduce them to our project.

It is an exciting time for us and we are getting off to a good start. We have just hired a school nurse to work part time, and are gathering school supplies for the start of the school year; notebooks, pencils, etc.

Next week, Rodney Robeson and his family are coming to Diria and are going to install 15 wall mounted pencil sharpeners in the schools. This is going to help a lot as most of the children can not afford to buy pencil sharpeners and are often out of class trying to find a student or teacher who has one they can use. Rodney and his family are also bringing 2,000 pencils to help stock the schools for the new school year.

Thank you all for your support in this endeavor. We look forward to helping the people in the community of Diria gain the skills to improve their own lives.


School Nurse
We have hired a school nurse to work two days a week, one day at each of the schools we are currently serving. Dina Morales Alemán is a licensed nurse who studied at the Polytechnic University of Nicaragua. Dina grew up, and currently lives, in Diria and will be working at the elementary school she went to as a child, Ruiz Castillo.

We are currently only able to hire Dina part time. We hope that in the future we will be able to raise enough money to offer her a full time job. Salary for a fulltime nurse is $200 a month. When we are able to hire her fulltime we will also be able to provide medical services in more schools.

We are currently in the process of acquiring all the supplies that will be needed by Dina. We need everything; gauze, alcohol, a scale, a stethoscope, parasite medication, the list goes on and on. If anyone is able to assist us financially or materially with these supplies it would be greatly appreciated.

Donations
Thank you to all of the people who have made donations to Proyecto Laguna. Your donation makes a difference in the lives of many.

To contact us with any questions of comments send an e-mail to info@proyectolaguna.com

To make a donation, go to our website and click on the donate link www.proyectolaguna.com