Seeds of Learning

After many requests, we finally got Aileen to take a few minutes away from work and blog about her experience building schools in rural Nicaragua.

I can’t believe that I only have a few more months of work at Seeds of Learning here in Nicaragua. The time has really flown by for me. I still remember so vividly the group of volunteers that arrived a week after I got here (in mid-June!). The group of 18 was sponsored by Project Grace, a program based in Mill Valley that supports people who have lost loved ones. In this case, all the program participants came to Nicaragua to contribute to a community of need in honor of their loved one who had died. Most of the people in the group had lost children, and each day of the trip was dedicated to one of these people. Every day, the group worked (hard!) on the construction of a new school in the community of Santa Isabel, learned about life in rural Nicaragua, and did some sightseeing, and each evening, the person, or persons, who had lost that day’s honoree told their story- what they were like, their likes and dislikes, anecdotes about them, and finally, the disease, accident, or tragedy that had befallen them. It was such an honor for me to care for this brave group of people. I will never forget their stories. One of the many wonderful things about working with this group was explaining the group to the people of Santa Isabel, and to see how honored the Nicaraguans were to receive this very special group of volunteers. For campesinos in rural Nicaragua, the very idea that people in the United States, who had experienced a terrible tragedy would pay (!) to come to Nicaragua to help them build a school for their children was pretty mind blowing, to say the least.

Well, it’s hard to believe, but that was almost nine months ago (!). Since then, I’ve:

• Finished and inaugurated the school in Santa Isabel,

• Worked with the Ministry of Education and other organizations to identify other rural communities in the municipality of San Ramon with school construction needs,

• Worked with the people of Tapasle to build a new preschool and school kitchen,

• Started a two-room school project in Verapaz, which should be completed by late April,

• Identified, started community organizing work, and written proposals for two other communities which will be starting their school building projects this summer,

• Done research on alternative, firewood-saving stove designs for our school kitchens,

• Prepared itineraries and logistics for four groups of volunteers who will be coming to the San Ramon area this summer,

• Written proposals for two potential projects for the beginning of 2012.

Although a lot of the work involved in making these things happen can be somewhat tedious, like driving long distances on really bumpy dirt roads, or even doing the project bookkeeping, the people I get to interact with on a daily basis make it all worthwhile. Nicaraguans in general tend to be pretty outgoing and friendly, with a really great sense of humor, which makes working here fun. The community leaders in the rural areas are especially inspiring to me. Every community has its leaders, who give of their own time, energy, and resources, waiting SO patiently for government bureaucrats, sitting through looooong meetings, and dealing with INSANE bureaucracy for the good of their communities. This part of their “work” may start at 8 a.m., although often they’ve been up since 4, working in their own fields, or milking their own cows. If they’re women, sometimes they’ve been up since 3, getting the fire going, heating up the coffee, and grinding the corn to make the tortillas. Somehow, they all manage to maintain their optimism and that Nicaraguan sense of humor. And of course, the kids here are so optimistic and happy that you can’t help but smile.

To find out more about Seeds of Learninng and how you can support their work, visit http://www.seedsoflearning.org/