our team!!!

I am so pleased to announce the members of the Nicaragua Project Team. The committee read applications and selected seven outstanding undergraduate and graduate students to participate in this exciting project. Here are the members of our talented, motivated and wonderful team:

Jacob Choi
Jacqueline Raseman
Kathryn Wooten
Kait Brady
Melissa Gudiel
Rachel Liscinsky
Leslie Heister

Thank you to all who applied and congratulations to our team members!

Another participant in this project, who has served as an outstanding resource in the planning thus far, and offers her expertise in the field of international education is Amalie Gorbold. Amalie is a graduate student in the MA ITEP program at American University and serves as our research assistant and development expert. We are so grateful to have her on our team.

:-)

our trip is fast approaching!

It has been quite awhile since I last wrote an update, however things are moving along quite quickly. We are assembling our team of students, which will be finalized by Friday. We are writing the collaborative workshops for the faculty at the Porteno School and are excited to share our ideas and teaching strategies.
Many individuals have reached out to assist us in making this project a success by holding book and supply drives and collecting monetary donations. Thank you very very much to all those generous individuals who have organized, collected and sent supplies, and those who are still doing this. All of your help is so greatly appreciated and needed!
If you'd like to know how to make a monetary donation, please contact me at palombo@american.edu or thenicaraguaproject@gmail.com.

merry merry!

Well, despite the tough economic times in our country, nothing stops people from being generous when they feel compelled. And boy have I met some compelled people today! I just got home from my big family Christmas party bearing many gifts for The Nicaragua Project. Donations of Staples gift cards and library books for the Porteno School were given to us from uncles, aunts and cousins! Thank you to all of those who felt the compulsion to share what they have during this season. All of these gifts will be put to good use for this project.

Thank you, thank you!

I went to Mainland Regional High School yesterday to pick up the computer and was so pleased to hear that they had not one, but TWO computers and printer to donate to The Porteno School in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. Secondly, I received an unexpected and wonderful email from my aunt in Dallas, Texas, informing me she has a laptop to donate ot the Nicaragua Project! This is extremely exciting, and brings us closer to our goal of a computer lab furnished with 16 computers. With the school's previous nine computers, and the two computers from Mainland HS and one from my aunt, we have four left to acquire. I am confident that this will happen. Thanks again, Mainland and Aunt Eileen!

In gratitude...

I am excited to write that we received our first technology donation, a computer, by the Mainland Regional High School Computer Club, in Linwood, NJ. The Computer Club refurbishes computers and finds organizations to donate them to. The Porteno School received a generous donation of nine computers about two months ago. The computer are set up on desks that have chairs still wrapped in plastic, because the teachers aren't sure how to use them just yet. We are planning a technology training workshop for the teachers on basic computer use and computer use in the classroom. With over 30 children in their classes, and only nine computers, we have been hoping to receive donations of at least 6 more computers so the students could sit 2 per computer to work. Mainland's Computer Club is the first to help us work towards this goal. We are very grateful for this.

Inspiration

You might be interested to know that the inspiration for the rebuilding of The Porteno School was reading the book Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. His book tells the story of how he built schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan after experiencing the generosity of the people in the tiny village Korphe, Pakistan. Greg stumbled upon Korphe after a failed attempt at the summit of K2, the second tallest mountain in the world. The people of the town took him in and cared for him as he regained strength. While there, Greg saw 80 children writing in the sand by themselves, as their teacher only came 2-3 days a week from another town. After a little girl explained they didn't have a school, he promised her he would return to the village to build them a school. Over 80 schools later, Greg continues his mission for education and peace through his foundation, Central Asia Institute.

I met Greg this past Monday, November 24th, while he was speaking at a synagogue here in Washington, DC. The event was sponsored by the school I work at, and he was truly inspiring. Read his book, and you will begin to see just how much of a difference one person can make in our world.

Short film

Watch this short film about our project, learn more about Nicaragua and the students and school that need your help!