Santa Rosa Fund Newsletter Issue 30

SANTA ROSA FUND NEWSLETTER Issue 30, November 2007 Registered Charity No. 1028085

Five go to Managua

Santa Rosa Fund volunteers spent a month at the Santa Rosa School training members of staff in computing skills Teachers at the Santa Rosa School with their volunteer computer trainers: L to R: Melba Hernández, James Watson, Acting headteacher Marcia Isabel Ordeñana, Doug Specht, SRF trustee Rick Blower, Alistair Williams, Martha Lorena Martínez, Karla Ninoska Flores, Luz Marina Rosales, Esperanza Ruíz The Santa Rosa Fund volunteers tell their own tale on the next page. SRF Newsletter November 2007, p.1

COMPUTER TRAINING FOR STAFF OF THE SANTA ROSA SCHOOL Regular readers of the Santa Rosa Fund Newsletter will be aware of the provision of five computers and two printers to the Santa Rosa School in Managua by the British Embassy in 2006. Supporters of the SRF who are also experienced teachers may be able to cast their minds back 20 – 25 years to the time when British schools were „computerised‟ and recall the fear that this struck into our teaching staffs at that time. Well, perhaps not too surprisingly, the staff at the Santa Rosa School share that fear of the unknown, the untried and the not-to-be-trusted. So from December 2006 the Santa Rosa Fund paid for four members of staff to attend basic computing classes every Saturday for six months. The four members of staff were Marcia Ordeñana, Mayra Calderón, Claudia Ramírez and María Suárez. They all now have their certificates and their competence; but due to circumstances in Nicaragua the cascade training of other members of staff by these four is not easily instigated. Consequently, the SRF has provided a further $1,300 (US dollars) for the training of eight more members of staff for six months each. Additionally, the SRF advertised for a small number of students to volunteer their computing skills for a month of intensive one-to-one training of a few staff members during July this year. Our volunteer trainers were Alistair Williams, James Watson and Doug Specht, and they were assisted by SRF trustees Rick Blower and Martin Mowforth. Doug made his report in the form of a film – in fact he made several films, one of which, entitled Nicaragua – Una Ventana, was shown as part of Plymouth‟s In The Flesh festival. DVDs of his films are available from the Santa Rosa Fund. Alistair‟s report follows this introduction and focuses on the computer training and the Santa Rosa School. James‟ report follows after that and focuses on the broader experience of volunteering in Central America.1

Our three student volunteers with some of their student fan club at the school

Teaching Computer Skills at the Santa Rosa School Nicaragua By Alistair Williams Despite a number of problems, our short computer course in the Santa Rosa School was remarkably successful. The project aimed to provide very basic computer literacy for a few teachers at the school, to enable them to use the machines already donated, and in turn to pass their skills on to others. The programme mainly focused on the use of Microsoft Word, in an attempt to teach basic word processing and keyboard skills. We also introduced other basic programs such as Paint, and Solitaire to improve their use of the mouse. Because the programme was one on one, it enabled us to tailor each lesson to suit the student, which meant the more able students were able to learn other useful skills, such as file and folder management, and how to use a search engine on the Internet.

SRF Newsletter November 2007, p.2

The project took place during the month of July this year, and the first problem we encountered was that we had actually arrived during a school holiday. This obviously reduced our already short teaching time, but the school had organised for all the available teachers and students to come in and welcome us, and gave us an opportunity to orientate ourselves around the school. We were also treated to several dance performances, the Nicaraguan national anthem and more embarrassingly „God Save the Queen‟, being blasted out on several large speakers, powered from an extension lead coming from the shop next door. This brings us to another of our problems; the lack of electricity. Since the recently elected left-wing FSLN party came to power, the school system has been made public. This means that rather than parents paying fees directly to the school and the school in turn paying the electricity bill, the parents now pay through taxes. Unfortunately, due to complications with the distribution of electricity and the different companies controlling various parts of this, and ultimately the government not paying the bill, the school is not getting power. This obviously put a damper on our plans to teach our students on the computers that they will eventually use, but fortunately there was an internet cafe within easy walking distance that was affordable and had electricity (albeit with semi-regular power cuts, though we were usually able to work around these). After a few days of switching students and working out the timetable most convenient for everybody, we settled into a pattern of each teaching one student before lunch and one after. We initially planned the lessons to be between an hour and an hour and a half, but this soon grew to be more as the students got more into the course, and their enthusiasm was encouraging. Initially, the lessons were very tiring for us, as none of us were IT experts or had Spanish as a first language. However, as the students progressed, it became increasingly rewarding and worth it. We overcame the language barrier without too many problems – for Martin and Rick this involved a few specialist IT words before the lessons; for the rest of us it involved a lot of pointing and repetition. Nevertheless each of our students seemed to learn a lot, and were all able to produce simple Word documents by the end of the course. They also received a certificate signed by their teacher and Martin as the SRF representative at the time. About half way through our time there, the school had realised that we could be put to use teaching English as well as IT, and so most afternoons after we had finished teaching IT we went into the classrooms and attempted to get the students speaking some English. Because we were only there for such a short time, our aim was to provide James with Esperanza and Alistair the students with a chance to hear and to speak with Karla some English (and to have a bit of fun), rather than an intensive grammar course. Despite being quite tired after teaching two lessons already, this was a great experience for us and hopefully for the children too – we had a lot of fun and it looked like they did too.

My experience of volunteering and its value By James Watson Our trip to Nicaragua was a fascinating experience, and one which I personally, and I think all of us, enjoyed immensely, at the same time as learning a great deal. I feel like my horizons were expanded dramatically by being able to witness and be a part of supporting the

people that we met over there. We were able to travel around quite a lot in Nicaragua and have introductions to numerous different struggles of different communities and groups. From the population of the tiny, isolated village of Los Pozitos trying to find resources to provide SRF Newsletter November 2007, p.3

schooling to their children, to the banana workers camped in Managua struggling for government recognition of their problems with carcinogenic agricultural chemicals. Meeting these people as part of the Santa Rosa Fund (and ENCA2) and being able to offer real support gave a powerful feeling of connectedness to their struggles. In addition to these introductions, what we were really there to do was get directly involved teaching computer skills to the teachers of the school. Apart from letting us really get to know the fantastic people at Colegio Santa Rosa, this was when we were able to put in our own efforts to help, and solidified our sense of connection, a sense of our ability to exchange with the people of Nicaragua. After this teaching, I had a month free in Central America, and so travelled to Costa Rica, to the village of Longo Mai, and started teaching English classes along with some other volunteers that I met there. There were many more challenges teaching English in Longo Mai - we had to find our own students for a start, and also found that English is a much more complicated thing than computers to structure classes for. These experiences gave me a clear idea of the difficulties that can crop up in different contexts in a foreign country. Volunteering in Central America was a learning experience. Ultimately what strikes

you most clearly when working with organisations like the Santa Rosa Fund is how tangible a difference the money that they bring can make to the projects that receive it. Even small amounts of support can make a huge difference to small scale projects and the communities they help, which often have specific material needs that are cheap to us, but are beyond their investment abilities. The gratitude that they express is at times overwhelming, and the sense of solidarity and friendship that develops so easily (Central Americans really are the nicest, friendliest people you could hope to meet) really grabs you and makes you realise that their needs are no less important than ours. And aside from the awakening that my experiences provided me, just the chance to get out of England, see some beautiful places, and avoid being swamped in the summer floods was a good enough reason for me to take part in something like this! Notes 1 Please note that the volunteers and trustees paid their own return fares to Central America along with their accommodation and living expenses. 2

Environmental Network for Central America

N.B. The Santa Rosa Fund is hoping to repeat the volunteer training exercise in summer 2008, but this time for two months rather than just one. Anyone interested in this volunteer opportunity should contact Martin Mowforth on 01822 617504 or [email protected]

DELIVERY OF SANTA ROSA FUND MONIES, 2007 The July and August visit of the trustees to Nicaragua enabled a second tranche of money for the year 2007 to be disbursed to the projects and initiatives supported by the SRF. The total funds delivered to Nicaragua during 2007 were as follows: * $3,855 to the Santa Rosa School (monthly purchases; general school fund; staff bonus) * $2,750 for the costs of computer training (courses for the staff) and computing extras * $ 860 to the Asociación Quincho Barrilete (street childrens‟ organisation) * $2,880 to Villa España (Pre-School; Primary School; Library) * $2,996 for other projects and schools in the Cosigüina Peninsula This gives a total of $13,341 (US dollars) of your donations transferred to projects in Nicaragua. The exchange rate between the pound and the dollar is currently at a high of around 2.1, but most of the SRF‟s money was exchanged at a rate of just below 2 dollars to the pound. So if you divide the above amounts by 2 you get an approximate idea of what we sent out in pounds sterling. SRF Newsletter November 2007, p.4

The Santa Rosa Fund buys a roof The SRF group of volunteers and trustees took a couple of days out of their computer training in Managua to visit the Berriz Sisters in El Viejo and a number of the projects in the Cosigüina Peninsula that are supported by the Fund. Sister Lilliam took us to the Santa María de la Merced Primary School in the town of El Viejo. As well as its primary classes, the school also has three pre-school classes, but one of these was not running because its classroom lacked a roof. To provide the roof would require $850 (dollars) as 40 zinc sheets would be necessary to cover the classroom, along with the nails and the apex cover. The labour would be provided free by the parents of the school‟s pupils. It was clear that this should really be the responsibility of the government in the form of the Ministry of Education (MINED), but it was also clear that MINED had other urgent priorities and that the school would remain without a roof on its classroom for several years unless it was provided by some other organisation. Lilliam asked if the Santa Rosa Fund would be able to help, so the two SRF trustees who were there (Rick and Martin) decided to consult the other trustees by email to ensure that it was agreed that this would be an appropriate use of the Fund‟s money. All agreed within a week, enabling Rick and Martin to withdraw the money and return to El Viejo to deliver it to another non-governmental organisation, Amigos de Holanda, who would make the necessary purchase and deliver it to the school. That was in July. Then in mid-August, another SRF trustee, June Mowforth, visited Nicaragua. With Martin, she visited the Santa María de la Merced School to find that the roof was already in place and that pre-school classes were being held in it. BEFORE ….. (July 2007)

AFTER ….. (August 2007)

The same classroom in the Santa María de la Merced Primary School, El Viejo.

The José Coronel Urtecho School In 2006 the Berriz Sisters based in the town of El Viejo drew our attention to the plight of the José Coronel Urtecho School. Located in a rural area of the Cosigüina Peninsula, not far out of the town of El Viejo, the school and all its pupils are extremely poor. At the end of 2006 the Santa Rosa Fund donated $200 (US dollars) and this year we provided $400. In July the two SRF trustees, Rick Blower and Martin Mowforth, were able to visit the school with Sister Rosvia and to chat with the teachers and a few of the pupils. SRF Newsletter November 2007, p.5

The school has 130 pupils covering all six primary school grades. The three primary teachers (Angelina Mayorga, Karla Villalobos and Lucretia Ramírez) have responsibility for two grades each. Additionally, 14 pre-school pupils are taught by Martha Ramos. Most of the 2006 money donated by the SRF was used to buy satchels and exercise books for the children. Our trustees‟ visit in July afforded an opportunity for the teachers to lobby Sister Rosvia about their most urgent needs at the school in the knowledge that $400 was available for the nuns to make purchases for the school.

Our partners in the Cosigüina Peninsula of Nicaragua, the Berriz Sisters Ever since Hurricane Mitch devastated the area in 1998, the Fund has been increasingly involved with the Berriz Sisters (Misioneras Mercedarias de Berriz), a Spanish order of nuns who work in the Cosigüina Peninsula of Nicaragua with a base in the municipal town of El Viejo. The nuns have effectively taken the „option for the poor‟ and spend all their time working on projects which in some way or other address the issues and causes of poverty in this rural zone which is characterised by extreme poverty and hardship. It is an area which has often been hit by the natural disasters of hurricanes, tsunamis, landslides, droughts and floods. These add to the human disasters brought about by neoliberal economic policies, structural adjustment policies and transnational monocultivation practices to produce the bananas and other products that we demand in the north. The projects and initiatives supported by the nuns involve many aspects of human life, including health, education, issues affecting adolescents and development of the whole person. Their work always lays emphasis on the empowerment of people to run their own development programmes and sort out the solutions to their own problems, rather than imposing a solution from outside. There is no better organisation that works in this region in which the Santa Rosa Fund could place its trust; their reach within the zone and their understanding of the factors affecting the problems that people face in this area are second to none. In the past the Santa Rosa Fund has supported specific projects and initiatives in the area in response to requests from the nuns. In 2007 the Fund supported nine educational projects in this area (to a total value of just short of $6,000), via donations made to the nuns. For the year 2008 the nuns have requested assistance with two other specific projects, and the trustees wish to continue supporting those projects with which it has already developed a relationship, such as the Pre-School and the library in Villa España. Accordingly, at their October meeting the trustees of the Fund took the decision to grant a total sum of $7,000 (US dollars) to the nuns for their educational work in the Cosigüina Peninsula rather than allocating specific amounts to each project. This will allow the nuns to use their own discretion in making decisions about specific projects without having to ask for a specific small amount for any particular project. It will also allow them to respond quickly to urgent needs without having to refer to the Santa Rosa Fund. At the same time we have asked the nuns to bear in mind our wish to continue our support for particular schools and projects where appropriate. The trustees of the Santa Rosa Fund have requested a report from the nuns on the use of the Fund‟s money to be received every September. We hope that this new arrangement with our partners will meet with the approval of our supporters in the UK. SRF Newsletter November 2007, p.6

Virginia Gómez Guillén – an appreciation In May this year, Virginia Gómez Guillén retired from her post as headteacher at the Santa Rosa School in Managua due to ill health – she had had heart problems for some years. The Santa Rosa Fund has known no other headteacher at the school since the work of the Fund began in 1988. She was the instigator of everything which the Santa Rosa Fund has managed to do at the Santa Rosa School since 1988. Virginia started her teaching career in 1969 in Las Jahuitas just outside Managua. After four years there she moved into the capital and in 1980 she became headteacher at the Alfonso Cortés School in the Primavera barrio of Managua. Also in 1980, along with Modesto Flores who is still teaching at the Santa Rosa School, she took part in the renowned Literacy Crusade for which the then new Sandinista government gained a UNESCO award. In common with many Nicaraguans, she is immensely proud of her participation in this campaign. In 1987 she was appointed headteacher of the Santa Rosa School, or as it was called at the time, the Ernesto Ché Guevara School. For the people of the Santa Rosa barrio of Managua and all others who know the school, its success is associated with Virginia‟s hard work and dedication, not just to the school but to the whole barrio and all its residents. The hardship fund established by the Santa Rosa Fund, for instance, could not have been administered by anyone other than Virginia who knew the families of the barrio well enough to be aware of those who needed economic assistance in order to be able to send their children to school. This dedication was officially recognised by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Education when she was awarded the distinction of the Best Headteacher in Managua for five consecutive years (2002 to 2006). As if managing the school were not enough for her, Virginia with her husband Rory Hernández have raised six of their own children from whom they now have six grandchildren. Virginia does not receive a pension, and now continues to work (although with marginally less stress than that associated with her post of headteacher) as Academic Director of La Verde Sonrisa, a nongovernmental organisation which gives refuge to abandoned children and those who live in extreme poverty. It is of course absolutely typical that Virginia should involve herself in this type of work. When the Santa Rosa Fund first heard of Virginia‟s retirement, it was immediately clear to us that the significance of her work for the school, the barrio and to the Fund could not go unacknowledged. So it was decided that an inscribed commemorative plaque should be made and presented to her in July by the visiting trustees. The plaque is inscribed in both Spanish and English and the photograph shows Martin Mowforth of the Fund presenting it to Virginia in a simple ceremony at the school. The plaque now holds pride of place on Virginia and Rory‟s front room wall. The Santa Rosa Fund is extremely grateful to Virginia for all she has achieved in her career. We wish her a long and happy retirement, although we know that she is not the kind of person who will retire altogether.

SRF Newsletter November 2007, p.7

HURRICANE FELIX AND INCESSANT RAINS At the beginning of September, Hurricane Felix hit northern Nicaragua and caused the loss of lives and extensive damage to property. In the Pacific coastal area, it was followed by two tropical depressions and 47 days of torrential rain which left many areas flooded and many people homeless. One of the areas worst affected was the Cosigüina Peninsula where the Berriz Sisters work and where much of the SRF money goes to support a range of projects. By the 18 th October it was reported that the municipality of El Viejo was housing 1,600 homeless people from the rural areas of the peninsula, many crops had been destroyed and wells contaminated. SINAPRED (System of Prevention and Mitigation of Disasters) reported a high risk of landslides. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned of potential widespread hunger in the coming months. School classes were suspended in the rural areas because many schools were acting as refuge centres for the homeless. At the end of October the Nicaraguan government forecast that it would need $392 million to alleviate the “humanitarian, ecological and productive” tragedy. Over the country as a whole, 255,000 acres of beans, corn, rice and vegetables and 50,000 cattle have been lost, and the UN representative in Nicaragua said that the threat of famine was imminent. Additionally, four cases of leptospirosis (a disease often associated with and carried by rats) have been reported in El Viejo along with the appearance of super rats that are resistant to the poisons designed to eradicate them. Clearly the situation is precarious and we are awaiting news from our partners in the region, the Berriz Sisters. If a separate appeal is deemed appropriate by the SRF we shall make one. In the meantime, our supporters may wish to know that the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign (NSC) has launched an appeal for survivors of Hurricane Felix in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region of Nicaragua. Their address is: NSC, 129 Seven Sisters Road, London N7 7QG.

ENCLOSURE – A CHANCE TO RENEW YOUR SUPPORT Enclosed with this newsletter is our annual subscription renewal form. We invite all our supporters, and others, to renew their support for the work that the Fund enables. As always we are keen to emphasise that we are proud of the fact that a high proportion of our funds are delivered to the intended beneficiaries in Nicaragua rather than being lost in administration. For those who make a donation to the SRF by standing order (and for which we are very grateful), please ignore this form.

SANTA ROSA FUND CONTACTS Chair:

Pete Mayston, Rose Cottage, Tuckermarsh, Bere Alston, Yelverton, Devon PL20 7HB Tel. 01822 840297 Email: [email protected] Secretary: Lorna & Martin Legg, Rock Cottage, Morwell Cross, Gulworthy, Tavistock, Devon PL19 8JH, Tel. 01822 833934 Email: [email protected] Treasurer: Pat Mayston – as for Pete (above) Twinning links representative: Rick Blower, Cloberry Cottage, Brentor, Tavistock, Devon PL19 0NG Tel. 01822 810600 Email: [email protected] Membership secretary: Martin Mowforth, 51 West St., Tavistock, Devon PL19 8JZ Tel. 01822 617504 Email: [email protected]

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SRF Newsletter November 2007, p.8