Santa Rosa Fund Newsletter Issue No 44 December 2014

Registered Charity No. 1028085

Supporting educational initiatives and projects in Nicaragua

www.santarosafund.org

SRF NEWS No 44

November/December 2014

Children at the Quincho Barrilete Association centre in Managua holding their new school packs, which will help them to persevere with their schooling. The organisation looks after abused children and seeks to return them to society safely and without fear. The school equipment packs were bought with some of the funds provided by the Roger Buck bequest donated to the Santa Rosa Fund by the Miles family. More details inside this newsletter.

SRF Newsletter No.44, Nov/Dec 2014, page 1

THE ROGER BUCK BEQUEST In 2012 whilst visiting his niece Katie Miles and her fianc Doug McMillan in Tbilisi, Georgia, Roger Buck died suddenly. Roger pictured right was the organist and choir master in North Walsham Parish Church, Cheshire, and always took special interest in educational matters, particularly in areas where children were under-privileged. In 2005 Katie and her sister Sarah (shown below) had worked with the Santa Rosa Funds partner organisation the Berriz Sisters, in the town of El Viejo in N.W. Nicaragua. After seeing the enormous need for the work done by the Berriz Sisters, the Miles family have been consistently supportive of the Santa Rosa Fund, aware that the SRF provides regular finances to the Berriz Sisters each year to support their educational programmes around the Cosigina Peninsula, the municipal town of which is El Viejo.

Because of Rogers interest in the need for education in areas of poverty, after the settlement of Rogers estate, the Miles family took the decision to award 5,000 to the SRF. These funds, over and above our core commitments, have enabled the SRF to extend its support to other organisations and educational causes in Nicaragua. In July this year, four of the SRF trustees travelled out to Nicaragua (at their own expense) to meet the people involved in these new one-off projects and to find out how the projects were progressing.

Much of this newsletter reports back from those visits and projects, and our two centre pages show a spread of photographs from the new projects that were supported by these funds. The projects supported by the bequest were as follows.

1,672 to the Berriz Sisters to keep open for at least one more year the El Viejo Library. 1,167 to the Quincho Barrilete Association in Managua to provide 70 children with all the

equipment required for them to attend school see front cover photograph. 483 to The Little Cob Library in Matagalpa for educational supplies for their workshops. 422 to the Santa Rosa School for the purchase of a new TV and DVD for the Ben Dalton Library. 112 to the Santa Rosa School for the purchase of 20 new chairs for the Ben Dalton Library. 625 to the Council of Women of the West [of Nicaragua] to run workshops on reducing household

vulnerability to natural disasters in several barrios in the city of Chinandega. 625 to the Xochilt Clinic to run workshops on sexual and reproductive health in several barrios of

the town of El Viejo. Total = 5,106 [This newsletter now reports on each of the above in turn.]

The Library in El Viejo: Biblioteca Padre Teodoro A.S. Kint

Situated on the 1st floor of the Amigos de Holanda Community Centre, the library has been here for 19 years. Because of the financial recession, Amigos de Holanda have recently had to cut their funding of the library as a result of which the Berriz Sisters who help to run the centre applied to the SRF for funding to keep the facility open for one more year whilst they search for other sources of finance. The library is spacious, with different specialist sections for pre-school children, youths and adults. It has an excellent infrastructure

of good tables, chairs, photocopier, catalogued books (4,730 volumes), childrens games and puzzles, maps, SRF Newsletter No.44, Nov/Dec 2014, page 2

etc. We saw a group of children participating in group games and book readings. The librarian, Ana Isabel, told us there were on average 100 visitors a day with teachers using the resources regularly in their classrooms. There are Reading Clubs for 12-15 year olds and a Caja Viajera, which is a mobile box compiled and sent to rural schools on a regular basis. It is a roomy and friendly facility and the only public library in the El Viejo area. [This is a section of a longer report by Rick and Pat Blower on their visit to El Viejo and to the numerous projects run by the Berriz Sisters. The longer report can be read on the Funds website.] Quincho Barrilete Association school retention packs for 70 children

As the caption to the photograph on the front page reports, the Quincho Barrilete Association takes care of abused children who are referred by the police, church, Ministry of the Family or their own street visitors. Quincho attempts to work with the families of the children and to return the children to a normal life which includes attendance at school. To encourage this attendance, Quincho had applied to the Santa Rosa Fund for finance to provide school equipment packs.

In July, the four trustees visited Quincho Barriletes head office to meet with Mara Consuelo Snchez, the organisations director about their programme to help their children to stay in school. The packs consisted of a small school backpack see photo which contains items such as pens, pencils, markers, exercise books, pads of paper, scissors, etc. The Little Cob Library, Matagalpa The trustees of the Santa Rosa Fund awarded The Little Cob Library 483 from the bequest for the purchase of educational materials for the children who attend the workshops there. Purchased with these funds were reading books, exercise books, materials required for the numerous workshops run by Dominique Olney (director of Little Cob), and access to the internet for one day a week for a year. The four SRF trustees visited The Little Cob Library in the city of Matagalpa at the same time as Dominique was back in England. In her absence, however, the librarys plot of land was being landscaped by caretakers Julio and Juana with some intricate stonework, and Eliseo, who claims to be the only builder in Matagalpa who builds with cob, was busy making a shower room and a toilet. The shower room was being built with recycled glass bottles see photo and the toilet room was being built with recycled plastic bottles. [A full report on the visit of the trustees to the Little Cob Library by Rick and Pat Blower is given in the SRF website.]


[L. to R.] Marta Elena (librarian), Mayra (secretary and i/c computers) and Mara

Elizabeth (headteacher) with the new TV still in its box.

The Santa Rosa School, Managua For several months at the start of 2014, Nicaragua suffered a long series of earthquakes and tremors, which kept many schools and other public buildings closed. The Santa Rosa School is still running a Saturday school for pupils to make up for the lost schooling. During one of the worst shakes, the schools television, which is heavily used for lessons involving DVDs, fell from its wall fixing and smashed. Much of the curriculum is on DVD watched on television in the library and since that time nearly all the teachers have felt the loss of this resource for their lessons. The SRF trustees who visited in July were aware that, after all other applications for use of the Roger Buck bequest had been met, there remained approximately 400. Whilst in Managua, the four trustees visited the Santa Rosa School and learnt of the need for a new TV with DVD. They also saw that many of the chairs in the Ben Dalton Library had been damaged by both floods at the end of last year and by simple wear and tear over the years. They took the decision to use the remaining amount of the bequest to buy a replacement TV with DVD and 20 new chairs for the library. A staff member, Mayra Calderon, and a pupils mother who had a pick-up truck accompanied the trustees to an electrical store for the TV (shown in the picture) and then to the notorious Eastern Market for the chairs see photos, here and elsewhere in this newsletter. [Again, a fuller report of the trustees visit to the Santa Rosa School, written by Rick and Pat Blower, is given in the SRF website.] Council of Women of the West [of Nicaragua] workshops, Chinandega

Report by SRF trustees Rick and Pat Blower. The trustees had a long meeting with the Council of Women of the West (CMO by its Spanish initials), some of whom had travelled a considerable distance to meet us. The SRF had awarded them $1,000 (USD) of the Roger Buck bequest, which was less than their application for the funding of a series of training workshops in vulnerability reduction for women in various barrios of Chinandega. Their original application had been for $1,500. Each woman in turn introduced themselves and explained what their livelihood involved they are all entrepreneurs of

one kind or another, as follows:

Mara Nicomedes jicaro (gourd) producer in El Jicaral Esperanza bee-keeping and honey business + CMO legal rep. Victoria shrimp cooperative in Puerto Morazn Mara Castillo president of the CSMMO (which oversees the CMO), advising businesswomen Nubia pottery cooperative of 25 women Santa Espinoza provides marketing service to businesswomen e.g. jicaro gourd sales Candelaria provides voluntary technical support Danelia Rivera provides voluntary technical support; lives in Five Pines close to Honduras


Their programme of workshops on managing vulnerability and increasing resilience is a little vague on specifics, but it will serve as a learning curve for the CMO. They talked particularly about the current problems they face:

The then current drought The period of earth tremors throughout the first half of the year The emigration of thousands of women The dependence on remittances The current volcanic activity

Xochilt Clinic workshops, El Viejo After a long meeting with the CMO we moved on to the Xochilt Clinic in El Viejo. Edilberta Gmez, the coordinator of and inspiration for the clinic, was there to greet us and was well prepared. The SRF had donated $1,000 (USD) for the clinics Sexual Health and Reproductive Health training programme planned for numerous barrios in the town of El Viejo. Their original application for funding had amounted to $2,030. After learning that the SRF was granting them $1,000, the clinic organised and ran two of the workshops before the money was received. A third was planned for the following Monday, and this level of activity and enthusiasm rather justified the trustees decision to support this venture by the clinic. The clinic is seeking match funding from other sources,

including the El Viejo town hall and the Ministry of Health (MINSA). Unfortunately, apart from Edilberta and Maribel Guardia, a child psychologist, other key characters in the work of the clinic were unavailable to meet us. These include Dr Manuel Milln, Dra Pastora Acevedo, and the therapist Rosario Balmaceta, all of whom will be instrumental in the workshops for this funded programme. Nevertheless, the enthusiasm and drive of Edilberta certainly conveyed itself to us all, and we had no doubt about the need for the programme. In fact, Edilberta told us that attendance at the clinic had increased substantially as a result of the first two workshops which they had held in the barrios, and this was taken as a mark of success of the workshops. By way of summary, the four trustees who visited all the new projects as well as the projects that receive our core funding consider that the Roger Buck bequest to the Santa Rosa Fund has been well spent. Additionally, it has enabled the Fund to extend its support to new educational initiatives in Nicaragua and to collaborate with organisations that are new to us. This has been an enriching experience for the Santa Rosa Fund and more importantly to those organisations in Nicaragua. Through the newsletter, the Fund sends its gratitude to the Miles family for its decision to benefit education in Nicaragua with Rogers bequest.

Edilberta Gmez at the microphone and Dr Manuel Milln at the laptop

SRF Website The Santa Rosa Funds website has been mentioned at various points in this newsletter. For much of this year the website has had a number of holes in it, and fortunately for us, SRF supporter Sally Murfitt has voluntarily spent a lot of time repairing the problem.The task is almost finished. In the next edition we shall include more details of the website with thanks appropriately expressed to Sally.

Crafts from Costa Rica and Nicaragua We still have a few scarves, bracelets and cards for sale: all hand-made. The cards are all hand-illustrated by adults attending Casa Esperanza, a day centre for adults with learning difficulties in El Viejo, Nicaragua. The centre is supported by the Santa Rosa Fund. The unique cards are being sold in packs of 5 with envelopes for 2.50. For more information contact Pat Blower on 01822 810600.


FUND RAISING EVENTS Gipsy Train On Saturday 8th November Gipsy Train (pictured here) from Bere Alston, Devon, entertained well over 100 people with their East European klezmer music and smooth gipsy jazz. Carol Horner (second from left of the musicians in the photo), a long-time supporter of the SRF, is the Funds link to the group. A fabulous night was had by all, not just by the whirling dancers who were entertaining in their own right. The event raised 886, which is a record for one of the SRFs fund-raising events. The events success was also very much due to the hard work of many people: organisers Pat and Pete; Jacky and June who slaved in the kitchen all night selling cake, teas and coffees; the many cake makers themselves; those who donated raffle prizes; Rick and Lorna who ran the most profitable raffle weve ever had; Pat who sold our new range of goods from Central America see page 7; all the people who helped clear the hall at the end; and everyone who came along to enjoy themselves. We reserve our special thanks to Gipsy Train who donated their time and talent free of charge, even insisting on paying for the cake we wanted to give them as a mark of our gratitude, and to Clive Charlton (longstanding SRF supporter) who compered the event and who gave a brilliant speech some said lecture about the Fund. Ken Martins 65th In August this year, long time SRF supporter and former volunteer at the Santa Rosa School in Managua in 2009 Ken Martin celebrated his 65th birthday with a party at which he asked for donations for two charities, the Nanhi Dunya School in India and the Santa Rosa Fund. Again, a good time was had by all, and the donations of 240 were shared between the two charities. Many thanks Ken. Letter to the Fund Dear Santa Rosa Fund, Thank you for the SRF newsletter [no. 43], which I've just read. It seems as though the Fund is going from strength to strength and the newsletter includes a lot of encouraging news. I was especially impressed by the work done in the El Viejo youth centre, all the reports received from different organisations and the fact that the Santa Rosa computer lab is now being used to teach pupils. I loved Marcia's acrostic too. Here Ana and I are gearing up to our yearly visit to Nicaragua. We'll be off once she breaks up from school. Best wishes, Gill Holmes [Gill used to live and work in Nicaragua and was always extremely helpful to and a great supporter of the Santa Rosa Fund. She and her daughter Ana now live in Dorset but return each year to Nicaragua.] SANTA ROSA FUND CONTACTS www.santarosafund.org Chair: Pete Mayston, Rose Cottage, Tuckermarsh, Bere Alston, Yelverton, Devon PL20 7HB Tel. 01822 840297 Email: [email protected] Secretary: Jacky Rushall, Culliford House, The Down, Bere Alston, Yelverton, Devon PL20 7HG Tel. 01822 841676 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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Santa Rosa Fund Newsletter Issue No 44 December 2014