Santa Rosa Fund Newsletter42

SRF News No. 42, Nov/Dec 2013, page 1

Registered Charity No. 1028085

Supporting educational initiatives and projects in Nicaragua

www.santarosafund.org

SRF NEWS No 42

November / December 2013

A SUCCESSFUL EVENT

A few of the Santa Rosa Fund’s former volunteers who were present at the event on Friday 25th October.

From left to right: Amy Haworth Johns, Doug Specht, Rick Blower, James Watson, Rosie Mayston

(Report inside)


Andrew Watson (left) keeping kitchen helpers Martin,

Lorna and Frances Legg amused, with Pat Blower in

the centre.

INFORMATION AND VOLUNTEERING NIGHT On the evening of Friday 25th October the Santa Rosa Fund took over Tavistock Town Hall to hold an

information and volunteering event for supporters and potential volunteers. It turned out to be a novel

and interesting way to report back to the SRF’s supporters on the many projects assisted by the Fund,

and we are extremely grateful to all the former volunteers who turned up to share their experiences with

other supporters:

Jason, shown below, spent many months in Nicaragua and Honduras during which he worked on a

number of environmental projects, especially a sea turtle

conservation project in north-west Nicaragua

(www.seaturtlerescue.org). He also had time to visit The

Little Cob in Matagalpa and a number of the projects

supported by the Santa Rosa Fund in and around the town

of El Viejo. He is now trying to establish here in the UK a

support project for an organisation in the city of León

which attempts to treat and rehabilitate drug and alcohol

addicts in the city.

Rick Blower, Doug Specht, James Watson and Alistair

Williams were the first of the Fund’s computer training

volunteers in 2007, helping staff at the Santa Rosa School

in Managua to learn how to use the computers which had

been provided by the British embassy in Costa Rica. This work was later continued by Sue and Ken

Martin (in 2009) and by Amy Haworth Johns and Rachael Wright (in 2010). The Fund is still keen to

place more volunteers at the school to continue this necessary work of training staff and pupils at the

Santa Rosa School. Potential volunteers should contact the Santa Rosa Fund – see contact details on the

back page of this newsletter.

The event was also notable for the food offered to

all who attended. Many volunteer helpers under the

direction of Pat Blower in the town hall kitchens

prepared Mexican bean burritos in tortillas with

salads and salsa. Coffee, tea and donated cakes were

available and the town hall bar was open. We are

ever so grateful to all those who helped on the night

and to the town hall staff who were very obliging

and helpful.

Although the event was always intended as an

information evening rather than a fund-raising

opportunity, through the generosity of those who

attended and some who weren’t able to attend, we

raised £397 : 80, which after costs represents a profit of over £250 to be returned to SRF funds for

further support for our Nicaraguan partner organisations and projects.

Jack Quinn, a student at Swansea University, attended the evening and said, “Thanks again for the Santa

Rosa event – enjoyed it very much. I thought the speakers were great and the food was very good.”

Rosie Mayston, (2004) Rick Blower (2007)

James Watson (2007) Amy Haworth Johns (2010)

Doug Specht (2007) Jason Searing (2011/12)

Alistair Williams (2007)


Standing, from left to right: Sister Chela Pérez, Elsa (volunteer), Sister

Ruth, Gloria (volunteer), Mercedes (volunteer). Seated (L. to R.) Sister

Teri, Sister Abdontxu, Ana María (volunteer).

MORE UPDATES ON THE FUND’S PARTNER ORGANISATIONS AND PROJECTS

In part of August and September this year, SRF membership secretary Martin Mowforth happened

to be on fieldwork in Belize with students from the University of Plymouth. After the fieldwork

programme finished, he took the opportunity of being in Central America to pop over to Nicaragua

to pay very brief visits to several of the Fund’s partner organisations and projects. The following

page gives extracts from his reports back to the SRF trustees.

The Berriz Sisters, Centro Catequístico, El Viejo

I had lunch with the nuns (4 of them) and four of their volunteers (all from Mexico). Sister

Abdontxu and Sister Ruth (from the Philippines) were the only ones I had met before. Sister Teri

from Mexico and Sister Chela (nickname) from the Philippines were new. The Mexican volunteers

put me through an extended Mexican Inquisition which covered the SRF, economic globalisation,

the use of pesticides, having

children, emigration, US

intervention in Syria and the US

war machine, the principles that

an atheist can share with them

as religious people, amongst

others. They were particularly

concerned about the situation of

families affected by emigration

– an interesting counter-balance

to the particular concern of

immigration in the UK. They

are no longer just concerned

about the lack of fathers in the

upbringing of children, but are

now particularly concerned

about the number of mothers

who are emigrating because of

the lack of economic opportunities available in this region. At best, this leaves the children to be

brought up by grandparents; at worst, there is simply nobody to guide the upbringing. And all of

them (the nuns) were genuinely gravely concerned about this situation.

El Viejo Youth Centre / Centro Recreativo (CR)

Sister Abdontxu took me over to the CR to meet Eliézer and

Fátima, the two people who have taken over from William –

both at a half time rate, and whose salary is paid for by some

of the annual donations which the SRF makes to the nuns. We

had to run the gauntlet of a street full of banana plantation

workers all queueing for their weekly pay, their line covering

the entrance to the CR and winding all round the place.

Fatima and Eliézer were great. It’s the first time I’ve met

either of them, but after seeing and talking with them, I have

no doubt that they are really good as joint coordinators of the

centre. Of course they also rely quite heavily on local volunteers.

Sister Abdontxu with Fátima

and Eliézer


Other projects in the Cosigüina Peninsula

The pre-school and the library at the primary school in Villa Espana, which have been helped by

SRF funds in the past, have a new director who is not keen to work with anyone but the

government. The Berriz Sisters respect that decision even if they don’t fully understand it, and so

they have shifted their attention and funds to the Colonia Narciso Zepeda which has major

problems. This colonia (or estate) houses the school which the SRF helped a few years ago in their

purchase of the corrugated iron for a new roof for two of their classrooms, the Escuela Santa Maria

de la Merced. The sisters obviously think highly of the headteacher there, and are keen to continue

support for the school in a variety of ways. They will use some of the SRF funds for this support.

The Santa Rosa School, Managua I made a brief visit to the school on Thursday

morning before going up to El Viejo. Classes were

in full flow, but the major activity taking place was

preparation for the processions to commemorate

the Battle of San Jacinto – see photo. The school,

of course, was heavily involved in these

processions and all preparations were being

master-minded by Modesto. Following that, they

had to take part in the national processions for

Independence Day. Headteacher Maria Elizabeth

showed me the computer situation. Four out of the

five are working well, so maybe we could consider providing a new one? Also, they'd like another

dongle to extend their internet connection – $30 (USD) per annum plus

rental. There is a new librarian, Xavier Rivera, and I didn't find out what

had happened to the previous librarian, Marta Elena Gadea, although I

suspect that she has retired on health grounds because of awful throat and

voice problems. Librarian Luz Marina Rosales was keen to show me their

record book of loans which was very full and very impressive – see

photo.

The library has also recently been flooded because of really heavy rains.

Books and other materials were not affected, but many of the plastic

chairs were in a sorry state. They said that they couldn't expect anything

else from MINED as MINED had just replaced some of the corrugated

iron sheets on the roof of the library and wouldn't do anything else just yet.

THE LITTLE COB LIBRARY Just as this newsletter was in preparation, the SRF heard

from Dominique Olney who runs The Little Cob Library in

the city of Matagalpa. So often we hear news of damage,

degradation or disaster from Nicaragua; so it’s great to hear

good news of a project supported by the SRF. We have

included here a few short extracts from Dominique’s report,

along with a few photos of The Little Cob, which acts a little

like an ‘after-school school’.

There are several areas in Little Cob that I am eager to

develop but that at the moment are dormant or semi dormant

for lack of funding, materials and volunteers. I would like to


offer structured tuition in crafts such as jewellery and recycled paper / plastic to the youngsters who have

attended workshops for several years and would be capable of moving towards selling their products. Sewing

is also high on the list (we have some old sewing machines).

It would be a great help for the Littlecobblers if we

could build a roof over the terrace below Little Cob –

at the moment the space in which they work and play

is very cramped. This would mean that the space

inside Little Cob could be dedicated to reading books

and doing homework. Ideally we would like to have a

strong lockable cupboard to house the craft materials

within the covered space. Having a rustic tiled floor

would be a dream! We need shelves and cupboards

built on the premises that provide (mouse free)

storage.

We can always do with volunteers who would enjoy

exchanging techniques. The cob walls of Little Cob have never been given the finishing cob coat which will

make it smooth, beautiful and more weather resistant. This is a job for a small team of mudslushing

volunteers! Volunteers could also help the children finish the small shed we started to make with plastic

bottles. Then we’ll have a great place to store all our recycling materials! Any games, books (mainly Spanish

or if in English, with diagrams and pictures) of all sorts, and art materials donated always generate joy!

A Lending Library Help in any of these areas would be of great value to us, but if sufficient funding was offered to Little Cob,

the area my present volunteers and myself would unanimously give priority to, is the setting up of a proper

lending library. We have been thinking of the logistics of creating a library providing books we could lend

both for pleasure and for study – mainly for primary and secondary school pupils. We already have some

story and reference books that the children use on the premises, but would love for the littlecobblers to have

a more comprehensive range of texts. In Nicaragua, 40% of pupils give up attending secondary school

mainly because they can’t survive without the text books. The parents of many of our children earn between

2 and 5 dollars a day, when they have work. The cheapest text book costs $10. Most of the children in areas

as poor as the slum around Little Cob therefore have no books to work from.

In order to set up the lending library efficiently, we would need to find funds for text books as a priority, but

would love to also have a range of story books to encourage the love of reading. We would need to have two

part time university students who would receive a grant to help pay for their studies against working at Little

Cob as librarians, both to help set up the logistics of the projects as well as running the library, dealing with

the loans and helping with homework and

educational activities. Having extra books

would require us to have new cupboards built

to ensure they do not get damaged. The lending

library would become the main focus of Little

cob, although it would by no means result in

the ceasing of the craft and art workshop that

are provided by the volunteers that come to

help. ......

We have four computers and being able to

provide internet 3 days a week for the older

children who need to do research would be

extremely valuable and could be provided at a

reasonable cost.

Thank you again for your interest!

Dominique


MONTESSORI SCHOOLING IN NICARAGUA Kit Lambert from Bristol is studying Hispanic and Latin American studies at the

University of Liverpool. His course allows him to spend the third year abroad, so

he is currently working in Nicaragua with two NGOs whilst also carrying out

research for a dissertation. Some of his work is in Montessori schools in Puerto

Morazán, a port in the north-west of Nicaragua which is twinned with Bristol.

[BLINC is the Bristol Link With Nicaragua.] [Montessori education, developed by

Italian María Montessori, emphasises independence, freedom within limits and

respect for a child’s natural, psychological, physical and social development.]

Link between Montessori and BLINC

While primary and secondary education in Nicaragua are free and

compulsory, pre-school teachers do not receive a salary from the government and parents take on

the responsibility of managing the schools. BLINC and Friends of Morazán provide financial

support for seven Montessori Schools in the Puerto Morazán municipality, using money donated to

them to pay teachers’ salaries and provide materials for the children to work with.

An adapted version of a Comparative Report Between Children Who Attended a Montessori Pre-

School and Those Who Did Not

Differences mentioned by 1st/2

nd/3

rd grade teachers:

The main difference expressed was the children’s literacy skills. The majority of children

attending Montessori schools can read and write to a much higher level than the other

children.

The other major difference mentioned was that those pupils who attended Montessori are a

lot more confident in tackling problems that they have never encountered before whilst also

simply seeming more self-assured in everyday life.

Children who went to pre-school can retain

information given to them in class better than those

who did not attend any pre-school at all.

“Montessori is a very positive thing; it helps the

children, and their general development and also helps

the teachers in primary schools”.

The children who went to a Montessori school “crave

more knowledge”.

15 Children from 1st/2

nd/3

rd grade who had previously attended a Montessori pre-school

When tested, all of the pupils in these groups could:

write their full names / identify all colours (except two who said grey was black) / could all

count to at least 100 / read any word which I put before them (although I used a Montessori

material to test this so these children may have

had an unfair advantage)

When asked about the manner one should work in class,

the pupils gave the following responses:

Quietly / in order / happily / slowly / work hard

on the things you don’t know / share with others.

14 Children from 1st/2

nd/3

rd grade who did not attend a

Montessori pre-school

Before starting primary school, children from this group

either attended non-Montessori pre-school or did not


receive any kind of education. When tested:

only five knew how to write their first names / three knew how to spell their first and last

name but not their middle names / two could not write at all / four wrote their full names

without trouble

one child could count to 10 / two to 20 / six to 100 / five to 100+

children could recognise all colours apart from nine who said grey was black and two said

purple was pink

When asked about the manner one should work in class, the children gave the following responses:

Well / in silence / reading and writing lots.

Closing remarks

From my non-expert point of view, I could notice major differences between the two groups. All of

the children who attended Montessori appeared to have higher cognitive function than those who

did not, performing better on every task presented to them (reading, writing, counting and

recognising colours). From this very small sample of children, I feel that Montessori education has

been hugely beneficial to the children’s development and performance in school. Furthermore, it

did not appear to have any detrimental side-effects such as a lack of drive once the children reached

primary school. All the teachers were fully behind it and any child who was educated in a

Montessori pre-school spoke fondly of it.

Kit Lambert A NOTE ABOUT VOLUNTEERING

Following our report of a school journey to Nicaragua in SRF

NEWS No. 40, we received a number of comments about the

nature of the volunteering opportunities on offer through the

Santa Rosa Fund. Whilst in no way disparaging the value

of the volunteering journeys made by school groups or the

value of the experience for those who take part in them,

we are prompted to make the following comment about the

volunteering opportunities offered by the Santa Rosa Fund and its

Nicaraguan partner organisations.

Those who consult the SRF website volunteering page will be aware that the volunteering

opportunities arranged by the SRF require a commitment on the part of the volunteer of at least one

month and normally longer. In fact, after our first computer training volunteers worked at the Santa

Rosa School in 2007 and after discussions with members of staff at the school, everyone involved

in the exercise agreed that future volunteers for computer training at the school should spend at least

two months there. (It is only after a month that a volunteer gets to know the situation and

personalities well enough to start making a difference through their work.)

The essential point behind this requirement of a firm and longstanding commitment to be made by

the volunteer is that such volunteer opportunities are meant to be a two-way experience, not just of

value to the volunteer, but of genuine value to the recipient school or establishment or community

which hosts the volunteer. The Santa Rosa Fund is not in the business of supporting relatively

wealthy UK citizens in their quest for rich experiences in the Third World. Rather, we are in the

business of supporting educational initiatives that will help relatively poor people lift themselves

out of poverty. The principal beneficiaries of the volunteer opportunities offered through the Santa

Rosa Fund and its partners in Nicaragua are the Nicaraguans.


SCHOOL LUNCH SUPPLIES DISTRIBUTED In March this year, the Nicaraguan government made its second disbursement of

products for the school lunch programme to 10,000 schools in all 153 municipalities

in the country. The programme covered 100% of pre-school children in community,

public and subsidised schools and public and subsidised primary schools 1.1 million

boys and girls from 3 to 12 years of age. Supplies for the school lunch programme

amounted to almost 200 million pounds of food, including beans, corn, fortified

cereal, vegetable oil and wheat flour. It is a component of the poverty eradication

programme. The photo shows headteacher María Elizabeth with the school lunch

provisions in the Santa Rosa School in Managua.

New Gift Aid Form - enclosed You may have noticed that we have changed the format of our gift aid form. This is because we have to

enter more information when we fill in our gift aid claim form for HM Revenue & Customs.

As from this year where possible all claims must be made online which should mean that the claims are

processed more quickly. Now, however, we have to give your title, first name, surname, the first line of

your address and your post code. We have just finished a claim and we were able to find these details

for nearly all of our supporters who have signed a Gift Aid form in the past. So there is no need

for supporters who have ever filled in one of our subscription / Gift Aid /

standing order forms to send in a new form.

For new supporters, however, we would be really grateful if you could make these details as clear as

possible on the form by writing in capital letters, and there must only be one name on the claim form as

we are no longer able to make claims under joint names.

Additionally, to all our supporters, we would be grateful if in future you could let us know if you change

your name or address or no longer pay enough tax to allow us to claim Gift Aid on your donation.

Gift Aided donations give a great boost to our income as it means that we can reclaim an extra 25p on

every £1 you donate; so thanks to all of you who are able to support us in this way.

Pat Mayston, Santa Rosa Fund Treasurer.

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


Membership secretary: Martin Mowforth, 51 West St., Tavistock, Devon PL19 8JZ


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Santa Rosa Fund Newsletter42