Sister Communities of San Ramón

Why I went to Nicaragua

El Trentino Primary School, in rural San Ramón, Nicaragua, is my high school’s sister school. I visited San Ramón on a service trip in the spring break of my sophomore year. Our group of ten spent time at Finca Esperanza Verde, and we stayed with host families in the town.  Although we brought school supplies and spent time physically improving the facilities by painting another school, La Chispa, I found my interactions with the people more rewarding.

Playing games and making small crafts with local children in the town library showed me the real connections that a sister relationship can help build. The adults told us about the Sandinistas and local politics and we had a chance to understand the history further than a textbook example.  We also spent time buying crafts in the park and visited a small group of women who are making recycled paper. After meeting the people of San Ramón, I am even more passionate about raising money through activities sponsored by Spanish Singers and Spanish Honor Society at my school.

– Becky Jepson, Senior at East Chapel Hill High School

I traveled to San Ramon in September of 2009 to work at Los Pipitos providing physical therapy to the children in the area as well as to several adults in the community who were home bound. During my time there I learned about the amazing spirit of the Nicaraguan people as they welcomed me into their homes and  hearts.

My Nica family taught me about the local fruit and the wonderful coffee grown and produced at Finca Esperanza Verde. I had a great time working with the patients of Los Pipitos, their families, and getting to know the local community.  I am looking forward to returning again this year to continue my work with Los Pipitos and visit my Nicaraguan family.

–Becca Halperin

Experience in Nicaragua

We are very excited to announce the inauguration of the 20th School Kitchen that SCSRN has funded.  SCSRN bought the supplies and paid the general contractor to help the community build a school kitchen in El Bosque.  Getting to El Bosque from the town of San Ramón takes a 1.5 hour car ride and then a 40 minute walk or horseback ride.

Fathers, mothers, children and community leaders alike pulled together with our contractor and his staff to haul the building materials from the road down to the site.  The kitchen is a true symbol of the desire this community has to work together in order to improve their lives and provide their children with the food, shelter and education needed to thrive.

The mothers that gathered this day to cook for everyone said “It’s so well built and nice to cook in and the best part is that the smoke blows straight out the chimney rather then suffocating us inside!”

Meet Alvaro (left) and Marjory (right) of San Ramón.  They attend the Fray Primary School, and everyday they go to the public library to do homework, puzzles, games.  They don’t have textbooks and their school does not provide them.  They take turns using the text books at the library.  SCSRN’s support keeps their library in good repair and open on Saturdays. Their favorite thing is all the books and puzzles they can borrow.  They are excited to learn a little bit of computer skills and hope they can use the computers on their own one day.  For them, the library is a source of hope and opportunity.

Of opportunities for handicapped children:

Meet Gloria, a physical therapist at Los Pipitos handicapped children’s center that SCSRN supports annually.  Gloria has been a physical therapist for over 5 years and she works diligently every week to help improve the lives of the physically and mentally handicapped children that come to the center from all over the rural municipality of San Ramón.

Gloria has a warm smile and often talks about what she feels is the most important benefit of Los Pipitos; creating awareness of the needs of handicapped children in an area where they are often shunned. Many families travel for up to a day to get to the center where Gloria educates them about their child’s needs and empowers parents to do some physical and cognitive therapy with their children at home since it is not realistic for most families to get to the center daily.

Gloria beams with hope when she explains how many families now attend the center, how the local public schools are integrating some of the handicapped children into the classroom. She speaks with pride about how much more aware and understanding citizens are now that Los Pipitos has grown in both staff and beneficiaries with the help of SCSRN.

Los Pipitos

School construction is one of our favorite pasttimes!  A nice school can do wonders for community morale and the value of education.  Education is such a vital part of the development and growth of San Ramón and we believe that through buliding schools we can empower local citizens and communities, instill value in education and create sustainable improvements in rural areas.  Before building a school we work hand in hand with the Nicaraguan Ministy of Education and local community leaders to assure that the school will be a success.  Some things we do before building:

- Assure the Ministry of Education has approved the site and promised to pay a teacher’s salary once built

- Various meetings with local community leaders, parents and educators to organize around the effort.  We require that community members assist with the building and maintenence of the school.  If everyone puts a “grain of sand” into the construction they intrinsically value the building, and thus the education.

To support School Construction projects check out the upcoming 7th Annual Celebration for Children Event!  Raffle tickets and event tickets are on sale now!

Rural School Partnerships provide much more then just school supplies for a rural community school, it creates an exchange and connection between schools, classes, youth groups, clubs in the US and schools in rural San Ramón.  SCSRN helps facilitate the personal connection between partnered groups and schools.

Hungry? Thirsty?

Join us anytime between 5-10pm on Thursday February, 3rd at Alivia’s Bistro in Durham on the corner of Main St. and Gregson St.  Alivia’s has a new menu and they are hosting SCSRN for a fundraiser night.  Come eat, drink and be merry and Alivia’s will donate 10% of your bill straight to SCSRN!

There will also be a special set menu for SCSRN supporters that will include an app, salad/soup and sandwich/entree where 25% of the price will go towards SCSRN.

Spread the word, bring your friends, families and neighbors!