Diann Irwin, a visitor who came on our Unitarian-Universalist trip in February of this year, was generous enough to share some of her journal from her time in Nicaragua. For those of you who have traveled with us, this will be a nice walk down memory lane for you! For those of you who haven’t… Read More →
High School for All
When the Board of Directors of SCSRN decided to begin building rural primary schools in 2002, the prevailing thought was this: “If my kids can go to elementary school, why can’t kids in San Ramón go?” At that time, over half of school-aged children in the rural communities of San Ramón didn’t go to school…. Read More →
New classrooms and kitchen for Wabule!
For those of you who follow the work of SCSRN, you know that in 2015 we worked hard to raise funds to build two classrooms and renovate the school kitchen in the rural school of Wabule. Well, we’ve got great news: the construction is finished, and the new additions were inaugurated this month, just in… Read More →
The Women of El Plomo: A story of determination
The following story about the women of El Plomo was documented by Lonna Harkrader, co-founder and Board member of SCSRN. After more than 20 years of visiting San Ramón and building relationships with the people here, Lonna has a wide network of friends, and she derives great joy from documenting and sharing their incredible stories…. Read More →
Spotlight on a SCSRN employee — Zenelia Icabalceta
Of our five permanent staff members, Zenelia Icabalceta, our Administrative Manager, is SCSRN’s longest-standing employee. When I asked Zenelia how long she had been working for SCSRN, she put on her glasses and pulled out a thick folder to find “the exact date when she began,” which was August 1st, 2009. This gives you an… Read More →
Communicating for the first time – Nicaraguan Sign Language
Imagine that you are an expecting mother or father. After the birth of your child, the doctor tells you that your baby is completely healthy of body and mind, except for one thing: she has a condition where she will only be able to learn and speak a particular foreign language; let’s say, Urdu. If… Read More →
Empowerment through Agency with the RSP Program
Simply showing up twice a year to give school supplies is not enough. We want to the RSP program to be a source of empowerment, of agency, of community solidarity. That’s why this year we asked the participating RSP schools to decide how they would like to use the funds from their sponsor. We gave them the option of continuing with school supplies, or designing a project of their own…. Read More →
Nicaragua – isn’t it dangerous there?
For many people in the United States, especially those who can remember the 80’s, just the word “Nicaragua” conjures up images of young militants brandishing weapons in the jungle, violent conflict between Sandinistas and the U.S.-funded Contras, and Oliver North. Even if you’re not old enough to remember the 80’s, you might have lumped Nicaragua… Read More →