About
2009:
Maggie Bishop ‘10 will be working with Asociación Los Quinchos, an intricate program for former glue-sniffing street children. In her own words:
I will be working with Asociación Los Quinchos, an intricate program for former glue-sniffing street children. It serves more than 200 children in residential programs and even more in street outreach programs. A part of this program includes a farm for young girls outside of a small town called San Marcos. The group of girls in the program is referred to as “The Yahoskas.” Many of the girls who live on the farm were at risk of falling into prostitution. The farm provides a residence program for the girls. Besides receiving a home, care, and food, these twenty-five girls, ranging from five to fifteen, go to public school during portions of the day. They also participate in cultural activities such as folkloric and modern dancing. Games are frequently played and activities such as sewing and soccer are offered.
I worked with the Yahoska girls last summer and I attempted to tackle the issues of illiteracy and the lack of love for reading. I helped the girls build self-esteem and set life goals, and I also introduced them to the idea of animal rights and the fulfillment they can feel when caring for animals. I raised $1700 outside the CPGC funding and re-organized and added to the main ‘Quincho Library.’ I ended up buying over 600 books to contribute to the existent 200. My elders in Nicaragua were very supportive and innovative when I was brainstorming and carrying out my ideas.
This summer, I plan to work with the same group of girls, by carrying out poetry workshops, journal-writing activities as a way of expressing life experiences, and by conducting discussions about violence (incorporating this topic into the poetry workshops and working with the older girls in the areas of domestic and public violence). I will continue my activities surrounding animal rights and I also plan to start a small library at the home of the Yahoskas, of which I have already raised sufficient funds for (thanks to a few generous donors). I am lucky enough to include my ‘homestay mother,’ Doña Ivania, the Quincho librarian, to help me carry out the project.
2008:
Dina Rubey BMC ‘09 is blogging from Nicaragua as part of her CPGC Internship. She will be focused on Post-Conflict Democracy & Community Building through a theater arts program at the Esteli Municipal Library.
Cristina Morais ‘11 will be spending 10 weeks in Nicaragua (7 weeks in Managua) this summer. While in Managua she will be working with the Quaker organization, ProNica. She will be teaching basic computer skills to the daughters of sex workers in the hopes that they won’t end up in “the world’s oldest profession.” The skills they acquire will hopefully help them in the future with getting secretarial jobs or jobs in one of Managua’s many cyber-cafes.
Laurel Pellegrino BMC ‘08 will be volunteering at the Acahualica Women’s Center in Managua assisting the nurse, writing grants, and doing other publicity for the center.
Jane Seymour ‘10 will be working in Esteli, Nicaragua at Mama Licha’s Clinic, a birth center that offers pre- and post-natal care for the women and children of the community. While there she will be collaborating with two professors from Yale’s School of Midwifery to help in their research projects and to develop her own regarding the impact of Nicaragua’s Civil War on the health care that women pursued.
Maggie Bishop ‘10 will be working with Los Quinchos, which is a multifaceted program for former glue-sniffing street children. One of its projects is a girls residence in San Marcos, which houses about thirty girls, entitled the Yahoskas. Los Qunichos serves more than 200 children in residential programs and even more in street outreach programs. Maggie will be working with the girls residence in San Marcos, helping with school work, water safety skills, and doing various activities with the girls (playing games, reading, dancing, etc). She hopes to encorporate art into their daily activites and I has raised $1,650 for their small library.