36th Anniversary of the founding of Nueva Guinea

   We have begun a week long celebration of the founding of Nueva Guinea. It started off with the local horsemen and their parade, will include a couple of days off school, and culminates on the 5th with another parade.
   Nueva Guinea was founded in 1965 by 17 people (from Somoto and Diriamba), who came based on a type of land grant to establish themselves here in the jungle - thereby the name. They said this jungle was like Africa, and thereby, from Equatorial Guinea, declared this to be "Nueva Guinea".
   The schools are encouraged to do special activities and one of our teachers arranged for a founder to speak to the kids about what it was like to move to the jungle. Victor Ríos told the kids his story, and later, offline, sang a song for us about this event. I recorded it on my camera, and the background noise you hear is a big downpour, but you get the idea (especially if you speak Spanish). Victor canta

Election year politics

Ahhh politics. You think things are complicated in the USA, and they are, it's even more so in this country that is one fifth the size of Texas. Yesterday, the Sandinistas were in town with their big rally, and today, an aliance of smaller parties, and soon the Liberals will be in town with their candidate. Daniel Ortega is trying to run for president again, although it violates the constitution to be president 2 times in a row. Not to worry, he got a judge to declare that part of the constitution unconstitutional. And the main opposition party is going to run Arnoldo Alemán, who has been president before, but was put in jail after his presidency for stealing the country blind. But fortunately he got out of jail in time to run for president, and yes, get the support of many people. The main parties are the Sandinistas, the Liberals, the Conservatives, the Nicaraguan Resistance, the "Renovated Sadinistas", and a smattering of smaller groups. And even here, while some people pay attention to the issues, each party has it's "yellow dogs". Have a great week!

First week of classes

The Manto de Gracia Christian school had its first week of classes of the year (the school year in Nicaragua is from mid February to the end of November). We the staff as well as the students were getting used to the school, the time schedule, the classes, etc. Pictured here is the first parents meeting where we explained more clearly the vision, the people in the USA that are supporting the school, and of course the school rule book.
Pre school is from 8 to noon daily, first grade from 7 to 12:15, and second grade from 7 to 12:45. We have to extend second grade a little bit to be able to meet the education ministry requirements and still teach 2 hours weekly of English and one of Bible. My schedule, besides overseeing things, includes 11 classes weekly. But, at the end of school on Friday, it was fun to see the kids leaving and saying "Goodbye teacher".
  The police are working with us providing helping kids cross the main street, and we do seem to have community support up to now.
  We do appreciate your prayers - for us, the teachers, the parents, and the over 90 kids signed up. Shortly we will present a sort of sponsorship program to help cover monthly expenses.
  Have a great week!