Wrapping Up ....

Our computer program has finally wrapped up here at Camp Alegria and we have some photos 

posted from our 

picnic on Saturday. Thanks to One Laptop PerChild, Wave-Place and our donors for making it all possible. It 

has been a great adventure and we have learned a lot in the past months of training, but nothing compares to what the children have gained from the experience and the future is bright as we continue to cycle our 22 laptops around with the help of volunteers and donations. I will be posting more soon on our future plans and how you can get involved.

If you would like to learn more on how you can donate to our laptop program at Campo Alegria, please Contact US.

You can see picnic photos posted on our gallery at: http://picasaweb.google.com/CampoAlegria/OLPCLaptopPicnic

Also remember you can read the WavePlace Blog at: http://waveplace.com/news/blog/archive/cat_location_nicaragua.jsp

Astronomical Potential

The following is an article posted in the waveplace newsletter about our computer course in Buenos Aires. Enjoy!

Astronomical Potential

by C.T. Kormann 

The classroom is lit only by the mid-day sun, which angles in through the glassless windows of wrought-iron bars. Outside is a grove of plantain trees. The heat is heavy, the air dusty. Rubén, a skinny 11-year-old, is clicking and dragging his miniature mouse across the arm of his battered wood desk-chair. His toes just barely touch the floor and his saucer-shaped eyes are locked on the glowing screen of his XO laptop, where he has, on a whim, created the solar system.

It was my third day in Nicaragua teaching 21 students, (six girls, fifteen boys, ages eight to 12), how to use Etoys—a program that, for starters, lets kids create animated storybooks. This was the first time I'd been involved in a Waveplace pilot, and I started the experience with some privately held skepticism. The elementary school, Cayetano Estrella Diaz, located in the color-splashed village of Buenos Aires, has no electricity, holes in its corrugated tin roof, and walls made of cardboard covered Styrofoam. Books are few and almost only for teachers' use. And until we—Mary Scotti, Bill Stelzer and I—had arrived, almost all these kids had never used a computer before in their lives. Shouldn't books and other fundamentals for students be the priority? How can these computers be integrated into the school's day-to-day classes once we (the Americans who had brought them down) leave? Will computers really improve these kids' educations—when it seemed to me that there were other, more pressing needs?

Within three days, I realized how myopic I'd been as I watched the kids respond to their XOs and begin to learn Etoys. Watching little Rubén draw his solar system after discovering the circle tool in Etoys was one of countless instances that crystallized my conviction in the project's worth. The kids were sparked to use their imaginations and explore in the XOs' whole new realm of possibilities. Consequently, they were eager (a few even greedy), to learn whatever I had to teach in the next lesson so that they could explore and create even more.

The real daily thrill was seeing the shy kids, or the less outwardly enthusiastic, accidentally reveal a smile, or a proud blush, as they showed off their work. The girls, far outnumbered, were all at first timid, and so, a bit slower to catch some concepts. But within days, they cracked their own shells. Julissa, for example, moved from the back of class to the front, by her own volition, just to be closer to the lesson action. Deysi started creating intricate swing set drawings for her story—worthy of a good graphic designer's praise. Katerin, by the end of the two weeks, could not help but shout out answers to my questions. The laptops work as an equalizer.

I saw the kids take ownership over what they were learning. They were empowered. They became more and more comfortable navigating, exploring and creating on a machine that two weeks prior had been, to them, as alien as chicharrones con pelo (pork rinds with hair—a Nicaraguan snack) might be in the States. Best of all, I saw them jump out of their seats to help one another—to show someone else how to do what they had already figured out. There were momentary flashes when I felt that we the teachers could fade into the walls and the kids would fly along without us—one would figure something out, teach the others, who would figure something else out and so on.

My other concerns were squashed as I watched the kids use the XOs during their free time after class. One, Luis, discovered some e-books already scanned into the XO memory and read away the hour. The XO can hold up to 200 e-books! A library contained in one little green whirling box! I found Adán and Benito, on different days, quietly tapping away little poems in the writing program. (Adán's began: "Mi madre es una rosa," or "My mother is a rose.") Almost all the kids loved creating music and recording sound in a program called TamTamMini. Others were fascinated by the archive of pictures from places around the globe, or by Wikipedia (the sort of permanent, not online version). And of course, the camera was endlessly entertaining. I happily watched as some students started taking their laptops outside for more artful shots of a mango tree or the turquoise school, experimenting with the light and frame.

Regarding complete integration of the laptops once the Nicaragua pilot ends, I found the local teachers—Roxanna, David and Geovany—to be as excited about learning the XOs and Etoys as the kids. I'm certain that they would continue to teach with them in groundbreaking ways. My hope now is that the school can obtain a security box in order to keep the laptops and that more laptops can be sent to this town—for greater or complete saturation. They really could make a world—hey, even a solar system—of difference.

Read more of the Waveplace Newsletter ...

Summer Comes to an End

Two Summers have come to an end. Chop Point Camp has wrapped up and is officially starting school this week and our un-official summer at Campo Alegria has come to an end as well.

We had a blast this summer and it has been a whirl-wind time since June when everything kicked off.

We have posted a few snippets of things that happened this summer along with some more photos posted at our Picasa web gallery at http://campoalegria.com/MediaDownloads/Photos/.

However there is so much more to tell and I hope to get some more photos and blogs up soon from some of our volunteers to help paint a better picture of what this summer was really like.

I wanted to give a special thanks to our volunteers this summer who selflessly raised their own support, came down not knowing what they were getting into and made the last three months possible. We had a grueling schedule of children's camps, and when we weren't working with children we were busy getting our hands dirty with maintenance and much needed cleaning and organization of Camp. Some volunteers were here for just a few weeks and some were here for three months, all were just as important to this summers success.

A special thanks to Jonathan Levis and Daniel Whitney who committed everything to Camp this summer from day one, we couldn't have done it without them and I am extremely proud of the job they did and there willingness to serve in many difficult circumstances. I wish they could have stayed forever and I wil continue to plot and scheme ways to lure them back again next year.

Wave Place, XO's and Buenos Aires Nicaragua

The "Wave Place" computer course that has been hosted by Campo Alegria has already been declared a huge success despite it only being two weeks in. I have tried to post a few of Mary's blogs on our daily activities to wet your appetite to visit the waveplace blog and read a daily account of exactly what we are up to. Mary is an excellent writer and has been diligent with keeping up with her communication while staying here in the boonies of Campo via our newly installed wireless Internet. If you get the chance I would recommend swinging by waveplace.com and reading up on the cool things that are happening in our local school of Buenos Aires. We will be posting new photos soon as well on our Campo website and I will drop a post to notify everyone as soon as that is done. Also if you want to see what an XO is check out http://laptop.org .

www.waveplace.com
http://laptop.org/

Nicaragua Day 4

The morning wind was blowing steady as Carolyn, Bill and I struck out on our first horseback ride on the shore of Lake Nicaragua. It had been far too many years for Bill or I to comfortably mention since our last equestrian experiences, and just a few for Carolyn. Once astride we coax our horses to head down the beach. It was easily apparent that the horses were far more in charge then we were. Heading back towards the camp Bill and Carolyn’s horses found the road that led back to their pasture and headed home. I circled back and met them still astride lingering in the shade of a large mango tree.
Oscar and Adam gave us some tips and encouraged us to be diligent with them or the horses would become aware that we were wimps in the saddle and that winning back control would become more difficult. This advice proves equally true in the classroom. Once one student starts to run amok, if it is not reined in the others will follow the lead. Bill alit to head back to the camp to work out some kinks with the computers and Carolyn and I enjoyed slightly more capable rides down the dirt road past the grasslands and sugarcane fields. Carolyn was thrilled as she experienced her first gallop.
Back at school the children were once again eagerly awaiting us. Many of them had practiced saying “Good afternoon” in English and greeted us fanfare. After passing out the computers – a good time to match names to faces – they once again booted up with no problem and arranged themselves encircling Carolyn’s for a maximum view. Carolyn made clear that we would be working on our lesson in etoys reining them in from the start and they stayed focused with that for the majority of the lesson. At intervals, when a few of the children had successfully executed and grasped a concept, they become junior mentors, aiding others and guiding them. This kept all of the children remarkably on task.
We deviated a bit from the lesson as planned as many children had large sketches that filled the drawing area. Since the lesson involved using the shape tool we took advantage of that and had the children draw discreet objects that could easily be maneuvered. Reinforcing this further Carolyn then engaged them in the decision to draw a train and a face. The train had windows and the face could be moved to appear to be a passenger inside the train. The train could also run off with out the passenger.
By presenting the concepts of separate objects that could then be individually maneuvered in multiple ways all of the children successfully grasped the concept by the end of the lesson.
Once again all of the children stayed on for self-exploration for another hour after class. The question came up as to whether we could have a Saturday session and they unanimously voted for it. Hasta manana.

-Mary http://waveplace.com/news/blog/archive/cat_location_nicaragua.jsp

Nicaragua Day 3

All of the children were anxiously waiting in the gated courtyard when we pulled up to the school. We greeted them and their exuberance for a few moments until Marcial arrived and unlocked the classroom. Once inside they quickly scrambled to their desks eager to claim their computer for the second time. Without prompting or need for instruction they powered up and were ready to begin etoys lesson 1. For a better view of Carolyn's screen they moved their desks to form semi-circles radiating out from her and dove into the lesson. Once again the number of mentors facilitated the children's ability to navigated and follow the concepts and steps being presented. A few of the children just took off with it.
German easily created a lake scene with a sailboat and sun. After listening to the concept of having separate "sketches" he immediately set about making a new sailboat sketch, kept it, a new sun and a separate lake. He had grasped that now he could manually move his boat across the water or his sun across the sky. We found this to be stunning as it truly illustrated the 'child intuitive' nature of etoys in an environment where it was intended to be implemented - one with no previous exposure or training. This is very exciting.
All of the children completed the lesson often helping each other in the process. At the end of the lesson the children were allowed the opportunity to stay for another hour with Daniel and Jonathan available as mentors to further explore their computers. Every child opted to stay.
The teacher training was again held outside and was fairly well grasped. Bill covered lessons 4 through 6 and at times individuals got a bit stuck or confused working with the numerous windows from halos to scripts, remembering to keep a sketch, having to go back and rotate a sketch after running a script and just the newness of it all. Here emphasizing keeping the sketches simple and experimenting with changing parameters, repetition and exploring rather than having a fancy drawing is useful.
The teachers grasped that this is going to be a challenge and one that they will have to put effort into and also recognized that some of the children may out shine them. So far it seems they can accept the humility of that.

-Mary http://waveplace.com/news/blog/archive/cat_location_nicaragua.jsp

Nicaragua Day 2

Around noon Bill, Carolyn, Jonathan, Daniel and I packed up the XO's and piled into the car to travel the pot-holed dirt roads past cattle grazing and sugar cane farms. In the distance spectacular volcano's vaulted with cloud-shrouded peaks never failing to impress by virtue of their mere presence. Passing nary another vehicle during the 40-minute drive, everyone in the pueblo rides bikes, horse pulled wagons or motorbikes, and we reached the elementary school in Buenos Aires pueblo.
Marcial and Roxanna meet us at the gate to the school. We unpacked the suitcase filled with the xo's and entered the classroom to meet the rather unsuspecting students. We were told that they had no clue what was in store for them until today. Asked if the had ever used a computer the responded with a unanimous no. Did they know anyone who worked with computers? No again.
We distributed the computers and the children's faces spoke clearly of their wonder and delight. Carolyn jumped into the introduction of the computer, starting up, opening and exiting programs, saving a project, finding it again in their journal. The camera feature tapped into the universal appeal of picture taking but the music program was the overwhelming initial hit. With so many mentors available, 2 teachers, 2 helpers, 2 translators, Carolyn instructing, Bill filming and myself both mentoring and shooting stills, every child was able to move smoothly and easily through all of the navigation skills presented. The children were remarkably focused, attentive and engaged. An older child spent at least an hour peering in from an outside window trying to take in what was happening.
It was hot. At one point the principle asked if the children would prefer to move outside. A vote was taken and they expressed the wish to stay at their desks and so it was. At the end of the day they scooted out for their bicycles and headed off all smiling and appreciative.
After a short break Bill began teaching lessons 1 through 3 to the teachers and mentors. We did move this session outside to the shade of a large tree. Giovanni - one of the translators is also quite computer literate. This is an excellent and unexpected advantage. Everyone seemed to be able to follow these first lessons without frustration or difficulty. By the time we packed up to leave everyone seemed both pleased and excited with the events of the day.

-Mary http://waveplace.com/news/blog/archive/cat_location_nicaragua.jsp

Nicaragua Day 1

Spent the morning dealing with logistics - unpacking, numbering computers. Bill worked out glitches in upgrading them and trouble shooting that process that would continue well into the night. Meeting with Adam, getting his back story on the project and what he perceives his ability to participate due to all of his other responsibilities here at the camp. Issues arose concerning translators and transportation after the first 2 weeks. Possibilities included getting a local peace corps volunteer on board as well, hiring a local with a vehicle to drive every day (may be cheaper than the rental car option). Adam is looking in to this.
Afternoon: first lesson with Marcial and Roxanna. Roxanna drove Marcial out to the camp from Buenos Aries on her motorcycle. We all exchanged greetings and agreed that we would eat lunch together before we began our first session. Adam was able to share lunch and stay though out the introductory session.
Marcial is a principal at 28 years of age. It was always his dream to become a teacher. He worked very hard and eventually went to Managua to study mathematics. His sister also teaches. He seems warm and jovial, of good humor and patience. He feels that it a "blessing from God" that his school got these computers. Actually the computers will become the property of Camp Alegria (at least as it stands right now). He is concerned over the condition of his school. He is aware that neighboring Costa Rica has computers in elementary schools. His school is in disrepair, has no electricity and serves 172 children in limited space. He knows in his heart that this is a very special project of great importance to the future of these children. He is unfamiliar with computers but is dedicated to this project.
Roxanna is lovely with spunk. While only 18 she finished high school early (at 16) and with Marcial's help was able to go on and get her teaching certificate. She is smart, inquisitive and daring. She was very engaged in the initial introduction and lessons.
Adam senses the promise of the course and training and is anxious to provide whatever support he can to making the project go forward smoothly and effectively. He also gleaned the true value of this project and training after the introduction and initial lesson beautifully delivered by Carolyn with back up support from Bill and myself.
The day was successful. Inspiring. And informal. The evening and night were spent preparing for tomorrows lessons and the first encounter with the children.

-Mary http://waveplace.com/news/blog/archive/cat_location_nicaragua.jsp

SUMMER CAMP: La Chureca

So today we took the kids back to La Chureca, the dump in Managua. I had never seen anything like it. My heart broke for these kids. They were literally living on heaps of trash. When we got out of the van with the kids, we began talking with some of the kids nearby. I just began looking at the faces of the people we saw. It was a look of desperation and hopelessness. In that moment, I knew that this is why I was here. To share a hope that only God could bring to their lives. As we were getting ready to leave, one of the little girls gave me a hug and said “I love you” in English. This was one of the phrases we had been working on during our English lessons with the kids. She was so proud of herself. It was really sweet!

- Lauren

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/CampoAlegria/SUMMERCAMPLaChureca

SUMMER CAMP: Buenos Aires

Today was our last day with the children from Buenos Aires. I have to admit, it is always a little sad to see them leave, but the last couple of days have been amazing. We had so much fun swimming, doing art projects, and just hanging out with the kids. This group of kids really enjoyed learning English. They would always say, “ Como se dice … en espanol” which translates “ How do you say…in Spanish”. We had a lot of fun with it. They enjoyed laughing at me as they tried to help me with my Spanish. My favorite part of camp this week was our devotion time. It was amazing to hear kids that have very little material things, but who are talking about how great our God is and sharing stories of how God is working in their lives.

- Lauren

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/CampoAlegria/SUMMERCAMPBuenosAires

SUMMER CAMP: Menco

We had a great experience with the children from Menco, which is the town that Beatrice is from. The challenge that we had with this camp was that “Swimming/Beach Time” wasn't as exciting because they grew up right on the lake. Instead, we were able to come up with creative Group Game ideas that the campers really got into. Probably the most memorable part of the camp was the night we showed pictures after a movie. Many of the children had been to camp before, so we showed a slide show of pictures from when Chop Point was here two years before. It was so fun to see the expressions on the kid’s faces when they saw themselves up on the big screen from the previous camp. We also showed all of the pictures that we had taken this time. It was amazing to hear everyone laugh and clap after all of the pictures. They were all so sweet!

- Abigail

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/CampoAlegria/SUMMERCAMPMenco

SUMMER CAMP: Nueva Guinea

The children from Nueva Guinea were so much fun to spend time with. About 40 kids drove nine hours from the East Coast of Nicaragua to spend a few days at Campo. This camp was unique in that a few of the kids were from an orphanage there. On the last full day of camp we went to San Juan Del Sur with all of the kids for a picnic by the Pacific Ocean. Only minutes after we got there, it started pouring. God was truly with us, though because it cleared up and we were able to stay long enough to go on a boat ride around the cove.
Right before they left, the owners of the orphanage gave the councelors some gifts from Nicaragua and thanked us for coming down “all the way from the United States” and being with the children. But by the end of the camp, it was definitely true that we appreciated the relationships that we built just as much.

- Abigail

SUMMER CAMP: Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo
Our first camp went very well; the children were extremely excited to be at Campo Alegria. We were also very anxious to get to know the kids because it was the first camp of the summer. We definitely got a surprise when the kids arrived and 20 more than expected showed up. But with God’s help, we were able to run a very successful camp. The greatest thing about the kids who came to this camp is that they live in a town very nearby. Every time we drive to Adam and Rachel’s house we see kids who we had at our first camp. The driving force behind this summer’s camp is building relationships with the people we meet at camp, so having kids that we see on a regular basis at our first camp was a great start to the summer.

- Abigail

Summer Camp

This summer we have decided to have our first ever Summer Camp at Campo Alegria. Through some generous donations and great volunteers we are able to focus all of June and July to summer camps for underprivileged kids around Nicaragua. Every week we have a new group of children come to Campo for a week of fun and learning. We have several college aged volunteers who will act as counselors and will partner up working with the children throughout the summer. We will be posting blogs and photos of the summer as we go along. You can check out our Summer Camp Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/CampoAlegria/.

Turn Around Now!

My week has been full of crunching numbers, fixing retaining walls, trying to order "good quality" fence posts and exploding septic tanks. I have a lot written below so I will forgo the details for now on these projects. I will try to get more updates out on these ongoing projects including the trash and recycling/compost area construction for another time.

I also have photos I took today of the house construction posted online. I have decided to post them online to chronologically track the progress on the house. This way anyone who is interested can see the progress publicly from our website. Also I can send out notices via email without crashing Peter's ancient computer with email attachments. So the link with the most recent construction photos is: http://picasaweb.google.com/CampoAlegria/GuestHouseConstruction
I will be posting the older photos at a later time.

Tomorrow we have another interesting group coming to Campo for a Day, but there is a bit of a story about how they found us.

The day Peter's Family left camp I stayed around for a while to help clean with Oscar. Finally I headed home on the motor bike, as I was about five minutes down the beach I came upon on a group of young kids (girls) swimming in the water next to a flatbed truck parked on the beach. There must have been about fifty young teenagers in all and they seemed like they were having a blast in the water and on the beach. I immediately knew they must be from some sort of Orphanage or School. As I got closer I noticed there were some Nuns sitting in the sand out in the sun with some rickety old chairs with coolers next to them. I slowed down and just out of curiosity I pulled over to talk to the driver of the bus. The wind was blowing hard that day and so I had to yell for him to hear me and I attempted to ask him where he was from. He said they were from a Catholic Orphanage in Granada and that they had driven all the way (2 hours) from Granada just to swim in the lake in Rivas because the lake in Granada was so disgusting and polluted. I then proceeded to ask him how much longer they were going to be at the beach (my intent was to invite them to camp for the day). He must not have understood me correctly because he said only ten minutes. I was surprised because it didn't look like they were going to be leaving in ten minutes but I said "OK" anyway and headed on down the beach.

As I headed down the beach I couldn't get the group out of my mind, something kept telling me to turn around and double check their plans with the leaders. I convinced myself that it was my imagination talking and that I should get home because Rachel would be glad to see me for lunch. Further down the beach, again I heard a voice tell me to turn around. I told myself I was tired, plus I would look like an idiot going back there and bothering them again with the same question. Finally right as I was entering the road exiting the beach, again something said: Turn Around Now! I was so far away I couldn't see the group anymore at all so I stopped my bike and basically said: "God if you want me to turn around I will, but I'm not happy about it".

I turned around on the beach and drove all the way back down to the group feeling embarrassed as if I was some sort of stalker. As I pulled up I stopped next to the Nuns sitting on the beach in the sun and introduced myself in Spanish and asked them how long they were going to be on the beach for. One Nun looked at me with a smirk as if she knew I would be coming back and answered me in perfect English; "we just got here and we will be here all day". Suddenly I realized that I was meant to turn around, and that it hadn't been my own voice in my head I had been hearing.

I immediately told them who I was and what Campo Alegria was and that it was down the beach only five minutes. I told them they would be welcome to use it free for the day, they could use the kitchen and dinning hall for their lunch, the bathrooms would be available, that we had drinking water and places for them to sit out of the sun with hammocks and chairs. The Nun who spoke English suddenly sprain to here feet and said "YES, we would love to come"! She then proceeded to round up the girls in excitement telling all of them in Spanish that everyone needed to pack up immediately and hop on the truck because we were headed somewhere else for the day; suddenly this frenzy broke out of excitement and anticipation that I hadn't expected. The nun was telling all of the girls in Spanish: "see, God always takes care of us, always!"

The girls were all having fun and singing and talking on the truck as we headed down the beach; myself on a motorbike followed by a flatbed truck full of fifty singing kids and three nuns probably looked a little bit weird to bystanders. As we arrived at camp we pulled up in between the dinning hall and the first cabin courtesy of the new road next to the house. As we pulled up suddenly the singing and giggling on the truck simmered down and shock set it of what exactly the Camp was. The team must have been expecting a small shack on a sand dune or something similar because they didn't know what to do with themselves at first. None of them seemed to be able to believe that a place like Campo Alegria could exist five more minutes down the beach from where they were. As the group unloaded from the truck they kept asking permission to enter the buildings, I kept reiterating; "yes it's all yours for the day". The Nuns kept asking me; are you sure it's free? No cost? Nothing?

The team had brought a pot of beans that had been pre-cooked at the orphanage before leaving and had planned on eating it cold on the beach. Beatrice came up to help and we immediately fired up the stoves and began warming them up for lunch. The group had a great day lounging in the hammocks on the porches and swimming in the lake.
This group ended up being one of the most polite and considerable teams I have ever seen use the camp. The Catholic Orphanage requires all the attending children to take English, Music and Dance Lessons as part of their daily program. Throughout the day many of the children practiced there English on me as we hung out together around camp, played their guitars, sang songs and practiced their dance routines in the dinning hall. Oscar and I also saddled up some horses so the kids could take turns riding up and down the beach throughout the day.

As I talked more with the Nuns I learned that the Orphanage was actually a Mother Teresa Home for the Poor, and that all of the girls in the Orphanage had been rescued from situations in which they were either abandoned or abused. There was one girl who I will always remember, she was severely retarded and was unable to walk or talk and had to be carried around from place to place by the other girls. She was nineteen years old but looked like a ten year old and she had been found tied to a tree in Granada on a street. She had been at the Orphanage for about a year and was so cared for and loved by the other girls it was an amazing thing to see. The other girls all took turns helping her out and included her in everything they did, Oscar and I carried her down to the beach so she could sit in the water with her peers and it was an amazing thing to see how much love was in the hearts of the children that day.

The Head Nun also told me that earlier that day as they were leaving Granada the kids had asked her where they were going to stay in Rivas while swimming. She had responded, "I don't know but God will take care of us, he always takes care of us". She explained to me that when she saw me pull up on the beach for the first time and talk with the driver she had thought "this is it; God is going to do something". She also mentioned that she wasn't very surprised at all when I had come back the second time to talk to them again.

As the team started packing up to leave that evening Oscar and I were mingling around to say our goodbyes to the team. The group then asked if they could sing a song to us before leaving and of course we said yes. The entire orphanage proceeded to line up like a choir and pull out two guitars they had in tow. They sang one of the most beautiful Spanish songs I have heard and they were so happy radiant as a group. I had a true missionary moment as I stood there with the sun setting and the volcanoes in the background with a beautiful group of people who love God singing together. It was just another day at Campo for me until I turned around and went back on direction from God and it ended up being a day that I will always remember. It reminded me why I am in Nicaragua in the first place, and how when we choose to be obedient to God and trust in him he will bless us in ways that we could never imagine. This was my favorite day in Nicaragua thus far.

Oscar and I took a special trip to visit the Orphanage in Granada the week after and got to meet with the directors and have a look around. It is an amazing place.

Although we need to charge groups at camp for their usage to pay our bills, I'm afraid I have a small addiction to allowing groups like these to come for free. This group will be visiting tomorrow at camp; for free again, and I will be so glad to see them.

Chop Point

Well, Chop Point has come and gone in the blink of an eye.

It was a great two weeks having the Chop Point crew at Campo. They are the masters and inventors of running kids camps in Nicaragua and this year was yet another exceptional adventure.

We had a few obstacles as usual, some bigger than others, but I couldn't think of a better group of people to have around to roll with the punches and dodge the bullets that Nicaragua can throw at a mission team than the Chop Point gang.

In the past years there has never been a problem with pulling the entire small school in Buenos Aries out of class to come to Campo Alegria for a few days for fun and learning. The teachers saw it beneficial as did the parents of the students, and in recent years so did the superintendent of schools. This year however there seems to be a new superintendent of schools and all of a sudden a week long field trip didn't seem like such a great idea anymore. Oscar and I tried to talk with the superintendent and explain that although a week away from school may sound ludicrous to them, the students would be experiencing things that they would never get in a normal five hour school day here in Nicaragua.

Not a lot of Nicaraguan children get to break rocks into sand on the beach and then go and look at it under a microscope for the first time and draw what they see on a microscopic level. Not many children will get the chance to learn basic English skills on a fun and interactive level that will give many of them the desire to go and learn more later on in life and possibly change their future. Not many children in Nicaragua get to swim and play in the lake with High School students from the US who are willing to take the time to mentor a youngster and show them a kind and gentle spirit. (Not to mention geography, arts and crafts, puzzles, the best food they have ever had and a movie every night before bed).

In light of all these things we were just passed off to the superintendents in Managua who require a personal meeting with a presentation of who we are as an organization. This will all be done at a later date, but for the time being we had to adjust our calendar a bit. Instead of a week long camp, we settled for two weekend camps.

Both camps went extremely well, and in the end everything was a success.

As usual, at the end of the camp Chop Point handed out donated backpacks, school supplies, clothes and shoes to the kids before they loaded the bus.

Chop Point has posted their daily updates of their trip on their Websites Blog at: http://nicaragua.choppoint.org/

Or you can find them under the Campo Alegria Blog Roll at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Campoblogrollerfeed where you can subscribe by RSS to all of Campo Alegria affiliated team blogs like Chop Point's.

Photos have been posted of the Chop Point trip to the Campo Alegria Photo Compilation Here: http://www.campoalegria.com/MediaDownloads/Photos/

You can find out more about Chop Point the organization at: http://www.choppoint.org/

From the Mission Teams Mouth

We don't think there is a better way to express how the Maine Street Baptist trip went in February than to just post thier own words straight from their team blog. So here it is:


"Well. We came, we saw, and we shared The Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have returned home to Brunswick, ME now, and I know that I, personally can say that my life will never be the same. We experienced poverty & opression, pain, joy, sadness, laughter, and tears EVERY day in Nicaragua. We fell in love with the people and the culture, and I know that I can personally say my passion for the foreign mission field grew tenfold over the past week and a half.We built the addition to the Marenco's home, hosted EFL classes, held our Childrens' Camp, attended a local church, toured Granada and Mesaya, visited San Juan Del Sur on the Pacific Coast.. But I would think it safe to say that the most important thing we did was built relationships. The Nicaraguan people are no longer strangers to us, but they are now friends and some are even brothers and sisters in the unified body of Christ. I'm not sure there was a dry eye in the entire group as we left Campo Alegria to begin our journey home. We will miss the friends and experiences we shared. This trip far exceeded any expectations any of us could ever have imagined, and for that, our little group of 12 has formed a bond which cannot be severred. And now we can't help but to ask ourselves "Was it all a dream, or did it really happen?"..."
Posted by: Erika Devonne

Maine Street Baptist

New Camp Photos from the Maine Street Baptist Church team in Brunswick, Maine have been posted online at: http://campoalegria.com/MediaDownloads/Photos/

You can check out the trip blog at:
http://www.msbcnica.blogspot.com/

More updates on the teams trip coming soon!

Cross Point

A team from Cross Point Ministries in Tennessee came a few weeks ago and ran one of the best kid’s camps I have seen in awhile.


The attending children were from an Orphanage in Didiamba where our good friends Emerson and OCL Diaz help to coordinate it along side their amazing Mother. The camp was four days long and the kids had a blast. It wasn't the first time for all of the kids to be at Campo thanks to OCL and Emerson’s involvement in the past but we did have some new guys who have been added to the Orphanage since the last trip. The Cross Point Camp photos have been posted on our website at: http://www.campoalegria.com/MediaDownloads/Photos/.


The team did an amazing job with crafts and outside games. Dodge ball, swimming and relays were some of the bigger hits. It was the fist time I have seen an activity in Sand Castle building; it was a genius idea.



We're looking forward to having Cross Point back again next year.


You can see the Cross Point website at: http://www.crosspointinternational.org/

Spiritual T-Shirts

Rachel and I are getting excited to come home this Christmas for a few weeks and visit everyone in Maine as well as gather our documents for our Nica residency permits. We have been busy this week getting a foundation set up and poured for Maine Street Baptist in February that will be building the addition for the Morenco family down the beach. We are also signing up kids for a camp they will run and ESL classes they will have for the school teachers and other locals who are interested.

Our local school down the beach let out last week for the end of the year. I decided to attend the Parent/Teacher meeting with Oscar. As report cards were being passed out I decided to take a peek at His son's (Yasser) grades. He is an excellent student and gets very good grades maybe one day he can attend Chop Point if he wishes and then return to Nicaragua to make a difference. He begins English classes in a year.
At the local school meeting I began to notice the situation many of the people in our area are in. Most of them walked to the meeting, some rode their horse drawn carts, and maybe one or two rolled in on a beat up motorbike. I began to notice a considerable difference between the families living in Buenos Aires and those living 10 minutes away in Rivas. I had never really noticed the large social gap before, sometimes coming straight from America you see everyone as poor in Nicaragua; but in actuality there really is a large dividing line between a small town like Rivas and the even more forgotten countryside surrounding Camp. Tattered cloths, no electricity, little work and little healthcare is the daily life for so many people in our area. Driving ten minutes away in San Jorge you begin to instantly see homes with cars, water and electricity.

The school struggles so much; they are a hundred yards from power lines but will never have the money to get electricity at the school for fans, lights or a water pump. Not only does “organization” seem to drop off at Buenos Aires but so does help. The missionary line in Nicaragua still seems to diminish around the Granada area, and only two other families besides ours are currently in Rivas. There is a definite battle to fight discouragement and hopelessness in towns like Buenos Aires that you can see so vividly as I talked to the teachers about the future of the school.

It can get difficult living in a Rivas, it’s off the beaten track for missions and there are very few ex-pats to mingle with. Even in the travel books, all of the cities of Nicaragua are highlighted for tourists, except for Rivas. Most travel books recommend the only reason anyone would want to stay in Rivas is if you’re passing through on your way to Ometepe, San Juan or Costa Rica. Even when I talk with mission teams and missionaries in Nicaragua, it’s a common line to mention how far away Campo is from Managua and how much easier it is to go to the other cities in Nicaragua with mission teams.

As I was listening to the financial plans for this coming year at the school I noticed a child sitting in front of me on a step patiently waiting for the long “boring” meeting to get over. He was playing with rocks and twigs on the ground in front of him trying his hardest to be patient. As I was thinking about the irony in the lack of money, help and man power available for a country so close to the U.S., I notice one of my favorite things in Nicaragua.

The boy’s shirt said Wells Beach. Even when I saw the shirt, Wells Beach didn’t click at first. But then after thinking a little bit more, of course it was a shirt from Wells Beach, Maine. In a small country town in Southern Nicaragua, where there are no major mission bases or constant flows of missions teams - you can find shirts that mark the treading of a small non-profit organization in Woolwich, Maine. Sure you can find signs of Chop Point in La Chureca and probably some other parts of Nica as well, but it’s more impressive to me that you can find signs of donations and volunteer work in a “forgotten town” like Buenos Aires. This is boring to most people and it really isn’t that big of a deal, but I find the more I invest my time in Campo the more rewarding it is to see the impact in the community.
More than anything, a t-shirt is a symbol for something much greater than just clothing. It’s a sign of the eternal impact that Campo Alegría is making in peoples lives. Every camp we have is another seed that is sown, another opportunity to follow up on, and another door is opened; it’s a huge calling. It is overwhelming sometimes when I realized how isolated we really are here. Sometimes it crosses my mind that if only Campo was a little bit closer to Managua than all of our problems would be solved. But seeing a shirt from Wells Beach, Maine on a child who may not have means to buy new shirts at all reminds me that we are exactly where God wants us, and in the end it will be worth all of the struggles.

I wonder how many “spiritual t-shirts" I pass every day in our community. How many people are wearing the impact of Campo Alegría, and all of the time and prayer that has gone into the community? How many kids have come to our camps and had an experience that will last a lifetime?

I suppose that’s how God sees us. We all have t-shirts that show a history of our lives. Things that have impacted us and encouraged us in the past that shaped us into what we are today.
I guess I have a spiritual t-shirt as well from Chop Point, from when I was a camper. I suppose it would have words on it like: Love, Forgiveness and Redemption on it. There are people and experiences that God has used to shape me into the person I am today because they took the time. What an honor it is to be a part of something much bigger than we will ever see or comprehend.

Lots to be done ...

I visited the school in Buenos Aires and checked in on how they are doing. The screens on the windows have held up, the well is working and the schools paint looks pretty good. After assessing their situation, there is a need for a bathroom makeover. It is a “porta potty” style with shallow holes for the waste, and at this point I wouldn’t want to know how many fly’s go in and out and then land on the kids. The smell gets unbearable inside and there is little privacy, especially for the staff. The teachers told me that if there is anything we ever want to do to help out that situation they would gladly receive it. Since they get so much wind from the lake a windmill connected to their pump, a water tank, septic tank and some piping could get them flushable toilets. In the calm season a $160.00 dollar generator and a small pump would fill their tank every week. The wooden slats on the bathroom walls are getting beyond just paint every year and should probably be replaced sometime soon. We may be able to convince the Mayor to give a small amount per month for gasoline in the generator. The whole project would probably be around $2,500 for supplies.



I have made an American friend in San Jorge who owns a hotel a few blocks from our house. He has five horses that he keeps on his property year around and originally had bought them to ride. As most horse owners he has now decided that he’s not able to ride them as much as needed. After explaining to him what we do at Camp and that we are interested in incorporating horse back riding he suggested that we take his horses on permanent loan. He gave us two Geldings, a Mare, and two Colts along with two saddles. The horses are enough to begin a small program that hopefully will be a fun activity for the kids at camp as well as gringo mission teams passing through.

I met with Halle August last week and picked his brain on the last four or five years that he has been here. What an amazing ministry he has going on, and what a huge impact sports can have on children’s lives especially in this country. It would be great if one day Campo could have a finished baseball and soccer field available for the local community to use, as well as the use for our camps. There are many churches (in the south especially) that would love to come and run simple sports camps for a week at a time. It would be a lot of work though to level and grade the land the cattle are currently on, but of course as always, it’s nothing for God.