2009: Founding the La Yahoska Library

2009 Project Summary:

1) The Yahoska library was constructed, thanks to the many donors (you know who you are!). The girls now have access to books at their home. With the $2000 raised, I was able to buy several hundred books for the library.

To the right is Doña Ivania (the Los Quinchos librarian/my homestay mother) at Ispamer, the main book store in Managua. In the middle is a photo of Chris (a carpenter from the United States, was generous enough to make the bookshelf for free) and a few workers from Los Quinchos helping to set up the bookshelves needed for the project.

Below are photos of the girls helping to organize the books into categories, labeling of the categories on the bookshelf, and the final product!

2) Together, we did a good bit of both individual and group reading. I was pleased to see their interest and enthusiasm for reading increase over the course of my stay.

2) With the Yahoska psychologist present, we organized and lead a two-part sexual education workshop with the oldest girls. Each session lasted about two hours and the girls had the chance to discuss any topics they chose. For thirty minutes, the girls wrote down questions they had and passed them in anonymously. We then formed a circle and placed all the questions in the middle. The girls read them aloud and we had discussions about each question. The intention was to only do one session, but the girls requested a second.

3) Using the poetry of Ruben Dario, Garcia Lorca, and Pablo Neruda, I put together poetry

books for each of the girls. Using these compositions, we engaged in poetry workshops in which we learned about similes, metaphors, personification, and the use of vivid imagery. After the workshop series, the girls had the chance to write their own poetry and prose. The girls produced some fantastic work!

4) Using the poetry and prose the girls wrote over the duration of the workshop, they performed their favorite pieces at the Quinchos first Open Mic Night. Italian volunteers, the directors of Los Quinchos, as well as many boys from the boys program attended the two-hour performance. The girls performed beautifully. To prepare for the performance, we had a long dress-rehersal. We practiced how to project our voices, speak with distinction, and stand proudly to share.

2009: Return to Nica. Fundraising and Planning

I feel fiery and frenzied as I fiddle with whatever I can get my hands on...anxiously waiting to return to Nicaragua, the country I started to know and love summer of 2009. I am ready to return!

About a month from today I will be lucky enough to return to Nicaragua for a second CPGC internship, entitled as a "continuing connections" grant. I can't describe the pent up excitement that is causing me to wretch around in my desk chair every day while doing psychology research at Haverford College (for the two months preceding my internship). So the 2009 blog starts here! Please read below if you are interested in my last year's adventures.

Firstly, I would like to thank Jeffrey and Christina Lurie, who have been ever so generous as to contribute a generous donation to my upcoming library project. The plan is to start a library at the Yahoska complex (read below for a description). This week I will be sending out letters to friends and family in order to raise more money for books and library supplies. Library project #2 is getting way.

I also met a psychologist during the Red Sox/Phillies game who is eager to help me plan my second project for the summer, a small poetry/writing workshop. The workshop will try to incorporate and encourage the expression of pain and domestic violence topics. This psychologist has written a book for adults regarding the process of surviving 'rape and sexual assault,' and he is also on the review board for a known psychology journal.

The race is on to plan as much as possible in the next month before I head down south. But as many of us know, plans need to be malleable if any implementation and sustainability is desired.