Addition of the Literacy Campaign Blog
I am pleased to announce that we are welcoming the addition of a new project here at La Mariposa!
Patrick (intern) and I (intern) have been hard at work in teaming up our volunteers with a nation-wide literacy campaign called la Cruzada Nacional de Alfabetización. Yesterday, Danny (coordinator for this area) explained to us the ins and outs of the program! The purpose of the program is to help adults to read and write. Individuals participating in the program can be anywhere from 15 to 65 years old and receive classes from volunteers one hour a day, Monday-Friday, for a duration of 12 weeks. Volunteers receive training from the local coordinator and are then paired up with as many or few students as they like!
There are currently around 422 illiterate adults signed up in La Concepción alone, with plenty more in need.
Part of Danny´s job is seeking out individuals that qualify for this program. So, yesterday, Patrick and I accompanied Danny on a trip to the poorest barrio of La Concepción, Panama.
*Above, the first family that we visited! We soon found out that this sector of Panama is all part of the same family!
*Danny makes sure to equip each participant with the workbook, notebook, pencil, and pencil sharpener shown above.
*Danny, our fearless leader!
We visited about 10 families this day, all the while walking in the hot sun up steep untailored paths, and it was totally worth it! The truth is that Nicaraguans, living in areas like Panama, are eager to learn, but often stop going to school at a young age. The reason for the high drop-out rate is largely due to lack of water. Many have to get up before the sun in order to walk for miles to the main road to get water, making it extremely difficult to attend classes at the same time.
The coordinators of la Cruzada Nacional de Alfabetización are very optimistic and envision the program to be very successful!
*Some friends we made along the way!
