Elena quickly became one of our closest friends in the community,
reaching out to us upon our arrival to Nicaragua. She is a constant
positive presence in both our advanced English and exercise classes,
keeping all those around her smiling. Last Friday, Tessa and I had the
privilege to watch her graduate from high school with eight of her
peers, although she almost missed the entire ceremony because she was
matriculating into university. In March, she begins her classes at UNAN
and is considering studying international relations, an interest which
she attributes to our classes in el Farito. Additionally, she will be
joining our literacy team in January, helping younger children in her
community value education and succeed in school. We, as her friends
and teachers, could not be more proud. These are her words (in English) about her
experience thus far with Manna Project:
"Manna Project is doing a great job in my community. They help a
lot of people, specially to the kids and the students like me. This
organization has helped me a lot with English class, because this class
is very important to get a good job. [Through] Manna Project, I learn a
lot about American culture and I have the chance of meeting a lot of
people and making friends out of my country. I go to exercise class for
women, too. This class is very fun and healthy.'
"As
well as English and exercise class, Manna Project has other
activities for children like classes of math, music, art and literacy.
Next year I will will with Manna Project in literature class because I
think all of these activities help a lot of the kids in my community.
They learn and have a fun time after school and they get better [at]
reading, understanding, and writing."
