So, my friend Megan teaches Spanish at a school back in Cincinnati. She recently sent Thomas, another JV, and me a video from her class asking questions about life here in Nicaragua. Here is the original video full of great questions.
After we saw this awesome video we were struck by some of the very intriguing questions. We sat down right away to construct our response. We had such a great time making the video! Here is our response.
Thanks to Megan and her class for the great assignment!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
¡Visita del Padre General Adolfo Nicolás, SJ!
It was such an honor today to have Father General Adolfo Nicolás SJ visit Colegio Roberto Clemente. It is not everyday that the Father General comes to Nicaragua. It may be the only time he passes by this way. He spent about an hour and a half here at school where he took a short tour and met with student and faculty representatives from the four Fe y Alegría schools in the area. There were a number of short speeches and cultural acts, including an amazing violin and guitar acompaniment by one of my students and her father. For me the highlight of the morning was hearing the Father General's short talk. Instead of preaching to the students he walked in front of the podium and began to ask them questions. In his few, but impactful, words he emphasized the role of education as a means to joy, faith, tolerance toward non-christian religions(!) and service to others, en todo amar y servir (In everything love and serve). Fe y Alegría as a project of the Jesuits serves over one million students worldwide. Colegio Roberto Clemente was chosen to receive the Father General because it was the first Fe y Alegría school in Nicaragua, founded in 1974. After spending the past ten years studying or working in Jesuits insitutions it was such an honor for me to meet the man in charge. As he was leaving my friend Yamil and I ran to get a photo with him. For being such a powerful and influential man in the Church he seemed, above all, like a genuine and humble man.
Here are some highlights from the morning:
Students waiting to welcome Adolfo Nicolás with flowers
Adolfo Nicolás SJ sitting with students from Colegio Roberto Clemente
Nicolás walking around campus with Roberto Clemente student, Fernando Cardenal SJ, national director of Fe y Alegría is seen in the background.
Yamil in front of the newly painted front wall in honor of the Father General's visit
Andrés a Swiss volunteer with Fe y Alegría, Adolfo Nicolás SJ, and me
Prof. Ena, me, Prof. Bertha, and Prof. Magaly from Col. Roberto Clemente
Here are some highlights from the morning:
Students waiting to welcome Adolfo Nicolás with flowers
Adolfo Nicolás SJ sitting with students from Colegio Roberto Clemente
Nicolás walking around campus with Roberto Clemente student, Fernando Cardenal SJ, national director of Fe y Alegría is seen in the background.
Yamil in front of the newly painted front wall in honor of the Father General's visit
Andrés a Swiss volunteer with Fe y Alegría, Adolfo Nicolás SJ, and me
Prof. Ena, me, Prof. Bertha, and Prof. Magaly from Col. Roberto ClementeTuesday, April 13, 2010
The Catch Up
I know it's getting bad in the blog department when my mom starts comparing my blog to that of Christine's. I know it's been sparse. The past month or so has been incredibly busy. We've had tons of guests, a week off for Holy Week, community retreat, and things at work keep me busy. Over Holy Week or Semana Santa we had three volunteers from Belize come down to visit. After about 6 buses, a boat, and a couple taxis they arrived at our house. It was great having other JVs in the house. I have to say, they were the easiest guests we´ve had. They knew just how to pitch in and how to sit idly in front of the fan with no need for entertainment. But in all seriousness, they are great girls and it was really special to share experiences of being a JV in two very distinct places. While the Belize JVs were here we took advantage of the Jesuit community's house at the Laguna de Apoyo. During Holy Week the beaches and lakes of Nicaragua are FULL of people. Sadly, many people die of drunken swimming and riptides. The lake where we went was happily chill with almost no one in sight, and gracias a Dios no one drowned.
Yesterday we returned from our first retreat of the year. Although it came a little late for us, the retreat was much needed. We were all feeling a little stretched thin. The first years are starting to get over the honeymoon period of being in love with Nicaragua, and I know at least I have been feeling tired and stretched thin. The second year experience while easier in many respects has many challenges. One of those challenges is staying present. For me it has been challenging to continually renew myself and continue to fall in love with my life here. Luckily, the theme of our retreat was Falling in Love. The theme comes from a saying of Pedro Arrupe, SJ.
I really needed this retreat. It helped me get some perspective, cool down, and in a small way re-fall in love with Nicaragua.
Work lately has been up and down. I don't know what happens but sometimes my students are amazing, wonderful, brights little people, and sometimes they are horrible and devilish beasts. I can't explain what happens. I'm sure it's a combination of my own energy levels and presense in class and how much sugar they ate at recess, among other factors. Today was one of those days when, in the middle of class, I thought to myself: What would happen if I crossed the street, packed one bag, and took off? Those feelings always pass. I know that I freely choose to be here everyday. There is something liberating in that. I do love my students, but man some days it is hard to love them.
Well, that's what I have for now. I am currently reading The Brother's K by David James Duncan. It's really good so far. There's a lot in it about this thing called Baseball. It's apparently some kind of sport. They say people like it... (Yes, that's for you Joe.) It's a modern redering of the Brother's Karamozov and most importantly by the author of The River Why.
Yesterday we returned from our first retreat of the year. Although it came a little late for us, the retreat was much needed. We were all feeling a little stretched thin. The first years are starting to get over the honeymoon period of being in love with Nicaragua, and I know at least I have been feeling tired and stretched thin. The second year experience while easier in many respects has many challenges. One of those challenges is staying present. For me it has been challenging to continually renew myself and continue to fall in love with my life here. Luckily, the theme of our retreat was Falling in Love. The theme comes from a saying of Pedro Arrupe, SJ.
“Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in a love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”
I really needed this retreat. It helped me get some perspective, cool down, and in a small way re-fall in love with Nicaragua.
Work lately has been up and down. I don't know what happens but sometimes my students are amazing, wonderful, brights little people, and sometimes they are horrible and devilish beasts. I can't explain what happens. I'm sure it's a combination of my own energy levels and presense in class and how much sugar they ate at recess, among other factors. Today was one of those days when, in the middle of class, I thought to myself: What would happen if I crossed the street, packed one bag, and took off? Those feelings always pass. I know that I freely choose to be here everyday. There is something liberating in that. I do love my students, but man some days it is hard to love them.
Well, that's what I have for now. I am currently reading The Brother's K by David James Duncan. It's really good so far. There's a lot in it about this thing called Baseball. It's apparently some kind of sport. They say people like it... (Yes, that's for you Joe.) It's a modern redering of the Brother's Karamozov and most importantly by the author of The River Why.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Oscar Romero Disappeared by the Right...Again
I know I have not posted anything for such a long time, but I wanted to share this video. My community recently returned from El Salvador for the 30th anniversary of Oscar Romero's martyrdom. For the first time in 30 years the anniversary will be recognized by the Salvadoran government, however the Texas Board of Education thinks Romero is't worth remembering. This is a sad and comical.
In other news, things here are going well. Another, more updated, entry will be filed soon. Thanks for your patience.
In other news, things here are going well. Another, more updated, entry will be filed soon. Thanks for your patience.
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Don't Mess With Textbooks | ||||
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Friday, February 12, 2010
First Days of Class
This past week I started giving Enlgish classes at school. My first class of Technical English went really. The kids are older, in tenth grade. I spoke almost entirely in English, and believe it or not they pretty much unterstood everything I said, with a little help from other students. I felt like the first day of class with them went so well. That is until day two. Only four out of thirty-five students did their homework and two of them copied off each other. It was really dissapointing. I let them know how dissappointed I was too. Hopefully the next class they will step up. Other than that things are going well. The little kids are loving the songs and children´s stories I´ve been reading to them. My mom brought down a Dora the Explorer book in English and Spanish. The kids love that and they are already picking up on the English parts.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Change They Needed?
This may be a big surprise to most readers in the United States, but the situation in Honduras has not been resolved like the media has been reporting. In fact, it is quite the contrary.
Today I had the honor and priviledge of hearing from a Honduran journalist who has been exiled in Nicaragua. He was escorted out of Honduras, by human rights groups protecting his life, after four of his coworkers were assasinated and he was detained and tortured by military personel for 36 hours straight. They beat him on the bottom of his feet, his stomach, and his testicles. They essetionally waterboarded him by putting him under a chair and pouring water down his nose and mouth until near drowning. The strangled him with a wire. The stories he told were horifying and moved many to tears.
The military tortured him because they believed he was part of an armed resistance movement. This was not true. He has been one of the few journalist who has been able to get information out about what is really happening.
Honduras, for the past 7 months has been a militarized police state with little to no constitutional rights. The military took over any media outlet speaking out against the repression and even took over the autonomous national universities. Many people think that with the recent elections and with a new president in power things will change. This journalist does not believe so. He cannot go home.
This is any interesting fact: when the Managua mayorial elections were deemed fradulent in Fall of 2008 the US cut funds for the Millenium Challenge Goals in Nicaragua. There were no deaths, repression, or human rights abuses, but an already poor country was cut of much needed funds. In contrast, in the wake of an illegal coup accompanied by nationwide curfews, military repression, and more than 130 deaths at the hands of police and military, the United States never took a strong stance against what has happened and what continues to happen. The new president is but a figurehead for the powers that control Honduras. Sadly that includes the local church and nearly all economic and political interests. I recently have reflected that Americans are often lulled into a stuper with the election of a new president. I believed Obama would change US foreign policy and bring in a new reign of change and maybe even some "justice for all," not just US. Does a new president change anything? What has happened in Honduras is frighteningly similar to what happened all over Latin American during the Cold War, when Military Dictorships were more prevalent than democracies in the hemisphere. They were not only supported by the US but often created by the US. Why are these things still happening in Latin America? Thirty years from now will someone write another Bitter Fruit about what has happened in Honduras and will we realize that the intellectual authors were not the Honduran people but rather our own government officials and that is was financed by our very own tax dollars? I hope not, but we are responsible for what our government does abroad. We must stay informed and speak out.
I invite you to watch this video. I saw it earlier today. It is all real and a testimony to the horror felt by so many Hondurans, including the journalist who realized the project before being exiled to Nicaragua. It is found on the Quixote Center website. Check out this organization. They are doing some really good work.
Today I had the honor and priviledge of hearing from a Honduran journalist who has been exiled in Nicaragua. He was escorted out of Honduras, by human rights groups protecting his life, after four of his coworkers were assasinated and he was detained and tortured by military personel for 36 hours straight. They beat him on the bottom of his feet, his stomach, and his testicles. They essetionally waterboarded him by putting him under a chair and pouring water down his nose and mouth until near drowning. The strangled him with a wire. The stories he told were horifying and moved many to tears.
The military tortured him because they believed he was part of an armed resistance movement. This was not true. He has been one of the few journalist who has been able to get information out about what is really happening.
Honduras, for the past 7 months has been a militarized police state with little to no constitutional rights. The military took over any media outlet speaking out against the repression and even took over the autonomous national universities. Many people think that with the recent elections and with a new president in power things will change. This journalist does not believe so. He cannot go home.
This is any interesting fact: when the Managua mayorial elections were deemed fradulent in Fall of 2008 the US cut funds for the Millenium Challenge Goals in Nicaragua. There were no deaths, repression, or human rights abuses, but an already poor country was cut of much needed funds. In contrast, in the wake of an illegal coup accompanied by nationwide curfews, military repression, and more than 130 deaths at the hands of police and military, the United States never took a strong stance against what has happened and what continues to happen. The new president is but a figurehead for the powers that control Honduras. Sadly that includes the local church and nearly all economic and political interests. I recently have reflected that Americans are often lulled into a stuper with the election of a new president. I believed Obama would change US foreign policy and bring in a new reign of change and maybe even some "justice for all," not just US. Does a new president change anything? What has happened in Honduras is frighteningly similar to what happened all over Latin American during the Cold War, when Military Dictorships were more prevalent than democracies in the hemisphere. They were not only supported by the US but often created by the US. Why are these things still happening in Latin America? Thirty years from now will someone write another Bitter Fruit about what has happened in Honduras and will we realize that the intellectual authors were not the Honduran people but rather our own government officials and that is was financed by our very own tax dollars? I hope not, but we are responsible for what our government does abroad. We must stay informed and speak out.
I invite you to watch this video. I saw it earlier today. It is all real and a testimony to the horror felt by so many Hondurans, including the journalist who realized the project before being exiled to Nicaragua. It is found on the Quixote Center website. Check out this organization. They are doing some really good work.
Repression in Honduras / Honduras Reprimido from Quixote Center on Vimeo.
If the video does not work you can find hit here.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Back to School, Oh Back to School
Yesterday was the start of Año Escolar 2010. I cannot believe it is here already. The past two months of vacation and family visits seem like an ancient dream as I get back into work-life. I´ve recently been reflecting on last year at this time. I was overwhelmed and nervous to be around so many kids and teachers and I had no idea what I was doing. Today, on the second day of class I was called to sub for a sixth grade teacher who was coming in late. From 7 until 10:30 I subbed and basically taught a Spanish and Math class. I would´ve never dreamed last year that I could do that. I even maintained relative discipline.
I have some exciting news from school. I will be teaching English to all preschoolers through fourth graders, as well as teaching a technical English class to the kids working in the auto workshop. Many technical documents and instructions are in English, so I will be teaching them how to recognize, read, and speak this technical side of English. Now, I know how to change the oil on a car. I can change a flat. But, I don´t know much about crankshafts and piston rings. I´m reminded of the joke, I think my dad tells, about the Jesuit who asks another Jesuit, "Do you have a degree in astrophysics?" The other responds, "No, I haven´t taught that yet." That´s how I feel as I take on this new task of technical English. I think it will be really fun. I already am getting closer to the staff at the workshops. They have a great teachers lounge with internet and Mexican ranchera music playing all the time. I am very happy that I have been given more responsiblity at work and I feel likeI will be able to contribute more. If anyone has advice or experience teaching this kind of English please let me know. I´d love to bounce some ideas off you.
In other news the new volunteers are settling in quite well. Community life is off and rolling. We have been having some really great conversations about our intentionality and how we can more deepen our committments to simplicity and justice. One thing we are going to do is stop shopping at the Pali right by our house. We didn´t have one last year and it´s been really tempting to shop there because it´s cheap and convenient. However, it´s owned by Wal-Mart. Two of the three supermarkets in Nicaragua are owned by Wal-Mart. We have chosen instead to support the local outdoor market and our neighbers running ventas and pulperias out of their homes. (So, not to worry generous donors, your contributions are going to support the local economy, not line the pockets of the Wal family.)
Something I´ve been thinking about recently is going home. I don´t think it´ll be as easy to live in solidarity in the US. I know solidarity certainly looked different in college and will certainly look different when I get home. What does solidarity look like for you? Also, I´ll be home in December, 10 months and pico from now. Anyone got a good job for me? Let me know.
I have some exciting news from school. I will be teaching English to all preschoolers through fourth graders, as well as teaching a technical English class to the kids working in the auto workshop. Many technical documents and instructions are in English, so I will be teaching them how to recognize, read, and speak this technical side of English. Now, I know how to change the oil on a car. I can change a flat. But, I don´t know much about crankshafts and piston rings. I´m reminded of the joke, I think my dad tells, about the Jesuit who asks another Jesuit, "Do you have a degree in astrophysics?" The other responds, "No, I haven´t taught that yet." That´s how I feel as I take on this new task of technical English. I think it will be really fun. I already am getting closer to the staff at the workshops. They have a great teachers lounge with internet and Mexican ranchera music playing all the time. I am very happy that I have been given more responsiblity at work and I feel likeI will be able to contribute more. If anyone has advice or experience teaching this kind of English please let me know. I´d love to bounce some ideas off you.
In other news the new volunteers are settling in quite well. Community life is off and rolling. We have been having some really great conversations about our intentionality and how we can more deepen our committments to simplicity and justice. One thing we are going to do is stop shopping at the Pali right by our house. We didn´t have one last year and it´s been really tempting to shop there because it´s cheap and convenient. However, it´s owned by Wal-Mart. Two of the three supermarkets in Nicaragua are owned by Wal-Mart. We have chosen instead to support the local outdoor market and our neighbers running ventas and pulperias out of their homes. (So, not to worry generous donors, your contributions are going to support the local economy, not line the pockets of the Wal family.)
Something I´ve been thinking about recently is going home. I don´t think it´ll be as easy to live in solidarity in the US. I know solidarity certainly looked different in college and will certainly look different when I get home. What does solidarity look like for you? Also, I´ll be home in December, 10 months and pico from now. Anyone got a good job for me? Let me know.
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