GlobalGiving.org: First Steps to Cultural Understanding for US Teens

"Give a Hand to the Education" is alive & well!

Amy Wiza & Lilliam Perez — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:22:13 GMT

Loading up the desks for delivery

This past year after being contacted by the Wautoma school district about a donation of desks, students in Wisconsin, who have traveled to Nicaragua or hosted Youth Ambassadors from Nicaragua, helped to transport the desks to the W/NP warehouse in Stevens Point. Special thanks to all who helped make this possible, including Larry Pingel’s generosity to take several days of transportation, time and much gasoline for the truck/trailer combination to haul all the desks back to Stevens Point, and for being a great mentor/example to the kids. (See photos down below under the Report “Youth do value education!”)

Since that time, on October 2, 2011, Youth Coordinador of the Project “Give a Hand to the Education”, Lilliam Perez provides this update:

Today, an important step was given for: "giving a hand to the education". We delivered 47 tables and 37 chairs for the kids of the school Zoila Aurora (in Nicaragua). We had the participation of parents, kids, teachers, Lion partners from Managua and a representative of the ministry of education.

This event was an alive example of : ·Working together, we make a difference".
We also made a raffle during the event and gave sandwich and coke.. :D

It’s important to recognize the effort of so many who dedicated time and work to succeed in this activity:
-Coordinator of the project: Harting Briones
-Managua Decano Lions club President, Ivan Morales
-Lion partner,past governor Gilberto Alcocer
-Lion Partner Jose Ignacio Aleman
-Lion partner Eduviges Somarriba
-WNP director in Managua: Mirna Angulo
-youth volunteers: Francis Vargas, Zaida Vargas, Xochilt Perez, Amalia Aguilar, Ella Ortega, Carolina Marcenaro, Karla Pérez.

Also I want to remind you without our sponsors, none of this could be possible.
As pictures speak more than a thousand words, I attach some of them, so you can see what we have done together. Special thanks to the Lions club, the director of the school, and all the parents who are supporting and encouraging their kids involvement - it is really great to see the willingness of the youth both in Wisconsin and Nicaragua to stay involved and help out in ways they are able to, long after their initial experiences.

These are people who truly understand the value and spirit of volunteerism – thank you!

Unloading at the school

Putting desks back together

team effort from everyone

A snack of appreciation for the volunteers

long time volunteers!

Links:

More info and photos about project on Facebook

Give a Hand to the Education

Amy Wiza — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:21:59 GMT

Lilliam

Cultivating opportunities for leadership roles and development is an important objective within our youth programs. Below is an update on the most recent activity. The school children who are touched by this youth project will forever be grateful to their Nicaraguan peers who recognized their need to have improved conditions/motivating activities at the school and came up with a plan to meet this need. We appreciate your support as you join in this necessary and worthy endeavor. The title of the youth project, "Giving a Hand to the Education" could not be more appropriate as the creators (Nicaraguan youth) know well the challenges and value in getting a good education. We look forward to welcoming Lilliam, youth project coordinator and stellar volunteer, to Wisconsin as she shares with teens her age what she is doing for others in her country and how volunteerism has become a way of life for her.

“Being a volunteer is a hard job, but it is worthwhile! "Giving a hand to the education " started a few months ago, this is a project in which I work almost every day to keep going by doing collections, raffles and teaching English. Being part of Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners has definitely changed my life, I don’t know if I would be able to do this without them, I have more experience and I feel prepared to take challenges. I have to say that sometimes I´ve felt disappointed, when I fail doing something, when I can´t find people to collaborate or when an activity doesn’t go how I expected. But I´ve never given up and I´ve tried to encourage the Volunteer youth team as much as possible so we can work together and progress in this challenge we´ve taken.

After many efforts, we´ve finally accomplished the first activity for the kids of the school. We took them a piñata full of candies, we gave the kids some cookies and juice and we gave prizes for the best students too. Also we gave t-shirts to the teachers of the school. There was music, the kids were singing, dancing and they were really excited about the activity. When everything finished many kids went to hug us! That was the best part of all, it was so gratifying to receive all those hugs and to see the kids so happy, all the effort we put into this project is worth it.” - Lilliam Perez Managua, Nicaragua

Preparing for the activity at Zoila Aurora

Getting ready

Piñata time!

BIG SWING!

Getting the snacks ready

Snack time

A great day!

Lilliam with the kids

Harting with the students

Links:

More photos on Facebook link

Youth do value education!

Amy L. Wiza — Mon, 02 May 2011 19:09:56 GMT

Project logo

The youth exchanges between Wisconsin and Nicaraguan youth have cultivated an abounding and contagious spirit of volunteerism!

“As I have said before, being a volunteer is a lifestyle, I learned that in the workshop I attended in Paraguay and since the very first day (in 2008) when I got involved with Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners” - Lilliam, Nicaraguan student

Lilliam, along with her Wisconsin and Nicaraguan peers, have demonstrated ingenuity, hospitality, resourcefulness and creativity throughout all of their activities. Through some brainstorming and combining ideas, five Wisconsin youth had a once in a lifetime experience in Nicaragua and forever changed lives….. “I certainly learned a lot on this trip not only about another country's culture but also the way people can act toward one another with so much kindness when they do not even know someone. This trip has without a doubt changed how I look at life. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity, I will never forget it.” - Erin, Wisconsin student

In addition to opening their hearts and homes to their peers from Wisconsin both last year and again this August, the Nicaraguan students continue to mentor the younger generation in their own country by volunteering at the lending libraries and with projects like GIVING A HAND TO EDUCATION. By way of experience and being older students, they lead by example as they know firsthand the value/importance of education and as well as the challenges that can go with it. In talking about the current project Lilliam (Nicaraguan project leader) explains, “it requires a lot of effort and commitment to work in a project like "giving a hand to the education". It is not just about asking money to buy materials for the project, is about activities, work, lot of time, organization and very important is about making people aware of why this is a really important and NECESSARY project. These kids are trying to learn in very bad conditions, they don’t have the supplies and the motivation to keep studying. Many thanks to all for their participation, with their aid we will help that 95 children of the school zoila Aurora have an education of quality."

Thousands of miles away, you can be one of the friends from all over the world who are joining in to collect the resources needed for projects taking place in Nicaragua that promote continuing education for people of all ages. A cooperative effort indeed makes it possible, as there are those who are making monetary donations, schools who are sharing their desks, students and families in Wisconsin that are collecting school supplies, Spanish class students who are making books, volunteers who are picking-up and preparing donated items for transport, and so much more. Your involvement makes a difference! Thank you!

Unloading desks from Wisconsin school

Project details

Cooperative efforts!

Selected school in Nicaragua for program

Documenting need

Spirit of Volunteerism!

Lending a hand

Nicaraguan youth in action

Amy L. Wiza — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:12:32 GMT

Stevens Point Area Senior High School presentation

Nicaraguan and Wisconsin youth continue their involvement

“I had one of the best experiences of all my life last week when I went to Wisconsin speaking about Nicaragua and the Youth Ambassadors program.......which I think is the best way for try to involve new generations of young people in this organization, also is so important to still opening the global vision of the young ...I’ll never forget the friendly people from Wisconsin and I never forget the friendly people from Nicaragua we got this gr8 connection named WNP!!!!!.” Jose Rodriguez

Since his initial visit to Wisconsin with the Partners of the Americas Youth Ambassador program, José has continued his involvement with Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners and has demonstrated dedication and the true spirit of volunteerism, along with an abundance of optimism. José returned to Wisconsin for a short visit to share his life experiences and encourage youth to take advantage of opportunities to be involved with international projects. Over the course of 1 week he presented to well over 300 hundred students at 6 different schools in Wisconsin. Check out this schedule for the Stevens Point high school (they kept him very busy):

1st: 7:35-8:26 in auditorium (powerpoint)

2nd: 8:31-9:22 in auditorium (powerpoint)

3rd: 9:27-10:18 small group informal--no powerpoint

4th:10:23-11:16 small group informal--no power point

5th: 11:21-12:12 free--lunch

6th: 12:14-1:05 in auditorium (powerpoint)

7th: 1:10-2:01 in auditorium (powerpoint)

8th: 2:06-2:57 small group informal--no powerpoint

The dialogue and interactions with fellow students ultimately helps to foster and develop leadership skills among teens as their perspectives are broadened and an increased cultural understanding develops. Person to person diplomacy is nothing new, but easily subordinated or forgotten when the events of central government dominate the news. Citizen exchanges are one of the best practices for achieving cultural understanding.

Currently the youth have several projects in the works – watch for more reports soon about “Giving a Hand to Education” and plans for another summer youth exchange for students from Wisconsin to live with a family for a week or two in Nicaragua.

Postcard from Nicaragua

Mark Skeith — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:55:30 GMT

American students meet the community

While working in Nicaragua at a U.S. foreign aid agency this summer, I had the opportunity to visit Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners at its headquarters in Managua, and I was very happy that I was able to do so during one of the organization’s annual youth gatherings. From the very beginning I liked the feel of this organization because of all the Nicaraguan and American children running around having a good time together. After some previous experience teaching English to children in Japan, I have come to realize that such international exchanges are extremely useful not only to broaden the horizons of Nicaraguan youth but also to encourage all the American participants to serve as little Nicaraguan Ambassadors in the future when they are back in Wisconsin.

My visit started with an introduction to the Program Director, Amy Wiza, who took me around the newly-remodeled office, pointing out the classrooms and donated-goods storage facility (which was chock full of basically anything that could serve a purpose in educating Nicaraguan youth, a testament to Amy’s ability to simply make things work on the ground here). It didn’t take long to learn of a very tumultuous recent event in Amy’s life during our conversation that day: the unfortunate passing of her mother and founder of Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners decades ago. But, as sad as it was to hear of that fact, it was also very touching that Amy will ensure the passing of this non-profit from generation to generation, just as it had lasted through the decades since its inception within the Partners of the Americas network during the JFK era.

The day took a much lighter note almost immediately as, after a quick trip up the road to the town of Tipitapa, I suddenly found myself in the middle of a hilarious Barney piñata beat-down at one of the over 100 learning centers that the organization has established across Nicaragua over the years. I don’t remember too much about my childhood, but I only hope that I was as excited about candy as these children seemed to be. And, while the community children tore this lovable purple dinosaur apart, I enjoyed a great conversation with one of the teenage Nicaraguan participants, who seemed so happy to talk to me about the U.S. and his undying love of our professional sports leagues.

Eventually, after the community gathering had finished, Amy took the group to see the learning center itself, which offered the community a collection of books, maps, board games, and other educational materials that the students could actually check out and bring home to enjoy in the company of their families (a great way to build literacy rates, responsibility, and a sense of community among these children!). The Director of the learning center also pointed out that she encourages local teenage girls who had dropped out of school and/or had been victims of domestic abuse to volunteer at the center to give them a sense of belonging to the community as well. And, one thing in particular caught my eye that captured the spirit of this Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partnership: American students designed and created books in their Spanish classes that were provided to children in this community through this learning center. It is mutually-reinforcing activities like these that will allow the partnership to carry on through the years.

Although I unfortunately had to head back to my town after the learning center visit, Amy headed with the American and Nicaraguan youth participants to nearby Masaya Volcano National Park to explore one of Nicaragua’s most beautiful volcanic landscapes. I only hope that my final image of the group, enjoying each other’s company on the bus as they drove away, will continue into the future as it has persisted across decades and generations in the past.

Community children

Learning center volunteers

Library books created by American students

Youth exchanges exceed our expectations!

Amy Wiza — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:39:35 GMT

youth gathering to share ideas

The Youth of Wisconsin and Nicaragua continue to amaze us with their exceptional communication and leadership skills. In a couple weeks, five Wisconsin High School students will travel to Nicaragua and attend school with their counterparts in Nicaragua gaining a whole new perspective on life!

A recent comment from one of the past travelers from Nicaragua, "I feel that I learned so much, and it has helped me to open my mind to new possibilities and opportunities that I can take advantage of...."

The students who are about to gain this new experience learning from their Nicaraguan peers were asked to share why they have a desire to be involved in youth exchange programs, what roles youth have in the development of our country, "I believe that youth have a crucial role in the development of any nation. We are the future leaders and voters and our experiences while we are growing up will influence how we lead and vote when our time comes. Cultural exchanges like these ones are important because they provide us with different perspectives and ideas which will lead to a more peaceful and open-minded future."

Watch for more updates and photos coming soon on the June 2010 exchange.... IT WAS A DYNAMIC EXPERIENCE FOR ALL INVOLVED!

Bike Hike 2009

Amy Wiza — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:04:27 GMT

Tania and Jose from Nicaragua Speaking in a WI classroom

The third project funded through 1st Steps for US Teens developing cultural understanding has successfully taken place!

After carefully reviewing applications, two teens from Nicaragua were selected to travel to WI. The students visited schools and shared information about what it is like in Nicaragua and how teens like them can make a difference for their country. They also shared information about what WI/Nicaragua Partners does and how US teens can get involved. The students brought presentations and were very prepared to speak, they did an excellent job!

In nine days they spoke at four High Schools, two Rotary Clubs, four Junior High classes, an afterschoool club, on the UW Campus, did a public presentation at the library, as well as participated in a fundraising walk in Stevens Point, and all along the way made new friends and developed individual relationships.

Their visit to WI was planned for the end of October because of our annual Bike/Hike event, the Bike/Hike is an event where through a collaborative effort we walk the distance between WI and Nicaragua. Many schools in the area participate in the Bike/Hike, creating greater opportunity for the students to have these speaking engagements. The results we will see from these teens is unpredictable, but guaranteed to be fruitful!

Thank you once again for taking the time to support our organization and teens like this to come and encourage those in WI.

Jose standing with the W/NP Director

group picture of our 2009 Bike Hike Event

Links:

WNP website

Fiesta Nicaragua

Amy Wiza — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:12:50 GMT

Cristhian and Karla sharing their culture through dance.

August brought many exciting projects to WI Nicaragua Partners. One being the travel of two Youth Ambassadors from Nicaragua to WI, to share with everyone here, specifically teens, the impact we are having and are able to have in the lives of so many in Nicaragua. Fiesta Nicaragua was held August 8th in Milwaukee WI, the Youth traveled to WI and stayed three days in Milwaukee to prepare for the Fiesta. The day of the Fiesta they shared about their culture and lifestyle through dance and music. They also shared with many the positive impact the WI is having on them through projects such as the Youth Ambassador program. The students also traveled to Evansville where they did a talk at the Hispanic Center, and also at a Youth Group in Stevens Point, to motivate teens to be active and create added awareness, and lastly an event in Stevens Point at Emy J's called Nica Fest.

All that they did added great enhancement to the awareness of the needs in Nicaragua, and also to encourage US teens that the steps they take to help this country really do have great impact. Many thanks to all who have donated to us through Global Giving, allowing educational and helpful projects to become reality for so many!

Please take the time to read the article posted by the Stevens Point Journal, in regards to Fiesta Nicaragua (I am sorry you will have to cut and paste, it is too long to link), http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009908140619

The dance of the Old man and Old woman

Authentic Nicaraguan food, giving a small taste of Nicaragua

1st Midwest Regional Meeting

WI/Nic Partner — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:42:20 GMT

Grace, Alvero, and Nicole

Thanks to the kind donations of so many we have already begun taking the time to enhance awareness for US teens! Two teens from Nicaragua were brought up to Wisconsin to spend a week and participate in the Partners of the Americas, 1st Midwest Regional Meeting. The teens recieved an increased awareness of what is currently being provided and inspiration for what they can do to enhance our organization.

Some comments include these from Mirna Angulo of Nicaragua, "As some of you may know, Alvaro, Grace and I had the opportunity to travel to Wisconsin again and also to attend the 1st Midwest Regional Conference in Chicago June 25-27. It was an interesting and enriching conference for us and for our chapter (Compañeros de las Americas) as well since we had the opportunity to network with other chapters from the U.S. The three of us had the chance to talk about YA activities in our chapter but Alvaro and Grace were in the youth panel and were able to answer questions from the audience. I congratulate them as they did a great job sharing their stories of how youth is involved in different activities and also what fears does youth have that enable them to not participate of the activities. I think we all took back something with us to apply in our daily work and routine. The Wisconsin/ Nicaragua chapter is a true sample for other chapters and they even asked the magic question, “how do you do it” We have many ways of working from people-to people programs and it is exactly those projects that give life to our organization. A few weeks ago you received from Amy and email talking about the Global Giving Event and that we all needed to collaborate to be able to win a permanent spot in their website which is seen around the world. Many of us did contribute with the belief that WNP would win this competition and it did. Thanks to all of you who donated and thanks to your parents and friends who also made this possible. Who have no idea of how great this opportunity is for WNP, it will allow us to have information about our youth projects and those people out there who read about them can donate to us to be able to carry out those projects. It is opportunities like this that we need to take the most advantage of and these are reasons why we need your collaboration to make this organization the most successful. The fact that Alvaro, Grace and I had this opportunity recently is just one of many and to give you an example here are some of them: Peer Learning Event in Paraguay, Fiesta Nicaragua in Wisconsin and then a Conference in Washington DC in Nov this year) to which some of you will also have to privilege to be part of as long as you all stay active and committed with our organization, participate of the meetings, develop projects within your community to help the most in need, volunteering in our office, keeping in touch with the office in Nic and Wisconsin. All of these things make a difference in all of you."

Here is a press release sharing a little more about what the 1st Midwest Regional Meeting was really about; Wisconsin represented at 1st Midwest Regional Meeting "Getting to know you" is a lyrical description of the premier event that took place in Chicago this past weekend. Partners of the Americas (POA), one of the largest volunteer organizations in the Western Hemisphere, hosted the first Midwest Regional Conference on volunteerism that featured the power of citizen diplomacy, the primary force in bringing together the two great continents of the Americas and Central America.

Wisconsin-Nicaragua (located in Nelson Hall on the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point campus), Iowa-Mexico, Illinois-Sao Paulo, Brazil, Indiana-Rio Grande de Sul, Brazil, Kansas-Paraguay, Michigan-Belize, Minnesota-Uruguay, Missouri-Para, Brazil, Nebraska-Piaul/Matto Grosso do Sul, Brazil, Ohio-Parana, Brazil, and Honduras-Vermont, represented the breadth of international affiliates that presented the best of the best in intercultural communication with the singular purpose of bringing people and ideas into a closer working relationship for the good of our hemisphere and the global community.

The spirit of volunteerism and what one individual can accomplish in grass roots relationships was the theme of every session, workshop and discussion. "One highlight of the conference was the inclusion of youth leaders from Wisconsin and Nicaragua; having the students participate in discussion panels clearly brought to realization how valuable events like this Regional Meeting are in fostering and developing leadership skills among teens," said Amy Wiza, program director for Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners. Person to person diplomacy is nothing new but easily subordinated or forgotten when the events of central government dominate the news. Partners of the Americas with the help of the Illinois-Sao Paulo, Brazil chapter successfully raised the role of citizen diplomacy to a prominent level as ten associate POA chapters gathered to share their best practices in fulfilling their destiny of cultural understanding and exchange. The enthusiasm for getting to know others through understanding one another's culture and offering cooperative opportunities to meet each other's needs was the big "take home" reward for attending this unique and life changing conference. The 62 attendees discovered that working together in their own communities and through international exchanges everyone benefits and a higher quality of life is achieved. This 2-day conference has ignited a stronger spirit of international responsibility for every citizen who accepts their role of goodwill in the global community.

No one can doubt the tremendous impact this international gathering of motivated citizens will have on their home communities here in the US and across the hemisphere. Friendships have evolved, ideas have been planted, plans have been created and commitments have been made that will bring tangible results as citizen diplomats return home and resume their volunteer efforts. Well-done Partners of the Americas for their vision and initiative in promoting volunteerism and citizen diplomacy.

Partners of the Americas began in 1964 as the people-to-people component of President John F. Kennedy's Alliance for Progress, and has since evolved into a private nonprofit organization. W/NP is one of 95 chapters throughout the United States. Areas of work include education, cultural exchanges, healthcare, and the environment. There is more information on Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners on the Web at http://wnp.uwsp.edu.

Youth participating in conference

The youth panel

Links:

Find out more about our us, and check out our photo of the week: