Help 6 Teachers Provide Virtual ESL Education

A Note from Our Founder 

In 2009, I started the Barrio Planta Project (BPP) at the request of community members from Barrio la Planta, a neighborhood in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. They required improved education access to keep up with emerging industries, reduce marginalization and work toward breaking the cycle of poverty for future generations. As a foreigner to Nicaragua, I utilized my international networks to contribute to the development of the organization by creating a US-based 501©3 nonprofit organization, BPP International.

In the first couple of years, I was joined by San Juan del Sur natives Denis Calderon and Damaris Obando, who became integral leaders of the organization. In 2011, we incorporated a national non-governmental organization (NGO) - BPP Nicaragua - which is now led by Denis and Damaris. For ten years, the two entities worked together to invest international and national resources in the creation of educational programs for the community of San Juan del Sur and surrounding areas.

 To achieve successful sustainable development, the ideal outcome for a foreign-funded NGO is to eventually withdraw foreign involvement. A variety of factors including a challenging global economic climate, the ongoing impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, and an unstable national socio-political situation made the US organization’s involvement in Nicaragua prohibitively challenging in recent years. As a result, we acknowledge now is the best time for BPP International to withdraw and pass the reins to BPP Nicaragua. 

During this interim period, BPP Nicaragua is closed and will relaunch in 2023 under local leadership.  For this next chapter, it is essential that the NGO be able to restructure its identity independently. BPP International will cease operations of the US 501©3 nonprofit as we make this organizational transition, and is no longer accepting donations.

Since the inception of BPP 14 years ago, our entities have collectively raised $3.5M in donations. We taught ESL, the arts, music, sports, computer science, leadership, entrepreneurship, and much more to more than 6,000 children, many of whom are now adults with promising careers and children of their own. BPP also provided meaningful professional experiences to dozens of staff members who have gone on to do incredible things. The organization set precedent for the emergence of other nonprofits in the area and has inspired several volunteers to pursue careers in social impact and make a difference in their communities. The direct impact BPP has had on the communities we’ve served has been impressive, and the indirect impact is immeasurable. We are so proud of what we have accomplished together. 

We are grateful to the kind and generous supporters we’ve had over the years. Thank you for helping us build this organization from scratch, navigating us through many challenges, and consistently demonstrating compassion and commitment to vulnerable communities. We are honored to have had the opportunity to support our Nicaraguan neighbors for so many years and are excited to see this next chapter unfold as the organization continues to provide meaningful support to the members of the Nicaraguan community.

This past month, BPP wrapped up our Spring Semester with a fair that featured students singing, dancing, and showing off school projects including artwork and science projects for their families, teachers, and communities.

Special thanks to the local sponsors who provided pizza, popcorn machines, and drinks for students to enjoy. Extra thanks to Verdad who provided transportation to our entire student body from our rural school, BPP Escamequita so they could join in the festivities. The song they sang was incredible!

Students were also given report cards summarizing the progress they've made this semester, and 1:1 Parent Teacher Meetings were held to update parents in person as well.

BPP is on vacation now for two weeks and will resume in mid-July to prep for the Fall Semester.

With your help we raised $1,131 and we are grateful for the support of all donors.

Thanks to you we continue with classes in our schools in San Juan del Sur and Escamequita, we are starting the First Semester 2022. This year we have received many more children than last year and we are very happy to be able to offer our support to more children in community.

But we also know that this implies more investment to have enough teachers and continue with our goal of helping a child grow.

Our students are as happy as we are to be able to study at BPP, this semester our students are taking their English classes along with electives in computing, environment, leadership, agriculture, art, dance, drawing, and fitness.

We still need to raise $3,869 to continue our staff and teachers' plans to continue offering educational opportunities to our students and we hope that our fundraising efforts will help us reach that goal.

With your help we raised $ 1,131 and we are grateful for the support of all donors.

Thanks to you, we continue with classes in our schools in San Juan del Sur and Escamequita, we are in the middle of the Second Semester 2021. We have committed ourselves to creating and executing a coronavirus prevention plan to provide safety to our students.

Our students are happy as we are to be able to continue their face-to-face classes at BPP, this semester our students are receiving their English classes along with electives in computing, environment, leadership, agriculture, art, drawing and fitness.

We still need to raise $ 3,869 to continue our staff and teachers' plans to continue offering educational opportunities to our students and we hope that our fundraising efforts will help us reach that goal.

With your help we raised $ 1,131 and we are grateful for the support of all donors.

Thanks to you, we have opened the doors of our school in San Juan del Sur and Escamequita to start the Second Semester 2021. We have committed ourselves by creating and executing a coronavirus prevention plan to provide safety to our students.

We are very happy to have welcomed our students on July 20, 2021, they, like us, are enjoying going back to school, being able to see them and continue teaching them, helping children to grow.

We still need to raise $ 3,869 to continue our staff and teachers' plans to continue offering educational opportunities to our students and we hope that our fundraising efforts will help us reach that goal.