Transportation

Hi everyone!

Here's the first in my efforts to capture aspects of living/working in Managua with MPI NICA:

Transportation from Jan Margaret Rogers on Vimeo.

Enjoy,

Jan Margaret

Program Director, 2009-2010

A New Video for MPI Nicaragua

Dying for a closer look at what we do? Check out our new video highlighting Manna Project Nicaragua!



Manna Project International from Ashley Zeiger on Vimeo.

Apply to be a Summer Volunteer!

The MPI Summer Program gives volunteers experience working with a non-profit and serving an underprivileged population. The program integrates the volunteers into the daily functions of MPI Program Directors as they assist in daily programs, planning classes, and instructing lessons. Volunteers will get a snapshot of MPI´s longterm goals in action, seeing how their trip contributes to the greater pictures of community development.

There is ample opportunity for volunteers to interact with the local community through established programs and on their own initiative. Volunteers are encouraged to put their education and passions to use by making suggestions or recognizing new areas in which MPI could better serve the community.

Summer Volunteers are to be college-aged and ready to utilize their energy, enthusiasm, and intelligence to contribute to the on-going development in the local community. Weekdays are full of possible projects, and the volunteers will be as busy as they choose to be. Weekends are often open for travel around the beautiful country in search of diverse cultural and tourist locations.

If you have any questions, please send us an email at summer@mannaproject.org.

Applications are available at www.mannproject.org/short-term

Returning to La Chureca

The Child Sponsorship team hit the ground running upon our return to La Chureca in early January 2010. An increase in sponsors and the graduation of several saludable (healthy!) children allowed us to add four new children to our program. As more sponsors and positions become available, we are seeking to enter even more children in February, especially younger children and siblings of current program participants. Currently, we offer each participant a monthly supply of oatmeal, milk, and vitamins, and our goal is to alleviate undernourishment in La Chureca.

Coming back, I immediately noticed the striking progress being made on the Spanish MegaProject to transform La Chureca. When the Spanish Vice President María Teresa Fernández de la Vega stopped to view La Chureca on her tour of Central/South America, she was greatly impacted by the horror of people living and working in trash heaps. Her personal commitment for change encouraged the government of Spain to commit 30 million Euros (the equivalent of 45 million USD) to bring dignity to the people of La Chureca. The Spanish government has had a noticeable presence in Chureca and has held many meetings with community members and NGOs to discuss how to create a holistic solution to the problems faced by those dwelling in La Chureca. According to a 2008 article by William Grigsby Vergara, the solution involves closing down the dump, creating an alternative recycling system, and providing housing alternatives for the residents of Chureca. I have personally witnessed how Chureca is “closing down” - the once heaped trash has been transformed into a flatter plain, dirt roads have been created on the neighborhood/trash divide, and signs declaring the Spanish equivalent of “Authorized Personnel Only” are posted next to entrances to the trash. This has not kept any of the Churequeros from continuing their work in the trash, but it has provided a visual to confirm that action is indeed underway.

Read more about The "New" Chureca: From Grace to Human Dignity.

Apply to Be a Summer Vol or Program Director!

Passionate about serving underprivileged international communities? Love the Spanish language and want to improve your grasp of it? Interested in children's education, teaching English, business development, nutrition, and/or sports & exercise? Want to take the lead in running, and even creating, service and development initiatives? Come serve abroad with Manna in Nicaragua, Ecuador, and possibly help start a new site in Guatemala!

College senior looking for something different before graduate school or the workforce? Apply for a 13-month Program Director position!

Still in school and looking for an enlightening and fulfilling summer opportunity? MPI Nicaragua and Ecuador take one- and two-month summer volunteers to assist with programs and to learn our communities and countries of focus.

Visit www.mannaproject.org and APPLY NOW!

THANK YOU

Thanks to the efforts of all our supporters, Manna Project was among the top 100 vote-getters in the Chase Community Giving competition. MPI will receive $25,000 from Chase Bank. $5,000 will be allocated to each site's programs. Here in Nicaragua, that money will, among other things, go to the purchase of teaching English as a foreign language books, workbooks, and teaching guides so that we may standardize the material in and quicken progress through our multiple levels of English classes. Some of the money will also go toward the $24,000 needed to keep Casa Base de Salud community clinic in La Chureca open. The remaining $15,000 will go to operating costs, which are often difficult to fundraise for but essential to Manna's continuation.


We at Manna owe a huge thank you to Chase Bank, but especially to all of you who took the time to vote for us in the Chase Community Giving competition.

Returning to Nicaragua - Six Months In

After a three-week holiday break, MPI Nicaragua's Program Directors (PDs) have returned to the Manna house. Returning to a place that is at once foreign and familiar has been a surreal experience. By now, we are accustomed to dodging ox carts, potholes, and horses on the highway. Here, it is completely normal to be offered a duck for 20 córdobas ($1) while waiting at a red light. It is also accepted to ignore those lights when convenient.


Six months in, we know that no explanation is necessary when you don't feel a stoplight clown or windshield wash is deserving of a cookie or a few cents; a smile and a joke will do just fine. We know that no offense is meant by a public observation of weight gained or the shade of your skin, and that none is taken when the answer to a request is "no."


When your instinct is to feel you and your country are judged when you deny a dollar to someone who begs it, you may be called "pinche," or stingy, but follow with a high-five and a laugh and you will find it reciprocated. When a family appears intimidating, know that they would gladly welcome you into their home and offer you the national dish and drink of gallo pinto and pinolillo. If you are fortunate enough one day to find yourself in Nicaragua, save a bit a mental stress and trust in the frankness, the humor, the resilience, and the kindness of its people.