Dear Friends,
Welcome to the Friends of Batahola Volunteers weblog! We are exciting to begin our time in Nicaragua on September 26th. We are currently in Chicago doing a 2-week volunteer training program which will better prepare us for our time in Nicaragua. On August 26th, we will be leaving for Guadalajara, Mexico, to do a 4-week program in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) to equip us to start an English class at the Centro Cultural Bataohla Norte.
The Centro Cultural Batahola Norte was founded in 1893 by Sister Margie Navarro, CSJ, and Fr. Angel Torrellas, OP. to help to empower women and youth in the poor urban communities of Managua. Over the past 25 years, the Center has helped over 2,000 people defend their rights, find and develop new sources of income, and improve their living standards. More than 700 students enroll in courses every year, ranging from basic adult education, to over 11 technical and domestic arts courses including cooking, sewing, accounting, computer science, and more. The Center also provides scholarships (elementary school through university) to over 130 students every year, and provides a 5,000-volume library that is open to the public. Folkloric dance, music, painting and theatre are also among the arts programs provided.
The Center has enabled many people from poor families to finish their studies become trained professionals, including lawyers, doctors, translators, social workers, journalists, business administrators, physical therapists, engineers, and musicians.
Nicaragua is the second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, torn apart in the 1980s by a war funded by the U.S. government. Friends of Batahola Volunteers recognizes the importance of learning about the past and present of U.S. involvement in Latin America, and of learning about innovative solutions to the reality of poverty and oppression. Laura and Christine both studied abroad at La Casa de la Solidaridad program in El Salvador during their junior years in college. In addition, Laura also studied in South Africa, and Christine in Costa Rica. Their past experience, which includes working in immigrant communities in the U.S. on issues like intrafamily violence and immigrant rights, and in Central America, working with cooperatives and base communities, have prepared them to accompany the Center’s staff in their work.
We are excited to begin our time in Nicaragua, and will keep you all updated about our experiences, the activities of the Center, and current events in Nicaragua. Thank you for visiting, and check back in the coming months!
In solidarity,
Laura Hopps and Christine Ruppert
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