A few weeks ago Greta and I participated in the CCBN's annual staff retreat, which consists of 2 1/2 days of evaluation, reflection, planning, and relaxation for the entire team. We started out the retreat with a presentation by the Center’s General Coordinator on the state of the impact of the Center’s work. We learned that the Center’s work has directly benefited almost 2500 people over the last year, including over 1000 students enrolled in courses, 113 scholarship students, and over 50 participants in the arts groups.
Beginning with last year's retreat, the CCBN has organized activities into strategic projects, including “Tools for Work with Dignity,” “Strengthening Adult Education,” “Breaking Down Barriers to Education and Enriching Children’s Learning,” “Promoting the Right to Arts and Culture,” “Promoting the Right to Live Free of Violence,” and “Institutional Strengthening.” For most of the weekend, we worked in these teams to evaluate the progress made on each project and to plan for the upcoming year. We also did a lot of work on the conceptualization of the values and ideals behind the projects, working to come to a consensus on exactly what our goals are and how we envision living out our mission.
I worked with both the “Tools for Work with Dignity” group and the “Promoting the Right to Live Free of Violence” group. As English teachers, Greta and I are part of the “Tools for Work with Dignity” project because several of our students want to strengthen their resumes and get jobs or get better jobs. Our group debated what we believe “work with dignity” actually is, whether it’s about the kind of job one has or the way in which one carries out one’s work. We also wrestled with the degree of responsibility the Center should feel in getting students jobs as they finish their courses, or if it’s more about giving students the tools to find jobs and empowering them to initiate the search. Perhaps we didn’t come to a clearly-defined consensus on these issues, but our discussions helped us create a vision for the project and helped me understand more about the philosophy behind the Center’s work. It isn’t about everyone thinking and believing the same thing, but rather about sharing our diverse perspectives and using that diversity to create a larger vision.
Greta and I, along with the CCBN’s Mennonite Central Committee volunteer Melissa, planned the evening activities for the weekend, with the goal of relaxing and having fun with our co-workers. The first night we walked a labyrinth and painted stones to represent the transformation we underwent on our walk, and the second night we washed each other’s feet as a way to remind ourselves of the service we are all so committed to at the Center. Having an artistic and reflective outlet helped break up the hard work we were doing and gave us a chance to goof off a little.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
More Information on Honduras
Here are two more reports on Honduras. The first is from a forum in Brazil organized by the Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado, a university in Sao Paolo. The second is from the most recent Witness for Peace delegation in Honduras, led by a long-term volunteer in Nicaragua.
Political Situation in Honduras v3
WFP Honduras Report
Political Situation in Honduras v3
WFP Honduras Report
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Welcome to our Blog!
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
