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Scholarship Report 2005

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his is an account as to how the scholarship funds for the 2005 school year were used. The exciting part is that this year I had four different donations – two from churches and two from individuals. I have also had a number of people express interest in helping out in the future. This year a total of $10,390 was donated to the scholarship fund; $2000 was donated specifically for university students. Having just started this program a year ago, I was only sponsoring children and youth from pre-school through the last year of high school. However, with a donation specifically to help university students, I began to sponsor students at the university level and learned about how difficult it can be for many families to be able to afford such an education for their children. Below is a summary as to how the scholarships were given out for 2005.

Download Scholarship Report 2005 (pdf)

Summary
Here is a brief summary of the scholarship fund:

Primary and Secondary school

University

Backpacks

    • 183 backpacks were given out to children
    • 140 children were in rural areas
    • 43 children were in Managua or surrounding areas
    • Backpacks contained 5-8 notebooks, pad of paper for drawing, pens, pencils, scissors, and a ruler set; some backpacks contained a uniform (shirt, shoes and skirt or pants)
    • Average cost of a backpack = $9, with uniform = $15

The Overall Story
First of all I want to say that it has been quite amazing to me to see how God has really gone before me in the development of this scholarship project. I have yet to try raising funds for this program (but I’m about to start!) and so I hope you can understand my awe in watching $10,390 come in over the course of this year. I have realized that there is a great amount of need here in Nicaragua in the area of education, and it seems that God is very interested in making a difference. I am excited to see what His plans are for the coming 2006 school year.

Having run the scholarship program last year in 2004, this year things went much smoother. In early January I decided to take on the idea of putting together backpacks for children in a couple rural communities. I worked with an organization called Agros that works specifically with rural communities. In partnering with them, I was able to get lists of children that needed backpacks for the upcoming school year. The school year here in Nicaragua starts in late January or early February and goes through the end of November. In buying all the goods for the back-to-school packs, I learned a lot, but overall feel like I got good deals on everything and I look forward to doing the same project this next year. Just the other week I was out in Aduana II, a small rural community, and one of the boys that I had given a backpack to in January ran into his home and came back out proudly showing me that he still had his backpack and it was amazingly still in good form.

Many of you know that I had been serving under Christ for the City Intl and left in June of 2004. A number of months later my old bosses decided that it would be best for me to run the Scholarship program funds through my new organization, the NEO Foundation. With that decision Thomas and I opened a second bank account here in Managua in order to keep all scholarship funds separate.

It has been exciting to be able to return to some of the same schools as last year and be recognized by the director or the administrator, “Hey, here is the girl that comes to pay the scholarships!” In a couple of schools I work directly with the director and he along with the teachers choose the children that are in most need of a scholarship. In other cases I know the children or youth personally or they are recommended by a friend as being in great need of a scholarship. This year I partnered with another missionary named Helen who works with a group of women who used to be prostitutes. I was able to sponsor all of their children in various schools. One of the most interesting aspects of paying scholarships is actually walking into the schools and getting a feeling for how they are run. At Hebron, a Baptist Christian school, whenever I have gone to pay scholarships, I find the school fairly quiet, kids in the classrooms, teachers teaching and the administrator at his desk. Sounds normal, right? At Hebron, I think so. But one day at Colegio Sulema, a large public school, when I went to pay scholarships for three children, I had a hard time finding the administrator. Finally when I did, I told her that I wanted to pay for their exams as well. She said I would need to check with the teachers. So I walked down the hall to the second grade classroom and found a room full of children all running around, having fun, throwing paper and other such stuff, but no teacher present at all. I never did find the teacher that day. Later I was able to talk with the father and I asked him if he was happy with the school where his children were. He said no and that he would like to switch over next year to a Christian school close by except that it was more expensive than the public school. I told him not to worry about that, but to definitely focus on changing schools for his three boys. At some of the public schools I have been impressed with how things seem to be run, however, for the most part, I am much more in favor of the many small private Christian schools that are all over the city. There seems to be more direction and guidance and accountability on the part of the teachers and administration.

Probably the newest and most exciting addition to this program was the start of having university scholarships. I was not sure exactly where to start, but I shouldn’t have worried because as soon as I mentioned something to my old boss, he had ideas of people that could very much use the help. So I began with five different students and from there different opportunities came along in meeting people who needed help in paying their monthly costs. At one point I heard from Helen that some of the ladies that she works with had dreamed of taking some beauty courses so that they could start their own little salons. So we began looking into costs for such a course. In July I paid for a 4-month course for two gals. These are gals who are in their mid to late twenties but haven’t study since the sixth grade. They were so excited after the first month of classes from all that they were learning and the fact that they both scored 100 on their first exam! In having people hear about my scholarship program now including university students, I have had a couple of people who are living and working here in Managua who want to scholarship specific students and run the funds through my program. So whether I wanted to or not, it looks like it might turn into somewhat of a sponsorship program. One of the biggest things I have learned in beginning to scholarships students at the university level is that for many families this is totally impossible. If families had a hard time paying for the costs of primary and secondary school, then the costs at the university level are over the top. Some families can afford it but with great sacrifice. The main challenge is making sure that the student is going to study well enough to be able to continue each year and that their families will support them.

Ideas for the Future
I am looking forward to continuing this program next year. One of my goals is to be able to give out around 300 backpacks before the start of school. I also hope to be able to continue sponsoring around 150 students at the primary and secondary level and 15 to 20 at the university level.

One of the other things that I would ideally like to do with the scholarship program next year is be able to support one to three children at the new Nicaraguan Christian Academy in Nejapa. NCA is an English-speaking school here in Managua started by missionary families so that their children could have an excellent English education. It is also a fairly expensive private school. This past year NCA started a sister school in a neighborhood called Nejapa. The school provides an excellent Christian based education in Spanish but with English as a second language. It is also a bit more accessible economically but still fairly pricey. At $55 a month, for most families it would be impossible, yet the education and opportunities to learn English are so great that I believe it is worth providing a scholarship if only for two or three children this next year. Kathy August, whom I work with at the sports center and who has started a pre-school and feeding program, is also trying to raise support to send three of her graduating pre-schoolers there next year. For the families it would be a dream to have their children attend such a school.

Conclusion
I hope this report has been helpful and informative. Please feel free to give your thoughts and ideas for the future of this scholarship program. I would also appreciate your prayers for me and for this Endeavour. Prayers for wisdom as I continue to learn about the education system here and the best way to help families and their children. And prayers for the program that it will continue growing and become a stable project that will continue for many years.

Donations can be sent to:
NEO Foundation
22301 SW 110th Place
Tualatin, Oregon 97062-8159

Or you can make an donation online.

Once again, on behalf of all the children and their families as well as Thomas and I – Muchisimas Gracias (Thank you very much!)

View the full list of students that received some form of scholarship for the 2005 school year.