English in Los Ríos
Donation protected
Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere. With your help, we can open up new doors and opportunities for Nicaraguans by teaching them something we take for granted every day - English. Tourism in Nicaragua is growing, and with it the number of jobs available for English speakers. However, Nicaragua has the least English speakers of any country in Central and South America. This means that in a country where 45% of the population lives on less than $1 a day and 75% live on less than $2 a day, English can be life altering.
I am Caroline Ward, a Junior at the University of Georgia. During my senior year of high school, I had the idea to start an English Program in rural Nicaragua. I have been visiting Nicaragua through Peachtree Road United Methodist Church since I was 12 years old, and consider it a second home. For the majority of those years, I have gone to Los Ríos, a village outside of Ticuantépe, Nicaragua. While there, I stay on a pineapple farm, Piñas de Paz, that was started by two American missionaries, Robby and Murray Lathrop (http://nicanews.org). Thanks to many generous individuals and a grant from the Global Citizenship program at my high school, Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School, I raised $5,100 to start the English Program.
About the time I graduated in Spring of 2015, a woman named Bethany Alms reached out to the Lathrops. Bethany brought exactly what we needed to begin the program – experience teaching English in Latin American countries, TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certification, and a heart for service. Bethany moved to Nicaragua to start English classes in November of 2016 and classes began in February of 2017. As of July 2017, Bethany has 58 English student. Here is the program breakdown:
Bethany teaches all classes at local churches except the Farm Workers class, which is held on the pineapple farm. This has opened the door for her to create relationships with the local pastors, something that is crucial in a religious community like Los Ríos. Each student pays a tuition, which ensures a personal investment in the program. The current cost per year of English classes is $3,000 - $52 per year per student. In just a few months, the progress that has been made in students’ English is amazing. The program has huge potential to help determined students out of the cycle of poverty in Nicaragua, but we need you to be a part of it.
I am Caroline Ward, a Junior at the University of Georgia. During my senior year of high school, I had the idea to start an English Program in rural Nicaragua. I have been visiting Nicaragua through Peachtree Road United Methodist Church since I was 12 years old, and consider it a second home. For the majority of those years, I have gone to Los Ríos, a village outside of Ticuantépe, Nicaragua. While there, I stay on a pineapple farm, Piñas de Paz, that was started by two American missionaries, Robby and Murray Lathrop (http://nicanews.org). Thanks to many generous individuals and a grant from the Global Citizenship program at my high school, Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School, I raised $5,100 to start the English Program.
About the time I graduated in Spring of 2015, a woman named Bethany Alms reached out to the Lathrops. Bethany brought exactly what we needed to begin the program – experience teaching English in Latin American countries, TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certification, and a heart for service. Bethany moved to Nicaragua to start English classes in November of 2016 and classes began in February of 2017. As of July 2017, Bethany has 58 English student. Here is the program breakdown:
Bethany teaches all classes at local churches except the Farm Workers class, which is held on the pineapple farm. This has opened the door for her to create relationships with the local pastors, something that is crucial in a religious community like Los Ríos. Each student pays a tuition, which ensures a personal investment in the program. The current cost per year of English classes is $3,000 - $52 per year per student. In just a few months, the progress that has been made in students’ English is amazing. The program has huge potential to help determined students out of the cycle of poverty in Nicaragua, but we need you to be a part of it.
Organizer
Caroline Ward
Organizer
Atlanta, GA
