What does education mean to You?

Children in Nicaragua I imagine only think of or dream about getting an education.
Can you imagine what this is like? A book becomes a treasure that you are looking for.

I have met children in Nicaragua who only complete the 2nd-grade education.
The problem is even if they can go to school lots of times they do not have a pencil to write with or paper to write on. When I first found this out it was astounding to me.
The building that I visited that is called a school was a shamble.

Meeting children who are not going to school or who have dropped out weighs heavily on my heart.
They are starting to work as early as seven years old selling food on buses.
In Nicaragua the public buse is a means for these kids to earn a wage.  That wage is usually just to feed them and help their families.
This does not mean they will later get an education as that will be forgotten about.

The second scenario is chiIren are in a home with no opportunity to go to school.  They are lucky enought to have meager amounts of food to eat.

Can you try to imagine what that is like?  A book becomes a treasure that you are looking for.

Meet Caterine, when I met her, her elderly aunt and uncle were taking care of her as her mother abandoned her.  She was a very sad little girl who looked like she had no hope.   They told us we are taking care of her the best we can but life is hard.

Luckily for her we found her a sponsor to help with a her basic daily needs.

 Now, she is much happier and she has enough food to eat.

Her future has a brighter side as she is now being educated.

Our next step in this program is community development.  

You may ask what does that look like?  Well, we want to be able to share the love of Jesus 

with these children.  So, when they start feeling alone and hopeless they will not look to themselves, but to Jesus. We are looking to teach them songs, bible stories and interact with them through

crafts.

I believe one of the best ways is to build a solid relationship with someone is to spend time with them.  That's why I have made it a priority to go and visit the children every 4 months.  I want to be involved in their lives.

These children are living very remotely where no organization has gone before.

If we want to help the problem of poverty for the next generation the time to act is now!

Today I want to ask you would you consider investing in the future of children in Nicaragua?