Santa Marta Community Foundation

  Many of the residents in this area of Nicaragua have lived here their whole lives and have seen Hacienda Iguana and the surrounding communities develop.  They have played a large part in making these communities what they are today.  Many of them are the local faces you see around every day, the housekeeper, guard, pool guy, construction worker etc.  They are wonderful, cheerful, giving people.

We have been thinking of what would be the best way to give back to our local community.  In this search we have found that there is a huge interest and need for more education.  In our region the highest level of schooling is only through the 6^th grade and the few that can afford higher education have to take a 45 minute bus ride to Rivas or Salinas.  I have also heard many stories from adults who loved studying but didn’t have the opportunity to stay in school.  Surprisingly, the average level of completed school for the majority of our adults is the 3rd or 4th grade level.

In June of 2012 we started offering free English classes for the local community.  For the last 3 “semesters” we have offered multiple English classes each week, for beginner levels, intermediate levels and children’s classes in both the day and night so that it is available to everyone.  This past “semester” we have also added an adult literacy class.  As we grow we hope to expand to fulfill other community needs over time. Our goal is to give the locals the opportunity to further their education while at the same time giving them a skill that is becoming more and more valuable as this area develops.  With the ability to speak English (as very few locals in our remote area are able to) they will have opportunities to enter into better paying jobs and the non-Spanish speaking foreigners that come here will get to know them as we know them. We have both Nicaraguan and American teachers that teach our classes for a wage of $5/hour.   Our main expenses are paying our teacher’s wages, covering living expenses for our American teachers and getting copies made.  We hope to raise enough money so that we can buy textbooks for all the students to use.  Any monetary donations, school supplies, beginner level English books, etc. is very much appreciated!

Please check out our blog at surfteachnica.wordpress.com.

Thanks for your time and consideration, Lindsey, Seth & our wonderful teachers!

Cell: 8736-0656

Email: [email protected]