Monday, July 9, 2012

Increased Involvement With Nicaragua

We have frequently covered how the Wake Forest University Schools of Business works with businesses in Nicaragua. Here is an excerpt from a release by Ann Bauer looking at how undergraduates are also making a difference in the country.

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NicaHope
Photo: Wake Forest University
In Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, 175 families and approximately 500 children live and work in an area called “La Chureca.” Translation: the city dump.

Through a partnership with the Fabretto Children’s Foundation in Managua, Wake Forest students have been working to help break the cycle of poverty.

Volunteers work to provide a safe place for La Chureca’s children to go after school. The center offers tutoring, homework help, computer training, and a jewelry-making program that allows the children to earn an income without returning to the dump.

Michelle Hartenstein, a rising junior, and three other Wake Forest student volunteers — SheRea DelSol, Dan McCall, and Mehedi Hassan — were so impacted by the children they met volunteering in Nicaragua that they decided to sponsor a young girl, Kenia, through Fabretto’s program.

In 2012, Hartenstein led the student trip to Nicaragua and was able to facilitate her dream of interacting more closely with Fabretto’s kids. “We get a lot more out of the experience if we can talk to kids and form relationships. This year, we made bracelets with them, played soccer with them, and served lunch at the school.”

For their final day in Managua, the group coordinated a field day at Casa Dingledine, a Wake Forest-owned conference center, with relay races, water balloons, soccer games, and Frisbee. Hartenstein says she  hopes to return to Nicaragua. She has been inspired by her work there to consider a career in the nonprofit sector.

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