felicidades Andres!!

My partner in crime, Andres.. welcomed his second child into the world the other day. A little baby girl. Im so happy for him and his wife. He said he wanted a little girl, so he got his wish.

this is what school supplies are made of..

COLD HARD CASH-> Sent from Canada to Nicaragua!! I used Western Union to wire down about 1000 canadian dollars (which is kind of a rip off, unfortunately.) I took it upon myself to make a $64.00 contribution to the project by paying for the Western Union charge of sending the money internationally myself. Within seconds, Juan Carlos was able to pick up the money. He already had 200.00 US in Nicaragua (long story...) but, he currently has about 1100US plus some left over supplies from February 2009 to make the project a success this August 2009.

I really wish I was there to help. If there is anyone in Nicaragua or Casa Xalteva that reads this blog, please feel free to help with the purchase, creation of packages, and delivery by talking to either Juan Carlos or Andres at Casa Xalteva. You can look at my links if you need more information about Casa Xalteva.. It is located in Granada Nicaragua, half a block from the church of the same name (La Iglesia Xalteva.)

Stay tuned for pictures!

It's about that magical time..

HEY!
So, remember how I said that we would be supplying those adorable brown eyed beauties with school supplies coming up this month? Well it is about to happen.

Here is the lowdown: I saved a chunk of donations to be able to supply the kids for a second time this year. I am going to be sending money down to Juan Carlos so that he can take care of bussiness. I have no doubts in my mind that he will take on the project with grace without my help (who needs that silly gringa anyways?) We should be able to supply each child in Jose de La Cruz Mena once again. Juan Carlos will be taking photos, so I will hopefully be able to post some updated photos from the project. I might get teary eyed, knowing I wasn't able to help this time! My project (my baby) is growing up and isn't needing me as much anymore.. hehe.

So, keep in mind that the new goal is to supply these children twice a year. If we make more money, we will create new projects, possibly help more schools.. So I highly encourage people to donate to us this upcoming year and before. I hope to be able to get back to Nicaragua for 2 weeks in February to supply the kids and possibly (hopefully) think up some new projects in the community.

Also, good news... I got into grad school at Royal Roads. I am taking a program called:MA in Professional Communication specializing in Intercultural and International communication. I know this is the right path for me because when I was asked by a career councelor what I generally wanted to do, I answered by saying... "working with people of different cultures". Im not 100% sure where this will take me, but I know that Royal Roads is a great school and I will be able to find out about all the possibilities out there. I believe that this project "Si Quieres..." is part of the reason I got in!

Also: because of Alicia of Studio Red Dot, who wrote me an amazing reference letter about our time shooting the documentary. She claims it will be done soon :) Im excited to see it and I will surely be blogging about it when it is all done and ready for viewers.

thanks.
A little project that has gone along way....

Kathryn
DALE PUES (that is what they would say in GRANADA)

NEVER ending need in Nicaragua!

I have been getting lots of emails and facebook messages asking me about what kind of volunteer opportunities there are in the Granada area. They are simply endless! I highly encourage people to try out volunteering, there are so many great options for everyone. Try Casa Xalteva: they are always needing volunteer english teachers, as well as volunteers to work helping young children with homework. Donna Tabor is also a great volunteer resource in Granada, Nicaragua. She is the founder of "Building New Hope" and she can hook you up with a great volunteer job. Both these organizations are listed under LINKS on my blog page!

Don't forget that money donations are always a great way to help, if you can't make it down south. We are always collecting donations for our project, "SI QUIERES, PUEDEN REIR." We will be supplying our wee ones twice a year now. Which is a pretty hardy goal.

Thank you for your continued support. We hope to keep our project going even during really tough economic times. As little or as much as you can give can make a huge difference.

thanks!!

Better Quality Version of the Movie!

This is the finished/higher quality version of our "SI QUIERES, PUEDEN REIR" Movie. Please Enjoy. Thanks Cathy & Kay

an island that is growing.....

My best friend Juan Carlos (with whom I also work on this project) wrote on my birthday card a year ago... "Casa Xalteva es una isla de amor en el mundo y tu la has hecho crecer." (Casa Xalteva is a island of love in the world and you have helped it grow.)

This project, "Si Quieres, Pueden Reir" all started because of a beautiful NGO in Granada called Casa Xalteva. If you haven't checked out the website, I would highly suggest doing so. http://www.casaxalteva.com Casa Xalteva offers spanish classes to foreigners and lots of volunteer opportunities. But, the best thing about Casa Xalteva is the 15 smiling kids who attend it daily. These are kids from impoverished backgrounds that come to Casa Xalteva to get an education. They also feed, clothe, and take the kids on fun adventures. Nicaraguan kids are quite possibly the best in the world (but I guess, I am biased.) *Props to Ken Carpenter ( a prof from New Mexico) who made this vision a reality*

I originally came to Granada to learn some basic spanish and ended up falling in love with the city & the fabulous people. That is how our little project was born. On my second trip to Nicaragua, three friends by the names of Juan Carlos, Andres, and Kathryn started a project to help the kids in El Pantanal. This is why Juan Carlos wrote on my card, "that I had helped the island grow..."

We now like to think of our little project as a mini island that lives off the shores of Casa Xalteva..... and my dream is that "Si Quieres.." could become bigger and help more children in Nicaragua someday.

I would now like to put my thoughts on paper (or type my thoughts on a computer screen?) This next year- I would like to:
1) Make "Si Quieres, Pueden Reir" a registered charity or NGO
2) Build a real web site for the project
3) supply the kids both in August and in February with school supplies.
*If you can help me with any of these three goals, please write me... I love hearing from you!

And if you haven't already... Please watch the 4 minute movie that I made with my friend Kay from Seattle..It's a nice little introduction to our project and El Pantanal. It's a beauty. (You just need to scroll down to the MARCH 30th, entry)

Kathryn

Muchas Gracias!

Picture by Alicia (Studio Red Dot)

I want to give a special thanks to both teams of film makers who volunteered their time for our project, "Si Quieres, Pueden Reir." It is so amazing that I was contacted by both teams and that they were so enthusiastic to learn more about our story.

Thank you so much to Kay for filming the short movie and to her friend Catherine for editing it. It looks great! I have had really good feed back about it.

Thank you to Alicia and Matt for sending me more AMAZING professional shots from the documentary shot that we did in February. I am looking forward to seeing the final product. I know that Im going to cry listening to everyones interviews (especially Juan Carlos!) Good luck with everything.

If you are interested in finding out about either of these film maker teams, please email me for details!

Kathryn
(PS today is my birthday)