I am preparing to leave Managua and the kind hospitality of Paul and his family. I am abandoning my plans to travel to the Corn Islands due to bad weather and instead am embarking on a one week Spanish Language Course in the old colonial town of Granada. The school is a non profit organisation who fund social programs and I hope to have the chance to facilitate some drama workshops though them.
On the Ponies for Small Persons front, we are making some progress and have had some very interesting meetings. Earlier in the week we went to San Marcos (about an hour from Managua in the gorgeous lush hills - i was actually cold!). Here we had a meeting the the Director of Los Quinchos an extremely charasmatic Italian lady who has lived here for some time. And she gets things done!
Los Quinchos is an organisation that has several programs running including work with kids that live on the rubbish dump, glue sniffing street kids and children from very violent families - some of whom have watched their dad being killed by their mothers with barbed wire strangulation or rocks to the head. Sorry for the graphic description, but that's the reality. They are in contact with these children everyday and give them basic schooling, meals and somewhere to sleep. In the afternoons, evening and weekends they participate in arts workshops (different types of dance, music, handicrafts) and sports. Once the children and young adults have passed through the program they are given the choice of remaining or leaving. Those that stay then go back onto the street and try to recruit and help other kids in need. Sounds absolutely brilliant and had I known about them before I would have tried to volunteer with them. When we visited some of the boys were weaving brightly coloured hammocks before a huge mural of Frida! I will try and get these photos up. Some of the kids were also helping out in the pizza cafe attched.
Our hope is that we can work with Los Quinchos to link the children most in need to the ponies. There may be land nearby that we use to keep the ponies. Fingers crossed . . .
Just off now for another meeting with a veterinary who runs a free clinic for animals.
Keep commenting!
Ele x
