lwsiv

i’ve been busy and my computer was broken.  i am still busy but my computer is working. things have been going very well the last two months in site.  in september i spent a lot of time in my main school where i work with 5 sections of senior year classes and 6 sections of junior year classes. with both groups we teach a course in entrepreneurship. the junior year course begins in the second semester and is more theory based: what is a leader/entrepreneur and their characteristics?  what is creativity? what are my goals for the next 5 or 10 years?  best ways to apply for job, mock interviews, etc. towards the end of the course it gets a little more technical: the different types of businesses/industries, production, budgeting,  cost vs revenue, and so on.  the senior year course begins the first semester and compliments what the students learned in the previous year: swot analysis, marketing, market studies, cost vs price, finance, accounting, point of equilibrium, etc.  throughout the year the students develop a product and create a business plan that encompasses all the elements that a normal business plan would have.  the course is relatively straight forward and we make the concepts extremely basic but a lot of these concepts, especially creativity, are very foreign to the majority of students as well as the teachers. we also try to develop the classroom from the traditional dictation style that is prevalent in nicaragua into a class that has a higher level of participation from students, more group activity, more engaging, and in general just more fun and dynamic. 

at the schools our counterparts are the teachers. we take on a facilitator role and assist the teachers in 3 main ways: weekly co-planning sessions, co-teaching in the classroom, and helping with monthly course strategy planning sessions that are attended by a high number of teachers from different schools who are teaching the course without the assistance of a volunteer.  again, this seems straight forward enough but can be highly complicated when you factor in language, cultural differences (time, productivity, etc), personalities, presidential elections, etc. of course those are the same factors that make it all extremely fun and enjoyable.  the overall goal is that after two years of working with these teachers they have the knowledge and skills to teach the course by themselves in an interactive manner and also train other teachers if necessary. sustainability. 

at the end of the school year the senior year students compete in a competition where they showcase their product and present their business plan to their classmates and a panel of judges, usually business leaders from the community.  first at the local level, then departmental, then regional, and ending at the national level.  i am not sure of the total number of groups that compete at the local level but i would like to say a few hundred, by the time we reach the national level only the top 12 groups in the country compete. during october i got to participate in my first local competition. it was at my smaller rural school and with a teacher who has worked with a volunteer for a full 2 year cycle in the past.  it’s great to work with this teacher because she is a example of the work we try to accomplish here. she has a firm understanding of the material and she understands the importance of a dynamic learning experience that gets the students involved.  and you can see the results in the kids. having said that, for their local competition the teacher and students did the majority of the work and it turned out great. its sustainable, when she is not working with a volunteer she will still be able to teach the class and put on the competition at the end of the year if desired. every kid that leaves her class will have a firm understanding of business, creativity, finance, and how to develop and sell a product/service.  even if the students don’t go the business route, they have skills that will help them in whatever path they choose. 

the group that won first place in the local competition advanced to the regional competition (they were the only school participating in my department this year), which was at the end of october and consumed the majority of my time that month. i will provide updates on that later on. but in general, i’ve really enjoyed working with the kids and have formed some tight bonds with a handful of my students and counterparts. it’s interesting because i studied entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises in college and in my wildest dream i would have never imagined that i would be teaching the same topic to nicaraguan students later in life. i believe in the material and the skills it provides someone to have more control over their life and future. the topic falls under business, but in reality it’s all about seeing an opportunity when others see problems and knowing how to capitalize on that opportunity. i had a professor named mike morris at school who taught me that business isn’t all about money as well as the power a business/organization/ngo can have to drive social and development changes.  these ideas are born from a problem someone turned into an opportunity. whatever route they choose,  i am excited to see where my students are 2, 5, and 10 years down the road. 

also, in october i got a very special visitor, my girlfriend. liz came down for a week to visit and got a chance to see what my life is like down here. she came to the local competition in nancimí, met my students, counterparts, neighbors, family, was able practice her spanish, and we also got in some light traveling.  it was a classic week and i’m always amazed at how much fun we have. we bought a kite for about $0.20, and the string for about $0.05. no lie, we were flying the kite for probably 50% of the trip and 90% of the time we were at  the beach. that was the first time i have flown a kite since i was a little kid. talk about nostalgia, i had flash backs to beach trips with my dad…staring up at the kite in amazement and wishing i could fly alongside it. in the beginning we couldn’t get it off the ground, around 30 minutes later it was who knows how many feet away from shore hovering above the boats. definitely the most fun i’ve had for under $0.30 in my life. so if you can, go buy a kite and feel like a kid again. 

i spend a lot of time in the patio

this group had a product which is called “cereal” here. it’s not like cereal in the states. you can put it in water, milk, etc to make a variety of drinks.  very tasty.

this is the group that took first place in the competition. they have an extremely detailed jewelry box made out of bamboo with a really unique look. more of them to come later in the month.

limonada

this group had an all natural soap that could be sold in whole foods or one of the smaller organic shops. price is C$10.00 which is $.50, best soap you will ever use for 50 cents. 

judges panel

big turn out 

class photo

there is an art to this

little kid smile