Michael, Judith and Digna
I recently met with a group of computer science students from the University in Matagalpa. We talked aabout what they would like to have happen during our trip to San Ramon this upcoming January. We discussed mapping and the possibilities of doing one day mapping projects at La Chispa and in San Ramon. Then we got down to a brass tacks discussion about what they, as students in a resource poor environment, would hope to gain from working together with some of us from the North.
What surfaced were the outlines of a learning exchange that would lead to a longer term relationship, a mentoring situation, between individual students and IT professionals from the states. The fondest and deepest hope expressed was to be able to build these relationships and then come to the States for a month or two for in-depth training. This learning exchange is by no means a one sided affair- all of my interactions with these students has lead to learning and growth on my part as well as the transfer of some of my hard won knowledge to them.
While we are still working on the details and structures of such a program, it is one aspect of our trip to Nicaragua in January that holds a lot of promise and opportunity for all participants. I asked the students to send me short bios I could post here, so you could get to know some of them a bit. You can read these profiles by following the links here:
Nicaragua 2011 - Service Learning in San Ramon, Matagalpa 