NICARAGUA

Parochial School Run by the Sisters

In 1999 the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Poor founded a non-profit parochial school for the poor and needy in Tecolostote, San Lorenzo, Nicaragua, a town with a population of about 6,500 people with a high index of illiteracy. The Sisters started the school with 50 students and five teachers who initially focused on primary grade levels, subsequently adding preschool and secondary education due to the demand in the area. 

In 2020 the school had no income for a period of time and the Servants sent money to feed the sisters and pay the bills that were coming due. The teachers were working virtual school but the parents, for the most part were either not paying or not able to pay. The Servants stepped in to keep the school afloat. Now the students come two days a week and work virtually the other days. Virtual education doesn’t appear to work well in the US where we have resources. Imagine how bad it is when the family has only a phone to use for the virtual education. Some families don’t even have a decent structure to live in and one can imagine that in those conditions virtual education truly does not exist. 

The sale of clothes and other items sent from Miami helped the working poor obtain items that they otherwise would not be able to afford and the money from the sale was judiciously used to pay for scholarships for the poorest of families. Several classrooms were built over the years to alleviate the overcrowding. The rooms need to be properly finished but are usable. Sale proceeds also helped pay for a cemented play area in the center of the school which eliminated the dust blowing into the classrooms in the dry season and provided a good place for the children to play in the wet season. Previously the same area was converted into a mud puddle by all the little feet running about. 

The desks are very old and many can no longer be repaired. We have started to purchase some new desks but are limited by the lack of funds.  

 The equipment in the classroom is out of date and we hope to be able to address this need in the future. Our limited resources only allow us to go one step at a time when we can.