I was part of an Ann Arbor area delegation that visited Catarina, Nicaragua during the last week of 2004.  We brought medical and school supplies because such supplies are either prohibitively expensive or unavailable there.  We visited a recently started school at which they teach English as a second language, music, and cosmetology.  We brought with us sheet music, an assortment of simple books in English, writing supplies, a DVD player, DVDs (with Spanish subtitles), and ESL books.  We hope that by establishing ongoing connections with the school we will be able to help it become fully established, self-sufficient, and a major contributor in efforts to reduce  the extremely high unemployment in that area.

ESL books being delivered to the school
Marshall Thomsen is shown delivering a few of the school supplies to Bayardo Alberto Lopez Garcia, Director of the Adult Technical School in Catarina.  Shown also are Bayardo's family, left, and Joe summers (of Ann Arbor), right.

Catatina old and new
Catarina is located about an hour southeast of Managua.  It attracts tourists from Central America who come for its beautiful vistas and impressive garden shops.  Cars, dogs, pedestrians, horses, and oxen are all common sights along the cobblestone streets.  The town is a mixture of old and new, as seen in this picture.  It is hard to know whether to group corner payphones with the old or the new.