New location:

22122 Wood Island Lane
Huntington Beach, CA 92646

Please join us from 2pm-5pm on Sunday, February 26, 2012.  RSVP to Nora at (714) 964-0549.

We hope to see you there!

We welcome feedback and suggestions.  What do you want to see in our newsletter?

I traveled to Nicaragua on TACA Airlines from San Francisco.  I arrived blurry eyed and fuzzy-headed from my overnight flight to be met by Olga Munguia, CdA representative in Managua.  She put me in a taxi that went straight to Jinotega.   My taxi driver and I chatted as we drove the 2 + hours to the small mountain town.  I had come to see Wilda Montenegro graduate.  I have been her madrina, godmother, for 10 years.  They have been very rewarding years for both of us.

When I first started providing Wilda with a beca, scholarship, it never occurred to me that I would develop a relationship with this charming young lady nor that I would see the changes myself.  Wilda has matured from a shy seven year old to a seventeen year old woman full of dreams and hope, for herself, her family and her country.

Wilda is the only child out of the four in her family to finish high school.  The small amount of money I donate enabled the family to send her to school.  Her hard work allowed her to finish school.  For the graduation, there are two ceremonies, one long, the other longer.   The important thing for me was the obvious pride of the students and their parents or guardians.   There were tears of joy in my eyes when I watched Wilda walk in on her Mother’s arm and later mount the stairs and receive her diploma.

But my trip wasn’t all long ceremonies.  There was my hike up to “La Pena” a cross located on a mountain top about 1,000 feet above the town, the graduation party in Wilda’s honor, getting to know the office staff, friendly, hard-working people who do their best for the girls of Circulo and getting to participate in various Nicaraguan celebrations.   If you have a chance, visit Jinotega and meet the people of Circulo.  You’ll be glad you did.

On my first trip, what most impressed me were the friendliness and warmth of the Nicaraguan people, and the appallingly sub-standard living conditions of most of the families whom we support; I’d come back to the U.S. dedicated to continuing my involvement with CdA for the long-term.

The last several years have brought many changes to the Board of Directors of CdA, and I knew that our staff had questions and concerns. With Pat finally stepping down as President there has been a lot of speculation and fear in Jinotega among staff and the families that we support that Circulo de Amigas might not outlive Pat’s involvement, in the long-run. An atmosphere of fear is damaging, and so my priority was to spend time with the staff and girls, building rapport and trust, and getting to know the people we support and rely on to carry out our philanthropic goals.

During my visit I met with students and with the staff both in groups and one-on-one, and came away with the conviction that we have a very talented and dedicated group of people looking out for the well-being of the girls in our program. We discussed hopes and plans for the future, both on the part of the Directors, volunteers and sponsors here in the U.S. and the staff and students in Jinotega. In most ways, I would say that we are on the same page, with some inevitable, and minor, adjustments due to differences in culture, that will inform our decision-making in future.

Micro-donations really do add up!  CdA received over $800 in donations through the Philanthroper website, and over $400 (so far) through contributions made directly through our own site.  Checks are still coming in and we’re super excited to see how much we earn in residual donations in the next couple of weeks.  All of these funds will go directly to repairing student’s homes in Jinotega.  We’re eager to get this money into the community and are busy compiling a list of whose homes are in most need.

Thank you to Mark Wilson (founder) and the crew at Philanthroper.com for highlighting CdA and the recent rains in Nicaragua.  We’re especially grateful for the hundreds of people who donated and passed the word along to friends and family.  It really is amazing to see how quickly email and Facebook can help a small organization like us!

It’s the time of the year to celebrate all that we have to be thankful for. This year, we’re grateful for the chance to help the Department of Health in Jinotega. With a generous donation of two dental x-ray machines from Huntington Beach dentist, Dr. Ken Yabuki, as well as Jorge Obregon of MTom Tours, who has donated space in a shipment heading to Nica, we’re helping Jinotega in a big way!  We’re also sending down two gently-used Dell computer towers donated by Treasurer Liz Morton.

For procuring donations and coordinating transport, CdA extends a special thank you to hardworking volunteers, Roy McCord and Nora Pedersen.  Above, you can see Roy flexing his muscles after working diligently to pack these complicated machines.  Not only did Roy pack all of these delicate items, he also built the wooden boxes they’re being shipped in.  You don’t get much more dedicated than that!  Thank you, Roy and Nora!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

• Unitarian Universalist Church – Costa Mesa

Sunday, December 4, 2011

• Unitarian Universalist Church – Costa Mesa
• Unitarian Universalist Church – Fullerton
• Newport Center United Methodist Church – Corona Del Mar

Sunday, December 11, 2011

• Unitarian Universalist Church – Costa Mesa
• Unitarian Universalist Church – Fullerton

http://greatnonprofits.org/organizations/reviews/circulo-de-amigas

We greatly appreciate you taking the time to do this for our organization, our students in Jinotega, and for the good of all of Nicaragua!

This event brings awareness to local non-profits and allows us a chance to meet with other like-minded individuals who believe it’s important to give back and do good.  Please join us!

Date: Saturday, October 15
Time: Starts at 10:00am (Walk will be followed by an outdoor concert)
Location: El Dorado Park, 7701 East Spring Street, Long Beach, CA
Map: http://is.gd/cGoeU
Parking: $7 charged by El Dorado Park for parking
Distance: 2 miles of pure goodness

We hope to see you there.  Make sure to stop by our booth to say hello!

Please let us know if you have a free or inexpensive craft/community fair in the Orange County (California) area where we might set up shop.  We may also be able to travel to San Diego or Los Angeles.

Here’s a sample of the bags we have for sale.  They are handcrafted out of recycled plastic bags by women in Nicaragua.