by Connie Sutton

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.

In November I was given the opportunity to visit Jinotega for two weeks. This was my first trip there as President, my only other visit having occurred in November of 2009 when, as Treasurer, I spent a week there in the company of Founder and then-President  Pat McCully.

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.