http://www.solentiname.org

Welcome to the student scholars of Solentiname. We want to thank you for your interest, financial support and most of all, your solidarity that you have for our community.  It may be the best program we have created, and it is certainly one of the most important. Education is the bridge out of poverty and these students are doing their part to take advantage of the opportunity. Together, all of us working together,  can provide the tools and resources these young people need to succeed in the future.

 The foundation program of the Alianza is Sobresaliente and CPU and Leer Solentiname are the pillars of Sobresaliente. Sobresalientes is a multi-faceted program to expand the educational opportunities for gifted and motivated (sobresalientes) students in Solentiname; to enable them to reach their true potential and be better prepared for post secondary education. It is an innovative “school in a school” complementing the rudimentary government primary and secondary school system. Our approach includes a focus on developing critical thinking and creative learning. The goal is to use these new tools to get the students thinking for themselves, and developing a lifelong love of learning.

All of our programs are voluntary, which means they must have the personal motivation to come on their own, and students must pay part of their expenses themselves.  It isn’t a free ride; all students, even the primary school students of Leer are also  required to participate in community service projects, which they plan.  As you read their profiles, these  students  want to leave to get their education and generally come back home to give back to their community. It is a unique connection with home.

Scholar Profiles

• Students who have graduated from colegio (high school) and are now either attending daily University.  9 students are attending daily University.

• Distancia is unique to Nicaragua; it is a program that meets every other weekend for class on Saturday and Sunday. This system was developed for students that needed to work during the week, and only had limited time. Clearly daily education is better, but not all students can make that investment of time since they need to work to support their families. There are both Distancia high schools and Universities in Nicaragua. We have 15 students in Distancia Beca program and sponsorship is $20.00 per student, per month; $220.00 for the year

• CPU students who are still in High School in Solentiname and are attending CPU to better prepare them, both educationally and socially for the transition to daily University. Historically our students have had a special challenge to succeed in daily University where they need to compete with other students from daily high schools, and even private high schools. Our students with only 4 days a month of school do not have the same preparation as do students from the city who have attended hight school for 20 days a month. CPU is making that difference. We have 29 students attending CPU. Sponsorship for a Spider Student is $25.00 a month or $300.00 per year, since we meet every month, even during school vacation.
  

• And finally we are seeking your support of Leer Solentiname, probably our most important program. We have over 160 students reading after school, trying to instill the tradition of reading in a society where books are scrace. It is an investment of only $12.50 a month for an annual total of $137.50 -- please consider sponsoring several of these youngsters.

All donations are pooled together for that group of students, and we hope you will be able to create a personal connection with one of these students to show that "we care" about their future.   It’s a tangible and measured way to support the future of Solentiname, with some great rewards!

For more information, contact our coordinator of the Alianza Evert Ugarte