[NPMUG] Recycled Apple Computers to go to Nicaragua

[Dave Sevick]

It is with great pleasure I can announce some new partnerships with our Goodwill recycling efforts:


1.  The La Chureca School - director Monsignor Pena

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Lnb90y-z4

In Feb 2010 our international team travelled back to Managua, Nicaragua to meet with Catholic Church Monsignor Pena at his school located just outside the La Chureca trash dumps ... along Lake Managua. Families have lived there since the 1970's following wars and natural disasters like the earthquake of Dec 24, 1972 .... and then revolutions that followed. Today Nicaragua is a growing country again but still has thousands living in poverty. This video shows a bright spot .... Monsignor Pena's work with the children of the trash dumps. The first half shows the school ... the second half is a tour of La Chureca. We are sending Apple computers to Father Pena soon. He is also internationally recognized for his work in the prisons of Nicaragua with "International Prison Fellowship"

2.  The Prison Fellowship International

http://www.pfi.org/national-ministries/americas/nicaragua

We met with this group today and set the groundwork for shipments to the Nicaraguan women's prison to start. The men's prison will follow.
   
3.   The 63 schools of Villa El Carmen, Nicaragua

http://www.chessnicaragua.com/

In 2008 we shipped 10 iMacs to Villa El Carmen .... now we expand that to 63 schools !!!!

4.   The 165 teachers and 1,600 students in El Crucero, Nicaragua

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXTLhjbTU0c ( promo video in Spanish )

This rural municipality has been helped in admirable and groundbreaking ways .... by getting teachers trained to teach better.   They went from the lowest scoring schools in Nicaragua to the highest ranking recently and have the highest recommendation from the Nicaraguan Ministry of Education due to such rapid achievement.  Business leaders who led this effort understand the value of one single computer to a child and family .... they were an INSTANT "yes" to our proposals !!!!!


The Apple iMacs will be bulk shipped via several methods, supported by several business and civic leaders we have met with over the last several days here on the ground in Nicaragua. Details are in the works.


In all cases the business community in Nicaragua understands the immediate need for early childhood education not as a goal ... but a necessary TOOL to help people work out of a life of poverty and dissociation with the rest of Nicaraguan society and the world.  They seek to have an educated and productive local workforce.

They also seek to have a healthier workforce of people who are not malnourished, overweight and a severe burden to the healthcare system.  Problems that we face in the USA as well, quite frankly.

So Goodwill of Southwestern PA will now begin a long term relationship with the country of Nicaragua ... at many levels and in many sectors.

I want to relay tremendous thanks to Janet Foerster , Edgar Largaespada, Susan Jackson-Dunsey  and the team at  innerCHANGE associates international  http://innerchangeinternational.com for the opportunities to sit in front of many of the top people in Nicaragua.  What a friendly and beautiful country.  Janet has spent the last 4 years here forging strong partnerships, paving the way to direct access to over 230 companies in addition to the top leaders we saw this week.

More details are forthcoming when we get back to the USA this weekend ... but I wanted to give you all an update on all the success we have had in our meetings Feb 8 - Feb 11 so far.

We still have meetings all day Thursday, Friday with more leaders in rural and urban and coastal regions of Nicaragua.

This is a great day for Apple recyclers .... Oh ...  and by the way ... they LOVE Macs here !!!!! And I see iPhones everywhere among business leaders !!!!

There is even an iPhone App competition going on at the university level  ... coordinated by a local Nicaraguan business group ... that happens to have a Penn State graduate on their staff .....  :-)
  
How cool is that ?????

More details soon .....


Dave Sevick
Apple Consultant
MacMissionaries
Apple User Group Ambassador
Project Consultant - Nicaragua