Hola teacher!

We are now three weeks into our first quarter of classes and thoroughly enjoying all of the new faces around the Centro. It has been nice to see all of our advertising hours pay off as more and more people poured into the library during the first weeks of inscriptions. It was awesome to see the Adult Basic and Intermediate classes reach capacity, and even to have enough interest for an Advanced and Super Advanced English conversation class. It has also been nice to settle into a normal schedule now that all of our programs are finally up and running.

I had been anxiously waiting for Adult English to start; it is a program I was excited about from the beginning. While some of the other PD’s were nervous about teaching, I had a little bit of experience teaching ESL and already knew what a cool experience it can be. I was also looking forward to interacting with some of the older people in the community, since the majority of our library users are niños.

There is something really intriguing about watching adults learn. We think of the educational process as something that we go through as children and young adults but no matter what our age, we still have a lot to learn. It is fascinating to watch adults automatically return to the school-children mentality as they find themselves once again in a classroom setting. My English class whispers answers back and forth and copies off each other when my back is turned. They speak too softly when they are unsure and smile proudly when praised. They groan when I give them tests and make up excuses for why their homework isn’t done. No matter what our age, learning new things seems to keep us young at heart.

Unlike most school children however, the adults in our English classes seem to genuinely enjoy being there. This was made apparent to me when I tried to dismiss my class ten minutes early on Saturday since I assumed they were tired after the three-hour class. No one moved from their chairs, they instead started quizzing me about what kind of music I like and insisted that I sing “Yo no sé mañana” for them, translated into English. After hearing me sing they obviously didn’t beg me for an encore, but it was a fun way to pass the last ten minutes of class.

Some of the adults hang around in the library after classes on Saturday just to chat, which brings a lot of liveliness to the Centro on a day that used to be slow. Last week all of the Adult English classes learned the “Happy Birthday” song and serenaded Profe Emily after class for her birthday. One of her super advanced students and a good friend of ours Evo even brought in a cake to share. While the niños make us smile fast with a hug and an “hola profe,” having the Adult English students around has given us close friends in the community. While we try and shy away from being just an English teaching organization because there are a lot of other ways to serve the community, it is nice to provide members of the valley with a skill they so highly value and desire.

Nicole's Children's English class hard at work

Teacher Charlie explaining the future...

Keep up the voting!

Thanks so much for all the support so far. We are currently in 3rd place, with plenty of time left to go in the voting. Please take a second to vote if you haven't already, just follow this link and cast a vote for Manna Project International under the Youth Developer category.

This is real money that will make a huge difference to the communities we serve in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Ecuador.

Please help us spread the word by sharing the link with your friends on facebook and asking coworkers and family members to cast a vote.

We will continue to provide updates on the progress of the competition, thanks so much for your continued support!

Help us win a MILLION dollars!!!!

Manna Project has been invited to participate in the Case Community American Giving Awards for a chance to win a MILLION dollars! This is an incredible opportunity for us and we could really use the funding. The contest is simple; it all comes down to Facebook voting. For the first round we are competing against just four other organizations in the youth development category. We have one week to beat out the other four and move onto the second round. If we advance to the second round we automatically win $125,000 and we have the chance at a million!

We won before, we can do it again! In 2009 when Chase first started their Community Giving Awards MPI won $25,000 so we know it is possible, we just need your help!

Voting lasts just one week, from September 28^th- October 5^th.

Just follow this link it only takes a few seconds and could help us make a real difference in the communities we work in.

You will be prompted to “like” Chase Community Giving and then have the chance to vote for Manna Project under the Youth Developer category.

Help us even more by posting this link as your status on Facebook and Twitter so we can reach out to as many people as possible.

We will keep you updated throughout the voting process, thanks for all the support!

Happy Birthday Vinicio!

Celebrating Vinicio's birthday at the Manna House

Birthday boy and his brother enjoying the cake

Stepping it up in Women’s Exercise

All five of us female PD’s came into this year excited about the Women’s Exercise program. We all came from a background in various types of group exercise and athletics, and were eager to put our personal touches on the classes that Manna offers. It was a little disappointing at first to see the low levels of attendance in our first classes, but it motivated us to get advertising, fine-tune our classes, and start talking to the women in the community to find out what they wanted from a work-out class. We learned quickly that the women want to dance, and they are concerned about their abs, so we have been creatively incorporating both into all of our classes.

A heartwarming moment for me was when Dayana, a 10 year old who attended our summer camp and frequents the library, asked if she could come to women’s exercise because yoga helps her relieve stress. I personally started taking aerobic kickboxing classes with my mom and sister when I was her age, and by far the youngest woman in the class. It was awesome to see her proudly take her place in the front of the room as she bravely tested out each of the classes that her busy schedule allows.

The newest and biggest change we will be implementing this year is a step aerobic class, to be taught by Emily on Friday mornings. The women were very excited about the idea, so all we needed were the steps. After walking to the gym down the street to check out models, watching various Youtube videos on how to make steps, and pricing wood at a nearby hardware store, we were ready to get started. The process didn’t turn out to be all that hard, and we managed to make the first 6 steps for free! We used wood and nails we found around the house, got the wood cut for free by some nice gentleman down the street, and had the steps transported to the Centro by our favorite vecino, Ceasar.

The next step for the program, and something we are all anxious for, will be mounting mirrors on the wall of the exercise room. The room occupies a large open space on the top floor of our Centro, with racks of exercise balls and floor mats, and windows overlooking the mountains. It is a fantastic space and perfect for giving classes, but it lacks mirrors, which are fundamental for checking form and accurately following routines. We are currently working hard contacting gyms and athletic stores in the U.S. trying to get money donated so we can have mirrors installed. In the meantime we’ll continue working to improve our workout classes and get more community members interested in their personal health and fitness.

Building steps

The finished product

Testing it out