Please Support our Fundraising Efforts!

Season’s Greetings everyone! Our trip to Nicaragua is only a few months away and we are very excited! With the holiday season just around the corner, we are kindly asking you to make a donation to Hester J. Hodgdon Libraries and support our fundraising efforts for the San Juan del Sure entrepreneurs. 

The Hester J. Hodgdon Libraries is a Colorado-based, tax-exempt, foundation created to support the San Juan del Sur Biblioteca in an effort to promote library lending programs in Central America. In addition to its ongoing work in San Juan del Sur, the program has developed a variety of protocols and materials for new libraries, and its “library in a box” program has helped service groups, church groups, and individuals to establish more than 54 new lending libraries in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica. The significance of these efforts lies in the fact that historically libraries in Central America do not loan their books and there is little or no access to books and information for any but the very wealthy. 

All donations are tax deductible and can be made through this link: http://www.librariesforall.org/?Donations. This page asks for donations to the Hester J Hodgdon Libraries for All. Please earmark the donation under the name “UMD entrepreneurs”; this will help differentiate our group’s donations from library donations. We can then use a portion of the proceeds to support the San Juan del Sur entrepreneurial efforts! We hope that you will support our cause this year! We wish you lots of happiness this holiday season and hope that you have a wonderful new year! Thank you!

Welcome!
Welcome to the University of Maryland Nicaragua Spring Break 2014 Study Abroad blog! The students will update the blog daily when we're in Nicaragua. We're working on fundraising for the entrepreneurs we're going to be working with.  In Managua, we'll work with students and faculty from UNAN on these projects:

1. Hot box, a lunch box to keep workers’ lunches both warm and safe. The group is hoping to sell to factory owners to use as rewards for workers or as a general benefit.
2. Carrier for coffee bean workers. This team has designed ergonomic carriers (male and female designs) for workers on coffee bean plantations to hold up to 30 pounds of coffee beans. 
3. Recycled shoes.  These shoes are made from tires and old jeans.
4. Portable medical lift. In Nicaraguan hospitals, families of the patients provide the care that is provided by nurses in U.S. hospitals. The hand-crank lift allows a patient to be moved in bed, allowing easier care. 

 In San Juan del Sur we'll work with the following entrepreneurs:

1. Bruno Antonio Pomares Herrera. Wedding planner and dance troupe coordinator.
2. Mayra Perez, Spanish language school owner.
3. Yessenia Luna, Fashion show organizer, make up artist and nail technician and baker.
   
4. Ruth Perez and her business partner, Mirna.  They are bakers and have a small snack stand at a local school.