Our first business cards

Josefa and Martin, two of the business development recipients, have designed their first business cards.  Special thanks to summer volunteers Amanda Sawyer and Alex McCue who worked on the importance of branding and designing these cards.  We are pretty excited to take this to print this week and have them start using them.

Josh's Experience as a Summer Intern

As a summer volunteer with Manna Project International I have been able to help make a difference in community we work in. One of the community members I have had the opportunity to work closely with is Agdiel. Agdiel is a special needs student who has difficulty speaking. In my time here I have worked with Agdiel on his pronunciation and vocabulary. Although, I have only been here three weeks I feel Agdiel has improved since I first started working with him. Opportunities such as this are one of the reasons I applied to Manna Project International, and am glad I did so.


-Joshua Snow
 Nicaragua Summer Intern 2012
 Manna Project International

Check out the new video filmed in La Chureca.

WHAT IS HOLISTIC COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT?

What is holistic community development? Well, that's a really good question. I feel like it's a lot like the phrase 'sustainable living': you hear it all the time and you use it in sentences, however you don't really know exactly what it means. Firstly, it can mean different things for different people and different organizations. For MPI, it is the base of which we do all of our work. We recognize that if we run an English class for children, if the children aren't healthy, how can they focus on learning? So, paired with our English and Art classes. We faciliate a teeth-brushing program and also help with a feeding program. We believe that by helping all aspects of a person's life (health, education, creative, happiness, social, etc...) that's when a person will really be able to grow.

Another aspect of holistic community development is how we nurture and utilize a Program Director's unique strengths and skills. For example, a current PD, Steph Barnett majored in Spanish and Developmental Education. She uses those skills to run a children's english class, and also volunteers at a pre-school in the community. On the other hand, Trent Draughon (another PD) who is more tech savvy than most of us, teaches the computer class.

I never knew much about holistic community development before I started working with Manna Project, but now that I do, it just makes sense.

Marcos taking some notes in Steph's english class

You can't tell by this photo

but this class is one of the hardest to teach.

The children are very rambunctious.

But, through Steph's masterly skill of working with children in Spanish

she is able to keep them focused.