Our main focus for the next few weeks will be recruitment. We are currently recruiting for new club members and a new board. This new board will be finalized by Friday, April 20th.

Next trip to Nicaragua

We are planning to travel to Nicaragua again the week of December 15th to continue our work at Lenin Fonseca Hospital. Our focus will be improving the health and safety standards at the hospital.

Fundraisers

We are planning fundraisers for Spring Quarter, which will be held at Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill and other on or near-campus restaurants.

Furthermore, our chapter has been busy preparing for our upcoming Spring Break trip. From March 15-25, we will be sending a team of nine students to Rancho Grande, Nicaragua. We are collaborating with Bob Hattman, a former principal from West Virginia to conduct initial educational assessments of the students of Escuelas Tierras Prometidas, and to establish certificate programs in subjects including math, construction, computer skills.

Finally, Project Nicaragua at OSU recently elected a new executive board for the 2012-2013 school year, and are pleased to welcome:

Allie Lawson (Co-President), Rachel Welch (Co-President), Zach Braunstein (Secretary), Srirama Josyula (Nationwide Coordinator), Alisha Kamboj (Public Relations), John Scheick (Treasurer), Pat Schaffer (Webmaster), Tiffany Wang (Medical Student Advisor), and Lauren Cupito, Rachael Billock, Laura Wilson, and Sarah Johns (Event Chairs).

Como lo mencionamos en nuestro boletín anterior, tenemos una nueva colaboración con la panadería la Bonbonerie Bakery de Cincinnati, Ohio.  En Octubre pasado recibimos como donación dos maletas llenas de materiales para hornear, los cuales pudimos enviar a la panadería en Nicaragua.  Ahora estamos trabajando con Bonbonerie Bakery en la organización de la segunda cena de beneficio.  Estamos muy emocionados con los eventos que estamos planeando aquí en Ohio, pero también estamos en expectativas de ver a los estudiantes de Rancho Grande nuevamente.  En estos momentos tenemos dos viajes planeados para este año: uno durante el Receso de Primavera y el otro durante el Receso de Verano.   Cada viaje se va a enfocar en las diferentes metas que estamos tratando de lograr,  y también dará la oportunidad a más estudiantes de OSU para conocer a los niños y ver directamente el trabajo que estamos haciendo.  En la próxima edición de este boletín tendremos mas información sobre esto!

Próximo Viaje

En estos días estamos planeando nuestro próximo viaje para el mes de Junio.  Las fechas posibles son del 23 de Junio al 3 de Julio.

Trabajo con la Comunidad

Estamos en contacto con World Vision y otras organizaciones no lucrativas para ver como podemos servir mejor a la Comunidad.  Esperamos crear una conexión duradera!

Proyecto de Investigación

El grupo de investigación epidemiológica ha estado reuniéndose rigurosamente para hacer una declaración sobre las condiciones de salud en Nicaragua.  También estamos estableciendo una buena relación con doctores de Nicaragua para colaborar.

Actualmente, los miembros del Proyecto Nicaragua de UC San Diego están trabajando mucho para juntar fondos para el Proyecto de Filtros de Agua que se va a llevar a cabo este Verano 2012.  Los miembros están juntando fondos a través de la venta de camisetas que promueven el programa de Filtros de Agua en los Mercados Comunitarios durante los fines de semana, y también van a llevar a cabo una venta de comida Coreana en el campus de UCSD durante el mes de Febrero.  El Proyecto Filtros de Agua va a enviar un grupo de estudiantes de UCSD a una zona rural de Nicaragua en donde se van a instalar los filtros en las casas de las familias Nicaragüenses.  Cada filtro proveerá 40 litros de agua filtrada durante 10 años para una familia en Nicaragua.

We’re planning on hosting “Soles for souls” shoe drive over Winter and Spring quarters. We’ll bring the  shoes we raise down to Nicaragua to give to those in need!  Also, we’ll be holding a churro fundraiser later this month.

Next trip

We’re currently planning our next trip to take place in late June. Possible dates include 6/23-7/3.

Working with a community

We’re in contact with World Vision and other nonprofit organizations to see how best we can serve the community. We hope to start a lasting connection!

Research project

Epidemiology research group has been meeting rigorously to make a statement about the condition of healthcare in Nicaragua. We’re also developing a relationship with physicians in Nicaragua to collaborate.

Currently, UCSD PN members are working hard fundraising for the Water Filter Project that will take place this summer, 2012. Members are actively fundraising by selling water filter awareness t-shirts at farmer’s markets each weekend, and will be holding a Korean BBQ on UCSD campus in mid-February. The Water Filter Project will send a group of UCSD students to a rural area of Nicaragua where water filters will be installed in homes of Nicaraguan Families. Each water filter will provide 40 liters of drinking water daily for 10 years for a family in Nicaragua.

We are currently planning two events and applying again to the CGIU Conference. Because of the success of ourGlasses Drivelast spring (we collected 530 glasses!), we are in talks with the Weddington Society, the organization we collaborated with on theGlasses Drive, to have another collection drive this spring. Current ideas of items to collect include school supplies for the students or medical supplies for CENAO.

As mentioned in our last newsletter, we have a new collaboration with Bonbonerie Bakery inCincinnati,OH. Back in October, we received two suitcases full of baking supply donations and were able to send them down to the bakery inNicaragua. Now we are working on hosting a second benefit dinner with Bonbonerie.

We are very excited about the events we are planning here inOhio, but we are also looking forward to seeing the students of Rancho Grande again! As of right now, we have two trips planned this year:  a spring break trip and summer break trip. Each trip will focus on different goals we are trying to accomplish, and it will give more OSU students the opportunity to meet the kids and see the work we are doing first hand. More on this next issue!