Bienvenidos to my Blog!

Hello Family, Friends, and Curious Readers,

Thanks for stopping in to see what I am up to. This is my first blog, and I hope not to bore you too much with the details of my life. But rather hope to offer you some insights into development work, the highs, the lows, and well the boring.

But before I move away for 27 months, let me give you a little information about myself before I lose a steady internet connection.

So after graduating from Boston College in 2005, I decided I wanted to learn Spanish and "save the world" so I moved to Cusco, Peru. I began by volunteering for The Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco by researching and writing a small business plan for the organization. I continued to work with the organization until February of 2008, when I returned to the US to prepare for my move to Madrid, Spain for 15 months to study an International MBA at IE Business School. And now, after a year of searching for the perfect development job, and taking odd jobs in the meantime, I have joined the Peace Corps and am volunteering again. So wish me luck, and PLEASE someone stop me from volunteering again!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Crema de Chocolate con Mani #2

The second place group is called "Delicias" Crema de Chocolate con Mani.

For those of you that don't speak spanish, thats Chocolate Cream with Peanuts. And lordy does it taste awesome. Think the Nicaragua equivalent to Nutella... but with peanuts. These girls actually stumbled upon this product when their prototype wouldn't harden to make a chocolate bar. So I suggested just changing the name and calling it a cream. Dang its good. Very sweet but awesome! Plus they have access to some of the best cacao in the world here, as it is grown in our region of Matagalpa. Seriously how lucky am I? I live in a place where cacao and coffee are grown!

Here are some pictures of the girls from their school competition!
Their display of basic ingredients peanuts and cacao, and their product in 5oz. cups.

Their logo and slogan

The girls during their presentation at the local level.
These girls will also be attending the Regional Competition with me, so please feel free to donate via Paypal!!!
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CuMix ~ Cuajada con Vegetales #1

CuMix is the name of the team that took first place at the municipal competition in Matagalpa this year. It is essentially a fresh cheese (cuajada) that they have added vegetables too. Think goat cheese with herbs, or veggie cream cheese.

Cuajada is a cheese that is consumed in quantities in every Nicaraguan household. This group has taken that same product and made it taste soooo much better! Their slogan is "Giving health, flavor, and color to your life" (it sounds much better in Spanish "Dando Salud, Sabor, y Color a tu vida") Here are some pictures from their local competition so you can see the product and their display.
Yummy Yummy!

Their original logo

Different ways to try the cuajada

The Team!
The new logo, that was actually designed by the 8 year old brother of one of the group members... I put it into its electronic form though ;)
Feel free to support these awesome students through a $5 or $10 donation! Just go to paypal.com and donate using my email address! Thanks for your support in advance!
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Municipal Competition Pictures

Here are pictures from the municipal business plan competition we held this past Wednesday. I figured it would be more interesting to see rather than read!

Students from INEP explaining their product to a teacher

Don Limon relaxing before their presentation

Crema de Chocolate y Mani ~ Delicias They won second place

Getting the puppy ready for the dog salon presentation

The judges working hard to review business plans

Natural Shampoo

Chilero del Norte's Presentation (They made a lime based vinegar)

Questions from the judges

Mochibolosos "Be Cool" This group made a reversible backpack/shoulder bag

Modeling the shoulder bag


I actually have more pictures, I just need to get them from a fellow teacher. My camera battery died mid competition, but I will do a special feature on both the first and second place teams (those I am taking to the regional competition) now!. Keep making good choices! Love yas
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Friday, October 19, 2012

Competition Season!!!!

Well its that time of year again, the leaves are changing color (getting greener from all the rain), the nights are getting cooler (again from all the rain), and my students are complaining because of all the work they have to do, including finishing their business plans for the end of the year business plan competitions.

I have also been working rather hard to make sure that the students are prepared and that there are as few holes as possible in their plans, so they might be able to attend the 10th Annual National Business Plan Congress and Competition. It has meant lots of extra hours of work at the library, but I am happy to say, that I have been rather impressed with some of the groups this year. I am also happy to report that the competitions have gone well and that we are now moving on to the regional competition in Jinotega which will be held the 30th of October! (All I have to do now is figure out how to get the kids from Matagalpa to Jinotega and back. I am looking into chartering a school bus and hopefully only having to pay gas and lunch for the drivers etc. We shall see what I can come up with in terms of donations here. I have been working for the past few months casually selling chocolate chip cookies, but I might need to step that up this week to get some more money to make this happen! (Unless some of you readers out there would like to donate (I'm talking $20 here and there) then shoot me an email and we can discuss how... I recently opened a paypal account!)

I plan on spending some time updating my blog with pictures from the events and a few more success stories tomorrow so stay tuned! I need to get back to work at my NGO in San Ramon! Love you all and make good choices!
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