The Magic of the Sponsor Visit

When a sponsor pays a visit to a "becado" several good things happen:

1) The BECA experience becomes all the more real for the student. "Wow, this person who sponsored me ACTUALLY DOES EXIST."

2) The BECA experience becomes all the more real for the sponsor. "Wow, this is not some scam. I really am supporting the dreams of a REAL HUMAN BEING."

3) The BECA experience becomes all the more real for the participating school. "Geez, what we are teaching matters and it is important. We have to be accountable."

Today Lucie, who is working temporarily on another project in Nicaragua, took the time to visit two of the "becados" she has sponsored (Maria and Ligia) at the school CECIM in Ciudad Sandino.


It was inspiring to watch.

Giving and Receiving

One of the core values of BECA.org is what we call "social sensibility." Every becado of CURSO UNO (our introductory computer course) makes a commitment to work on a social project in their community. There is a "suggested" minimum commitment of three hours per week, but of course we love it when the becados do more.

Two nice examples. First, Rutt Tellez. Rutt spends a lot of time in her community reaching out and helping. She is a leader of a community group that, among other things, operates a "mobile school."


Second example. Yes, Elvis and alive and doing very well in Masaya, Nicaragua. And BECA.org is happy because when Elvis isn't studying, he volunteers by teaching drawing to high school students. Cool stuff!

Back to School

It was my first day of class since graduating from college four years ago. Only this time I was present as an administrator instead of a student.

The day had very little to do with me, however, and everything to do with our new becados, who made their way from the rural suburbs of Masaya, Managua, and Granada to embark on their new journeys. As I posed this simple question to our students, Why are you taking this course?, responses such as ”for my family”, “to find jobs”, “to move forward” were recited over and over again. In addition to their responses, I was quick to point out that the course could and should be viewed as an opportunity.

Opportunity. It wasn’t until later in the evening that I gave this word some thought. And when I did, I realized that this word has so many meanings for so many people. As an American, I understand opportunity to mean a chance for something different; a chance for something never experienced before; a chance for progress. I believe it has a positive connotation. I believe this because my life has been filled with opportunity. But what if my life had not been filled with opportunity? What if this class, BECA Course One, was my first opportunity? Would I even understand its significance?

Our becados live in poverty. They have not had much, if any, opportunity. Therefore, it is easy for me to understand the significance of this opportunity for them.

I hope they see it the same way. But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

And then there were three . . .

When it comes to the administration of BECA.org, I am obsessed about a couple of things.

First, I am obsessed with keeping the costs of administration to an absolute minimum. In my (albeit) limited time working in development I have seen a lot of waste.

Minimizing bureaucracy can be challenging, especially if one is working in an environment where there is a significant "taker" mentality. Nevertheless, I remain stubborn about this point and refuse to bend when given the opportunity. (And trust me, I have been given many here in Nicaragua.)

My second obsession is quality.

My second obsession led me to make a difficult decision today. I had to inform one of the participating schools -- Computadoras de Granada -- that BECA.org would be continuing without them.

It is important to me that all of our partners take every aspect of the BECA.org system seriously. I just didn't see that happening in this case.

The good news is that the other three founding partner schools (CECIM, MASINFA and INTECOMP) are doing a good job, so far.

My personal commitment to BECA.org is unwavering and clear: unabridged quality with an efficient, lean operation.

The Best Part of BECA.org

I get asked quite often what I like best about working on this project. It doesn't take long to answer: meeting the students.

I personally try to meet all of the students in their homes. (With a current total of 113 "becados", it is an achievable goal.) It is a wonderful, enriching experience.

For example on Saturday (8-09-08), I made some house visits to the students who are currently enrolled in the CURSO UNO course at INTECOMP. Xochilt (see picture below) was one of those students.

What do we talk about? Well, I ask the students about their dreams, about their families, about their career aspirations, and, of course, about their experience so far with BECA.org. Xochilt, for example, wants to work in health care. I asked her about her social project (Every scholarship recipient has to commit to a social project in their community.) She started talking rabidly about how she wanted to restore the park in her community and how the park used to be so lush and vibrant and special. Before I knew it, we were on our way to pay the park a visit.

I'm just crazy about this stuff.