5 Things I've Learned in 2009

It is that time of year again. The time of year when I take time to reflect on the year gone by and the twelve months to come. The time of year when I put time aside and dedicate myself to some serious introspecting.

Well actually that's a bunch of crap. I usually just keep on going without giving pause to anything past, present, or future.

However, I find myself in a different zone this year.

Did I learn anything in 2009?

Here it goes . . . starting with the simple stuff.

1) More Spanish.  Yeah, I know, not a real shocker here, but it is important to me. Understanding more of what people are saying here helps a lot with BECA and with my quality of life here in Nicaragua. I am still a LONG way from calling myself fluent. I'm not sure if I ever will be. But I do understand more now.


2) There is nothing wrong with doing "nothing." My neighbors often pull out their plastic chairs, sit in front of their homes and . . . well, just sit there, sometimes for hours. Sometimes they sit in the company of others, but it is not unusual to see someone sitting by themselves. I used to think: "do they not have something they can do?"

These people find tranquility in the moment and enjoy the peace and quiet company of their family and friends. What a fool I have been for judging these people.

3) If you want to get something done, don't expect someone else to do it for you. When I arrived here, I had this master plan to contact all of the other non-profit organizations (NPOs) working here for tips, advice, shortcuts, etc.  Why recreate the wheel, right? And so I did so. And then I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Nothing. It wasn't going to happen and still hasn't happened.

For some reason, my impression is that these NPOs just do their own thing. That's fine, but I promise you that if someone contacts me for some "advice" in the future, I'll do my darndest to give them my two bits worth.

4) Expats (i.e. Americans, Canadians, and Europeans living in Nicaragua) are not the least bit interested in BECA. This one was a little bit of a shock to me. I thought that these people would be inclined to show some interest in giving back to the land where they live. After all, most are enjoying a reasonably good standard of living for a very reasonable cost. I'm not saying that all of them are like that. Most I've met though. This brings me to point number five . . .

5) Most people really don't care about BECA. This is the big one and a watershed lesson for me in 2009.  The fact of the matter is that people are busy with their own lives, wherever they may live.  In the beginning, I took it personally when someone -- especially a friend or a family member -- didn't show much interest in my passion for BECA. I considered it a personal affront.

No more. Hey, people have got their own stuff going on. They have kids, families, and lifestyles. They are busy.

So most people don't give a hoot about BECA.

And that's completely okay by me.

How About Asking People who Live in Nicaragua to Sponsor?

Nicaragua has its fair share of expatriates; that is, Americans and Canadians and Europeans who choose to live here. Some retire here.

So I got to thinking.

Why not ask them about helping a student go to school? Why not ask them about "giving back to Nicaragua"?

I gave it a shot on a popular Internet forum Nicaliving:

Give back to Nicaragua this holiday season.

How? Help sponsor a Nicaraguan adult student.

No monthly commitment. U.S. Tax deductible (EIN: 26-2828810).

These people deserve a break. Let's show them we care.

View student profiles at http://www.beca.org

The response was immediate. Here are some snippets of the replies. (You can see for yourself on this link.)

BECA is a non-profit charitable organization that "seeks out Nicaraguans who are living in poverty" So what do they do for the rest of the day? . . . How do I get the job of the person that does the "Seeking Out", I could have found my perfect retirement job.

Just another reason to stay away of the professional beggars and to give where the need presents itself!

. . . but with so many "Non profit" outfits shoveling funds into their pockets and with so many Land Rovers and Mercedes registered to "Non Profit" in Nicaragua.... I think I'll pass.

And these people live here in Nicaragua.

Tough crowd, huh?

$90/pound Coffee

Okay, so last night (Sunday, December 6th) was the very first fundraising event for BECA outside of Nicaragua. (And I could attend!)

It was . . . absolutely delightful. And for the first time in about 25 years, I was actually nervous speaking before a group of people. Not really sure what got into me.

And you sure have to hand it to those Edmontonians. On a -30 (yep, that's MINUS 30!) degrees Celsius evening, I am guessing there were about 150 people in attendance.

At this time, I am unsure how much money was raised for BECA. Not the most important thing, though. Personally, it was very special moment for me knowing that "other" people believed in BECA enough to do something like this.

I will always remember and cherish this "first."

Thank you Greg, Blake, Matt, Erin and all the warm (and brave) souls at Calvary Baptist Church in Edmonton. Special thanks to the artists who donated 20% of their proceeds to BECA.


P.S. Quick thinker of the day award? None other than MC Greg Wiens who decided at the last minute to auction off a vase and coffee that I brought from Nicaragua. My idea was to give it as a door prize. His idea worked a little better. The result? $160 for the vase; $90 for the bag of coffee. And therein lies the title to this blog entry.

A First

Two "fans" of BECA Matt and Erin are behind a fundraising dinner for BECA in Canada, coming up in December.


Kinda exciting for me because it is the first BECA fundraising event EVER!


Facebookites can see details of the event here: Form and Function

Bono

What hasn't already been said about this guy?

(And you know I'm not talking about Sonny, although I heard that he was a very good egg.)

I'm talking about the rock star. Paul David Hewson. The U2 guy. The guy with the colored glasses. That guy.

The guy that for the last ten years has been a frontman in the fight against AIDS and poverty in Africa.

And, as if traveling around the world trying to convince world leaders to increase -- or, in these times, not cut -- foreign aid budgets is not enough, Bono finds the time to write the occasional article for the New York Times.
(By the way, his last one is a masterpiece.)

But I digress.

Now I'm not much for these rock-star types. But I'm writing this to tell you why I like this fellow.

He's an upbeat, positive guy.

God only knows he's seen more than his share of desperately poor, suffering, starving, dying people.

Nevertheless, he doesn't go galloping around the world on his high horse complaining, harassing, lambasting, or ridiculing these world leaders who keep finding ways to cut foreign aid.

Bono finds a way to keep it positive. He says nice things. He encourages them. He looks for the positives. He knows damn well that saying inciteful things and raging-off is not going to accomplish much. The guy gets results too.

Okay, so maybe you are thinking . . . what is the connection here?

Because from time to time, I get really really pissed off about the misery I see here in Nicaragua and I ask myself: why can't these people in rich countries spare at least a measly $20 bucks and help a person in the developing world get an education? What exactly is their problem?

I'm not falling into that trap.

And for that, I thank Bono.

What does Masaya look like?

What is it really like in Masaya? Do they have paved roads? What do the people look like? What do they wear? Is there a McDonalds?

Now you can taste a bit of Masaya. It was filmed by Sorania and Elvis -- two BECA.org students.




And in case you are wondering . . . no, there is no McDonalds.

What's on my nicaPOD

I'm starting to really dig Nicaraguan music. It took a while.

Someone told me that to really appreciate the music you have to speak the language.

That doesn't apply in my case. I still don't know what the hell they are saying in these songs . . . but, in any event, in order of my preference:

1. Guerrero del Amor- I really love this one.
   
2. Dias del Amor
3. Machaina
4. Nicaragua, Nicaraguita
   
5. The Chicken Song- My title and you'll know why if you listen to it.

13 Reasons

I was thinking about why helping a Nicaraguan student through BECA is a good thing.

I came up with a list of 13 reasons.

You can check them out here: http://www.beca.org/13-Reasons.html

14 - 3 = 11

14 people applied to study Accounting.

Only 11 remain. Why?


BECA decided to put on its own little "entrance" exam for the students, just to make sure they had some basic math skills.

We just figured that you had better know how to do the likes of addition, division, and multiplication without a calculator if you want to have an accounting job.

I'm glad we did it, but the results really sucked. These people are high school graduates -- all of them -- but three of them got less than 25%.

What to tell these three? All three eager to study something. All three eager to learn a career. All three eager to grab an opportunity with BECA.

In the end, we said something like this: "Your math really doesn't cut the mustard. You deserve an opportunity, though, so you have a month to come up with another career choice. Okay?"

All three were most gracious. Their faces told it all, though.

In two years here in Nicaragua, it was one of my most unpleasant BECA days.

The BECA Blog Shows its Artsy Side

An interesting point of view . . . the BECA blog via a "Word Cloud" perspective.

This is what a year of posts yields:



I like the fact that most of the words have a positive bent.

But "spanking"? Where did that come from?

BECA has a new page on FACEBOOK

Please become a fan of BECA. Please invite your friends to become fans too.

Why?

Well, I'm not really sure, but people tell me it's a good thing.

BECA on Facebook

And Now For Something Completely Different

BECA got its hands on a video camera -- thanks to BECA director Suzanne Bourne.

All together we did four video profiles of new sponsorship candidates. You can check them all out on our spanking new Youtube channel.

Special thanks to BECA student (and ambassador) Sorania Davila. Sorania did the filming.

I like the idea of having videos filmed by the students for the students.

You like?





Aside: My niece Serena would be so proud. You see, it was only six months ago that I called it "the youtube."

Course One 2009 Results

Okay, now that BECA Course One is officially over for 2009, I have some numbers for those of you who pay attention to that kind of stuff.

• 123 students started Course One in 2009
• 97 (or 79% of them) finished
  
• Of those 97 graduates, 65 have applied for a technical career (phase two of the BECA program)

That means 67% of the students who finished the initial screening course have applied for a second scholarship.

That's a lot more than I expected.

The next step is to sort through all of these applications and start putting them on the Web. We're doing that now and we expect to start posting profiles at the end of August.

BECA Non-Desertion Day

One of the biggest challenges BECA faces is minimizing student desertion. We've heard that desertion in other post-secondary programs in Nicaragua ranges from 40 to 60 percent in Nicaragua.

This made me really nervous because I didn't think BECA would fly if we encountered those kinds of drop-out rates. I mean, who would want to sponsor a student if there was such a good chance that they would quit?

Here is a breakdown of the last 50 BECA Course One students -- some of whom you can see smiling below. (More pictures here.)

Monday to Friday course: 25 started and 22 finished. 88% completion rate. Not too shabby.

Sunday course: 20 started and 17 finished. 85% completion rate. Still pretty good.

Now here's the ugly one.

Saturday course: 20 started and 11 finished. Yuck. 55% completion rate.

BECA response: We are doing away with the Course One weekend courses -- at least for now. In 2010, all BECA Course Ones will be 120 hours over three months.

Standardized and simpler to administer.

It is still way too early to get excited about the good results we experienced. I think we might be on the right track, though.

BECA has a Baby!

Well, sort of . . .

Congratulations to Arlen Obando!

Arlen just had a baby. She has been taking "Course One BECA" every Saturday for the last six months and finishes up this weekend.

Arlen hasn't chosen a name for the little guy yet. "Waltercito" sure has a nice ring to it, though. :)

Brian's Final Thoughts

As Walter mentioned in the previous newsletter, I will be returning to University to study for my Master’s in Business Administration. I cannot adequately express in words how excited I am for this opportunity. After all, my primary responsibility will be…to learn!

As excited as I am, this opportunity to learn has new meaning for me because in many parts of this world it does not exist. There is not always a school or an opportunity for a degree that offers a chance to get ahead. There is not a government or a bank that loans people money to “study.” The truth is that while I am in school, most people in this world will labor to support themselves and their families. This fact alone builds an appreciation unlike anything I have felt before.

I imagine the appreciation that our BECA students feel for their opportunity to learn goes far beyond anything that I am feeling right now. In Nicaragua, to graduate from high school and then receive a scholarship is an extraordinary accomplishment. It is revered in the community. It is a source of pride that forever remains.

Knowing this, I thank those of you who have supported and continue to support BECA. While your support may appear in the form of money, it surfaces in the form of hope, opportunity, and possibility for someone on the receiving end.

For my final request as Executive Director and my first request as Board Member, I ask you never to underestimate the impact of your actions or your ability to make a difference. Because of you, a student who has grown up in one of the poorest corners of this world has been given an opportunity. You have made that difference.

It has been the highlight of my short professional career to work for BECA and Walter Hunchak, a founder with unmatchable integrity, character, and genuine purpose. Most importantly, it has been fulfilling to give students in Nicaragua the opportunity to study for a career.

Best Wishes,

Brian

The BECA Bank Account Saga

If you heard a big scream on the morning of Wednesday, July 1st, it was me. Nope, I wasn't celebrating Canada's 142nd birthday.

After visits to four Nicaraguan banks -- and mucho pleading and cajoling and waiting outside bankers' offices -- BECA finally got its very own authentic Nicaraguan bank account.

Cost to BECA: a year, five BECA t-shirts and $360 (lawyer).

Aside: The t-shirts worked the best. I wish I had thought of that a long time ago.

Ho Hum

Another boring week here in Masaya, Nicaragua.

Let's review some headlines:

1. A big fire guts half a city block.

2. Mayor of Nicaraguan capital city kills himself.

3. Military coup (according to some) staged in neighboring country (Honduras).

Meanwhile, back in Canada, a horse died.

BECA's First Employee

Antonio Rodriguez is the new Coordinator for BECA here in Nicaragua.

He worked for one of our partner schools for a while and the fellow impressed me.

We'll see how it goes. I'm a little anxious about the whole thing, but ultimately BECA belongs in the hands of Nicaraguans, doesn't it?

You can read a little bio here.

Another Sponsor Visit

Seneyda meet Aggie. Aggie meet Seneyda.



Aggie is the sponsor; Seneyda, the student.

Aggie was born in Nicaragua but now calls California her home. Annually, she comes to Nicaragua to visit family and friends, and early this year decided to sponsor after reading an article about BECA in La Prensa (Nicaragua daily newspaper).

Aggie wanted to make sure that BECA was real.

I'm really hoping that Aggie will go home and spread the word a bit because I think the BECA program is a nice fit for Nicaraguan expatriates who want to give back a little bit to their homeland.

Thanks a lot for making time for Seneyda, Aggie. I know you made her day.

BECA Party

BECA had a party on the weekend.

I'm really not crazy about putting on parties like this, but I thought it would be a worthwhile "investment" for several reasons.

First, it was an opportunity for the students from different classes to meet each other.

Second, 50 students were graduating from Course One. Chance to give them their certificates.

Third, and most important, we could give executive director Brian Alvo a nice goodbye after 17 months of dedication.

In the end, about 130 students showed up (out of 210) as well as representatives from four schools. Unfortunately, the guest of honor came very late due to some travel screw-ups.

It doesn't matter. Things went pretty well.

You can see more pictures here.

Tribute Video to Brian Alvo

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth a million . . .

However, even a million wouldn't be enough to say thanks to the "Gringo" for everything he has done for BECA.

Brian_Se_Va

Hot, Cheap, and Fascinating

"What do you think of Nicaragua?" a good friend of mine -- the Weasel -- asked.

It's a question that I hear a lot. "Great" is my stock answer.

He wasn't having any of it. "Oh come on, you can do better than that. What do you really think of Nicaragua?"

(This is one persistent Weasel.)

Okay, okay.

1) FASCINATING. I think the place is very interesting, politically. People are over-the-top passionate about their politics. That and a highly-polarized environment leads to a highly-charged atmosphere. The media can be vicious and as my Spanish improves -- albeit slowly -- I enjoy the ongoing dialogue more and more.

2) HOT. It's really warm, especially from March to July.

3) CHEAP. I'm crazy about this part. No one loves a good deal better than me. Taxi rides for fifty cents. Hair cuts for $2. Pedicure for $3. Movie tickets for $2.50. Three months of computer school for $60. Gotta love it!

Nightmare on Limón Street

It has been an absolute NIGHTMARE trying to open a bank account.

Forget about a personal banking account. (Those are next to impossible for anyone without Nicaraguan residency.)

I'm talking about a bank account for the BECA Foundation. Seems like U.S. 501(c)3 status AND official recognition by the Nicaraguan government is not sufficient.

What is going on here?

I've been offered several explanations:

1. Financial Crisis
   
2. Nicaraguan Banking Crisis of the 90s
3. Overly zealous banking superintendency
4. "You are missing ___ document(s)." (Insert a number of your choice.)
   
5. "You are missing ___ signature(s)." (refer to point #4)

Working in a "developing" country can be challenging -- mostly because one is working in a different culture with different norms, habits, and behaviours.

This challenge is not cultural, as far as I'm concerned. It's just plain dumb.

There. Now I feel better.

S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E

As we have written in previous posts, one of the conditions for receiving a scholarship in the BECA program is the commitment of each becado to conduct a social project. We give our students the liberty to decide where, when, and how they want to conduct their project, and in return we have some liberty of our own: To visit by surprise.

Without warning, we verify social projects throughout the duration of Course One. If our students are present and conducting their social project when we arrive (at the times they have told us), then we believe they have honored their commitment. If students are not present when we arrive, we assume the project is not being conducted, and those students are ineligible to apply for BECA Intensive, the vocational scholarship.











As you can imagine, we have had mixed results in this effort. Many times our students are not there, or have changed times and not notified us. Because we have mixed results, we are constantly searching for new ways to encourage participation and emphasize the importance of this project for BECA.











In our minds, a social project is more than giving back to a community; it is a way for our students to distinguish themselves amongst their peers.











So you can also imagine that when we do arrive, and see that our students are hard at work giving something back to their community, we experience a great sense of pride. I can only speak for myself, and say that my pride has little to do with me, and everything to do with the satisfaction our students feel - that their work is appreciated and bettering the community.


Whether it is cleaning parks, planting trees, working in health centers, or volunteering at church, social projects bring out the best of our students, and the best of the BECA Program: Doing something for someone else.

To view more becados at work, click here.

April Showers bring?

April showers bring . . . what else but more BECA students anxious to be sponsored.

Another "Course One BECA" starts in May and we have posted a few more student profiles for your consideration.



Soooooooo, let's shower those students with sponsorships. (Kinda corny but you get the idea, right?)

You can see who's available by clicking here.

Field Trips!

To us Westerners, field trips sometimes come in the form of a Museum of Science, a visit to the nation's capital, or a stop at an Aquarium (I’m from Miami…that’s what we do!). But for BECA, field trips come in the form of school visits.











Through our valiant effort to stimulate “outside of the box” thinking amongst our becados, we first created the Career Plan module, which provides our becados with the necessary training to develop a long-term plan for their studies. To compliment that module, we decided to organize field trips to schools in Granada and Managua that offer vocational careers.












Why do we offer these field trips? Because we are about giving opportunities! To do that, we want to show our becados that there are opportunities and possibilities outside of Masaya, and then have them decide…for themselves…what suits their interests best.











In addition to having fifty attendees on each trip, for many of our becados these trips served as a first-time visit to Granada and Managua.












So...will our becados apply to study at these schools? We hope so, but we'll have to wait and see.

Did we open their eyes…even un poquito? I’d like to think…YES!

Career Planning...BECA Style

Over the past four weeks my life has really consisted of one thing: The Career Planning Module. If you are unfamiliar with how this fits in to the BECA Program, please take a look at our Course One breakdown.

Module	Duration in Hours
BECA.org	2
Career Plan	6
Typing	30
Microsoft Word	34
Windows + Internet	48
Total Hours	120

The career plan module was designed to guide our becados through a process of self-reflection, as well as setting practical and achievable long-term goals that will lead to economically sustainable careers.

As you can imagine, developing any presentation the first time around is challenging, but given the fact that our Career Planning Module consisted of six hours of training for five BECA Course One sections, this challenge carried some heavier weight.

Luckily, we had a helper throughout this stretch - our very own Cristina, born and raised in San Jose, Costa Rica. Without her, our presentation would have definitely been less dynamic, our brainstorming sessions more stale, and our becados would have received a handout with gringo Spanish instead of Cristina’s native influence.

In terms of planning careers, by no means are we experts. But as administrators of the BECA program, we know what we are looking for when a student says, “I want to study X because of Y.” Even if a student’s plan has potential to change, we still want to see one – a set of ideas with reasons supporting it.

To spice up the ideas, participation, and presentation, we included the following in our Module: Guest speakers, group exercises, simulations, and discussions.

While our students rated the Career Plan Module favorably, we really won’t know just how successful our module was until we see what our students submit to us for BECA Intensive. And, even then, until we see how many of you decide to sponsor them!

What does "501(c)3" mean to you?

It probably doesn't mean a lot to you. It means a helluva lot to me, though, and it represents a milestone for BECA.

On February 23rd -- my sister's birthday! -- BECA received a letter from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) confirming our legal status as non-profit. 501(c)3 refers to the section of the United States Internal Revenue Code under which BECA obtained this exemption.

Here is the proof: IRS Approval Letter.

Why is this important to me? I can think of three reasons.

First, American taxpayers will now be able to deduct their contributions to BECA.

Second, this qualification by the IRS enhances the legitimacy of our organization in the eyes of American donors.

Third, and by far the most important to me, this moment represents a graduation of sorts for BECA. A little idea hatched in my (little?) mind sixteen months ago is now a recognized public charity. There is no turning back and the passion I feel for this project has taken on a whole new dimension. An objective party - not a friend, family member, or poverty activist - has given BECA the green light.

I'm thrilled.

BECA Website Now Speaks Spanish

Okay, I guess a website can't speak, but you know what I mean.

I've always thought BECA was missing out by not reaching out to Spanish-speaking surfers -- not only in Spain, but also to Spanish-speaking expatriates of Central America living in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere.


Let's see if they respond.

Why are these people happy?

Introducing our first group of BECA Intensive scholarship recipients:


Top: Elvis (Yes, he is alive and doing well in Masaya, Nicaragua.)

Bottom (left to right): Manuel, Sorania, Francis, Kenia, Claudia, and Maribel.

98!

I am pleased to announce that because of you, we have raised enough money to send all 98 candidates to school starting the first week in February.

For those of you who sponsored a student, THANK YOU! You are sending someone to school - someone who never would have had that chance without your generosity and support.

So...what's next?

The student you sponsored will begin a standardized computer course at one of our partner Nicaraguan schools. You will be able to follow the journey of your student through his / her weekly blog.

Over the next few weeks we will be posting pictures from the first day of class, as well as snapshots of the five different sections of BECA Course One.

In the meantime, I present to you the becados for Pilot #3:

1. Eliezer Alvarado 2. Juana Blass 3. Elizabeth Selva 4. Ana Hernández 5. Lesly Ortíz 6. Rosa Mercado 7. Rosa Hernández 8. Yarisma Ortiz 9. Jorge Barreras 10. Jeronima Medina 11. Héctor Castro 12. Jose Sanchez 13. Reynaldo López 14. Nelson Chavarria 15. Glendys Arias 16. Delma Romero 17. Geyssell López 18. Aracelly Ruiz 19. Jairo Largaespada 20. Jessica Leyva 21. Valeria Salinas 22. Fanny Conde 23. Luisa Sotomayor 24. Raquel Lopez 25. Darling Urbina 26. Karla Mercado 27. Kiara Bermúdez 28. Frank Collado 29. Seneyda Parrales 30. Yessica Cerrato 31. Scarlett Cerrato 32. Gilma Collado 33. Jesnery Montoya 34. Oscar Vanegas 35. María Mercado 36. Corina Rivera 37. Urania Montoya 38. Yader Garcia 39. Elmer Ruiz 40. Elizabeth Ortiz 41. Mario Rodríguez 42. Mariela Gaitan 43. Vivian Castellón 44. Mario Fonseca 45. Gabriela Gómez 46. José Gaitán 47. Elvis Mena 48. Carlos López 49. Franklin Aguirre 50. Josué Ocampo 51. Arlen Obando 52. Juliana Díaz 53. Yader Mendoza 54. María Ruiz 55. Noebia Meza 56. Nosbal Carranza 57. Juana García 58. Roberto Télica 59. Chary Ramirés 60. Helen Velásquez 61. Karina Padilla 62. Darling Ruiz 63. Esther Carballo 64. Helman Baltodano 65. Lester González 66. Damian Nicaragua 67. Jamileth Arias 68. Ricardo Centeno 69. Alba Robles 70. Karen Corea 71. Maria Luisa Ruiz 72. Maycol Espino 73. Betty Bejarano 74. Margeorie Castillo 75. Abner González 76. Armando Lopez 77. Saudy Alemán 78. Eddy Reyes 79. Hilda Putoy 80. Marco Ruiz 81. Ena Miranda 82. Jessica Vindell 83. Martin Saballo 84. Edison Ortiz 85. Maryurys Ruiz 86. Virginia Huete 87. Guadalupe Araque 88. Linda Flores 89. Jacqueline Cisneros 90. Ana López 91. Juan Velasquez 92. Judith Aleman 93. Lesbia Davila 94. Scarlett Gamez 95. Grissela Gamez 96. Rickey Orozco 97. Yenny Ruiz 98. Yader López