BECA Course One - Version 2010

BECA Course One 2010 started this week with 24 (mostly) excited young people.

[Quick refresher: Course One is a three month proving ground for the BECA program. Every student who wants to receive a scholarship to study a technical career has to "show their stuff" in Course One.]

What is my first impression of this group? It is impossible for me to say. In the past I've been wrong about students so many times, I've quit counting (and stopped guessing).

I'm quite curious how this group will turn out though because we used only word-of-mouth to attract students. That is, pretty much all of the students were referred by a Course One graduate.

Stay tuned.

Salvador Cardenal ,QEPD

Two questions: 

1. Who is Salvador Cardenal? 
2. What does the "QEPD" after his name mean?

Salvador Cardenal was a Nicaraguan singer and songwriter, born in 1960. He often sang with his sister, Katia. They formed a group, Dúo Guardabarranco, 30 years ago.

He is very special to BECA because we use one of his songs, Dias del Amar, as the background music in our student profile videos. (See example here.)

I fell in love with the song the first moment I heard it, and it was always my intention to ask him one day if it was okay if we continued to use the song.

Sadly, Salvador Cardenal died earlier this month, after years of struggling with a rare blood disease.

I had the miraculous good fortune of seeing him perform three songs with his sister in February. I suspect it was his last public performance because he didn't look very well.

On that special Granada evening, the last song Katia and Salvador performed was Dias del Amar.

Salvador Cardenal, Que En Paz Descanse.
Salvador Cardenal, Rest in Peace.

How to Help BECA students (and not spend a dime)

Did you know that every active BECA student has a blog?

As part of their scholarship each student receives two hours per week of Internet time in a local cybercafe.
 
BECA helps them set up their blog so that they can write about their experiences and share them with their sponsor and with the world at large. Most of them write something two or three times a month.

You can see a directory of the BECA blogs here: www.beca.org/blogs.html.

Now here comes the helping part. MAKE A COMMENT! It's as simple as clicking on the word "Comments" just below each blog entry:

Scribble down a few words, even if it is in English. If you know Spanish, even better. Also, blog comments can be made anonymously, if you wish.

I know, I know . . . the blogs are in Spanish.

Please don't let that stop you!

There is a translate gadget on every student blog page (below). The translation is far from perfect, but more often than not you can get the general idea of what they are trying to say.






You have NO idea how excited the students get when they see that someone out there is actually paying attention.

A Bloody Interesting Day

On Saturday BECA students gathered to donate blood at the Red Cross here in Masaya.

(Pardon the yucky pun in the title . . . but it did get your attention, right?)

Out of 48 students, about 30 showed up. Most gave.

A couple of observations.

First, about five students were disqualified from donating because they didn't weigh enough. The minimum weight to donate is 100 pounds. These people are young adults. Tells you something, huh?

Second, it appears that the culture here is avowedly "anti-blood-giving." All of the students were strongly encouraged to bring along others to donate. None did!

Moreover, none of the students had ever donated before -- or even considered it, from what I could tell. Myths about blood-giving abound. Heard in the waiting room: "Giving blood will make me gain weight."

That made the day that much more special. Despite popular sentiment, BECA students showed up and gave back to their community.

Maybe next time, we'll see a friend or two.

Moving Out

Some days around here are very special for me.

Case in point, Sunday.

For three BECA students, Larry, Fanny and Frank (below),

Sunday, February 21st was moving day.

They received scholarships to study in the city of Granada.

Fortunately, the technical college INTECNA has student housing and that's where they will be staying.




I was fortunate enough to tag along on Sunday as they said goodbye to their families and headed up to Granada to set themselves up in their new "homes."

It might not be easy for them. From what I've seen Nicaraguan families, especially from the country, are very close-knit.

This move represents a HUGE adjustment for them and for their family members at home, too.

It was an honour to be with them on this special day.


Bravo!

BECA Gets Married

Well, sort of . . . 

To go along with our first baby back in August of last year, BECA is proud to announce our first marriage. Felicidades to one of our students Eliezer Alvarado who just got married.

If he looks really young, it is because he is.

18 years old.

But they get married a lot earlier around here.

Giving Back

An important principle in play at BECA is giving back.

BECA relies upon the generosity of sponsors from all over the world to give back and help send Nicaraguans to school. Without this "giving back" BECA would be dead in the water.

But what about the students? After all they receive 100% scholarships (tranportation included!), right?

The students show their appreciation in two ways.

First, they have the option of working in their community on a social project of their choosing.

Some work in health clinics. Some help out at schools. Others volunteer at their church. Still others clean parks in their community.

We suggest a minimum of three hours a week. Some work less. Some work more.

For 2010 we have a second way in which the students can give back. We are setting up group activities in the community.

Our first group social "project" took place this Saturday (February 6th, 2010). We went to visit the Masaya Seniors' Residence. Out of 52 eligible students, more than 40 showed up to spend a couple of hours with the elders of their community.

I was very, very proud of these young people and judging by the number of smiles, it was far from a  one-way street as they had the privilege of drinking in the wisdom and gentle spirit of their community's "ancianos."

Take a peek at the video. It's only 88 seconds. And it might make you smile too.