Me and 35,175 Ticos*

Maybe not quite 35,175.

But close.

What am I talking about here?

I am on vacation in Costa Rica and last night I took in the Costa Rican national soccer team match against Mexico in the national stadium.

Quite the adventure!

Here are some recommendations in case you care to attempt something similar:

• Don't bring your umbrella. It will be confiscated at the door.
• Don't buy the national team flag of the opposing national team.
• If you ignore the previous suggestion, don't even think about waving it during the match.
• Keep your cash in a zipped pocket.
• Feel free to wear the jersey of the opposing team, but don't cheer if they score.
• If the opposing team is the national team of Mexico, yelling "Arriba, Arriba, Arriba" (speedy Gonzalez-style) is a no-no.

If you missed it, the result was positive for the home team (2-1).

It ended with fans in my section yelling at the top of their lungs "Get Out, Get Out, Get Out."

No, they weren't shouting at me.

I think.

*Costa Ricans are typically known as Ticos.

How Does the BECA Team Work?

You may have heard me use the term "REY13" before.

What exactly is REY13?

It is the code name I gave a pilot project initiated this year in BECA.org.

In project REY13 -- with the cooperation of a high school in an outlying community of Masaya -- BECA began the scholarship qualifying stage while the students were still in their last year of high school. The logic is that in this way, the successful candidates will not "lose a year."

This is how we work in BECA Nicaragua. By project.

BECA's staff is trained in managing projects. I create and assign the projects. And then I do my best to try to help them along. (Or stay out of the way in some cases.)

Managing projects is an advanced skill. And in my experience, not many people know how to do it.

Fewer know how to do it well.

I decided that this was more empowering in the longer term for the organization.

It's a transferable skill that each team member can carry with them when they choose to leave us.

As it turns out, pilot project REY13 came to an end this week. Of 11 high school students who began their BECA journey eight months ago, 10 successfully completed their qualifying.

I congratulate all ten participants on their achievement and I congratulate project manager Miss Urania Montoya on its stewardship.

The Ideas Man

A good friend of mine calls me an "ideas man."

It's a fair description.

The BECA team would probably say the same thing.

I can just hear them say now "Uh oh, here comes Walter with another of his crazy ideas." (Of course they are WAY too polite to actually come out and say it.) 
 
Anyway, the point is that I come up with lots of ideas -- good ones, bad ones, and downright ugly ones.

Here are some examples from my time here in Nicaragua.

Expanding BECA in 2010 to two other Nicaraguan cities. BECA was not even close to being ready for that. It was premature and impulsive. Put that one in the ugly category.

Offering BECA.org Course One, BECA's scholarship classification stage, on the weekends. The desertion rate was close to 50%.  Bad idea.

Positively, partnering with Nicaraguan bank BAC and getting debit cards in the hands of all of our scholars was a good idea. It makes distributing their monthly stipends a breeze.

Adding a social service component, the "Brigada," to the classification stage has proven to be a big win-win-win for our organization, the participants, and the primary schools that benefit. Belongs in the good idea basket.

My best idea so far?

That's easy.

Deciding that BECA should be run by its own graduates.

And it was my idea, man!

Maryury Ruíz and Urania Montoya (September 2013)

100 Piñas Coladas

Some of you may know that in BECA Nicaragua we don't hand out scholarships.

The participants earn them.

And we don't make it easy for them. The classification process is six months long, beginning with three months of computer classes and ending with three months volunteering full-time in a local primary school.

118 nicaraguans began this journey way back in March.

Tuesday (24-9-13) was the final day of classification.

And . . . 100 finished.

Please allow me a few exclamation marks.
 
100!!  A whopping 84.75%!!

Very impressive stuff and numbers this program has never seen. 

I congratulate each and every one of BECA's future scholars.

We know it wasn't easy. In fact, we know it was darn tough.

Lastly, I congratulate the BECA team of Maryury Ruíz, Urania Montoya, and Reyaldo López on facilitating this achievement.

Time for a piña colada, ¿verdad? Or perhaps 100 of them?

If I Were King of Nicaragua

There is a lot of talk currently in Nicaragua about the potential building of a canal, to rival Panama's.

It's a MULTIbillion-dollar project.

And some believe a megaproject like a transoceanic canal is just what the country needs.

It got me to thinking.

If money was not an issue, and I were the King of Nicaragua, what one thing would I do to improve the situation here?

I wouldn't have to think long.

Overnight I would double all primary school teacher salaries.

They are grossly underpaid.

Classroom sizes are huge. It's not unusual to see forty, forty-five, or even fifty kids in a classroom.

Teaching resources? What teaching resources? It's not unusual to see teachers buying their own whiteboard markers.

Let's not even begin to talk about the physical state of the schools.

Not suprisingly, given these working conditions, it is a vocation in decline.

In five years of awarding scholarships BECA has only awarded one scholarship to study teaching.

One.

Doubling the salaries would represent a bold, first step to reinvigorate the career.

Yes, I know. Money isn't everything.

But the primary school teachers are important. They don't deserve to be on the lower end of the payscale, like they are now.

A decent salary would attract better candidates. And possibly boost the prestige of the occupation.

What I see now in this country are bright people studying English to work in call centers. For the money. It's a rational choice for themselves and their families.

I would like these bright, young people to consider the teaching profession.

If I were King.

I'm not and I never will be.

But I challenge the emerging young leaders -- the Uranias, Reynaldos, and Maryurys of Nicaragua -- to consider bold, audacious moves like this.

You are in a position to make a difference.

And I believe in you.

The Beauty of the Short Sentence

As the BECA.org staff will attest, I am a big fan of the short sentence.

I nag them about writing short, crisp sentences in their professional correspondence.

In defense of my partiality, let me paraphrase what blogger Kate Brauning has to say on the subject.

• Shorter sentences are more impactful.
• Shorter sentences help your readers stay engaged. The pauses between sentences allows a moment to refocus.
• Shorter sentences prompt readers to keep reading. It's tiresome to read extremely long sentences.
• Short sentences are less likely to contain unnecessary words like "that", "there is/are", "because of", "which" etc.
• Short sentences are not as confusing as long sentences. 

Additionally, I believe that short sentences challenge us to focus our own thoughts and present our ideas in a concise, clear manner. Profesionally impressive!

On top of it all, some of my favorite sentences are "shorties":

• Less is more. 
• Have fun. 
• Life's short. 
• I believe in you.

Take care!

A-S-S-U-M-E

In founding BECA.org in 2008, I was driven by four assumptions.

Assumption #1. There are an abundance of Nicaraguan high school graduates who don't continue studying solely because they don't have the money to do so.

Assumption #2. Assumption #1 is a social problem.

Assumption #3. This social problem can be resolved.

Assumption #4. I have the ingenuity to solve the problem.

Five years have passed. Let's recheck the the veracity of those four assumptions.

On assumptions 1 and 2, I remain resolute. The lack of educational opportunites for serious-minded high school grads remains a serious social problem in Nicaragua.

Neither will I waiver with respect to assumption #3. I believe the social problem is indeed solvable. Admittedly, BECA won't be able to do it alone. BECA can lead but will need to involve more social actors to make a permanent difference.

Assumption #4 is a little different.

For the longest time I swore by #4; that this Gringo founder knew better and had the answers to resolve the social problem.

I was mistaken.

No where has this been more evident than in this last year.

I tepidly yielded almost all decision-making responsability to the BECA.org team (which, by the way, is entirely composed of program graduates).

Still clinging desperately onto #4, I couldn't help but stick my nose in a few times to offer my "superior" first-world advice.

The results have not been optimal.

They know better.