From Hungary with Amor

Maria from Canada showed up here this week. Maria is a Canadian citizen who emigrated from her native Hungary about 30 years ago.

She heard about BECA.org through a friend of mine -- the Weasel -- and took a mild, casual interest in BECA at first.

And then, I'm not sure what happened to her. She started to get more excited about BECA. And then, she wanted to sponsor. And then . . . she wanted to visit.

I was a little nervous. You see, she struck me as a sophisticated-type lady who might not adapt well to this kind of "back-to-the-basics" environment.

Well Maria came and visit she did. Two days. Five students in five homesteads spread around the province of Masaya. She even asked us to take her on some Beca Intensive interviews AND went with us to check out a new school.

For the most part, the families she visited were gracious and welcoming. A couple were a bit standoffish. I told her it was par for the course here in Nicaragua; Nicaraguans can be shy.

Maria doesn't speak a lick of spanish, but it didn't stop her from asking some tough questions. Example: "Do you think it is realistic for you to want to be a doctor?" (Not great fun being an interpreter for those types of questions.)

Each visit lasted between 30 minutes to an hour.

You can see more pics here.

The Path Less Followed

Our mission: to interview two sisters (Francis and Sorania) about their BECA INTENSIVA application.

Our destination: the family home Davila in the "suburbs" of Masaya, Nicaragua.

Our greeter:


What would you do? Awww, come on . . . after all, Señor TORO was "tied down" and "never hurts anybody."

Quite the dilemma really because those that know me, know that I'm an absolute 100% nit about being punctual.

Resolution: Successful meeting. Late start.

This Holiday Season

Last month, on a trip to New York City, I took a friend of mine out for brunch at a restaurant near Central Park. For two omelets, two sides of toast, two cups of Joe, tax, and tip, the bill rounded up to $43.

A $43 meal in downtown New York is nothing to gasp over. In fact, some people would find it reasonable. But with the kind of work that we do, I couldn't help but think: $43 = two months of school for one becado.

When I stumble into situations like these, I really have to ask myself. What is more disturbing? That I just dropped $43 on a brunch? Or that $43 covers two months of school for one of our Nicaraguan students?

I try to do this as little as possible, because the truth is that all situations are relative. Yes. We can agree that $43 is pricey for any brunch. Yes. We can also agree that $43 is beyond reasonable for two months of computer school. But how about this?

None of our students can afford a $60 course.

During this holiday season, I have thought long and hard how to bring people to BECA - how to market the organization, how to present our students, and how to connect with other parts of the world. I thought about throwing up pictures such as this:




= 1/3 BECA Course One

or

= 3 Sponsored Becados

But then I came to a conclusion: Those who are giving, will give.

As 2008 comes to a close, I believe it is only fair to announce our progress to date. Because of YOU, at this moment 65 students will be going to school in February. Meaning...only 35 more remain.

This Holiday Season, you can still send someone to school. And for the next holiday season, I can guarantee you one thing - $43 brunches no more!

Happy Holidays

BECA.org makes the Front Page!

Well . . . ummm . . . not quite.

But we will gladly take page 5 of the sports section in La Prensa -- Nicaragua's largest newspaper daily.

Check it out here: La Prensa BECA.org article.

For a (very) rough english translation: La Prensa BECA.org article (english translation).

New York Times . . . here we come!

The Pilot 3 Surprise

At the beginning of Pilot #3, I think it is fair to say that Walter and I experienced our routine preocupaciones. We wanted to market well and get the word out. We wanted people to show and express interest. And we wanted people to apply.

Well...apply they did, to the tune of over 150 applications. 150 applications equals a 300% increase. And a 300% increase equals an overwhelmed (but thrilled) BECA Team.

As it turns out, our effort to target graduating high school students, with relatively fewer options and ideas about their futures, was successful on several levels. First, it shows that our program has a real market, those who cannot afford higher education but still want to study. Second, it shows that a gringo (me) with mediocre español, a lousy accent, and streams of sweat pelting down his face was capable of communicating a message to at least some students in the loudest and busiest public high schools in Masaya. As humiliating as it can be to deliver a three-minute spiel to high school students (two weeks away from graduating), I know now that some of them were actually listening.

All of that said, we have spent the past week riding around town, snapping pictures, and talking to our prospective students. I say "prospective" because the success of our program depends on you, our readers, our audience, our donors, and our friends. Below are some snapshots of the candidates, in front of their homes, that you may see in the next few weeks. Be sure to keep your wallets handy.

Getting the Word out . . . . Literally!

Question.

What has four wheels, traverses the city at the break of dawn and in the late hours of the evening, makes a heckuva of a lot of noise and is annoying as hell?

Answer.

One of these.


Also known in Nicargua as a "perifoneo." These guys drive around Masaya day in and day out barking their marketing messages from loud speakers (emphasis on loud) placed on the roof of their car. They hawk everything from store sales to -- get this -- death announcements.

Well . . . when in Rome? Sure, why not. I contracted one for a couple of hours to bark out the message of BECA.org in some of our target communities.

"Listen up high school graduates. Do you want to go to school but don't have any money? Go to MASINFA or INTECOMP for information on becas from BECA.org. Hurry it up!"

Cost: $25.00
Effective: Probably not very.

I think it was just a lot of fun doing something that would never, ever be tolerated back in Canada (where some cities have noise bylaws against even those harmless ice cream trucks). Sometimes it feels good to not live in a hermitically sealed environment. Do you know what I mean?

Looking for Candidates

Another round of "Curso Uno" -- BECA's introductory computer course -- is officially now underway.

One of the challenges might surprise you.

It is getting the word out; that is, getting the word out to those Nicaraguans that are "in need" and would love an opportunity to study for a career.

We figured out that one way might be to visit high schools and talk to the students who are in their final year of studies. (At this time, one of the only requirements of BECA is that the candidates have their high school diploma.)

Today I went on my first visits. Very interesting and some very interesting questions and comments:

"What does BECA get out of this?"
"If I succeed, will you send me to Canada?"
"I don't believe you."
"Are you sure I don't have to pay anything?" (Full disclosure: students in Curso Uno have to pay their own transport to the school.)
"So if I want to be a Doctor, I can do it with BECA?"
"My marks aren't that great, can I still apply?"

In general, most of the students were enthusiastic and listened carefully to this Gringo butchering their language in an animated attempt to attract interest. Unfortunately, when I get excited, my Spanish deteriorates from bad to badder. :)

Now, let's see how many actually apply. I'll keep you posted.