September 2019

This newsletter was sent via the City of Moscow on behalf of the Moscow Sister City Association. This newsletter was written by Moscow Sister City Association authors and may not necessarily reflect the views of the City of Moscow.

In this issue:

Recent local events
Correspondence partners
Scholarships for elementary-school students
New school superintendent in Villa El Carmen
Activities of some Nicaraguan friends
Announcement

1. Recent local events

On August 8 the Young Professional organization of the Chamber of Commerce sponsored the 2^nd annual Community Involvement Fair, where MSCA set up a table for the information of interested people. We did the same thing August 24 at the University of Idaho’s PALOUSAFEST,

a festival welcoming new and returning students, which had over 200 tables featuring student organizations, local businesses, and other groups including nonprofits. Between these two August events we found twenty-six people interested enough in MSCA to leave their email addresses. We now have to keep them interested. This was our table, during preparation:

2. Correspondence partners

Finding Moscow residents who would enjoy corresponding online with Villa El Carmen residents, and vice versa, seems a good way to pursue the Sister Cities goal of building cross-cultural and international connections “one community, one individual at a time.” So far we have found fourteen people from VEC and twenty from Moscow who want to correspond. There may also be interest in local high-schools and elementary schools.

Matching participants has been a little tricky, due to personal preferences regarding gender, age, and especially language. Some pairs are working entirely in Spanish, some entirely in English, and some in both languages. The correspondences will probably work best in cases where both participants are interested in the other’s language.

3. Scholarships for elementary-school students

In addition to the university-level scholarships that we award, we also give small grants ($50) to parents of elementary-school children. The school identifies parents who may have trouble affording school supplies and clothes. Recently one of the seven main schools in the VEC area, Escuela Farabundo Martí, made awards to eight students, and sent us photos:

Nicaraguans like ceremonies a lot, and this particular ceremony involves getting a US $50 bill for each child, which the child is showing in these photos. (Ramiro Aburto, the school principal, is in cap and blue shirt.) The school, which is in the countryside not the town, looks like this:

One of the seven main schools in the VEC area.

“Welcome to the municipal arboretum of Farabundo Martí. For a greener Nicaragua we keep on reforesting.”

4. New school superintendent

Ruby Rigby, a long-time English teacher, is the new superintendent of the school system of the town and municipio (county), both called Villa El Carmen, which includes seven K-11 schools and many more elementary-only schools. She will start the process of awarding scholarships to high-school seniors (11th grade in Nicaragua) who want to attend a university in Managua next year. (The school year in Nicaragua goes from February to December. We have committed $4,000 for these scholarships.)

5. What some of our Nicaraguan friends are doing.

Yerlan Sequeira Muñoz at his recent university graduation

Yanci Espinoza Maradiaga at her recent university graduation

José Manuel Sequeira at his recent university graduation

Betzi Vega’s diploma from her recent university graduation

Vielka Aguilar at the “Old Cathedral of Managua.”

Vielka Aguilar at historical and cultural sites in Managua. This is the “Old Cathedral of Managua.” It was internally destroyed in the great earthquake of 1972; the outside is lovely, but you can’t go inside

Vielka at the Palacio Nacional de la Cultura

This is the Palacio Nacional de la Cultura, an excellent anthropological, historical, and cultural museum and the cultural center of Managua.

Vielka studies English at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Nicaragua, in Managua, and her English is getting really good.

6. Announcement:

There will be a members’ meeting in about a month, in order to develop plans and activities. Details forthcoming.

Officers of Moscow Sister City Association;

Dave Barber, president (and newsletter editor)
Lubia Cajas Cano, vice-president
Amy Garwood, secretary
Jim Reece, treasurer
Elisabeth Berlinger, board member
Linda Christenson, board member

Cindy Magnuson, board member
Susie Wiese, board member

Contact: Dave Barber at dbarber@uidaho.edu or 208-301-3342

MSCA Mailing Address:
PO Box 8367
Moscow, ID 83843