My teaching project-Iglesia Mision Santidad

I started my teaching project this week at Iglesia Mision Santidad Cristiana Emanuel. It's a church that also serves as a classroom and community center. It's located in a really poor area called Tibas. The children that we are teaching live in "precarios" also known as the "projects" or slums. The majority of these children are of Nicaraguan decent. It's unfortunate that where these children live determines their path in life. Our mission is to help close those educational gaps and help these children learn English so they can have better opportunities in life. I help around 15 to 30 children a day and most of them know little to no English and are still having trouble learning their own native language, Spanish.

The pastor of this church, Maria, started this project to keep kids off the streets after school and to supplement their education. Most of these children live in houses made with tin roofs and dirt floors, and no electricity. It's really unbelieveable. It was eye opening to see where these kids live and I have never experienced anything like this ever before. After seeing these conditions first hand, I am so grateful for everything that I have in my life. I forget how lucky and blessed I am to have grown up in a supportive environment in a good area that allowed me access to a great education and better life opportunities.

Here's a picture of some of the kids I'm working with and the church we teach at. There's no electricity, no air conditioning, and last week the church only had a tin roof. Some volunteers helped out and built a roof in less than a week!