Welcome 2011!

As we gear up for a new year of Abriendo Mentes classes in 2011, I wanted to take some time to recap the end of 2010. November and December came and went quickly, but these months were packed full of events, activities and wonderful volunteers.

The end of November closed with a farewell to volunteer Bonnie and her two sons, Adam and Ian. The three had been volunteering with Abriendo Mentes for three months, since the end of August, and were very much a part of the Abriendo Mentes family by the end of their stay. Together, we all experienced rainy season, classroom and class changes, a backpack drive courtesy of Bonnie and the boys, a trip to try to see the turtles in Ostional, and much more. Thank you to Bonnie, Adam and Ian for all they contributed to Abriendo Mentes. To read Bonnie's testimonial, follow this link.

Donald and Estiven model their new backpacks. Bonnie, Adam and Ian donated 22 backpacks to the AM students.

One farewell brought in a new introduction, when Brett arrived to help for the last three weeks of classes. Brett was enthusiastic, adventurous and caring. She was only here for a short time but was able to help us with our end of the year pool party, hosted by friend Elizabeth Cole at Cabinas Estival. Fifty Abriendo Mentes kids came together to celebrate another successful year of Abriendo Mentes classes. I have never seen kids so happy, they could have played in the pool all day long, which they did until dark. We were able to drag them out for food (side dishes made by all the moms and the largest pot of arroz con pollo made by wonderful Margarita), a pinata, water balloons and three legged races.

Cinthya and Brett rush to the finish line in the three legged race!

Prizes were contributed by two more dedicated volunteers, Steve and Jenn, who were with us for one month. Straight from Toronto, they brought loads of Canadian gear - t shirts, teddy bears, baseballs and more. Steve was a huge help in successfully getting us started on our grant research and proposal writing, which we will pursue further this year.

Jenn with Cinthya and her prize for winning, a Canada shirt, very cool.

We were also able to squeeze in one last local field trip to Hotel Sugar Beach - a huge and continued supporter of Abriendo Mentes. Abriendo Mentes is one of three local organizations that is supported by Sugar Beach who donates 1% of their monthly profit towards worthy local causes. We packed into 3 cars and Jose Pablo, manager and friend, met us at the entrance of the hotel. He gave us the grand tour, explaining along the way the different positions available in the hotel and why knowledge of the English language is important in these different jobs. We ended the day by playing on the beautiful Sugar Beach.

The group on Sugar Beach

Classes officially ended on December 7th, but Abriendo Mentes volunteer Charlotte, along with new friends and volunteers, Tom and Katie, kept the adult classes running throughout the holiday break. We are very lucky to have such dedicated volunteers! Charlotte has been with us since September, and will be starting the new year with us, focusing on planning extra-curricular events, workshops, guest speakers and field trips as our community coordinator.

Charlotte with a few Abriendo Mentes students, during her surprise, Halloween themed birthday bash.

Abriendo Mentes classes start again on Monday, January 17th. We are very excited about this year. We will welcome new volunteers Jan, Emily, Johnny and Ericka in the next three weeks. Sara Littlefield, who did a Story Literacy Project with Abriendo Mentes last Spring, will be back in February to do a second workshop with the same adult students one year later. We will also welcome Terry and his family from Canada, who have generously donated us our official Abriendo Mentes office space and private classroom. And I am personally very excited to have the Kenan-Flagler Business School Fraternity from my alma mater, UNC Chapel Hill, visit us for a week during their Spring Break at the beginning of March! It is shaping up to be a great first session!

3 Months of Change: A Volunteer's Perspective

Written by Bonnie Ditlevsen

When we arrived in Potrero, it was in late August and in the throes of the rainy season.

Bonnie, Adam, and Ian arrive in Potrero with school supplies to donate to the students

When we left for Portland, it was Thanksgiving back home, but in Potrero, many of the little rivulets, creeks and potholes had gone from gushing with mud to completely bone dry, dusty like somewhere in the American Southwest.

This change came about quickly, after a long period in which the norm was for us to make our way through the village in sandals coated with mud. All of a sudden, Potrero sprang into summer season: Tourists began arriving in greater numbers. Businesses that had been closed for the green season opened up. The afternoons became less rainy and more conducive for walks, a swim at the beach, or an excursion to somewhere fascinating.

Drew, Adam, and Ian searching for baby sea turtles on Playa Ostional

And so it was for the Abriendo Mentes program. When we arrived, there was the miracle of the Salon Comunal having been given a beautiful terra cotta red coat of paint, and this open-air facility made for convenient large-group lessons. As our weeks with the program continued, we found ourselves witnessing the inauguration of the new Kids' Club next door, an indoor classroom with electricity, greater whiteboard space, room for computers, and a spacious storage area for program materials. The children were very excited about this new learning space; what only needed work was the sound-damping of the classroom, particularly for such young learners who have not learned to modulate their voices.

The donation of Casa del Sol office space to Abriendo Mentes was, and is, a huge step for the program. During our stay in Potrero, we often walked by the new office.
Yet electricity was still something out of reach; a series of bureaucratic hurdles needed jumping. I was reminded of a funny, tongue-in-cheek bumper sticker I saw in the village: "Costa Rica: We Make Easy Hard." In Western countries, people too often take for granted how electricity service can be initiated or closed out in the space of a day and with one phone call. Abriendo Mentes didn't have it so easy. But we saw how they never gave up.

Bonnie leads a group class using an interactive ESL program in the office

In our last few weeks, the office came to life. Electricity service meant that an oscillating fan could keep temperatures bearable. Better yet, the program could begin to offer small-group lessons using language learning software. Seeing the kids try their hand at using laptops and professional language software was a great thrill for us teachers as well as for the kids. Computer literacy, after all, is an essential component of the developing tourism industry; combining it with regular English as a Second Language instruction will serve the youth of Potrero on both fronts.

Ian, Adam and Bonnie on Playa Ostional for Adam's 10th birthday

We left Potrero after having seen all of these changes—in nature as well as and in the program—and gained an appreciation for the power of both. It is an honor to have served with and learned from the patience and perseverance of this literacy program, one which Potrero, Guanacaste is indeed very lucky to have.

Abriendo Mentes - now a partner of GoodSearch!

Here's a new easy way to raise money for Abriendo Mentes. Just start using Yahoo! powered GoodSearch.com as your search engine and they'll donate about a penny to our cause every time you do a search! This link will take you straight to our GoodSearch page:

http://www.goodsearch.com/?charityid=926253

In addition, do all of your shopping through their online shopping mall, GoodShop.com, where you can shop at more than 900 top online retailers and a percentage of your purchases will go to Abriendo Mentes as well. You pay the same price as you normally would, but a donation goes to our cause.

To give you a sense of how the money can add up, the ASPCA has already earned more than $30,000!

Here's the web site — http://www.goodsearch.com. You can also read about GoodSearch in the NY Times, Oprah Magazine, CNN, ABC News and the Wall Street Journal.

Thanks for your continued support.

Happy Holidays,

Meradith & Drew and the AM team

Raise money for Abriendo Mentes just by searching the web and shopping online!

Search the web now!

Money-saving coupons!

"Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" Art Projects

With the help of Silvia Guevara, owner of CS3 Consultants in Costa Rica, Abriendo Mentes launched a new art project last month. This past Wednesday was the second installment of this "reduce, reuse, recycle" themed project, created by Silvia and her husband. Abriendo Mentes was fortunate enough to come in contact with Silvia in the first stages of her pilot project.

On Friday November 12th, 50 Abriendo Mentes students and mothers gathered in the Community Center to make plastic bottle mobiles out of used Coke, water and Fanta bottles and waste baskets out of used milk cartons and old magazines. The kids had a blast, the mothers loved having an art project to work on, and we all enjoyed seeing everyone so content.

Heybraham and Jason working on their magazine waste baskets

On Wednesday, November 24th 25 students came together in the new "Kids Club" in Potrero to use more recycled material to make Christmas trees.

There were heaps and piles of old magazines, jars upon jars of white glue (one boy tried eating it, there’s always one) and one piece of cardboard as a base. By ripping the sheets from the magazines and rolling them vertically and then rolling that, you get a colorful spiral. We dipped the spirals in glue and secured them on the cardboard.

We did this over and over again (except each new row had one less spiral than the one below it) until Christmas trees formed.

Mareyling, Dayana and Jennifer getting help from Silvia

Some children painted them green like a real tree, while others dressed theirs all up by gluing on buttons and sparkly and shiny things. And some of the kids trees didn’t exactly look like trees but they had a lot of fun anyway.

After everyone had their trees formed we put string through the top for them to hang it in their houses at home for everyone to see.

Emmanuel, Cesar, Barbabra and Valentina with their finished projects!

The hour was up and the 25 children said goodbye and ran off to show their families leaving behind one huge mess. Glue was on the tables, paper on the glue, paint splattered everywhere except the ceiling and scraps littered the floor. Luckily, there were seven volunteers who worked quickly to cleanup for the adult class.

This week is the last full week before classes end and we have more fun classes and activities in store for the kids. Silvia will be back with us again this Wednesday to make pot holders and baskets out of juice boxes and chip bags.

A hug thank you to Silvia for all of her creativity and wonderful ideas.

Goal 3 a Success!

By Jennifer Webb, Abriendo Mentes volunteer

The day we'd all been waiting for finally arrived! About 50 children, volunteers and parents met in front of the Abriendo Mentes office bright and early on Sunday November 21st before departing to Africa Mia Wildlife Preserve safari adventure!

A group of Abriendo Mentes students in front of the office all ready to go!

Las Catalinas development, here in Potrero (a new partner of Abriendo Mentes this month) kindly sponsored the transportation to Liberia (an hour from Potrero) to Africa Mia. Thanks to all the sponsors and supporters, our most dedicated students had a great, fun-filled day seeing all kinds of new animals, successfully fulfilling our third goal; the experiential learning excursions.

Fabian Barbara, Valentina and Luis, so excited on the bus ride to Africa Mia.

Although we said to dress casually and wear comfy shoes, the kids came all dressed up, excited for the big outing. Boys sported polo’s and button-ups and the girls were decked out in bejeweled jeans, fancy sandals and studded barrettes. And even though they were hyper, they were on their best behavior.

The three sisters - Joselyn, Melanny and Hilary - in matching tops!

Each child bought a bag of carrots for 500 colones to feed the animals. The beginning of the walking tour featured peacocks, pigs, deer, ostriches and more. They were all eager to give their carrots away to the deer and had to be reminded to save some for the other animals. The ostrich’s quick, snappy, pecks made the kids a little jumpy. Only carrots were snatched.

Good aim Jenifer, right into its mouth!

There were dozens of zebras but one was especially unique. In between its stripes were lighter beige stripes. On the other side of the road two other zebras were tumbling around and playing.

One of the beautiful zebras.

The giraffes were by far everyone's favorite. The kids held out their carrots and the giraffes long purple tongues reached through the fence and curled around the carrots before they chomped them down. We learned a giraffes tongue is so long they can actually stretch it all the way back to their horns. It wasn't demonstrated for us but we could all imagine.

Arturo marveling at the tongue .

Several times after our tour guide would turn around and start walking to the next animals to be featured, the long necked creatures would arch their necks all the way over the fence and bob their heads over ours for more carrots.

Ana Melissa staring up at the giraffe coming over the fence!

After the camels, oryxs and several kinds of antelope, we saw a baby giraffe and its mom. Another highlight of our safari adventure. After running around a little the young calf began to nurse. A fence divided the father from its family. We learned like many animals, they’re known to be jealous of their infant so the division is for the baby's protection.

The jealous dad.

This week we'll be reviewing all the cool things we learned about our new animal friends and learn their English names.

Thanks everyone for all your support!

The Goal of 3 comes to an end

After three months of fund-raising, the Goal of 3 came to an end in October. Thanks to all our dedicated supporters we raised $2375 in total! With these contributions we were able to complete our first two goals in the Goal of 3 during the summer, and we are excited to be able to complete our last goal this weekend!

Abriendo Mentes Goal of 3 Fundraiser Results:

1) Goal 1 - Improvements to the community teaching space: In late June, with the help of a group of MIT alumni, Potrero community members, A.M. students and volunteers, we gave the community center where we conduct classes a face-lift, painting the inside walls a rich terracotta color.

2) Goal 2 - Student material packets: In August, we supplied 33 Abriendo Mentes students with classroom material packets, including pencil cases, pencils, pens, notebooks, folders and more. We will continue this effort throughout the 2011 year as well, starting in February 2011 supplying required public school material packets to the needier students.

3) Goal 3 - Experiential learning excursions: On November 21st we will be taking a group of 50 Abriendo Mentes students, parents and volunteers to Africa Mia Wildlife Preserve, a safari adventure center located in Liberia, an hour from Potrero, to see many different types of African animals. We will emphasize endangered animals, which is in the English curriculum the students are studying this month, as well as African geography. This will be the first time that these children will have the opportunity to see these types of exotic animals, including zebra, giraffes and camels. We are very excited to offer this adventure to our most dedicated students! We have been keeping attendance cards for the past 3 months and the 30 students with the best attendance record have been invited to Africa Mia.

Stay tuned for pictures from the field trip this Sunday. A huge thank you to all of our supporters that contributed to the Goal of 3 and to Las Catalinas development in Playa Potrero for sponsoring the transportation for the trip to Africa Mia.

Abriendo Mentes student of the month!

Student of the month goes to… Arturo (who has recently changed his name to Jose).

Arturo coloring an octopus picture in class

If you know Arturo, you know he is an awesome kid and a really hard working student. Arturo was one of the very first Abriendo Mentes students. He started coming to classes at the age of 5, last June 2009, and has barely missed a class since. His English has improved by leaps and bounds since his first days in class. Always one of the first to call out the answer, and always the first to finish his worksheet, he is completely focused for only 6 years old, and just a downright sweet kid.

Thumbs up Arturo during our trip to Angelina's for pizza!

But the number one reason Jose Arturo is nominated as student of the month, is because he was one of 3 students from 5 communities selected for a full scholarship (K – 12!) at the nearby private nonprofit school, La Paz Community School. Abriendo Mentes works with La Paz school to nominate exceptional students from Potrero for potential scholarships each school year. We were so happy when we were informed that Arturo received a scholarship for the 2010 year.

Arturo painting his "don't litter" sign

Arturo started his first day on August 30^th, and absolutely loves his new school. Transitioning from Potrero public school and 3 hours of class a day to a full 8 – 3:00 day was a breeze for him. Arturo has worked so hard to get where he is today with his English. It was so wonderful to see all that hard work pay off, but we were also sad to see him go from our classes. It turns out this is not the case at all, Arturo still comes to AM classes every single day as soon as he gets home from La Paz school. What an awesome kid! Hands down Jose Arturo deserves this month’s award.