May 2012
In Kind Donations matterSimply put by Partners of the Americas and best describes what W/NP is all about....


 "...grassroots activism and people's power to seek positive change"


IN THIS ISSUE
Tonight - A Walk in Their Shoes
WNP Website
April Learning Center Meeting
Fire Fighters United
Volunteer
Library News
WNP in the news
Farmer to Farmer
Needed items
A Walk in Their Shoes - Tuesday Night, May 8th
Colin Hanson 
A Walk in Their Shoes presents another exciting and engaging event.

Loung Ung, shares her amazing story of survival of the genocide in Cambodia with the public on May 8th at 7pm at the Wausau East Auditorium!  Author of "First They Killed My Father". 

 

 

W/NP Board Member and Edgar Elementary School teacher Colin Hanson (photo on left) recently was awarded the Seven Wonders of the USA Teacher Tour, and for very good reason.  Colin truly demonstrates a compassionate spirit and understands the value of education!  

 

"Hanson is a driving force behind A Walk in Their Shoes, a collaborative effort he helped form with educators from the Wausau area that brings in people who have experienced history firsthand. The idea is to help children understand how sweeping historic events have real-life impact on individuals. Those real-life historians speak to classroom students, but also give public presentations for the entire community......."    Click here for rest of the story 
The W/NP website is on the mend!
Olivia 
We are thrilled to introduce Olivia, our new website designer who will be updating the W/NP website!  Olivia is a sophmore student at UW-Stevens Point majoring in Web and Media Development.  Please feel free to send Olivia your comments, photos, news articles and anything else you would like posted on the website.  wnp@uwsp.edu

One of the newest features is a page set up just for the Learning Center students in Nicaragua so they can check schedules to know what classes are being held at the office, see upcoming events and what topics will be covered at the monthly Learning Center Meetings. 
 
April Learning Center Meeting

basket making

Each monthly Learning Center

meeting offers training or a class for those in attendance.  Basket Making was demonstrated by Dimas Antonio Angulo Gago.  He is visually impaired (blind) and doing the Basket Making demonstration was especially inspirational to all the monthly meeting participants. All the participants were interested to have the basket workshop and learn about all the different styles or basket shapes that Dimas is willing to share with them. Basket classes will be a new program at the office.

 

Click here for full story and photos

 

making sheets for hospitalAnother exciting project was the making of sheets by the Learning Center women for the Velez Pais Hospital in Managua.  Like the Fire Department items you will read below, Rosa Surber took part in the Learning Center Trek with one of the stops being the hospital where she identified the need for sheets and did something about it.  She left the funds needed to buy the material in Nicaragua and the ladies took it from there.  Thanks everyone for taking it from start to finish in a very short time! 

Fire Fighters United
Brad Martin   
Dr. Brad Martin, (to the left in red) Wisconsin is the main contact and coordinator for the Fire Fighters United project with W/NP.  Jaime Delgado, (to the left in photo below) Chief of the volunteer Fire Fighters is the main contact in Nicaragua and assists with the fire fighter equipment distribution.
 Jaime Delgado
Dino
Snake calls are a fairly common occurrence, and Dino (WNP volunteer to the left) whosnake catching runs an animal rescue in Wisconsin responded to the need with some equipment that will be helpful for these situations. Part of the reason we include stops at the Fire Departments for our Wisconsin Volunteers, is to help them understand the way the departments operate in Nicaragua and also identify ways we can work together and help.
 
 
 



In addition, we have had several requests for rescue type equipment. For example, 9/19/2011  "As to keep you informed of our work, I had also overlooked a box containing 10 rain coats, which were very helpful last night, we do a bailout and the heavy rains collapsed the wall which divided a house killing three people in Masaya. we were the first on the scene where two people are dead, we rescued 4 children alive, the fifth child took us about an hour and half to locate, but could not do anything because the wall had fallen on him.  In this emergency, we mobilized in two trucks and two ambulances at the end of work we realized that we had been stolen two rescue ropes with which we were helping out people in the area where dangerous for possible landslides as rain did not stop, and an ax which was used to remove part of the roof of the house."- Jose Angel Reyes, Nindiri Fire Dept.  If you know a fire dept that might have extra equipment or you would like to help puchase some of these items please contact us at wnp@uwsp.edu or make online donation at www.wisnic.org
Upcoming Opportunties to Volunteer 

dancersMay 12th Portage County Cultural Festival - Your choice to help set up, serve coffee at the W/NP table, help with packing up or just stop by to say "HI" and experience an exceptional event!

 

"As organizers from area schools, churches, and community agencies put it, we have all come to Portage County from different places. While we may not always understand one another, we can at least learn to appreciate one another and learn the universal language of the smile. "   

   More details about the Cultural Festival 

 

Larry helping gather donations

 
 
May 14th Help is needed for morning transport of donated items in Stevens Point out to the W/NP Warehouse.
 
 
Please call or email the office for more details.  715-346-4702   or    wnp@uwsp.edu

 

Thank you!

Special books for the library from WI students
 

 

      reading at the managua office

click here for more photos

 

We collect all kinds of books for the libraries in Nicaragua - these are pics from a project where the students in Wisconsin made books for the students in Nicaragua for the library project. It is fun to see the students who made the books as well as the students who received the books - this took place all within a couple months time! Thanks to everyone for making this project very special!

 

 

W/NP in the news 

2012 Eyeglass Joanne 

David Schaefer, Lions 27-E2 District Governor & W/NP Volunteer, about the 2012 Eyeglass project that took place in Bluefields, Nicaragua January 2012.   Full Story click here

 

Marshfield News Herald - Lions Eyeglass Trip 

 

 

Farmer to Farmer 

Pictured below are many of the people who attended the two day Farmer to Farmer seminar in Miraflores, Nicaragua.  The field we are standing in is a cut-seed experiment which Tomas L. established to demonstrate the viability of cutting seed potatoes in Nicaragua.  So you can understand that our topic of Cutting Seed Potatoes was very timely.  

 

Farmer to Farmer 

 "A Farmer to Farmer photo that captures the spirit of participation of the groups we worked with." - Bryan Bowen and Dennis Bula

 

Click here for more on Potato Production in Nicaragua

 

Ways to help

 

IN-KIND DONATIONS  specific requests from Nicaragua for the following items: sweltering hot loading day

 

Medical:  Filing cabinet, medical scales, lamps for medical exploration (exam) or minor surgeries, EKG, X-Ray viewer, wheel chairs, vaginal speculums, medical stools, minor-surgical tools, ultrasound gels, jaws of life, inflatable splints, defibrillator, blood glucose testing strips and lancets, crutches, walkers and canes, PAJAMAS FOR PATIENTS, BLANKETS, SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS: SCISSORS, DISSECTIONS, NEEDLE HOLDER, STITCH, BEDS, TABLES, CURTAINS, SURGICAL UNIFORM, GLOVES, MASK, SURGICAL BOOTS PROTECTOR, DRESSING FOR TISSUES: ALGINATO, HICROCOLIDE (WE USE THEM FOR BURNS OR CUTANEOUS LOOSE), STERI-STRIP, MICROPORE, CREAM WITH ANTIBIOTIC, SCAR CREAM, FRONT LIGHT (MINERS LIGHTS), MAGNIFYING GLASS

 

General & Sewing:  3 tables, 18 stools, book shelves, one square table, fabrics, sewing machine needles, sewing supplies and sewing machines, scissors, irons and ironing boards, standing gym lockers, knitting needles, yarn, buttons, lace, and beads for jewelry making.

Education:  whiteboard, markers, construction paper, crayons, scissors, glue, stickers, Spanish dictionaries, foamy paper, card making supplies, small glue sticks for glue guns, and puzzles 

 

Simple Project   Click here for NEW Backpack Brochure

 

Please note, if anyone has items to be included in the next shipment to Nicaragua - please make arrangements with us to get them to the WNP warehouse at your earliest convenience.  

 

Directions to the warehouse available on the website:   Directions to warehouse 

 

Next W/NP Meeting, June 16, 2012
email wnp@uwsp.edu for summer travel options