For the past week I have been spending time in Dario, Nicaragua formalizing our first partnership in Latin America with an incredible organization called Seeds of Learning. We share a common approach to community development, which is grounded in the belief that each village must be deeply entrenched participants in the construction of their school, library or community center.

These structures we build neither “belong” to Seeds of Learning nor Pencils of Promise. They belong to the community; we are merely facilitators towards this end. Sustainability lies in local ownership, not in NGO gifting, and upon this foundation SOL and PoP have formed a common bond.

SOL has operated in Nicaragua for 19 years under the leadership of co-founder Patrick Rickon and his dedicated staff of empowered Nicaraguan women, men and students. As expected we adventured over rolling mountains to visit prospective villages for several new projects, meeting with inspiring teachers and community leaders each new day. Through interviews and attending village meetings, it became abundantly clear that SOL has been incredibly effective in spreading true education to all ages through their community centers, schools and vocational courses.

Please check out Seeds of Learning and stay tuned for future developments about new schools, volunteer work groups and sister school programming through this exciting partnership.

-AB

SOL co-founder Patrick Rickon, PoP founder Adam Braun, and the children of Aguas Frias