Hello!

The Peace Project has good news! On January 1st, Ramon Alberto Pineda will begin as the first Nicaraguan Director of The Peace Project!

The Peace Project is a community organization which began in August 2011 in the small, rural community of Laguna de Apoyo, Nicaragua. Their mission is to:

Provide English language instruction and reinforce the local educational efforts to expand future job opportunities.
Create a culture of peaceful conflict resolution and positive communication.
Develop a greater awareness and open-mindedness of new ideas and cultures.

Ramon's experience teaching children in a social project, knowledge of environmental/recycling workshops, passion for working with youth and communities, and his open mind and heart make him a great fit for the Co-Director position. (Being an artist, acrobat, and mime doesn’t hurt either). His main responsibilities will include running the after-school programs, teaching English and computation to kids and adults, helping to coordinate service groups and volunteers, and teaching and modeling peace.

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While the young project is on its way to becoming an NGO and being able to provide salaries, it currently can only provide room and board for Ramon. The generosity of private donors will cover the other basic living expenses, such as toiletries, transportation, cell phone, clothes, medicine, and entertainment (like a night out with volunteers). In order for Ramon to live simply while working at the Project, it would require $1,625, or in other words $125 per month for the thirteen months (one month of training and 12 months as Director).

The universities here offer students the option of studying on Saturdays and Sundays in order to work full-time. So while working hard Monday through Friday for the project, Ramon is hopeful for the opportunity to continue studying Systems Engineering on the weekends. He wants to use his knowledge of computers to maintain the donated project computers and to teach computation to kids and adults in the community. Pursing a degree will also make him a role model for the kids, since very few members of the community have gone to college. If given the opportunity to finish his undergraduate in Systems Engineering, Ramon then aspires to earn a Master’s in Project Formulation and Evaluation. To finance a full year of Ramon’s undergraduate University education, it costs less than $1,000. Please refer to the attachment for a breakdown of all the university costs.

Ramon is completing his month of training, and will begin as Co-Director of The Peace Project on January 1st. Now, all the Project needs is your help! Support Ramon while he’s working hard for The Peace Project and continuing his education! Your generosity can help cover his basic living costs and/or fund his university education!

1) Donate toward his living stipend to cover his basic needs: $1,625 ($125 per month)
2) Donate toward his university costs to finance his education: $933.50 (~$77 per month)
3) Both! (€1886) $2,558.50 ($213 per month)

To contribute, please follow the directions on the Project's Donate page. Or help spread the word and forward this message on. Thank you for supporting our new Nicaraguan Director, Ramon Pineda, and for supporting The Peace Project!

More information about The Peace Project can be found online at thepeaceprojectnicaragua.org, or by sending your questions to thepeaceprojectnicaragua@gmail.com.

Happy New Year!
The Peace Project Team