319 kilometers from Managua is El Cangrejal, a small community in the Autonomous Region of the South Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua (RACCS). Here, the humble hamlets reveal the poverty of the local families, who make a living mostly out of agriculture.
Since 2016, in partnership with ICEP, Fabretto has brought to El Cangrejal and other neighboring communities, the innovative rural education program, SAT (Tutorial Learning System). The program has been adapted to the context and needs of the youth of the area.
On a normal day, the students get together and walk to the center where they receive rural technical education classes, but a few weeks ago everything changed. The first cases of COVID-19 were announced in Nicaragua and for the safety of the beneficiaries and teachers, face-to-face classes were canceled.
Education must go on
For our beneficiaries, children, and youth, education plays an extremely important role in their lives, which is why teachers and collaborators quickly began to work on distance education plans, using tools such as Google Drive, WhatsApp, and video conference calls. However, during this process, a new challenge arose: the mobile internet signal does not reach all the homes in the small community.
With a positive attitude and taking the necessary safety precautions, the young students have gone out of their way to identify the spot with the best internet signal: a hill located 30 minutes away. Their dream of a better life motivates them to climb their way to education and the fact that, during these times, it means having to learn online is not about to stop them.
Online classes have had a positive impact on the youth of El Cangrejal, but they have also meant an extra-economic cost that they have taken on with many sacrifices. Help them continue their education.
