Post date: Jan 27, 2013 12:53:35 PM
27 January 2013
Ferdinand Cardenal is a Jesuit priest who was active in the Sandanista revolution, was chastised by the Pope for his political activity, then reinstated by the Pope. Cardenal has been active in Nicaraguan life for four decades. He lives at UCA (University of Central America) a Jesuit institution.
I was honored with a one-hour meeting with Ferdinand Cardenal, sj, who celebrated his 79th birthday Saturday. He was formerly Minister of Education for Nicaragua, and started a national literacy campaign after the revolution 39 years ago. Very enthusiastic and gentle man.
Fe y Alegria is the organization that he established through the church to educate children in Central America. They just lost one million dollars annual funding from the Spanish government. They operate 22 schools around Nicaragua and more in other countries, mostly Latin America - the government pays the teacher salaries but Fe y Alegria pays for lights, water, building maintenance, etc. Huge hole in their budget.
A more recent program (since 4 years) has been improving the teaching in public schools. They have a team that is invited by the teachers to come into a school and give workshops for the teachers. These workshops have proven to improve teaching quality. Because they lost their funding, they have had to lay off three people who were very dedicated. They began with language instruction but now see a big need for improvement in logic and mathematics.
They could use any help you might provide. Their web site is often confusing. I'll post an address for you to help, once I get it.