Superemos Annual Report for 2018
General
Despite logistical and other difficulties caused by political unrest in the second quarter of the year, 2018 was still a successful year for Superemos. The annual medical brigade in February was accompanied again by a dental medicine brigade and delivered care to more communities than ever. After the disruptive events of April, May and June, from mid-July onwards our community work, both at our program center and in our rural outreach activities quickly returned to normal.
As we usually do every year, through December 2017 and January 2018 we took advantage of the school vacation period to carry out improvements to our community program center. This time we remodeled the oldest classroom space, replacing the former timber structure with a steel structure and adding a second floor.
We were able to completely paint all the classrooms with pastel colors inside and bright colors outside. We also improved the ventilation of the dance classroom adding new windows and ceiling fans and we added a new area of sanitary facilities.
We are very grateful to all our supporters for the invaluable help they have given our programs all through 2018 enabling us to serve local communities in and around Estelí effectively and also complete our remodeling program and carry forward our work successfully into 2019.
Programs
2018 Medical and Dental Brigades
In 2018 we again hosted a medical brigade and a dental brigade. The medical brigade included over 20 medical professionals and medical students who visited communities in the municipalities of Estelí, La Trinidad and San Nicolás over a period of three weeks. The group was also able to impart training workshops to local volunteer health promoters and assist the pediatric unit in the local hospital improve their ability to look after children requiring intensive care. Members of the group included a social worker and three family psychologists who worked with our team working to help families coping with domestic violence.
Lyn and Len Styczinski with multi-disciplinary group working to address domestic violence
On the way back to Estelí after clinic in a rural community
Clinic in the remote rural community of Paso Real
In February as well as hosting the medical brigade organized by Dr. Peter Loewinthan of Dot House Health Multi-Service Center in Boston, Superemos also hosted a dental brigade organized by the Henry S Goldman School of Dental Medicine at Boston University. The dentists attended dozens of children from local preschools identified earlier as needing dental care as part of the dental preventive care program Boston University is carrying out together with the local Health Ministry and the Ministry of the Family.
Dr. Peter Loewinthan (head of medical brigade)
and Dr. Michelle Henshaw (head of dental brigade).
De. Michelle Henshaw assists a preschool educator apply fluoride varnish to a preschool student
Dr. Adrienne Archidiacono (pediatric dentist) attends a patient with students Nicholas Capezio and Bakr Amin
Estelí Women's School
In 2018 the school had an enrollment of over 120 women students of whom over 60 received scholarships.
2018 was a year of transition between the previous two year Adult Baccalaureate program supervised by the Ministry of Education in Managua and the new 4-year decentralized Community Baccalaureate supervised locally by the Ministry of Education's Departmental Delegation in Estelí
Our students live in the municipality of Estelí, mainly in the city itself but we also have students from outlying rural communities near the city.
Classes exclusively for our women students were held from Monday to Wednesday evenings from 6.00pm until 9.00pm. As in previous years, the program guaranteed transport home to their barrios for our women students after class. Classes received periodic supervision from the Education Ministry.
During the unrest between mid-April and mid-July we only suspended classes during the first week of June after various incidents of violence very close to our school by gangs supporting Nicaragua's political opposition. However once the authorities restored public order after June 10th we resumed our classes as normal.
Exams were held in July and November. In 2018, a total of 63 of our women students graduated with their baccalaureate, 61 being scholarship students. The number of graduates was larger in 2018 because it was the last opportunity for students of our Adult Baccalaureate program to take their final exams in the normal way before the Ministry of Education closed the program completely.
Our program also imparted to our students personal development classes covering issues like reproductive health, women’s rights, gender and domestic violence.
Women students with text books provided by the Casa Pueblito organization
ICES - Addressing domestic violence
In 2018 our Intervention Change and Education Service worked in 6 rural communities around Estelí as well as with students from the Estelí Women's School and our other community training and education programs. They gave workshops and talks to over 200 people each month. Over the year our team gave psychological care and counseling to 44 people and legal advice and support to 21 people. The program's shelter assisted a total of 21 people in 2018 The project staff consists of our lawyer Maria Felix Castillo and our psychologist Karen Villerreyna who both have many years experience in formal and informal educational methodology.
During 2018 Karen and Maria Felix have worked with the Ministry of the Family, the Ministry of Health and the local campus of Nicaragua's National Autonomous University to develop ways of providing better support to health workers in rural areas concerned about patients suffering domestic violence. We are very grateful to Fran Smith and Lyn and Len Styczinski for the guidance they provide Karen and Maria Felix via conference calls through the Internet.
Maria Felix Castillo imparting guidance to local families in La Quinta
Karen Villarreyna and Maria Felix Castillo working with local nurses
Dental preventive health program
In 2018 Superemos continued supporting the innovative dental preventive health program carried out by the Henry S Goldman School of Dental Medicine at Boston University under the supervision of Dr. Michelle Henshaw in coordination with the local Ministry of Health.
2018 was the third year of the program's scheduled five year duration. The program operates in 13 preschools supervised by the Ministry of the Family in the urban area of the city of Estelí and gives preventive dental care to over 800 children.
Thanks to coordination between Rosa Palacios, a health educator in Boston and Managua, with Dr. Henshaw's team in Boston and the staff at Superemos, we were able to maintain the program despite the restrictive travel advisories recommended by the US authorities throughout 2018.
Preventive health care
During 2018 our preventive health program provided medical care for participants in the Estelí Women’s School as follows:
* 40 educational talks on reproductive health and other health concerns each week to between 10 and 30 students of the Estelí Women’s School.
* 24 Papanicolaou tests and 35 other quick urine tests to students of the Estelí Women’s School.
* 30 visits by a doctor, offering gynecological exams and general consultations to over 80 women students.
* Monthly educational talks and distribution of supplies for personal hygiene (toothbrushes, anti lice shampoo, etc) in four rural communities to a total of 180 children and their parents. This outreach activity was suspended by the political crisis between April and July.
* Three campaigns on preventing sexually transmitted disease, handing out 500 condoms to the adult secondary education students.
* Helping over 100 people with low-cost medicine.
* Helping 9 patients a month with free medicines for high blood pressure and control of blood sugar levels.
* Helping 10 patients a month with laboratory tests not available in the public health system or medicines.
Hannah Curteis
Music, dance and art
In 2018 Sones Segovianos started the year with a successful concert in Managua organized by Nicaragua's Institute of Culture to launch a book by Sones Segovianos founder Hannah Curteis of the music of Felipe Urrutia, the doyen of Nicaraguan folk music.
The project continued to offer high quality music dance and art education to children and adolescents from low income families. The classes impart strong social and humanistic values and are supervised by Nicaragua’s Institute of Culture.
In 2018 we had over 100 students aged from 3 to 20 years, including students with disability.
The program offers classes in both classical and traditional Nicaraguan instruments and in 2017 continued to develop its youth orchestra with 25 members. Since 2013 the program has offered dance classes and art classes since 2014.
Dance students learn traditional dance, classic ballet and Latino dance. Art students learn drawing and painting, mural painting and collage.
Japanese volunteer Koki Takada gives a karate class
Vocational training
The main activities of our personal development and vocational skills training program through 2018 have been:
- Sewing classes started the year with 60 registered students, of which 32 students graduated in October and 12 students continued with the classes until the end of November.
- The ceramic workshop trained 8 people over the year.
- 7 people trained over the year in hand crafts, embroidering, crochet and jewelry making.
- 4 ecological toilets were installed and the beneficiaries were trained in their use and maintenance
a student learns baking with Luisa Duarte
Alan Parrales testing equipment for digital sublimation
Sandals produced by the shoe making project
Solar panel workshop
Income and Expenditure 2018
| Superemos Foundation | |
| Income and expenditure report for 2018 | US$ |
| Brought forward from 2017 | 25798 |
| Donated income | |
| Christine King Memorial Trust | 6000 |
| Dorchester House Multi Service Center | 25100 |
| Jonathan Benjamin | 5000 |
| Medical brigades supporters | 25169 |
| Peter Loewinthan and friends | 6226 |
| Proyectos Sociales Albanisa | 9600 |
| Private foundation | 70000 |
| Various individual donations | 18396 |
| Local contributions | 910 |
| Bank interests | 136 |
| Total income | 192335 |
| Expenditures | |
| Health Care | 11530 |
| Social work/family violence program | 16168 |
| Music Education | 18966 |
| Vocational training | 27694 |
| Women's secondary education | 15988 |
| Audio visual skills training (Managua) | 7236 |
| inform | 3776 |
| Administration | 23042 |
| Site maintenance | 15265 |
| Remodelling | 11853 |
| Medical brigades | 25446 |
| Bank commissions and charges | 941 |
| Total expenditure | 177905 |
| Carried forward to 2019 | 14430 |