Volunteer Teachers in Ciudad Romero

Dixie and Vicki, two teachers from Washington state, returned as volunteers to teach in Ciudad Romero after participating in the 1999 Zone of Peace Tour. This is their experience, in their own words.


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Local teachers learning to use computers in Ciudad Romero.

Teaching in the Bajo Lempa

Last summer, after visiting the school in Cuidad Romero, we were inspired to return. We knew we wanted to teach in some capacity, but it took a chain of Emails to figure out what was most needed.

The teachers learned computer basics in the morning and we taught English to students in the afternoon. We felt the computer training was very successful and feel confident that the learning will continue with the help from several leaders in the Coordinadora.

It is impossible for anyone to learn a language in 5 days, but we were able to leave them with materials to continue. We enjoyed working with both students and staff. Most students were shy, but enthusiastic learners ranging in age from 12-18 years old. These students were placed in grades 7, 8, and 9 based on their ability not their age, so what we think of as a typical 7th grade class was definitely different.

We worked closely with Albeito who was both the science and English teacher. He made sure we were well taken care of and was very generous with his time. On our last day we honored with compliments and thanks from both students and staff.

We were able to acquire 3 computers, one laptop, and a printer due to the generosity of Jenna and Kirk Glock, Sinnett Meluzzo, and especially Bob Zeigler. Our efforts to get computers from large corporations came to a dead end, but when we tried locally we found success. - Vicki Leonard and Dixie Reimer, August 2000