Nicaragua: Gabriel Mistral School Library

In the year 2000, a Nicaraguan government movement called Plan Internacional donated a bookshelf and some children’s books to a small school in an impoverished neighborhood of Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua. The school, named Gabriela Mistral, had no permanent space for the books, so they were rotated around classrooms until a Canadian NGO, Compañeros, decided to build a library. The construction of the desperately needed building began in March of 2011. Compañeros donated the materials and members of the community did the actual building. The Gabriela Mistral School Library opened last June 22.

Grenada, the library’s surrounding neighborhood, was named after the island-country of Grenada (located off the coast of Colombia in South America). The first people to live in the area built their cardboard and plastic houses along the area’s rainwater canal. Their extreme poverty and risky situation caught the attention of the country of Grenada in the 80’s. Since then, the embassy of that country has improved the living conditions of the neighborhood.

According to Carolina, a schoolteacher, the Gabriela Mistral School only teaches up to 6^th grade. The library’s main focus is to encourage the school’s children to continue their education. The library helps the children to strengthen their self-esteem and relieve them of frustration that come from a difficult life. Currently, the library has no permanent librarian because of the lack of money. The teachers at the school have to rotate in order for the library to serve the needs of the children. Having a permanent librarian would mean that it could stay open all day. This also would allow the library to hold activities for people from the community, as well as offer music classes and crafts.

These are ways you can help this library:

Donating funds for books

Providing funds for a permanent librarian

Ceiling fans

Video/audio equipment

By supporting this library, children like 2^nd grader Elias Zuniga can have more books to enjoy and more access to information. A library in an area such as the Grenada neighborhood not only keeps children off the streets; it keeps them in school, providing a greater chance at improving their community.