Compas de Nicaragua Summer Newsletter 2015

  promoting cultural exchange and improving lives through service trips and sustainable community development

  

www.compas1.org

The Daughters of Corn Dance Troupe Returns to the U.S!

Compas de Nicaragua is planning the 5th Daughters of Corn Dance Troupe U.S. Tour this fall. The group will be performing at over 25 venues in the Midwest and New England. The tour will include performances of several traditional dances with costumes and dresses, including feathered hats and weaved baskets that are balanced on the head. Video segments of Compas de Nicaragua’s project work will also be played throughout the performance. Front: Nadeska Arguello, Back (l-r):Wendy Munguia, Marilyn Barquero,

Pablo Orellano, Karina Mendoza, Jennifer Fernandez

The tour will also include classroom visits at local schools, presentations about current affairs, including discussions about inter-oceanic canal project, as well as dance workshops.

This tour provides local communities with a unique opportunity for popular education about the culture and current situation in Nicaragua. It will also offer communities a chance to get involved and support this important work.

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Compas de Nicaragua Summer Newsletter 2015 page 2 

promoting cultural exchange and improving lives through service trips and sustainable community development 

 

www.compas1.org

As Bill Cuff, Founder of Unlimited Possibilities (www.updoitnow.org) said, “I have seen Nadeska, Wendy and Jennifer perform in previous years and fully expect that this tour will be as educative and entertaining as all the past tours.  I have visited Nicaragua many times (with Compas de Nicaragua) and formed connections with the families of several of these young people.  My vision of international exchange is to create win/win situations where people from different cultures and backgrounds learn about each others’ lives and have their personal horizons hugely expanded.  The Daughters of Corn dance tour is an exemplary model of this kind of exchange.”

The dancers are excited about their trip and look forward to sharing their culture with you. I hope that we will see you during the tour! Here is our current calendar:

Monday, September 14th: Thiel College, Greenville, PAWednesday, September 16th through Friday, September 18th, Hathaway Brown School, Shaker Heights, OHTuesday, September 22nd through Thursday, September 24th, White Mountain School, Bethlehem, NHSaturday, September 26th, Concord Multicultural Festival, Concord, NHSunday, September 27th, Unitarian Universalist Church, Concord, NHTuesday, September 29th, Keene State College, Keene, NHWednesday, September 30th through Friday, October 2nd, Henniker, NH/John Stark High School, Weare, NHSaturday, October 3rd, Multicultural Day, Saint Anselm, College, Manchester, NHSunday, October 4th, Starr King Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Plymouth, NH (Sunday service and evening performance) Monday, October 5th and Tuesday, October 6th, Plymouth State University, Plymouth, NHWednesday, October 7th and Thursday, October 8th, University of New Hampshire, Durham,, NHFriday, October 9th, Spaulding High School, Rochester, NH (to be confirmed)Saturday, October 10th, Highland Center, Crawford Notch, Bretton Woods, NHSunday, October 11th, Franconia Community Church of Christ, Franconia, NHTuesday, October 13th through Thursday, October 15th, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NHTuesday, October 27th University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Thursday, October 29th Waterloo Center of Arts, Waterloo, IA

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Compas de Nicaragua 

promoting cultural exchange and improving lives through service trips and sustainable community development 

  www.compas1.org

As Bill Cuff, Founder of Unlimited Possibilities (www.updoitnow.org) said, “Having been involved with several of the previous dance groups from the Women in Action Cooperative in Managua,  I heartily endorse this group of young people who are preparing for a US tour in the Fall of 2015. I have seen Nadeska, Wendy and Jennifer perform in previous years and fully expect that this tour will be as educative and entertaining as all the past tours.  I have visited Nicaragua many times (with Compas de Nicaragua) and formed connections with the families of several of these young people.  My vision of international exchange is to create win/win situations where people from different cultures and backgrounds learn about each others’ lives and have their personal horizons hugely expanded.  The Daughters of Corn dance tour is an exemplary model of this kind of exchange.”

Visit our Blog and look for us on Facebook!

   

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Compas de Nicaragua Summer Newsletter 2015 page 3

  promoting cultural exchange and improving lives through service trips and sustainable community development

  

www.compas1.org

Service Learning TripsIn May, Compas received the 18th service trip from Plymouth State University’s Nicaragua Club. The group continued with reforestation work in La Paz, planting miracle marango trees and also coffee plants. In Managua, the group installed a gray water system at the Women in Action Center. They also shot videos of sponsored children for our You Tube Channel.

In August, Compas will receive a group from Unlimited Possibilities (www.updoitnow.org). UP has been supporting both WIA and the La Paz Farmers with micro-loans for the last several years. During their trip, they will be doing some light construction at the WIA Center and visiting the sustainable living

projects in La Paz.

Service learning trips continue to be one of the most effective ways to promote cultural exchange and to support important projects in Nicaragua. As Ruby Weldon, a member of the Plymouth Starr King Unitarian Universalist Fellowship’s February youth service trip said, “I am truly changed from the experience I had in Nicaragua.” For Yara Sanchez, a member of the La Paz youth environmental group, “having volunteers come to visit means so much to us. Not only because of the support they offer us, but because of the friendships that form. We are inspired by our friends in the North and I hope that we inspire them as well.”

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Compas de Nicaragua Summer Newsletter 2015 page 4

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  promoting cultural exchange and improving lives through service trips and sustainable community development

  

www.compas1.org

Howling Monkey Organic Coffee Through our partnership with Gold Mountain Coffee (www.goldmountaincoffe egrowers.com), Compas de Nicaragua is shipping coffee directly from farmers to customers in the U.S.  Direct trade allows farmers the highest profits for their coffee. In August, we will be sending this year’s shipment to the U.S. For more information, please visit Howling Monkey Coffee.

Order Howling Monkey 

THANK YOU

Compas de Nicaragua would like to thank you for your continued support of our work. Together, we are building friendships, improving lives, and creating a more just, peaceful and beautiful world; a world based on compassion, cooperation and care of the earth. Thank you for being a part of Compas!

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