Friends of Batahola-Volunteer-FOB Volunteers

Friends of Batahola Volunteers

Friends of Batahola Volunteers was founded in 2007 by Laura Hopps and Christine Ruppert, graduates of Boston College and the Casa de la Solidaridad program in El Salvador. Batahola volunteers are young people from the U.S. who accompany the Centro Cultural Batahola Norte in its work of empowerment of women and youth for social transformation. Volunteers live in the community as friends and coworkers, learning from the CCBN and contributing to the development of new initiatives. Some of the projects in which the volunteers are involved include:

Taking part in the continuing formation of a 2-year volunteer program
Designing and teaching an English course for adult students
Accompanying the development of youth spaces for reflection and social action
Accompanying a women's quilting group
Following up on graduates of a micro-enterprise class
Updating this blog and writing periodic articles to keep friends and supporters in the U.S. updated on current events in Nicaragua, the Center, and our experiences as volunteers
Coordinating the visits of short-term volunteers and delegations to the Center
Being involved in community activities and classes, including choir, dance class, weekly Mass, etc.

The current FOB Volunteers are Amanda Otera and Greta Tom.

Amanda hails from Fargo, North Dakota, and has a bachelor's in Religion and Latin American Studies from Carleton college. One of the things that motivated her to join the Batahola volunteer program was the opportunity to learn about community organizing from a Central American perspective. Amanda enjoys singing in the choir for the weekly Peasant Mass given at the Center.

Greta grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania and graduated from West Virginia University with a bachelor's in International Studies and minor in Music. She came to the CCBN with the Mennonite Central Committee to live in and learn from another culture. She quickly fell in love with the cultural center and the following year became a Batahola volunteer. Greta enjoys playing the oboe in a youth orchestra in Managua.

For more information on the Friends of Batahola Volunteers program, check out our blog at http://bataholavolunteers.blogspot.com.