Sarah Bertman is the kind of person who lights up a room. She is all smiles and energy and infectious laughter. Sarah was a Volunteer in Paraguay in 2010 and she has returned to AMIGOS this year as one of the very first AMIGOS Gap Year Volunteers. Sarah is spending her gap year in Nicaragua and she has been matched with an internship with Empowerment International (EI) whose mission is to break the cycle of poverty before it reaches the next generation by building more educated and productive communities. "One of the things that we want to do more is promote a love of reading and literature among the youth in EI programs. We want to start book groups and other reading programs, but recognize that in a culture where reading books is very uncommon, this will be a challenge," Sarah explains. So she is working with EI to collect used eReaders (like Kindles and Nooks) to make reading more exciting and Spanish language material, which can be downloaded for free, much more accessible.
You can help foster a love of reading among the children in Nicaragua by sending your used Kindles, Nooks, Tablets, or other eReaders to: Empowerment International, PO box 1215, Lyons, CO 80540.
More About Empowerment International
The mission of Empowerment International (EI) is to break the cycle of poverty before it reaches the next generation by building more educated and productive communities. The organization believes that education is the key link between transformation of a community´s quality of life and ability to address basic needs. Since it's inception in 2003, EI has created community driven programs such a primary-school programs, a peer-tutoring program, a university and teen program, a home visit program, and continues to grow enrichment activities such as soccer, photography, and cycling.
More About the AMIGOS Gap Year Program
The AMIGOS Gap Year Program is designed for students who wish to gain an extended international volunteer experience and immersion experience before or during college. Combining field volunteer work, exposure to our partner agencies working in international development, family home-stays and excursions around the country, our program offers hands-on experiential learning that prepares young people for college and beyond.
