San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua has enjoyed a “Sister City” relationship with Newton, MA for over twenty years, during which time the Newton/San Juan del Sur Sister City Project has financed the building or renovation of over twenty schools, and improved the health of communities surrounding San Juan bay by bringing simple, eco-friendly technologies to the families of San Juan. Click on “About Us” to learn more about our work.

Two of our favorite recent projects are the installation of BioSand Filters for purifying contaminated well water, and EcoStoves, for cooking with wood without filling the home (and folks’ lungs) with smoke. The photos in the slideshow below showcase communities where one or both of these initiatives were underway in 2010/2011. (Give it a couple of seconds to load up.)

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January 2011: The rural students of the Free High School and their teachers usually meet in elementary schools in the villages where we offer classes. This means that the chairs with arms (pupitres) are sized for children between the ages of six and thirteen– too small for many of our adult students. Many chairs are old and falling apart. We needed new pupitres of the right size. Newton Highlands Congregational Church came through for us,  purchasing over eighty  in 2010.

A pupitre is a sturdy school chair with a writing arm

Dozens of new pupitres ready for use

Thanks to Rodney Barker, Lynn Scheller, Carol Carroll, and other members of the Mission Ministry: Marianne Talis, Heidi Frimanis, Carol Jensen, Marian Reynolds, and Lynne Sullivan.

The chairs are made in San Juan del Sur of certified wood–wood that has been cut down according to ecological standards set by the Nicaraguan environmental agency. These  (at left) were made in the Taller (workshop) of Jose Ruiz, out of two hardwoods, laurel and roble.