“Welcome to the family” is how lovely Elizabeth, about to finish a six-year course of study at university (and nine years of support from our foundation) welcomed young Krisbell, getting ready to enter 6th grade (and our youngest and most recent scholarship recipient) when they first met at a dinner we had for all our Nicaraguan students during Christa’s and Meghan’s recent visit to El Sauce.

Meghan and I heard that and just about lost it, in a very good way. This is exactly what I hoped for in founding One New Education nearly 15 years ago; that we would become a family and that these young women would know just how much we care about them and want the best for them—that we would all feel like family.

We held the dinner to celebrate Raquel’s graduation from high school, but also to celebrate all our scholarship recipients and their very hardworking mothers. We invited all our present and former students that we could contact who are still in El Sauce. Michel and her mother couldn’t attend because Michel got sick, but all of our other students were there, and it was a delightful event.

As Meghan and I looked around the table, we saw a group of wonderful, smart, funny, and energetic people. Most of these “girls” are now women, and we’ve known most for several years; in the case of Karina, nearly the life of the foundation. We’ve watched them struggle with math and other subjects, laughed at parties with them, encouraged them and cried with them, seen them graduate proudly. We’ve even met their children. Michel, Glenda, and Seyla all have children now, but they kept studying. Others had to leave school for a while, but went back and kept going. They’ve suffered health issues and family and personal tragedies and triumphs. We’ve gotten to know them, and I consider them my family. They are my daughters.

During the evening, Meghan and I introduced each person to the rest, since most were too shy to start the conversation. It was so fun to go over the years we’ve known each one. After the introduction, each student felt a little more comfortable adding some things, including introducing their mothers. Karina talked about her university education, as did Belen, who spoke about how hard it has been (she has one more year), but also how worth it it has all been, and how glad she is to be studying for a professional job. Elizabeth was a bright spark, as usual, and talked easily about her course of study and her life since joining the foundation. She needed no introduction!

It was incredibly moving to watch these beautiful young women, and to know that we have helped a little bit with their dreams and hopes for their futures. Raquel’s letter to all of you, the donors, put it really beautifully. She said that the foundation doesn’t  just help individuals or families, but it acts to “sembrar esperanza.” The word sembrar means to plant or to sow. That’s what ONE has always hoped to do, to help plant hope, and allow it to grow. We hoped our students would understand the value of an education, and see how much it helps one grow, not just with regard to jobs and a profession, but in one’s person as well.

The truest sign of that came from Tatiana. She’s finished her vocational studies in accounting, and plans to return to the university to finish her courses there. I told her that the foundation would pay half of her costs to do that, since we really have already paid for her post-secondary studies, but we’d like to help her through the university as well. At the dinner, we talked for a while and she said she wants us to give that money to another girl for a scholarship. She said she has a job with her boyfriend’s father, and she’ll be able to pay for her own university studies without help from us.

That Tatiana wants us to find another student to whom to give a scholarship instead of taking the money we offered, speaks volumes about how much she, and hopefully all the others, have learned about the value of this organization, and of searching and fighting for your dreams. We’re so proud of all of them, and so grateful for all your donations to help make their dreams reality.

Make sure you visit all their pages, especially Raquel’s to see her graduation photos and read her lovely letter. All their pages have been updated and there are some wonderful photos and stories to share.

The next time you hear from us will be in 2026. We wish you all the happiest of holidays. May 2026 bring more kindness, justice, joy, and dreams created and fulfilled for all of us.

Christa

All the students and their mothers at our celebration dinner

Lively conversations

Left to right: Tatiana, Raquel’s mother Blanca, our friend and foundation contact Marina, Belen, Karina, Emily, Seyla, Krisbell, Raquel, Elizabeth

Not a great picture, because it was so dark, but this is all the students, their mothers, and Meghan and Christa