News & Events
Remembering John
Seeds of Learning founders and staff fondly remember John Binns.
Apr 30SOL's Spring Newsletter
SOL has issued its Spring Newsletter, available here!
SOL Work Group Schedule
Our 2013 Work Group Schedule is now available here!
Alternative Giving
Looking for a thoughtful and unique gift for your loved ones this holiday season? Consider SOL's Alternative Giving program. Click here for details!
Esperanza Books and Note Cards
NOW AVAILABLE: Sonoma author Sara Donnelly and illustrator Sally Carnahan Lewis have created a heartwarming, bilingual children's story. Esperanza and the New School; Esperanza y la Nueva Escuela grew out of Donnelly's years of service in Seeds of Learning.
A package of six beautiful note cards with illustrations selected from Esperanza and the New School are now available. Proceeds from the sale of books and note cards are generously donated to Seeds of Learning. Each packet of 6 cards + envelopes is $10. Prices include handling and mailing costs. Click here!
Hughes Goodwin
Photographer and longtime supporter Hughes Goodwin has made a lifetime pledge to support SOL's work. He donated to construct a classroom in memory of his late son, Evan, as well as to honor his parents, George and Mary Lee Goodwin, who were both teachers. He also supports scholarships for ten high school students this year, next year, and every year thereafter. Recently Hughes made a pledge of support for SOL to begin to integrate 21st century technology into it's educational programs in Nicaragua. SOL is very grateful, and very excited about incorporating technology into our programs in a way that effective, efficient, and empowering. (Check out: Photography by Pedro Goodwin)
Seeds of Learning is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving educational opportunities in rural Latin America. We work with North Americans and Central Americans to build and equip schools in Nicaragua and El Salvador, educate children and adults, and promote cross cultural understanding. We have a US office in Sonoma, California and field offices in Ciudad Darío and Matagalpa, Nicaragua, as well as San Salvador, El Salvador.
Each year, Seeds of Learning sends ten to sixteen work groups of volunteers to Central America. These volunteers spend between 7 and 12 days working with communities in Nicaragua or El Salvador. While there, volunteers partner with communities, form relationships, build bridges and explore each others' cultures while erecting or improving a school building.
Since its inception in 1991, Seeds of Learning has constructed or remodeled 152 classrooms in 55 communities; built and repaired several thousand school desks and furnishings; developed three Learning Resource Centers; awarded scholarships to over 1064 primary, high school, and university students; supported literacy and adult education programs in over 20 rural communities; organized and managed sister school partnerships between classrooms in the U.S. and Central America, currently involving over 2,000 students and 80 teachers; and sent over 2,440 work group volunteers to Central America. SOL serves over 300 students a day in the Learning Resource Centers, equipped with 3,500 books for students and teachers, and offers classes in dance, music, sewing, embroidery, crafts, English and computer basics, and tutoring.
