By Casey Callais 04/28/2017 — Five and a half months after laying the first sacks, the last sacks have been laid in the community school of El Jicarito, Nicaragua. And to top it off, the major roof work has been …
By Casey Callais 05/02/2017 — Something that I have been working on (off and on) for a while is a google map of our region’s projects. I think it helps give a clearer picture of where we are and how …
By Casey Callais 02/28/2017 — Eight days came and went in the blink of an eye but left a lasting mark on the community of El Jicarito and 29 brave souls from Builders Beyond Borders.
The group hit the ground …
By Casey Callais 2/6/2017 — Still at it. It’s good to watch the progress of this project. Now it is starting to look more like what we have been imagining the school to look like. Walls and roof make all …
By Casey Callais 1/20/2017 — Our New Year’s resolution is the same as last years. This year we resolve to better the access, relevance and quality of education in Nicaragua. So how are we going about meeting those resolutions for …
By Casey Callais 12/16/2016 — Dashing down the road
In a one-way dirt road track…
O’er the bumps we go
Never looking back.
In Ji-ca-ri-to
Arriving to the site…
Oh what fun it is to stuff a sack with all …
By Casey Callais 11/18/2016 — One of the most well-known truths in the history of construction is that the arch is one of the strongest figures in architecture. This week we built our first window and utilized the power of …
By Casey Callais 11/5/2016 — Thanks to generous donations from Seeds of Learning supporters and work groups, four more teachers received laptops and teaching materials such as pens, pencils, notebooks and crayons in the Tipitapa region of Nicaragua.
This makes …
By Casey Callais, 11/04/2016 — All the hype over this project in El Jicarito is finally starting to become the reality now that we have started laying the first rows of superadobe earth bags. That’s right, we are finally able …
By Casey Callais 10/28/2016 — For those of you who are following the progress of our superadobe school construction in El Jicarito, Nicaragua, this update will come as good news. The footings of the elementary school building have been finished …
By Casey Callais 10/14/2016 — We are moving right along on the super adobe school building project in El Jicarito. We finally located a cement mixer and, after some small repairs, are filling forms faster than we can put them …
By Casey Callais 10/07/2016 — We love to see up construction. So far we have filled up footings with cement, put up columns for the main classroom and tied up the bottom beam. We still need to fix up the …
By Casey Callais 10/04/2016 — It was a celebration a quarter century in the making and the Seeds of Learning staff in Ciudad Dario pulled it off in a spectacular fashion. On the first of October staff, friends, family, volunteers …
By Casey Callais 09/28/2016 — The graduates from a Winds of Change sponsored welding workshop received their diplomas in a ceremony at the community house “Casa Verde” in Pedro Arauz, Nicaragua.
The workshop that was held earlier this year was …
By Casey Callais 09/16/2016 –– This week we were proud to inaugurate the one-room school house that we helped the community build in El Papayal.
We were fortunate to have two work groups building alongside us in the community …
If anybody is wondering what a trip with Seeds of Learning is like, let Jeramiah tell you in only a minute and a half.
Thanks for your hard work, Jeramiah!…
By Casey Callais 9/9/2016 — Four members of Knitknot Architecture Group who created the design for the earthbag school in El Jicarito visited the worksite this week. Their mission was to get to know the community, clarify questions the foreman …
By Casey Callais 2/09/2016 — The rain has been a welcome sight here in the Tipitapa area of Nicaragua. Farmers have been busy planting crops but we have also had a good turnout of locals helping with our Jicarito school …
By Casey Callais 08/19/2016 — It has been a hard two months but we have finally gotten the ground prepared–so we can confidently say that construction can now being. *whew!*
Massive thank you to the open enrollment group from Portland …
By Casey Callais 08/19/2016 — Check out this time lapse compilation of the visit of the Portland Open group that visited us to work in El Jicarito last week.
Huge thanks to everyone on the trip! And thanks again for …
By Casey Callais, 8/05/2016 –– Huge, huge, huge thanks to the Portland Jesuit High School and the Sonoma Valley team for all their hard work in the last few weeks. Finally the holes have been dug and filled!
This …
By Casey Callais 7/29/2016 –– Like the old-fashioned Quaker barn raising, it’s been all hands on deck to get this school ready for construction. Aside from the 23-strong Sonoma Valley group, people from three neighboring communities came out to …
By Casey Callais 7/22/2016 — What a difference a group makes.
This week we have been lucky to share our passion for education with 23 fun-loving, hard-working individuals from Sonoma Valley, California and of course local community members from El …
By Casey Callais 7/15/2016 — Water changes everything.
It was a long week of cutting metal, welding parts, making it work and getting it right but on Friday morning the Toronto-based organization Winds of Change, working with Seeds of …
By Casey Callais 7/8/2016 — The Seeds of Learning office in Managua has seen rain nearly every day for the last two weeks. El Jicarito, only about 15 miles north as the crow flies, has been lucky to receive a …
By Casey Callais 6/27/16 — The one-room school building that Seeds of Learning has been constructing in the community of El Papayal has made major advancements toward its development. The school building now has a floor, sidewalk and roof. And …
By Casey Callais 6/24/2016 — Four dump trucks of dirt. That is how much sticky black mud has been removed for the foundations of the columns so far. Big thanks to the Jesuit High School group from Portland Oregon and …
By Casey Callais, 6/17/2016 — This week we have been honored to have a 21-person strong group of dedicated volunteers from the Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon working with us. And when I say work, I mean hot, muddy, …
By Casey Callais, 6/10/2016 – There are three areas of education that Seeds of Learning Managua envisions to change in the Tipitapa region: access, quality and relevance. SOL Managua’s latest project isn’t just about giving kids a new place to …
By Casey Callais 3/09/2016 –– Today we had the good fortune to help coordinate a reading campaign in El Triunfo with Global Shapers Community. It was the idea of Maria Ximena, an ex member of the SOL board …