Dreams of Louise '06
Article from the Venice Gondolier (Sun Newspapers)
January 22, 2006
Suenos de Luisa (Dreams of Louise)
The sight of abject poverty moved Venice resident Louise Brunberg to open a school for the poor in Nicaragua, paying teachers salaries out of her own pocket. The mothers named it Suenos de Luisa. Today, La Escuela Suenos de Luisa educates 260 students with 10 teachers.
Some people relax when they retire. Louise Brunberg built a school.
What began as a visit by a retiring teacher and peace activist from Norwalk, Conn., to its adopted sister city in Nagarote, Nicaragua, more than a decade ago turned into a mission to help the poor.
Now, at 77 years of age, Brunberg is on another mission — making sure the school she built continues after she is gone.
When Brunberg visited Nagarote in 1993 she was overwhelmed, especially by the suffering of children. She was determined to make a difference in the lives of children who survive in dreadful poverty, unable to read, with little-to-no hope of going to school without someone’s intervention.
Some of Nagarote’s poorest families could not afford government schools because they lacked money for uniforms, notebooks, and other supplies. And there were other barriers, like alcoholism and illiteracy.
While government-run schools are free, education is not compulsory, and illiterate parents seemed to have no hope for a better future. A career teacher, Brunberg understood the dilemma well.
The first task was to provide for basic needs. By 1996 she established a soup kitchen for 30 kids, providing what was for many their one and only hot meal for the day.
Then she came up with an idea — sell off her grandfather’s oceanside home in New England. With $1.2 million in her pocket, she went to work building a school for Nagarote’s underclass children.
Using the interest, she was able to pay for a few teachers on an annual basis. By 1998 she established a school in an abandoned building with the help of the mayor. Today, La Escuela Suenos de Luisa — the school of Luisa’s dreams — serves 260 students, preschool through fourth grade, with a staff of 10 — all paid out of Brunberg’s pocket. In addition to paying teacher salaries, Brunberg created the Right To Learn Foundation, based out of Block Island, R.I. Funded through private donations, it provides additional money for books and extra salaries.
The school also receives $62 each month from Japanese Cellular Co., a local business in Nagarote, for groceries. The American/Nicaraguan Foundation in Managua donates monthly supplies, and even provided an additional building. The city of Nagarote, with its supportive mayor, donated a fence, pavilion and wall divider.
Brunberg also provides a $500 university scholarship each year to needy students who could not otherwise continue their education. She gives 18 students about $50 each month, mostly to cover bus fare.
In her own words, here is Brunberg’s story of compassion and commitment to children living a legacy of civil war and corruption, created in part, she says, by a failed United States foreign policy.
Civil war, Iran Contra, and corrupt governments have devastated this third world country, leaving Nicaragua in a deplorable situation. With a population of 5 million, unemployment is at 60 percent and illiteracy is 50 percent. It is the largest country in Central American, yet despite its size and resources it is one of the poorest. The reason is they have not been able to control their own destiny. Nagarote has a population of 35,000, with more than 40 elementary schools and one high school, called the Instituto. It once had a thriving seaport, Puerto Sandino, which was damaged in 1983 after a CIA attack and now has limited activity.
I first traveled to Nagarote with the Norwalk/Nagarote Sister City Group in 1993. I’ve returned every year. For the last several years I have been returning in January for three months because their school year begins in February. On my first trip I was overwhelmed with the poverty I saw. My first few years were spent giving food to people, especially during the drought of 1994. I also taught English as a second language at the public library.
In 1996 I started a soup kitchen in the home of one of the children I fed. It grew. Mothers cooked the food, and received food as their pay. They named it Suenos de Luisa (Dreams of Louise).
When the roof started to leak (for the umteenth time), the mayor of Nagarote offered me an abandoned building, which we turned into a school. I had to make the place livable, with a roof, doors, floors, grills over windows and a latrine. I managed with the labor of parents. We opened as a soup kitchen, but with so many children not attending schools, it became both a soup kitchen and a school. In 1998 there was one director, one teacher and a group of children all ages learning to read. The years have flown by, with new additions to the school. Today, we have 260 students on double sessions, 10 teachers, a translator, bus driver and a night watchman. The school has become an example in town for other teachers who come to observe.
We have good attendance. Students are well treated, and receive breakfast and lunch. We are the only school in town that serves food. The mothers still cook for the same pay — food to bring home. The children start at 3 years old in preschool and continue through the fourth grade. They attend fifth grade in one of the city schools.
Daily routine
Surviving in Nicaragua takes every resource available. The day starts before sunrise, with people scrubbing clothes, starting a wood fire for coffee and taking showers.
There are no bookstores, no pretty gardens, no special events outside the church. The noise level is loud with children and foraging animals. Since people do not have much money, their diet is the same. Rice and more rice, rarely with meat. Sometimes they have beans. A typical evening meal can be rice and a tortilla. People go to bed hungry. One night, as I was preparing a fried chicken and potato dinner in an electric frying pan, Gladys arrived with her new baby and two hungry children. They smelled the chicken. One of her daughters whispered to me, “Give my mother a piece of chicken.”
Often we shared our meals with other children, who in turn shared mouthfuls with others who arrived later. In my room, I have a gas stove, a refrigerator for the school and a toaster oven. I buy two loaves of bread every day. Children often come by for cold water, and for a piece of bread, which I toast for them.
My day starts before sunrise too, because I open the gate for the mother who cleans the school at 5:45 a.m., and the bus driver (he picks up the children in a small pickup truck) who arrives at 6:30 a.m. Myra, who also lives at the school, insists on washing my clothes. After a cold morning shower, I prepare breakfast for Myra, her two children and myself. I try to get to my classroom by 7:30 a.m. when children are arriving. We must sweep and arrange the chairs, as dust is constant.
Despite all the hardships, there is joy and friendliness. They know patience, which has helped them endure the civil war, the embargo and heavy unemployment. They are constantly looking for ways to obtain medication, food, and other essential items.
Minibus needed
The school has practical and urgent needs. Right now our biggest need is for a minibus to transport children to and from the school. Our current truck is in the garage much of the time for repairs, and it’s too small.
We looked at a minibus last year that would hold 25 children comfortably, but the clutch was slipping and for $5,000 it wasn’t a wise buy. We are trying to raise $10,000 to purchase a newer bus.
In addition to transportation, the teaching profession needs to be updated. Nicaragua is old fashioned in its teaching methods, with too much copying from the blackboard and too much repitition of copying in their notebooks. Students are bored, and lose interest. They miss out on the fundamentals of math and English. Plus, there are no outside activities, which we take for granted. It’s sad to see children just hanging around with nothing to do. The minute I back the truck out of the school, they come running, asking for a ride. And of course, they hang around looking for food. Many don’t have meals at night.
They need to be more involved with activities and small groups. This a tall order in a very poor country where 50 percent of the population is under 15 years of age.
I would like to build a structure behind the school that would house guests, serve as a teachers lounge and be an enrichment center for workshops, student groups and miscellaneous activities. And we could have a playground.
*****
Brunberg’s work could best be summarized by a quote by Sir Winston Churchill that appears on her school brochure: “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” She left this weekend for Nagarote, reconnecting with her friends and the children she has come to love.
When she returns she will devote part of her time promoting Right To Learn. It’s her best shot at ensuring the school’s future.
