HIYAPAPAYA

March 2011

Eli playing at recess,

laying tile in new
classrooms, Parent-
Student Guidebook,
First Grade on the first
day of class, Rancho
floor construction,
Genesis in gymnastics
class.

2011: Off to a Running Start

We were so blessed to spend the first few
weeks of 2011 in the States, visiting with you,
sharing stories and filling up our love tanks! Upon
our return to Nicaragua, we were ready to hit the
ground running for the 2011 school year,
upcoming construction and lots of short term
trips!
Our teachers started work on Monday, Feb.
14th with a week of training and preparation for
our first day of class - Monday, Feb. 21st! We
opened our gates to 155 students in 4 classes -
Preschool Levels 1, 2, & 3 plus First Grade!
The kids were super excited to meet their new
teachers, check out their beautiful new textbooks
and get their first glimpse at their new classrooms!
Decorated with alphabet, animal, color and shape
cut-outs, each classroom was set to provide a
happy, creative learning environment.
With more students, we also needed more child
sponsors and through speaking engagements and
word of mouth, the LifeLink team has been able to
provide a sponsor to each student. I ve been
working hard at organizing and creating each
student s biography sheet to send out to their
sponsors.
In an effort to enhance our curriculum, we ve
added art and gymnastics classes. Both have
proven to be amazing opportunities to allow the
kids to use their imagination and express
themselves. I m not sure I ve ever seen so many
gorgeous smiles!
Wayne was able to raise all the funds needed
to build the new rancho and got to work straight
away on creating a new and improved place for our
students to eat and have special classes. He s also
been hard at work tweaking the finishing touches
on the Primary School Building before moving on
to the next school building.
God is blessing our work here in innumerable
ways! Thank you for your faithful support and
prayers -- together, we are making an impact on
the lives of our students and their families, the
country of Nicaragua and the world!
--Megan

1
 The Rancho
HIYAPAPAYA March 2011

Expanding the resources of Centro Escolar LifeLink

This past month we completed the new rancho!
A rancho is a simple structure made of tree
trunks and palm fronds. When assembled correctly,
it has the potential to last 10 years or more. The
palm leaves insulate from the sun in a way that
keeps the space nice and cool. Ranchos are found
throughout Central and South America and serve
many purposes.
The original rancho built as the first structure
on the LifeLink base was about 900 square feet. We
used it as a flexspace: to feed the children lunch
everyday, for special classes like dance, and to host
conventions and meetings. Termites and weather
had rotted away the original 4x4 posts and the old
palm leaves were falling apart to a point it was
dangerous to use. At the end of the school year, the
old rancho was torn down to prevent injuries and
pave the way for the larger, new rancho.
The new rancho is approximately 2000 square
feet! It is made from eucalyptus trees that are
resistant to water and insects. The palm thatch roof
is at a 45 degree angle to shed water quickly and
efficiently. It's large enough to feed all of our 155
students everyday, and easy to have conferences
and meetings.
This project was made possible by donations
from churches and supporters of Megan and I who
helped make this project a reality. Raising just
under $2500 provided the funds needed to pay for
labor and supplies to complete the rancho structure
in just 5 days!
--Wayne

Rancho!
(clockwise from top-
left) Finishing the roof
at the peak, Wayne &
Ken Kolb on Day 1 of
construction, finished
rancho roof, Wayne
checking out the roof
progress, framework
for rancho in progress

Our blog: http://hellopapaya.blogspot.com Tax-deductible donations can be made through

Our email: wtingle@lifelinkint.org LifeLink International, designation #103
mtingle@lifelinkint.org http://www.lifelinkint.org

2

HIYAPAPAYA March 2011
Art, English, Gymnastics, O My!
Centro Escolar LifeLink has added some fun and
creative elective classes to the curriculum!
Our English program pushes forward this year
with more vocabulary and basic phrases and
sentence structure for first graders. I ve had a lot of
fun making new manipulatives, teaching new songs
and discovering new ways to introduce English in a
fun way.
In March we welcomed Carrie Russell, an
experienced gymnastics teacher from Atlanta,
Living in the Realm of Possibility
anything can happen, just like that
Frankfurt enjoying a healthy lunch during class at Centro Escolar LifeLink.
Fruit samples for English
class, Mariling finishing a
gymnastics move, Carrie
Russell training Jorlenis to
teach gymnastics, First
art project - Primary Color
SuperHeroes, V-sit in
gymnastics class
Georgia. She came to train one of our assistants,
Jorlenis, in how to teach gymnastics to the students
-- and they love it! We were also blessed to receive a
starter mat kit to get our program going.
Our first graders are also enjoying a weekly, in-
depth art class. Starting with how colors work, we ll
explore different mediums to create masterpieces!
With these skills, our students will have the
confidence, creativity and language skills to be
successful throughout their lives.
Meet Frankfurt, one of our newest Level 1
students.
We met him for the first time during the
second week of classes. He was outside of his
house, playing with some neighbors when we
passed with a short term trip group from Texas.
Mike Turner, president and founder of
LifeLink International, started talking with his
aunt and discovered that Frankfurt was living
there with his grandmother because his mother
is working in Costa Rica. His aunt and
grandmother had missed preregistration and
thought that he would be unable to attend
classes. We asked them to stop by on Monday
to see what we could do.
After checking our attendance and
registration records, we discovered that we had
one space available in Level 1 and no one on the
waiting list.
Just that fast, in the instant it took to stop
and have a chat, Frankfurt s future was changed
-- I can t wait to see the great man of God he will
become!