Because of you, yes you, we have the
perfect space, a safe container
where the magic of learning can
happen.
A space in a country where even
moderate success is difficult,
especially if you haven’t been
born into a “good family”. Where
the threat of extortion, drugs, and
gangs is rife—we have created
together an oasis where children and
teenagers can learn, play, dream and
be at home.
Because of you, we are proud to call
La Academia not a school, but a
home.
That is the feeling you get when you
visit La Academia, a place where all
of us; founders, staff, volunteers,
teachers, students, donors, and
parents feel at home, surrounded by
their huge family.
In this late summer newsletter, we
are going to mention some of
happenings at La Academia that make
it such a home!
Our language teachers are doing a
wonderful job with our senior
students.
For Spanish, ‘Profe Arturo’ is
like a grandfather figure (I hope he
forgives me for this) and although
it may seem silly, he teaches
grammatically correct Spanish; the
average language level in
State-schools is pretty bad—and we
have even found typos in legal
contracts. These classes will
greatly aid our students as they
move on to university and eventually
to their own careers.
“Seno Andrea”, as she is known,
is our certified English teacher and
is from the United States. She is
the ‘adventurous cousin’ who
takes the students to the local
central park to practice their
English on unsuspecting tourists.
“Moma Sonia” is actually a
great-grandmother at the age of 53,
she runs the home and is responsible
for the production of 1,500 meals
every month.
Marisol, our social worker, and a
grandmother herself at 34, is known
warmly as ‘Dona Mari’. Her
constant presence at La Academia and
in her interactions with our
sponsored families provides a loving
and stable presence—the moms like
to chat with her so we can glean so
much more information about where to
offer help as sometimes they are
afraid to ask.
Then of course there is “Tio
(uncle) Orlando”, the father of
one of our sponsored girls who comes
in every day before his own job as a
pastry chef to help out in food
preparation.
In addition, we have Tasha, Pito,
Pinky, Sparky and Muneca, for what
family is not complete without
canine companions (no group photo
available!).
And, as a another sign of our caring
family and the great work that the
teachers are doing, the senior
students are teaching the younger
ones at La Academia. This means that
they learn and they share what they
have learned with the younger
generation.
In this group of seniors, we have
the ‘wild son’ Felipe, the
‘go-getter’ Saul, the
‘thinker’ JC, the ‘quiet
one’ Conal, and the ‘tough
career girl’ Gaby. The younger
ones are Ingrid known as ‘Ta-ta’,
no one knows why, and we have
Stephanie and her daughter, also
Stephanie who are an example to all,
that education can continue, even
with an unexpected pregnancy.
We couldn’t feel more proud of
them and we are deeply grateful to
all of you for supporting our
wonderful home and family. From the
bottom of our hearts, thank you so
very much!
Students and Teachers of the
Integral Heart Family
Students teaching their
younger peers
Happily paying attention
Profe Arturo teaching Spanish
Seno Andrea teaching English
Moma Sonia hard at work in
the kitchen
Saida, Tasha and Dona Mari
our social worker
Senior student teaching
English to young ones