Hello! It is amazing to me that it has been 19 years since I founded the Nicaraguan scholarship program, the Asla Foundation in 2001, and it is going stronger than ever! What started as a small project helping 25 kids while I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua, has turned into helping over 350 students attend high school and college, and over 30 have graduated from college. We are following our graduates to see what comes of their futures and we plan to profile some of them in our newsletter. Your support has made a huge difference to our students, their families, and communities.
Jess, Nate, and Auggie
I have been living in the Bay Area for the past 12 years: my regular, full-time job is as the Parks Program Manager for Save the Redwoods League, a non-profit organization that protects, restores and connects people to the redwood forests of California. I just completed a big project—fundraising over $15 million to buy the Alder Creek giant sequoia property in northern California. You can see a video about the project here: www.bit.ly/alder-grove. I have always run the Asla Foundation in my free time, and it has been a big source of joy. I am so happy to be able to continue helping our friends in Nicaragua.
We had a baby in April—Auggie—who has been a pure joy for my husband, Nathan, and me. He is teaching us a lot (including how to function on much less sleep!) Even though life has gotten busier, I feel so grateful and blessed to be able to continue my work with our youth in Nicaragua, as it was my home for over two years while I was in the Peace Corps. From seeing the need for supporting youth’s education first hand, I am also grateful for the help I’m receiving on the ground in Nicaragua with Nola and Elisa. And here in the U.S., Janet Kendall has been an enormous support—she has been the drive behind our regular newsletters, amongst many other things.
We received over 40 new scholarship applications this month, and because of your generosity, we believe we’ll be able to help most, if not all, of these new students, plus the students continuing on from last year. Stay tuned in the coming months for updates on our 2020 students, plus profiles on our students who have graduated from college.
Happiest New Year to you all!
Jess, Nate, and Auggie