Moving up, out of the fields

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Scholarships are helping young Nicarguans shine in the classroom.

ISLA DE OMETEPE, NICARAGUA – Maria Estela Alvarez is proud to represent the type of scholar Bainbridge Island is capable of producing – even though she’s actually from a tropical isle thousands of miles away.

“I consider myself a good example of the good Bainbridge has done for students and the permanent relationship we have together,” she said.

Alvarez is one of 40 Ometepe residents to earn an undergraduate degree through the Bainbridge-Ometepe Sister Islands Association scholarship program.

More than 30 others are currently enrolled in universities, while about 17 Ometepe teachers have benefited from an additional scholarship program to support further education.

Small in stature, Alvarez carries herself with the confidence of one who’s accomplished much for a young, small-town woman.

“The connection between the people of our islands is very important to me,” she said. “And the five years of support from the association has allowed me to become a professional.”

Alvarez completed her English degree in 1996 at a university in Managua, but chose to remain on Ometepe, first working as an English teacher and now as the coordinator of the very program from which she benefited.

Despite her high pedigree, Alvarez still covers her head with a black trucker hat, slaps hands before offering a sturdy handshake and often leads jukebox sing-alongs of old revolutionary songs.

“The connection between Ometepe and the United States means there is more development projects in different towns,” she said.

“For instance, the clean water project and the scholarships have been very good for us, and I want to help with that.”

A similar motivation brought Urbania Centeno back to Ometepe Island after a scholarship helped her study math and physics.

“I like to share what I know in my own community and to help out with the (educational) challenges here,” Centeno said.

Teaching math lessons at the Altagracia high school, Centeno’s spotless white shirt and pressed skirt contrast sharply with the peeling paint in her classroom.

“People look at me as an example,” she said. “People come to my house and ask how their children can go to college.”

Centeno refers them to Alvarez, who works with eight island communites to select annual recipients.

The selection process is largely dependent on scholarship committees in each community.

Most scholarships award about $1,000 for each school year, drawn primarily from private donors and groups on Bainbridge.

“Some people on Bainbridge shell out $30,000 a year to send their own kids to college,” BOSIA founder Kim Esterberg said. “Then they hear they can send someone in Ometepe to college for a year for just $1,000 and they say, ‘Woooo!’ and they open their wallets.”

That’s money well spent, Esterberg said, especially when the scholarship helps Ometepe residents like Karla Varela break new ground on the island.

“Thanks to the relationship with the sister island association and the scholarship I received, I am the first ever psychologist on Ometepe Island,” she said.

Varela serves as a staff psychologist at a retreat on Ometepe that rehabilitates street kids who are addicted to sniffing glue.

Bounding with energy despite being six months pregnant, Varela recently joined a BOSIA delegation to Managua to testify to the program’s worth.

“It is profound how our community, which is so much in need, has had so many people from Bainbridge help us,” she said to audience members.

“I will continue to work in my community in thanks for being given so much.”