Five New Doctors

On March 15, five Adelante Mujer students took the Hippocratic Oath at the promotion ceremony of URACCAN’s Intercultural Medicine program. We are very proud of our students and all of the hard work they have completed over the past six years. With this class, Adelante Mujer is up to 75 graduates since our beginning.

New Doctors March 2023  New Doctors March 2023

The women will now begin their internship and their two years of service before they can receive their MINSA number (similar to licensing). Please keep Carol, Dora, Janiesca, Slilma, and Xochil in your prayers as they enter the next phase of medical training.
We also accepted ten new students Continue reading “Five New Doctors” →

Connecting in a Pandemic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until December 2019, the director(s) of Adelante Mujer would travel to Nicaragua two times each year. While there, they would interview prospective students, meet with current students, and meet with the on-site coordinator. If the timing was right, they would even attend a promotion ceremony. All of these events are great ways to get to know the women in our program. Then COVID hit. 

Pandemic. Unprecedented. Social distancing. PPE. Quarantine. Virtual. New normal. Since early 2020, these words and phrases have taken on new significance. The world has changed. We have changed. Our ways of connecting have changed.  International travel has decreased by 73%, and until recently, in-person meetings were nearly non-existent. 

So how does a small international nonprofit make it work? Through Zoom, of course! Through Zoom meetings, we are able to stay in regular contact with our on-site coordinator. We can discuss the needs of the women, changes at the university, events that impact the people of Nicaragua. We also interview our prospective students over Zoom. The students at URACCAN often don’t have a computer, and some don’t even have phones. But for those determined to find a way to stay in school and who learn about Adelante Mujer, they overcome the barriers.  

Last semester, we interviewed four students, all using their phones. One had to find a spot to interview between her activities. Another had to go to a relative’s house to borrow a phone for the interview. All four interviewed well. We are only waiting for their grades from last semester to determine eligibility. The new semester starts soon, so please pray for Michayska, Jheymi, Josneira, and Arlen. They may be the next Adelante Mujer students! 

~~~ Karen, February 2022 ~~~

 

Made for Goodness and Compassion

Photo of Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Photo by John Mathew Smith. Licensed under the CCPL

God’s dream is that you and I and all of us will realize that we are family, that we are made for togetherness, for goodness, and for compassion. – Desmond Tutu

With the recent passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, I thought it might be a good time to reflect on his life and some of the wisdom he shared with the world.  Tutu was a passionate man who believed in the equality of all people and worked for the rights of the oppressed.  He believed everyone deserved a quality education, stating, “It is our moral obligation to give every child the very best education possible.” When Tutu graduated high school in 1950, he wanted to become a doctor and had been accepted into medical school.  However, his parents couldn’t afford the tuition.  He was able to get a scholarship to study education, so was able to go to college. Continue reading “Made for Goodness and Compassion” →

Sixty-One Doctors and Counting

Several years ago when Sister Ann McKean, CSA, PhD and I were talking with Dr. Manuel Salas about the goals of Adelante Mujer, we asked how many doctors Nicaragua would need. Thirty? Fifty? About how many? His reply was simple. “We will never have enough;  there is such a terrible shortage.”  “All right,” we decided, “Adelante Mujer will continue to provide financial assistance to women medical students for as long as God and our donors help us.”

On March 24, 2021 another glorious success of Adelante Mujer’s mission became a reality. Seven industrious students pronounced the Hippocratic Oath to become devoted physicians.

 

 

 

The Promotion Ceremony begins with the formal introduction of each student and her escort. Here Jenny and her father are announced as they enter the assembly. Continue reading “Sixty-One Doctors and Counting” →

Hello from Nicaragua

I was born in a small village in Nicaragua just along the border of Honduras. Named Catherine Elizabeth Levy Wilson, everyone calls me Kathy. I was the second of five children, two of whom were born with disabilities and are the angels of our family. With them, our family learned to accept and love others just as they are.

My great grandfather on the Wilson side of the family was a Moravian pastor who dedicated his life to serving God and the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean coast. The son of this pastor and my great grandmother became the first bishop of the Moravian Province Nicaragua-Honduras-Costa Rica. Their grandson became the second bishop. He is my mother’s brother. Religion and service have always been a strong part of our family.

Kathy with her sister, Dr. Florence

Continue reading “Hello from Nicaragua” →

student at work

Adelante Mujer Students at Work

Fifth-year student Marianna wrote and sent us this photo:

I was able to help out in the maternity room at the Nancy Bach New Dawn Hospital where we offer care to all the mothers in the room for the newborn. We talked about child care, also how to look out for dangerous signs of an infant and the benefits of breast feeding, especially the first six months of the baby’s life.

 

Continue reading “Adelante Mujer Students at Work” →