Registered Charity No.

1028085

Supporting educational initiatives and projects in Nicaragua

www.santarosafund.org

SRF NEWS No 49
June / July 2017

THE POUND AND THE DOLLAR

The fall in the value of the pound against the dollar throughout 2016 meant that the income raised by the
Santa Rosa Fund during 2016 was unable to cover the commitment to our core projects in Nicaragua.
Specifically, the $8,000 sent to the Amigos de Holanda Foundation in the town of El Viejo and the
Cosigina Peninsula had to be reduced by $2,000 when we made the international bank transfer this January.
Projects like the El Viejo library (shown in use below) suffered as a result. [Full explanation on next page.]

SRF Newsletter No.49, June/July 2017, page 1

 THE POST-BREXIT FALL IN THE VALUE OF THE POUND

AND THE SANTA ROSA FUNDS SUPPORT FOR EDUCATION IN NICARAGUA

Dear SRF Supporter,

The pounds precipitous fall, post-Brexit, has had a

detrimental effect on the value of financial support that
the Santa Rosa Fund (SRF) was able to send to its
Nicaraguan partners this year.

The SRF fundraises in sterling but when funds are

remitted to Nicaragua, these are sent out as US dollars.
Sterlings devaluation has seen a reduction in our
purchasing power of US dollars and has meant a
reduction in the funds sent to our Nicaraguan partners.

The photos above and below show the El Viejo

To illustrate the damage sterlings devaluation has had library in use by children of the town and kept
on the SRFs finances we need to revisit historic open by the SRF grant
exchange rates. Pre-Brexit, at the end of December
2015, the SRF could have bought US dollars to the
value of 10,000 and received $15,300 (an exchange
rate of $1.53). Post-Brexit, in January 2017, the same
10,000 purchased $11,800 (an exchange rate of $1.18).
This equates to $3,500 less than the previous year.
Consequently, we sent out $2,000 less this year to our
partners, Amigos de Holanda. Although we were able to
send out a further $750 to the Amigos this April, the
SRF must be very careful not to eat in to next years core funds.

We do not know which direction the value of sterling will

take. In the short term, however, it seems that the weakness in
the value of sterling will continue to have a detrimental effect
on the worth of the funds the SRF is able to send. There are
no signs of an immediate reprieve.

We have advised our partner organisations in Nicaragua that

Mara Lucila Cuadra, Nicaraguan
we may have to reduce (i.e. top-slice) the contributions we
coordinator of the Amigos de Holanda
send out to all beneficiary organisations and projects in
Foundation in El Viejo, welcomes SRF
January next year.
trustee June Mowforth to the El Viejo
library in May this year(1)
So these are challenging times for the SRF and by the end of
the year we may be asking for your help. Thank you for your understanding.
Pat Mayston (SRF treasurer) and Rick Blower (SRF trustee)

As usual in our June newsletter, we include the Santa Rosa Funds annual accounts for the year ending
31st December 2016 on the next page.
Please note that any trustees who visit SRF projects in Nicaragua do so at their own expense. The
SRF does not pay expenses to visitors to Nicaragua from the UK. This enables us to maximise the
proportion of funds that reach the beneficiaries of the Fund in Nicaragua.

SRF Newsletter No.49, June/July 2017, page 2

 SANTA ROSA FUND, ACCOUNTS TO YEAR ENDING 31.12.16
(All figures are given in pounds sterling unless otherwise stated.)

INCOME

Donations from supporters 6,282.00

Fund Raising Event (Quiz Night) 489.40
Gift Aid 1,365.50
Sub-total 8,136.90

Balance brought forward from 31/12/2015 10,554.85

Total 18,691.75

EXPENDITURE

Total donations to projects in Nicaragua in 2016 8,367.90

Donations sent as dollars $11,900.00

Please note: this indented section only is represented in $ (US dollars) equivalent to 8,367.90 shown
above. These monies are transferred to Nicaragua as dollars.
Santa Rosa School
Purchases of School Supplies $1,500
School Fund $750
Computer expenses and running costs
(including monthly fees to staff) $1,060
Fees for disbursement of Funds in Nicaragua $90
Projects in El Viejo $7,000
Los Positos $1,000
Asociacin Quincho Barrilete $500
Total $11,900

Affiliation fees to the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign 75.00

Fund raising costs (hall hire and publicity) 64.50
Stationery 43.39
Printing of two newsletters 279.00
Postage for newsletters and event publicity to members 122.62
Co-op Bank Charges (money transfers to Nicaragua) 70.06
(1)
CAF Bank Charges 10.00

Total Expenditure 9,032.47

Balance on December 31/12/2016: 18,691.75 - 9,032.47 = 9,659.28

Balance at 31/12/16 held in:

Current Account 1 (Coop Bank) 8,644.83
Current Account 2 (CAF Bank) 990.00
Petty cash 24.45
Total 9,659.28

Pat Mayston: Santa Rosa Fund Treasurer Rick Blower: Auditor

(1)
CAF Bank has introduced a 5.00 monthly charge on the account, and so we have closed the CAF bank account.

SRF Newsletter No.49, June/July 2017, page 3

 NEW SHELVES AND TABLES FOR THE BEN DALTON LIBRARY
Before: After:

Shelves propped up with a pile of Librarian Luz Marina taking delivery of the
books that therefore became unusable new shelves.

The library at the Santa Rosa School in Managua is named after Ben Dalton, a young doctor who was killed
by a stray bullet whilst crossing a frontier in Africa. In the year 2000, his widow, Diana Dalton, donated a
substantial amount of the funds collected in remembrance of Ben to the Santa Rosa Fund, specifically to
help fund the building of a library at the school. When built, the library was named after Ben.

After a great deal of unsurprising wear and tear, last year it was
realised that the shelves and tables in the library needed some renewal,
and so we committed to help the Santa Rosa School to cover the cost
of replacements. As it happened, following the distribution of SRF
Newsletter no. 48 in December last year, we were contacted by Bill
Dalton, Bens father, who had only just become aware of the existence
of the Ben Dalton library and who, not surprisingly, was keen to find
out more about the library and to support it. He very generously
covered the cost of purchase of the replacement shelves and tables, both types of which are more heavy-duty
and durable than the earlier versions. One of the new tables is shown in use here.

Below we have included Bills letter to SRF supporters.

14th June 2017
Dear Santa Rosa,
It was with surprise and pleasure that I recently discovered 'Santa Rosa'
and the 'Ben Dalton' library.

I'm Bill Dalton, Ben's father. Diana, his widow called me some months ago
on the twentieth anniversary of his tragic death on his way overland to
South Africa to take up a post as a medical surgeon. "Santa Rosa is a
fantastic place," she said, "I was involved in setting up a library in his
name there, can't you remember?

Well, no, I couldn't, but I immediately set about finding out all I could
about the school and organisation. My whole working life has been spent
working in education both in the UK and around the world. Everything I read about Santa Rosa, its work and
management, impressed me.

With the help of the Santa Rosa Fund I immediately set about organising some practical help particularly for
the library that bears my sons name.

My hope and intention is, that one day shortly, I'll visit the school and meet the staff and students and of
course, the library!

In the meantime, best wishes to you all. Bill Dalton

SRF Newsletter No.49, June/July 2017, page 4
News of other SRF funded projects in Nicaragua
LOS POZITOS
The village of Los Pozitos is remote, isolated and difficult to access, especially in the rainy season. The
Berriz Sisters were the group responsible for the link between the people of Los Pozitos and the Santa Rosa
Fund, but now that they have left the area, that responsibility has been passed onto the Amigos de Holanda
Foundation, and specifically to Mara Lucila Cuadra and Cristina Pasos, neither of whom had ever visited
the village before this year. In February (the middle of the dry season), on our behalf, they made their first
visit to the 16 families of Los Pozitos. We have included here just a very few extracts from the letter that
they sent to the SRF trustees immediately after their visit.

Dear Friends, we wish to share with you our experience of our first visit to the community of Los Pocitos,
known by some of you and supported by your efforts. We had previously had a meeting with a group of
youths (accompanied by their parents) who receive scholarships for their studies.

It was exciting to get to know them and to hear from them in their own words their gratitude to the Santa
Rosa Fund for the aid they have
received, without which they would not
be able to undertake their education.
They shared with us the difficulties
which they have in getting to their
classes, and the enthusiasm that they
show is admirable as its not at all easy
with such a bad road.

We also explained to them about the Cristina (on the left) with community leader Eloi Treminio (on the right)
difficulties which the Santa Rosa Fund with 7 of the 8 Los Pozitos youngsters whose education is supported by the
has in raising funds, and that this Santa Rosa Fund
becomes increasingly hard. So they are
aware that they are beneficiaries of this Friendly Hand which you are lending to them.

We received statements from all of them and can verify that they are all making the most of their studies.
Currently there are 8 beneficiaries, six following secondary studies and two in the university.

CASA ESPERANZA
Casa Esperanza continues its
essential work with people with
both physical and learning
difficulties. Zeta (shown on the
left holding the poster) still runs
Casa Esperanza, a job that is
more than demanding.

The Santa Rosa Fund continues

to assist Casa Esperanza through
the good offices of the Amigos
De Holanda Foundation in El
Viejo.

SRF Newsletter No.49, June/July 2017, page 5

THE RUACH FOUNDATION, JUIGALPA
Our last newsletter (No. 48) featured the RUACH Foundation in the town of Juigalpa,
Nicaragua, as a deserving cause that the SRF would wish to support. The director of the
Foundation, Astrid Delleman, is shown here. The RUACH Foundation cares for adults
with intellectual disabilities in the fulfilling of their human rights in Nicaragua. This
includes prevention and reduction of physical and psychological abuse in the family and
community and stimulation of their skills and gifts in an activity centre to aid their social
integration.

Because of our own fund-raising problems (described here on pages 1 and 2), we have
been unable to assist them this year; but we maintain communication with the
organisation and they recently sent us their latest newsletter giving information about
their work and progress. We have uploaded the newsletter onto the SRF website at:
http://www.santarosafund.org/project-reports/ruach-foundation-juigalpa/ruach-
newsletter/

We urge our supporters to find out about and to support the valuable and demanding
work of the RUACH Foundation.

QUINCHO BARRILETE ASSOCIATION

In May, discussions took place with the director of the Quincho Barrilete
Association (AQB) in Managua, Mara Consuelo Snchez (shown here).
AQB attempts to protect abused children and to prevent abuse. The
purpose of the meeting from the SRF perspective was to deliver the
important message that if the problems of the SRF with fund-raising and
the dollar-pound exchange rate continue for the rest of this year, then we
may have to reduce all of the donations that the SRF makes to projects and
initiatives in Nicaragua during 2018. The message was duly delivered,
received and understood.

AQB has also suffered a cut (30%) in funding from an Italian solidarity
organisation which funds it. They are receiving about the same amount of
funding as usual from the government (Ministry of the Family), although
since the government began to fund them, the international organisation
Infancia Sin Fronteras no longer provides funding. Their programmes
remain based in the communities and involve principally working with
families; but all their programmes are now smaller than they used to be.
For instance, they now deal with about 70 children rather than providing services for 100 as they used to in
the past.

Mara Consuelo made it clear to us that they appreciate and value our solidarity even if we can't provide any
funding. It was a good and positive meeting.

CASA ALIANZA URGENT APPEAL

Casa Alianza Nicaragua, an organisation that provides protection to street children, has issued an urgent
appeal for funds to help re-build the house it uses to shelter teenage mums and babies. The house has been
damaged by heavy rains and a plague of termites, but is very necessary to provide some degree of protection
to this vulnerable sector of the population that is often open to human trafficking. Read more at:
http://compasschildrenscharity.org.uk/ive-already-lost-one-home-i-dont-want-to-lose-another-please-help-homeless-young-
mothers-and-their-babies-to-rebuild-their-home/

SRF Newsletter No.49, June/July 2017, page 6

EL VIEJO YOUTH CENTRE infestation of bats
The Youth Centre (Centro Recreativo) in El Viejo had an infestation of bats (plus
accumulated droppings). This has resulted in the destruction of the roofs of several rooms,
and so the Fundacin Amigos de Holanda has had to build new roofs and took the opportunity to re-model
some of the rooms and improve bathroom facilities. Now they even hire out some of the rooms for specific
events and purposes. Daisy is now the principal coordinator, although Eliezer (featured in previous
newsletters) is still there too. The children now pay 5 crdobas (approx. 20 cents) to use the Centre, but
there's generally no problem with that as these are probably the best youth sports facilities in the region. The
rules of use and behaviour are pretty strict in the centre.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT WHERE ITS DUE

Our last newsletter (SRF No. 48) included a series of maps as our centre page spread see below. A number
of supporters have remarked on the professional production of these maps and of the whole spread. These
comments have made us realise that we should have acknowledged the Cartographic Unit of the University
of Plymouth for their production. In particular Jamie Quinn (shown here) deserves special mention for his
work. The Santa Rosa Fund is extremely fortunate to have benefitted from the Units services.

https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/schools/school-of-geography-earth-and-environmental-sciences/geomapping-unit

SANTA ROSA QUIZ

Thanks to Malcolm and Judy Medhurst our annual quiz knowledge against Malcolms ingenious questions. As
has become a much awaited fixture in our fund raising usual we have to thank not only Malcolm, Judy and their
calendar. The quiz has been running for more than family for making the evening so enjoyable and
twenty years and at a conservative estimate this means successful but everybody else who contributes the
that our quiz master Malcolm has devised over 2,200 people who always rally round to bake delicious cakes,
questions, including at least one picture round and a help with refreshments and who donate prizes for the
series of themed questions which often require quite a lot draw. And we mustnt forget that the evening is also an
of lateral thinking. excuse for a good night out. Since many of our
supporters dont live in West Devon, here are three
This year (March 2017) the quiz was very successful,
questions from a previous year (2015) which show that
raising 511 after expenses and providing a welcome
this is definitely a quiz with a difference.
boost to our funds. A total of 14 teams came to test their
The quiz theme was the General Election and the answers are the surnames of well-known Liberal Democrats.
Parkinson's, Murphy's and Sods' are all well known what?
Which character in Last of the Summer Wine was played by Peter Sallis?
Which word can be both a style of knitting and a unit of distance?
(Answers on page 8)

SRF Newsletter No.49, June/July 2017, page 7

 Quiz answers: 1. Laws (David Laws) 2. Norman Clegg (Nick Clegg) 3. Cable (Vince Cable).

SRF TALKS / PRESENTATIONS

Since the production of the last newsletter (SRF 48), the Santa Rosa Fund has made two presentations to
interested groups.

First, on 12th November last year, Rick and Pat Blower (SRF trustees) gave a presentation to members of the
Devon Development Education group in Exeter. The talk was entitled Panam to Nicaragua but focussed
especially on the SRFs project work in Nicaragua. Lots of questions were asked, chronic kidney disease
among sugar cane workers was discussed, as was screening for cervical cancer.

Then on 21st February, Martin Mowforth (SRF membership secretary) gave a talk to Tavistock Methodists
in West Devon about developments in the SRFs work. The talk laid special emphasis on the transfer of
much of our work from our former partners, the Berriz Sisters, to the Amigos de Holanda Foundation in El
Viejo. Again many questions were asked and new members joined our list of supporters.

If any SRF supporters would like a trustee of the charity to give a talk about the work of the Santa Rosa
Fund to groups in their area, please contact one of our trustees see contact list below.

NICARAGUA AND THE PARIS CLIMATE CHANGE AGREEMENT

Over recent weeks numerous articles in the US and British media have referred to the US joining Syria and
Nicaragua in rejecting the Paris Agreement. SRF supporters may have wondered why Nicaragua was being
cast in such a bad light. Rarely have these articles given an explanation of the different reasons behind the
Nicaraguan and US decisions. Nicaragua refused to sign the Agreement on the grounds that it (the
Agreement) is too weak to address the enormity of the consequences of climate change, especially in
vulnerable developing countries. The Nicaraguan government points out that the Agreements carbon
reduction targets are non-binding and will lead to a catastrophic three degree temperature rise. Additionally,
Paul Oquist, Nicaraguas representative at the Paris talks, highlights the lack of political will on the part of
the worst polluters, their failure to accept historical responsibility and the lack of financial resources for
technology transfer, adaptation and compensation for losses and damages.

It is misleading of so many reports to lump together, without explanation, the US and Nicaragua on their
rejections of the Paris Climate Agreement; the reasons of the two countries are very different.

SANTA ROSA FUND CONTACTS www.santarosafund.org

Chair: Pete Mayston, Rose Cottage, Tuckermarsh, Bere Alston, Yelverton, Devon PL20 7HB
Tel. 01822 840297 Email: mayston@waitrose.com
Secretary: Jacky Rushall, Culliford House, The Down, Bere Alston, Yelverton, Devon PL20 7HG
Tel. 01822 841676
Treasurer: Pat Mayston as for Pete (above)
Twinning links representative: Rick Blower, 4 Glebelands, Exminster, Exeter EX6 8AR
Tel. 01392 823646 Email: r.blower@btinternet.com
Membership secretary: Martin Mowforth, 51 West St., Tavistock, Devon PL19 8JZ
Tel. 01822 617504 Email: mmowforth@plymouth.ac.uk

PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER BY DART PRINT, TAVISTOCK

SRF Newsletter No.49, June/July 2017, page 8