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UPT PROFESSORS & STUDENTS CONTINUETO
ASSIST SCHOOLS IN NICARAGUA
TITUSVILLE, June 6 -- The University of Pittsburgh at Titusville Travel Club, along with advisors Dr. Linda Winkler, associate professor of anthropology and biology, and Joseph Croskey, assistant instructor of computer science, traveled to Nicaragua this spring to continue a project began in 2000 to provide educational assistance to public schools in Nicaragua. According to Winkler, Nicaragua is historically significant because it possesses two of the earliest Spanish cities in the Americas and retains much of its Native American culture. “Although it is best remembered by North Americans for its civil war of the 1970s-80s,” says Winkler, “the country is now peaceful and a beautiful travel destination.” However, she says it remains the second poorest country in this hemisphere after Haiti. The UPT students visited the colonial city of Granada, the island of Ometepe and several villages in the south of the country during their stay. They delivered several hundred dollars worth of books, notebooks and other school supplies to a rural public school. The public schools in Nicaragua are free but severely understaffed and devoid of supplies. Because Winkler and Croskey have visited numerous times, they are familiar with the plight of the teachers who have no budget for supplies or books. The school that the UPT students helped has only 3 rooms, no electricity or plumbing, and only one blackboard. Dr.
Winkler plans to return to Nicaragua this
summer, where she also conducts ongoing research
on the health and behavior of howling monkeys.
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