To the editor: GM Interact Club grateful for help to fund Nicaragua trip

Nine members of the Chester Rotary Interact Club at Green Mountain Union High School spent the 2018 February break in Nicaragua engaged in service work.

The participants included Magali Stowell-Alemán, Sierra Kehoe, Sadie Wood, Noelle Gignoux, Mary Churchill, Pearl Myers, Zoe Svec, Erik Heitsmith, all of GMUHS, and Hannah Fleming, a Chester resident enrolled at Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts, were accompanied by Spanish teacher Wendy Schultz, who is also the Interact Club advisor, and Jeff Ladd, liaison Chester Rotary Club, which hosted the trip.

The team provided materials and labor to help repair and paint the Maximo Jerez Elementary School in the remote village of San Jerónimo. The team also provided 350 books to establish the first lending library at the school.

Jane Mirandotte, director of The Alice Hodgson Libraries for All Foundation, a Rotarian and a resident of Nicaragua for nearly 50 years, coordinated the service project, which included an unforgettable visit to the elderly at the Asilo de Rivas.

The team enjoyed some free time activities. En route from Managua to San Juan Del Sur the team visited Masaya Volcano and on the return trip, the city of Granada. In San Juan Del Sur they sampled a different local beach nearly every late afternoon, went ziplining, and visited the Cristo de la Misericordia statue that overlooks the town from a cliff.

Members of the GM Interact Club say they are grateful to Chester Rotary Club for its support, guidance and generous donations as well as those in the community who donated to or supported its fundraisers since September 2017.