Academia de Atletismo

Looking for another way to help poor Nicaraguan children? I know you can never get enough of it!

This is the afternoon session (kids go to school in the morning or in the afternoon and so Roberto holds training sessions twice a day). Not smiling is still the status quo for most photos here.

The Academia de Atletismo is a running club recently started for impoverished children in Rivas, Nicaragua. It teaches the techniques of running as well as the values that go along with it: discipline, work ethic, health, nutrition, self respect and many others.

The founder and lead trainer, Roberto Delgadillo (yep, the friend who helped me through two years at the orphanage), was able to graduate from college because of his running scholarship and now volunteers hours every weekday planning activities and training children from his and surrounding neighborhoods.

They are able to use the local track (along with all other sports teams at the same time) and are looking to cover only the most basic costs. Shoes are more important than starting blocks at this point.

Operational costs for one year are estimated to be the following for 15 children:

	Total	Per Unit
Register the club with NAF	$ 25
Running shoes	$ 750	$ 25	pair
Spikes for synthetic tracks	$ 450	$ 30	pair
Travel Expenses on a public minibus	$1,200	$ 120	trip
Athlete registration	$ 225	$ 1.50	child
Competition uniforms (shorts and shirt)	$ 210	$ 14	child
Nutrition, doctor visit, vitamins every three months and anti-parasitic every 6 months	$ 400	$ 6.67	child
Food during competitions	$ 900	$ 2	meal

Currently the organization is 100% local volunteer run which is nearly unheard of there. We do eventually hope, however, to add equipment, trainer continuing education and staff compensation at a later date.

If you would like to contribute to meeting the financial needs of this program, please click on the donate button located at the upper right corner of the blog.

Additional important information if you wish to donate -

1. Paypal receives your donation, takes approximately 2.9% (if paying by plastic) and sends the rest to me.

2. I receive the money and send it in a check to Roberto. The bank in Nicaragua charges him $20 to cash a check (it is by far the least expensive method we've found). So I send checks no more frequently than once a month.

3. The Academia de Atletismo is not a certified non-profit in Nicaragua and it may never be (educational programs are not necessarily non-profits there). It is not a registered non-profit here in the US either. Therefore your donations are not tax deductible at this time.