JAIME OJEDA: AN EXTRAORDINARY TEACHER

As 41-year-old Jaime Ojeda watches his primary students joyfully arrive at class every day, he remembers his difficult childhood.

“I did not have the opportunity to enroll in first grade until the war was over at 13 years of age.”

Jaime has lived in the indigenous municipality of Siuna all his life, located in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region of Nicaragua. He comes from a family with economic limitations; although his life hasn’t been easy, he was able to finish school and become a dedicated teacher through perseverance.

“I remember when I was offered a position as a teacher at the San Juan Bautista de La Salle school… I was very thankful for the opportunity and promised myself to work hard to help other children in my community thrive.”

In 2020, Jaime decided to find a solution to ensure his students would not fall behind on their education amid the pandemic. With fear and uncertainty taking over, Jaime developed learning guides for his students to take home. He went the extra mile, creating awareness about COVID-19 prevention measures to ensure a safe return to the classroom. However, nothing could have prevented the devastation his students and the rest of the community were about to face.

In November, when Jaime’s students were back to the classroom, two consecutive category-4 hurricanes — Eta and Iota — hit Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast, leaving significant destruction behind. Jaime’s school was no exception as the roof was destroyed. Once again, amid adversity, Jaime showed extraordinary leadership, organizing parents and teachers in the community to improvise a temporary classroom for his students.

Through ANF’s Hurricane Relief Fund and thanks to the support of donors and friends like you, Jaime’s school was completely rehabilitated. The immediate help and reconstruction allowed Jaime’s students to finish the school year in an adequate space for their learning and development.