The “Dash for Nicaragua,” a 5K Run/Walk planned for Sunday, June 9 at the Parma Town Park, will raise money for supplies to help Hilton High School students build homes for families in El Sauce, Nicaragua.
Michele Ariola, a Spanish teacher and International Club advisor at Hilton High School, says a group from the high school including herself and nine students will travel to Nicaragua this summer to build two homes for families in El Sauce currently living in very poor housing conditions. Some of Ariola’s family members and Hilton High School Principal Brian Bartalo and Patti Sullivan from the district’s IT Department will also be part of the group.
“The 5K is a fundraiser with the aim of raising money for supplies needed to build two homes,” Ariola says. The homes are simple but sturdy structures consisting of four brick walls with dirt floors, she explains.
Two thousand dollars is needed for each home, Ariola says, and emphasizes that the money raised goes directly for supplies – the students are paying for their travel expenses on their own.
“One hundred percent of the donations go directly to the cause,” she says. “The funds are used to buy bricks and mortar for the homes as well as pay local masons in El Sauce to work with us.”
The house-building effort is part of Project 4 Walls – a Rochester based volunteer organization. After representatives from Project 4 Walls visited Hilton High School in October 2011, students and staff expressed an interest in getting involved and Principal Bartalo organized a drive to collect school supplies to send to El Sauce. Bartalo, himself, volunteered in Nicaragua in the early 1990s while a teacher at Merton Williams.
The growing bond between Hilton and El Sauce is further strengthened by 2006 Hilton graduate Ashley Sullivan, who has been living in Nicaragua since January 2012. She is the daughter of Patti Sullivan and has been teaching English in an elementary school. She will be back in Hilton in mid-June for a summer job and will return to Nicaragua with the Hilton High School group August 4 for the house building project.
Ariola says earlier this year, fundraisers she organized raised $4,500 to build a preschool in San Fernando, a community that neighbors El Sauce.
“There will be an ‘inauguration’ of the school while we are there, August 4 through 13,” Ariola says.
She says she expects the trip will have a tremendous impact on the students. “Although they hear about poverty in other countries around the world, it often doesn’t hit home until they experience it first-hand,” Ariola says. “I know that my first experience in Latin America had a life-changing effect on me. It changed my whole perspective on what is important in life. I’m hoping that they will see that giving to others can bring a person as much joy as receiving.”
Because families receiving the homes work alongside students, friendships will develop, Ariola explains. “Volunteers often have a strong desire to return to the country both to see friends they made as well as provide additional assistance to the community there. The people who benefit from the work are so grateful for what has been done for them. Their new home, which is simply a one room brick structure with a dirt floor, will protect them from the elements and provide security for them,” she says. “I know that personally, I developed a great admiration for the people I met while traveling in Latin America. These people, who generally have very little, are so generous and friendly. So many are content with the simple lifestyle they lead.”
The “Dash for Nicaragua” begins at 5 p.m. on June 9 on the cross country trails at the Parma Town Park on Route 259. Registration deadline is May 24. The cost is $20 for adults and $10 for children ten and under.
Completed registration forms can be sent to M. Ariola, Hilton High School, 400 East Avenue, Hilton, NY 14468. Checks should be made payable to Hilton HS International Club – El Sauce.
Forms are available on Ariola’s school website. The direct link is: http://schoolcenter.hilton.k12.ny.us/education/components/docmgr/default.php?section detailid=33317&. Or go to the Hilton Central School website at www.hilton.k12.ny.us/ and click on the following links: Class websites list; High School Websites; Languages Other Than English, Senora Michele Ariola-Spanish; Walk/Run for Nicaragua Info.
