Teacher Delegates from Ometepe December 16, 2007 to January 25, 2008

	Nectaly Hernández Bonilla Necftaly was born on March 25, 1967. He lives in the Santa Tereza community near Los Ramos. He has two children. In 2006, he finished his degree in English and is now working to get his title. He has worked at many schools on Ometepe, including the Balgüe High School and Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos High School. He currently works as an English teacher at the San Jose del Sur High School and is also employed by the ProCredit Bank in Moyogalpa as an English teacher for their cashiers. Necftaly is the president of the San Jose del Sur Community Committee and the president of the Ometepe English Teachers Association (APIO). Diego Manuel Quintana Condega I was born in Altagracia, on Ometepe Island, on Nov. 13, 1976. My father is Matias Quintana Hernandez, and my mother is Justina Condega Gonzalez. I have five sisters and five brothers. All of them are married, but I'm single. I attended the Rafaela Herrero primary school. I began my secondary studies at Centro Vocacional Cristiano, where I knew Jim Starrs, a teacher from Bainbridge Island whom I called Jaime. He was my English teacher that year. I transferred to Ladislao Chwalbinsky Institute and finished my secondary studies there. After that, I studied for five years for a degree in tourism administration at La Universidad Popular de Nicaragua (UPONIC) in Managua. In 2005, I continued my study of English at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua). I'm in my third year of studying English there. I like this language very much! In 2000, I began to work at Urbaite High School as a mathematics teacher. Now I am an English teacher at Los Angeles-Esquipulas School. At the school, I have met some students from Bainbridge, who have been very helpful. We are very thankful for the sister islands association, and I am personally very thankful as well because the organization has supported me at the NicaTESOL Conference (for Nicaraguan Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) at Central American University (UCA) in Managua for three years. I am very happy for the opportunity of a trip to Bainbridge.		Shirley Lariss Ortiz Díaz I was born in Moyogalpa, on Ometepe Island, on September 18, 1983, so I am now 24 years old. My father was Rigoberto Ortiz, and my mother is Josefa Hercilia Diaz Barrios. I have two brothers and one sister. Some of them are married, but I'm single. I studied at the Rafaela Herrera elementary school, then went to high school at the Ladislao Chwalbinksy Institute. After high school, I studied for five years at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua, or UNAN), where I received a degree in English. I work as an English teacher at Urbaite High School. I also teach at Martin Luther University on Saturdays, and I'm studying another course on Sundays. It's hard, but I'm doing it. When I was in my last grade of primary school, I met James Starrs, from Bainbridge Island. He lived at my family's home for one month and was my English teacher for one semester at the high school. Adri Vanbianchi, another Bainbridge Islander, also stayed at my family's home. I also knew Nancy Quitsland, Adrian Sampson, and other students, and in that way began my relationship with the sister cities organization. My father was a member of the Scholarship Committee in Altagracia. After I left high school, I received a scholarship from Tom and Suellen Cunningham, from Bainbridge Island. The Bainbridge-Ometepe organization has helped me a lot, and I'm very thankful for that. Furthermore, the organization has supported me at the NicaTESOL Conference, for Nicaraguan teachers of English, at Central American University (UCA) in Managua. Santiago Triguero Paizano I was born in Altagracia, on Ometepe Island, on June 3, 1980. My parents are both deceased. I attended primary school in Sintiope from 1987 to 1992, then attended secondary school at the Ladislao Chwalbinsky Institute. To become a primary school teacher, I studied at Ricardo Morales Aviles Teachers College in Jinotepe in 2000 and 2001. Now, I'm in my fourth year of English studies at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN) . I taught primary school at Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe in 2003 and at Los Angeles-Esquipulas High School in 2004. Since 2005, I've been teaching at Robert Drew High School in Merida. I am eager to visit Bainbridge Island to thank the sister cities organization because it has helped me in different ways. I received a teacher's scholarship for two years, and for three years, from 2005 to 2007, I have been selected to attend the conference in Managua for Nicaraguan teachers of English. At Robert Drew High School, my students and I have been helped in two different projects by the sister cities organization. Last year we built four benches, and this year, we bought five white boards. And now I have been chosen to travel to Bainbridge Island. Thanks so much because you help not only my students and me, but also many other students and communities. "God Bless forever."

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