Familiar Faces: Juan Mairena (PLUS an announcement!!)

Juan Mairena, Enlace Project's Academic and Volunteer Travel Coordinator and English teacher, is heading to the United States on September 21^st to meet with many of our partners and friends. In preparation, he has decided to re-introduce himself and explain a little bit about what he does:

Juan with a group of students in Managua.

Hi mi name is Juan Mairena, and I am twenty seven years old. I am from Nicaragua and I was born in Managua, the capital of the country, but I have been living in El Sauce for about three and half years now. I work for Enlace Project, the vision of which is to inspire individual in the human development and the economic development in El Sauce.

Juan showing an oven to students from Geneseo's sustainability class

Currently my position is the Academic and Volunteer travel coordinator, so I am the guide in charge of setting up of the academic and volunteer trips that visit Nicaragua. The different trips that I work with are: Service Learning trips (during the summer and winter intersessions of SUNY Geneseo), Avon for Nicaragua (a group from Rochester, NY who work on school constructions), Humanities II (a SUNY Geneseo required course for all students), Comparative Sustainability (a new course in the Biology department of SUNY Geneseo), and a rural health program (students from Upstate Medical University).

I also teach English classes for Enlace Project. I love doing my job because I meet wonderful people, I learn more about my own culture and the different cultures that the students and volunteers have. In my free time I like to watch movies, to play soccer, to go out with my friends, to spend time in family, to play chess, and I am starting to work out.

Juan (far right) on his last trip to the USA.

During these three and half years working and living here in El Sauce, I could say that it has been one of the most wonderful experiences in my life because I have met such great people from different countries and I feel part of the Sauceño community. I have met amazing people from the States who, regardless of being students, professors and volunteers, are now friends and family and that is the best part of my job.

I am going to the United States to promote the different kinds of trips that we offer. I will be giving presentations about our trips and our organization at Geneseo from September 21^st till the 30^th and then I will be going to Syracuse to have some meetings at Upstate Medical University. In Geneseo, I will be around in different meetings and fairs, so if you know someone interested in coming to Nicaragua please let them know that they can meet me there during those days. I look forward to seeing many of you and spending some time in the U.S.A.!

For more information on Enlace Project's trips, click here.

For more information on Juan's trip to the United States, follow us on Facebook. Or contact us at info@enlaceproject.org.