Our goal is to augment an existing successful program that addresses the problem of disenfranchised young people who were in gangs and involved in drug use. The program, Café Chavalos, trains chefs and waiters to not only enter gainful employment in the foodservice and tourism industry but to train them in restaurant management and business in general. 

While we have operated successfully for over two years, we have outgrown our space and can no longer handle the number of people who want to experience Café Chavalos. In short, we need a bigger restaurant!

A larger space will allow us to serve larger tour groups, individual diners, and provide evening entertainment by another youth project, The School for Comedy and Mime. It will also house our teaching chef on the premises. But most importantly, we will be able to accept a larger number of students. With this larger staff, we will open for lunch and dinner six days a week instead of dinner only four times a week. Check out the following websites for more information: http://www.buildingnewhope.org.

The area in the photo below will be the kitchen in the new restaurant!!!

Kitchen space cooking.

* An additional $1,000 grant was awarded April 2009

Connecticut Quest for Peace sent and connected to the internet ten computers (laptops) to two very rural schools in Somotillo, Nicaragua: San Ignacio School & IBRA (Instituto Básico para la Agricultura Rural) Secondary School. These computers will not only be used to teach children valuable computer skills that can transfer into better job opportunities, but they will also open the “world” to this poor, tiny, rural community in northern Nicaragua. At night these computers will also be used by townspeople for a small fee. Thus, the school can use the computers to pay for the school’s internet charges and the townspeople will have an inexpensive way to broaden their world.

The Nueva Guinea Community English Center is in a renovated building in the town park where there is collection of English books and learning materials. The English resource center enables all members of the community to improve their level of English. Future plans for the center include offering English classes, conversational groups, workshops for English teachers, a materials lending library for English teachers, homework help for high school students, and organizing a volunteer program to connect university students studying English with opportunities to practice teaching.

Their goal is to provide emergency relief supplies, water, food, medicine, clothing and household items to the victims of the recent eruption of Volcan Fuego.  Over 100 people were killed, nearly 200 are missing and 2,800 people have been evacuated to the town of Esquintla. It is these 2,800 displaced people who will benefit from the emergency supplies as they attempt to rebuild their lives in a new place.

Alticultura is a Guatemalan registered NGO that leverages scientific and field knowledge to address the ravaging impacts of climate change on the vulnerable communities of the Guatemalan Altiplano. Their focus is on basic climate research, innovation for appropriate climate adaptation practices, and education/ extension for integral climate leadership. The vision is the creation of climate-resilient communities through the development of human capital, thought leadership, and empowerment.

The Community English Center in Nueva Guinea, Nicaragua was started in 2013 by Diana Blandón Jirón, a Nicaraguan English teacher, and Isabel Bauerlein, a PCV in Nicaragua. It started with an email reaching out to an RPCV who they had heard was interested in helping women and children in Nicaragua. They wanted to start an English Library that would service local university students and those in the community who were just beginning to learn English. Maureen Shanley was able to send thousands of books to the CEC and other PCVs in Nicaragua through CT Quest for Peace. In April 2018, a political uprising affected the CEC because they had to leave the municipal site they were using, and Peace Corps had to leave Nicaragua. Nevertheless, Diana Blandon persevered. She donated land, created a GoFundMe Page, sought donations from international donors, including the CTRPCV Community Service Fund, and received assistance from the local community in an effort to construct a one-room school/library. The Community English Center (school/library) is now open and thriving. The building is used during the day to teach mothers sewing and in the afternoon there are English classes at various levels. When there are school vacations, Diana has classes directed at environmental conservation and robotics. The Nueva Guinea community uses this resource all the time and is grateful for the CTRPCV support. Follow the CEC at: https://www.facebook.com/CommunityEnglishCenterNuevaGuinea.

Due to unexpected heavy rains from two powerful hurricanes, the east wall of the Community English Center (CEC) in Nueva Guinea, Nicaragua was compromised and had to be reinforced to ensure that the one room school/library (CEC) would remain structurally safe. In 2020 CTRPCV and a few CTRPCV private donors provided the final funding necessary to complete the building of this one room school/library that was initially started with the support of a PCV in 2014.  The mission of the CEC is to teach English and promote a better cultural understanding of the USA in Nicaragua. The center also provides instruction in robotics, sewing, and environmental education to name a few. The building is now structurally sound and there are dreams of being able to add another room to this Community English Center sometime in the future.