MOJUV Celebrates 5th Annual Day of Fellowship

This past Sunday, November 27^th, MOJUV, Cantera's youth movement in Ciudad Sandino, organized and celebrated their annual “Dia de Convivencia,” or Day of Fellowship. Held in Ciuadad Sandino's main plaza, the all-day event attracted crowds who came to watch and participate in the day's activities. With the theme, “I can, should, and want to make the difference to say no violence,” MOJUV organized the activities around statistics and information about youth violence and violence against women that were shared throughout the day.

The event was full of music, dancing, karate and judo exhibitions, and soccer tournaments, all based around the theme of non-violence. Youth from other Cantera community centers in Managua participated as well as other youth organizations in Ciudad Sandino and, CJN, the Nicaraguan Youth Council, which works with youth movements on a national level. MOJUV, which recognizes the importance of communal sharing and uses their many expression groups as alternatives to violence, were very happy with the events and activities of the day.  

Cantera hosts and wins national Karate tournament

On Sunday, August 18^th, Cantera's Karate School, Kay-Kempo, hosted the second annual Karate-do National Championship with the theme, “We're youth, we're peace.”Using the basketball court of a local school, 7 Karate schools from all over Nicaragua participated, showing their skills to a crowd of about 500 people. With many MOJUV members helping to run the event, familes and friends came to watch Karate practiced by all ages, with both male and female categories for children, youth, teens and adults.

The event lasted the entire day with participants from ages 4 to 20 competing in different sparring and technique competitions. In the end, Kay-Kempo Cantera Ciudad Sandino won the tournament in almost all age brackets for both males and females. We are very proud of our Karate school here at Cantera, for their hard work and sportsmanship. 

MOJUV organizes 7th Annual HIV/AIDS Forum

This past month Ciudad Sandino Cantera's youth movement, MOJUV, organized their 7^th Annual Forum on HIV/AIDS in the municipality. The event was held at the mayor's office in Ciudad Sandino with the participation of 10 other youth and/or health organizations in the community as well as students from different schools around the area. The event was full of different speakers, videos, group discussions, and private HIV testing.

The event is a big deal for MOJUV because it is an opportunity to work with many different organizations and institutions within Ciudad Sandino to organize on a municipal level. The event is also important because HIV/AIDS is a growing situation not only in the community but specifically amongst the youth populations here. MOJUV works to organize themselves around important causes that affect them as youth and their community and be agents of change in their reality. 

Cantera hosts third annual Popular Theater Festival

This past Sunday, August 14, Cantera hosted the third annual Theater Festival here in Ciudad Sandino with the theme, “Theater as a way of life”. With seven groups participating from Cantera, Movitep, and various theater programs in Managua and Leon, the audience of around 200 enjoyed performances, written and performed by the groups themselves, on different themes such as domestic violence and bullying, adolescent pregnancy and sexual health, and child/youth rights. People of all ages participated in the festival, whether performing or watching, with theater groups comprised of children, adolescents, teens, and adults.

Various Cantera expression groups and programs helped to make the day and the festival a success, with the communications team taking photos and the Karate school in charge of lunch. The pre-school teachers also set up snack tables where they made and sold different Nicaraguan snacks to raise money for Cantera and the pre-school program.

The Theater Festival at Cantera and the groups that perform are based around Popular Theater, or Theater of the Oppressed, a methodology that uses theater as a means of delivering social messages to the audience according to their specific reality and creating a space for critical thinking, reflection, and dialogue.

Saint Joseph's Academy visits Nicaragua!

In the month of June, Cantera received two delegations from Saint Joseph's Academy, an all-girls Catholic high school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The two groups spent time learning about Nicaraguan reality through various facets of Cantera like the Cantera community centers, farm, and youth that participate. Spending days dialoguing and having cross-cultural interchanges, both the SJA girls and Cantera youth learned a lot about their different realities and were able to form beautiful friendships that are still maintained through the internet.

One of the delegations to come visit Nicaragua was a technical team comprised of 17 young women and their teacher, John, all trained in handing computers and other pieces of technology. Not only did they arrive with donations for all four Cantera community centers, they offered daily workshops during their week-long visit for youth from all four territories. Held in the Cantera community center of Ciudad Sandino, youth from the Communications teams of all four Cantera territories came to dialogue with the SJA girls and receive training on computer repair, video and photo editing, and multi-media programs. The girls from SJA also installed different learning programs onto the computers as resources for the youth of each community.

A major thank you to Saint Joseph's Academy and all of the students, families, and staff that helped bring the girls to Nicaragua and who continue to grow in their friendships with Cantera and Cantera youth!

Karate School places Third in Competition!

Cantera's Karate School Kay Kempo placed third in a competition this weekend against twelve other Karate schools from different parts of the country. With twenty-two athletes participating in the competition for kids ranging between 15-17 years, Cantera received 11 medals (many from the women athletes). Both girls and boys competed in solo competitions that require memorization of certain steps as well as sparring competitions.

Kay Kempo Cantera currently trains 135 children, adolescents, and teens in karate and many important life skills like self-discipline, leadership, and gender equality. These values are, for them and for Cantera, essential to personal and communal growth as well as co-existing with the earth and with others. To learn more about the Cantera's Karate School, check them out on facebook under Escuela Nicaraguense Kay Kempo.