{"id":3077,"date":"2015-08-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gridalt.wpenginepowered.com\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T12:03:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:03:33","slug":"the-power-of-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of School"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a special guest blog post from Sonia Diaz, former Field Project Manager for GRID’s Nicaragua office. Here, she tells the story of an inspiring student she met in Matagalpa.<\/em><\/p>\n

I was on a routine site visit to Agua Fria, Matagalpa to check up on the 900W photovoltaic system that was installed in March 2011 when I came across, Oscar Manuel, a shy and soft-spoken boy from the town of Agua Fria. I had only met Oscar once before but I felt like I knew him based on stories from volunteers who installed the PV system four years ago. Volunteers remembered that Oscar was very curious about the solar installation and helped out every day. Although he is blind in one eye and wore an eye patch, he did not let that affect his participation and his desire to learn.<\/p>\n

Back then Oscar was in high school, but since Agua Fria has only a multi-grade elementary school, he had to ride for two hours on a bus to the nearest town to take classes on the weekends. Oscar\u2019s family has limited financial resources and could not afford college, so Oscar started looking for scholarships so he could continue studying. After the solar system was installed, we didn\u2019t know what happened to Oscar. We didn\u2019t see him on our regular visits to the community. His family said he moved to Managua and started school there. <\/p>\n

In April of this year Oscar made a surprise visit to Agua Fria. He was a bit taller and didn\u2019t wear the eye patch anymore. He was still shy and spoke in a soft voice, and as I fumbled with my iPad trying to type up a letter, people from the meeting shouted out, \u201clet Oscar do it!\u201d. Oscar stood up with confidence and I immediately saw the shyness fade away. I gave him my iPad, but then he suggested using the laptop which was already at the school. Oscar helped type up the solicitation letter for a grant proposal we were working on, on the same laptop that was donated to the school back in 2011 by Toshiba, powered by the solar panels GRID installed with the community in 2011.<\/p>\n

Oscar proudly showed off his school badge and polo shirt with emblem of Universidad Nicaraguense de Ciencias y Tecnologia. He said that he was studying journalism and had one year left to finish. I later learned he had befriended someone who was funding his tuition and giving him free room and board in exchange for work, which allowed him to go to college.<\/p>\n

Oscar discussed his fears about not finding a job after college. He mentioned he had been turned down many times for a scholarship but he said, \u201cI never gave up and kept looking. And here I am.\u201d Oscar will be the only one from his family to complete college. \u201cThe solar panels that GRID installed on the school in Agua Fria have been a great help to the community. I can see it has had a great impact on my family and friends who still live there.\u201d It\u2019s hard to know what motivates someone to succeed, but perhaps the solar installation helped spark an interest in Oscar to keep going and learn more.<\/p>\n

……<\/p>\n

En Espa\u00f1ol:<\/em><\/p>\n

Estaba en una visita de rutina en Agua Fria, Matagalpa para hacer un chequeo del sistema fotovoltaico de 900W que se instal\u00f3 en marzo de 2011, cuando me encontr\u00e9 a Oscar Manuel, un muchacho t\u00edmido y de voz suave de la ciudad de Agua Fria. Yo hab\u00eda conocido a Oscar una vez, pero me sent\u00ed como si lo conociera antes por las historias que los voluntarios contaban cuando instalaron el sistema PV hace cuatro a\u00f1os. Los voluntarios recordaron que Oscar era muy curioso acerca de la instalaci\u00f3n solar y ayudaba todos los d\u00edas. A pesar de que es ciego de un ojo y llevaba un parche en el ojo, eso no permiti\u00f3 que afectan su participaci\u00f3n y su deseo de aprender.<\/em><\/p>\n

En aquel tiempo, Oscar estuvo en la escuela secundaria, pero Agua Fr\u00eda s\u00f3lo tiene una escuela primaria multigrado, Oscar tuvo que viajar durante dos horas en un autob\u00fas a la ciudad m\u00e1s cercana para tomar clases los fines de semana. La familia de Oscar es de limitado recursos financieros y no pod\u00eda pagar la universidad para Oscar, por lo que \u00e9l comenz\u00f3 a buscar becas para poder seguir estudiando. Despu\u00e9s de que se instal\u00f3 el sistema solar, no sab\u00edamos lo que le pas\u00f3 a Oscar. Nosotros no lo ve\u00edamos en nuestras visitas regulares a la comunidad. Su familia dijo que se traslad\u00f3 a Managua y empez\u00f3 la escuela all\u00ed.<\/em><\/p>\n

En abril de este a\u00f1o Oscar hizo una visita sorpresa a Agua Fria. \u00c9l era un poco m\u00e1s alto y ya no llevaba el parche en el ojo. Todav\u00eda era t\u00edmido y hablaba con una voz suave, de repente tuve problemas en manejar mi iPad cuando trate de escribir una carta, la gente de la reuni\u00f3n grit\u00f3, “Deje que Oscar lo haga!”. Oscar se puso de pie con confianza y de inmediato la timidez se desvanecio. Le di mi iPad, pero entonces \u00e9l sugiri\u00f3 utilizar el ordenador port\u00e1til que ya estaba en la escuela. Oscar ayud\u00f3 a escribir la carta de solicitud de una propuesta de subvenci\u00f3n que est\u00e1bamos trabajando, en el mismo ordenador port\u00e1til que fue donado a la escuela de nuevo en 2011 por Toshiba, impulsado por GRID cuando se instalaron los paneles solares en la comunidad.
<\/em><\/p>\n

Oscar con orgullo mostr\u00f3 su insignia de la escuela y la camisa de polo con el emblema de la Universidad Nicarag\u00fcense de Ciencias y Tecnolog\u00eda. \u00c9l dijo que estaba estudiando periodismo y ten\u00eda un a\u00f1o m\u00e1s para terminar. M\u00e1s tarde supe que hab\u00eda hecho amistad con alguien que estaba financiando su matr\u00edcula y d\u00e1ndole alojamiento y comida gratis a cambio de trabajo que le permiti\u00f3 ir a la universidad.<\/em><\/p>\n

Oscar habl\u00f3 de sus temores acerca de no encontrar un trabajo despu\u00e9s de la universidad. Mencion\u00f3 que hab\u00eda sido rechazado muchas veces para una beca, pero \u00e9l dijo: “Nunca me di por vencido y segu\u00ed buscando. Y aqu\u00ed estoy. “Oscar es el \u00fanico de su familia en completar la universidad\u201d. “Los paneles solares que GRID instal\u00f3 en la escuela en Agua Fr\u00eda han sido de gran ayuda a la comunidad. Puedo ver que ha tenido un gran impacto en mi familia y amigos que a\u00fan viven all\u00ed\u201d. Es dif\u00edcil saber qu\u00e9 motiva a alguien para tener \u00e9xito, pero tal vez la instalaci\u00f3n solar ha ayudado a despertar el inter\u00e9s por Oscar para seguir adelante y aprender m\u00e1s.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sonia Diaz, former Field Project Manager for GRID’s Nicaragua office, tells the story of an inspiring student she met in Matagalpa.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3078,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"audience":[],"content-type":[12],"focus-area":[19],"region":[],"series":[],"content-author":[],"class_list":["post-3077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-equity-community","content-type-news","focus-area-international-impact-stories"],"acf":{"hero_media_type":"image","hero_media_image":null,"hero_media_url":"","hero_media_poster":null,"hero_video_play":"inline","related_stories":null,"pattern_override":null,"story_callouts":null,"media":null,"featured_blog_post":null,"featured_event":null,"pdf_download":null,"blockquote":null,"author":null,"notice":null,"social_embed":null,"contact_card":null,"meta_details":null,"faq":null,"table":null},"yoast_head":"\nThe Power of School - GRID Alternatives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sonia Diaz, former Field Project Manager for GRID's Nicaragua office, tells the story of an inspiring student she met in Matagalpa.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Power of School - GRID Alternatives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sonia Diaz, former Field Project Manager for GRID's Nicaragua office, tells the story of an inspiring student she met in Matagalpa.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GRID Alternatives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-08-05T04:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-03T16:03:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Sonia-and-Oscar.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1069\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"6 minutos\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/the-power-of-school\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/the-power-of-school\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"The Power of School\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-05T04:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-03T16:03:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/the-power-of-school\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1145,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/the-power-of-school\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/Sonia-and-Oscar.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Equity & Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"es\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/the-power-of-school\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/the-power-of-school\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Power of School - GRID Alternatives\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/the-power-of-school\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/the-power-of-school\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/Sonia-and-Oscar.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-05T04:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-03T16:03:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"description\":\"Sonia Diaz, former Field Project Manager for GRID's Nicaragua office, tells the story of an inspiring student she met in Matagalpa.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/the-power-of-school\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/the-power-of-school\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/the-power-of-school\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/Sonia-and-Oscar.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/Sonia-and-Oscar.jpg\",\"width\":1425,\"height\":1069,\"caption\":\"Two people standing together outside a building, one wearing a turquoise polo shirt and one holding a blue and red folder, both smiling at the camera\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/the-power-of-school\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Power of School\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/\",\"name\":\"GRID Alternatives\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"es\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Power of School - GRID Alternatives","description":"Sonia Diaz, former Field Project Manager for GRID's Nicaragua office, tells the story of an inspiring student she met in Matagalpa.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/","og_locale":"es_MX","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Power of School - GRID Alternatives","og_description":"Sonia Diaz, former Field Project Manager for GRID's Nicaragua office, tells the story of an inspiring student she met in Matagalpa.","og_url":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/","og_site_name":"GRID Alternatives","article_published_time":"2015-08-05T04:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-03T16:03:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1425,"height":1069,"url":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Sonia-and-Oscar.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"6 minutos"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"The Power of School","datePublished":"2015-08-05T04:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-03T16:03:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/"},"wordCount":1145,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Sonia-and-Oscar.jpg","articleSection":["Equity & Community"],"inLanguage":"es"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/","url":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/","name":"The Power of School - GRID Alternatives","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Sonia-and-Oscar.jpg","datePublished":"2015-08-05T04:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-03T16:03:33+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"description":"Sonia Diaz, former Field Project Manager for GRID's Nicaragua office, tells the story of an inspiring student she met in Matagalpa.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"es","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es","@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Sonia-and-Oscar.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Sonia-and-Oscar.jpg","width":1425,"height":1069,"caption":"Two people standing together outside a building, one wearing a turquoise polo shirt and one holding a blue and red folder, both smiling at the camera"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/the-power-of-school\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Power of School"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/#website","url":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/","name":"GRID Alternatives","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"es"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3077"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8681,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3077\/revisions\/8681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3077"},{"taxonomy":"audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/audience?post=3077"},{"taxonomy":"content-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-type?post=3077"},{"taxonomy":"focus-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/focus-area?post=3077"},{"taxonomy":"region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region?post=3077"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=3077"},{"taxonomy":"content-author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-author?post=3077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}