{"id":3296,"date":"2016-04-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gridalt.wpenginepowered.com\/the-current\/joy-in-the-challenges\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T12:03:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:03:46","slug":"joy-in-the-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/joy-in-the-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Joy in the Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a special guest blog post from Asucena Mendoza, a teacher in the rural community of El Delirio. Here, she reflects on her journey to become a teacher, and how solar energy has impacted her community.<\/em><\/p>\n

I always dreamed of being a teacher ever since I was little. I would often play role-play with my siblings pretending that I was the teacher and they were the students. Although when I graduated from high school I decided to go to work in a Free Trade Zone in Managua since I knew I could make good money. After working there for a few years I began to have serious health problems, especially with my kidneys. After recuperating I decided to go back to school to get my teaching degree. I studied in Matagalpa for three years and completed an internship in a public school in the city. After finishing my program I got a call from the Ministry of Education asking if I could teach in a rural community called El Delirio. I knew it would be a challenge since I would be teaching a multi-grade classroom, but I also knew that this was my opportunity to put into practice all that I had learned. So I moved to El Delirio to begin teaching grades one through six. I arrived to the community in April of 2012 and a few months later GRID came to install solar panels at the school.<\/p>\n

Having electricity at the school has made a big impact on the community and the children studying here. Before people would have to walk a kilometer to the next community to charge their cell phones and batteries, and now they can charge them here. As teachers it has helped us be able to use a CD player for teaching and practicing folkloric dances for holidays and special events throughout the year. Also the panels have been a great tool in the classroom. Other schools can talk about renewable energy, but we have a concrete example that helps kids understand and get excited about advances in technology. It also helps us tie in the subject of environmental stewardship in the classroom.<\/p>\n

The solar lighting program has also had an impact on the community. My husband and I bought a solar lamp and it has helped us save money and live healthier. Now we don\u2019t have to breathe the fumes of kerosene lamps and I have more freedom to cook later at night and read before going to bed.<\/p>\n

The reality of daily life here is much harder than in the city, yet I take joy in the challenges. I love seeing how fascinated the kids are just to turn on a light switch. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Asucena Mendoza reflects on her journey to become a teacher in El Delirio, and how solar has impacted her classroom and community.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3297,"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-3296","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":"\nJoy in the Challenges - 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