It's all about our mindset and our approach.

Our collaboration starts with traveling to various communities and visiting teachers and students.  We spend many days and sometimes weeks building friendships and working relationships before we get down to business (so to speak).

When we both feel ready to take the relationship to the next phase, we observe and document what is really working well and then we facilitate dialogue about what would enhance the current classroom successes. For example, we have seen some of the most amazing teaching and dedication from educators.  The teaching styles are as appropriate as they can be based on the materials available.  Inevitably, books are always the first thing teachers say would help them be even more successful.  “We need books in our classrooms, but they are very expensive,” they say.

TALICA listens to the conversation about what types of books are needed the most and over time we help educators envision what could be possible in the area of building book collections.  Following conversations that could go on for days, we create “wish lists” of books with the most important at the top.  The local educators find bookstores and prices for each book to create purchase orders for TALICA.  This may sound like an easy task, however when one finds oneself in the midst of tropical forests or on a faraway island, away from internet and modern stores, this is no easy task.  Forget about going to the city to find out, an overnight trip like that could easily cost an educator more than a day’s wage, and forget about looking through your local catalog, there are none.  However, together we figure out the needed information, money is allocated for each school based on need, we then we make the long journey to Managua using public transport and a private truck to purchase books and return to the school.   

By listening to the community, rather than imposing an outside mindset, TALICA is able to achieve unparalleled results.