[To see more photos of the March 17th event in Miami, Florida, please click here.]

On March 17th, a group of Friends of Fe y Alegría ambassadors and volunteers organized a charity dinner in Miami, Florida to benefit Fe y Alegría Nicaragua.

With over 90 attendees, including friends, neighbors and people involved with the Ignatian Spirituality Center of Miami (Centro de Espiritualidad Ignaciana de Miami), the event was a success. In particular, we would like to highlight the hard work of six individuals: Guillermo and Vilma Lacayo, Felicidad and Juan Fuentes, and Aridia and Justo Caminero,

“I was educated by the Jesuits in Nicaragua and motivated by their teachings and the joy of serving I felt a moral debt to help others. I firmly believe that education is the fundamental pillar to improve the living conditions of children around the world and that belief moves me and my colleagues to continue helping”, says Guillermo Lacayo, a Friend of Fe y Alegría volunteer, and a member of ‘Amor y Esperanza’, a community  created by three couples at the Ignatian Center. The group –comprised of three Nicaraguans, two Dominicans and a Costa Rican– meet once a month to discuss ideas on how to raise funds to help children in Latin America through Fe y Alegría. The group has been organizing events of this kind for three years now.

Although the main goal of the dinner was to raise funds for a project entitled ‘Right to Play in Nicaragua‘, a project which seeks to ensure that 237 Nicaraguan children at the Cristo Rey Fe y Alegría School in Diriamba appropriately develop their learning and behavior abilities through Fe y Alegría’s play methodology, the group also works to raise awareness about the lack of access to quality and inclusive education that children suffer, and wish to ‘plant a seed’ of commitment in others to join initiatives like this one and continue to helping others.

The event featured moments of emotion, with the reproduction of a short video about Fe y Alegría Nicaragua and with the special participation of Father Marcelino García SJ, director of the Ignatian Spirituality Center in Miami, who spoke about the work of Fe y Alegría: “The Fe y Alegría movement has been around for 63 years, beginning in a small community in Caracas, Venezuela, and growing throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, and part of Africa. With its growth, the number of children and youth from disadvantaged and vulnerable communities that receive education has also grown, thus contributing to their social and human development”.

Lacayo also offers a message to people who want to help Fe y Alegría: “I would say that it is worthwhile cause to help children who do not have the same educational opportunities than others. It is also an excellent way to meet more people with similar values ​​and to raise awareness about different problems around the world. If you have the possibility to help, do not hesitate to do so. The satisfaction is priceless”.

We wish to thank our ambassadors and volunteers, the attendants, and all the people who supported this event, especially Father Marcelino García SJ and Tomasso Pensa from Two Brothers Pizza for joining us in the defense of the right to education for all.

Playing permits children to explore, discover and develop their capacities and emotions and to learn about the world around them. If you want to support the right to play of boys and girls in Nicaragua, click here.