Every year we send a shipment of school and medical supplies, books, clothing, shoes and toys to San Juan. This has been accomplished partly by coordinating material aid and fundraising projects for San Juan with schools, churches, and a hospital in Newton.

We organize many volunteer initiatives. Work and friendship brigades from Newton South High School collaborate with their Nicaraguan counterparts on school-related work projects. We send college students from all over the country to help teach English or work on Public Health projects and live with local families. We arrange for professional volunteers to visit our Sister City--including teachers and doctors. We helped the dentists and dental technicians of Project Stretch establish San Juan's first dental hygiene outreach program. We also cooperate with the New England Chapter of VOSH --Volunteers in Optometric Service to Humanity--to give eye exams and recycle thousands of pairs of eyeglasses in the San Juan area.

Starting in 2002, Simmons College/Boston will offer college credit for Service-Learning in San Juan, combining academic study, homestays and community service.

Because of its enduring history of community activism, the desperate needs of its people, the beauty of its landscape and its ecological importance, San Juan del Sur has attracted numerous writers, retirees, as well as other Sister Cities--Giessen (Germany), Sauda (Norway) and Toroella de Montgris (Spain). Newton cooperates with our European colleagues on material aid projects.