Name: Erika Liliam Zeledon Soza

Birthplace: Managua, Nicaragua

Role in Rainbow Network: Coordinator of Primary Education and High School Scholarships, Ciudad Dario Network

Erika was born in Managua, Nicaragua’s capital city. When she was 6 years old her family moved to the smaller city named Ciudad Dario. Rainbow Network partners are likely to be familiar with the name Ciudad Dario as it is the municipality around which our 7^th and newest network is located. Red Arco Iris began operating in the Ciudad Dario area in the fall of 2006. Erika joined the team shortly afterward, officially beginning her employment with Rainbow Network on March 16, 2007 as the high school scholarship coordinator. By the end of that year she had also been awarded responsibility for the primary education program in Ciudad Dario.

“I was very satisfied to take the two appointments together because I can better coordinate the two efforts,” Erika recently wrote, “it is an act of love to participate in the lives of young scholarship students and to share with the children. I believe it is a way of sharing the love of God with them.”

A highly qualified educator, Erika attended primary and secondary schools in Ciudad Dario before graduating from a university in Managua when she was 23. Erika then went to work as a teacher for Nicaragua’s ministry of education teaching in a multi-grade classroom. Within two years she became the Director NERA Quesera; in this position Erika was responsible for 5 schools and a staff of nine teachers. Later, Erika spent time as a social worker in the town of Esquipulas.

As the coordinator of the Dario network’s education programs Erika is responsible for 94 village schools that rely on 154 volunteers to serve more than 1,000 elementary students. In addition, Erika must supervise 264 high school scholarship students in pursuit of a diploma.

Erika’s faith shapes her commitment to Red Arco Iris’ ministry. She is a member of the King of Kings Church, an Assemblies of God congregation in Ciudad Dario. She enjoys sharing hope with the children of the Ciudad Dario network. “I like to motivate the youth to dream visions of a better future. I tell them that if they take advantage of the love of the supporters of Rainbow Network, then they can build a legacy of change and a stronger community.”

Just like the rest of our awesome Nicaraguan staff, Erika knows that Rainbow Network not only to those seeking hope and a way out of poverty, but also to our donors. In her recent note to us Erika closed by noting that,“It is my biggest wish for the supporters of Rainbow Network that they will continue to move forward in their work and that they know that God is with them. God bless you.”

This is the image Colleen saw on page 12 of our Fall 2008 magazine.

Ryan, I was just browsing through one of the Fall 2008 magazines you sent to us for our children’s drama camp, and couldn’t believe my eyes.  Our church just launched a campaign asking people to tell us where they see God, and we’re asking them to write their responses on paper leaves and attach them to a large cut-out tree we have in our church lobby.  It’s part of a revitalization theme to get people looking for God’s activity, and the next step will be to ask them how they joined God in what God is doing (that will be the “fruit” on the tree).

My eyes immediately fell on page 12, with the photo of Victoria Castro Orozoco (I presume) with the caption, “How do you see God?”  Wow, what are the chances we both have a campaign asking the same question?

How do I see God in our church and partnership with Rainbow Network?  We’re both opening our eyes to the “God-moments” when we know things don’t happen by coincidence.  I was looking for a suitable mission project that would reflect our camp theme of trees or forests or earth stewardship, and an email from Rainbow Network showed up in my inbox with a photo of a family garden! The project fits beautifully with the the theme of our story (The Tale of Three Trees), which is about trees who dream of being something wonderful and awesome when they grow up, and God helps them fulfill their dreams in unexpected ways that go beyond their imagination.  The way I understand it, the garden project came about from Rainbow Network’s dream of building homes, and the garden project is exceeding the dreams of the homeowners not just for shelter but also for food.  

Our Bible verse for today at camp is Ephesians 3:20 – By means of his power working in us, God is able to do so much more than we can ever ask or even think of.

Praying for the power of God at work in our children this week to exceed our dreams for the Rainbow Network Family Garden Project!!!

Rev. Colleen Carroll
Community Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Camdenton, MO

Los Arcos Housing Project, example of completed floor and walls.

The work in the village of Los Arcos continues as Rainbow Network staff and the soon-to-be new homeowners work to construct new, safe, clean houses. Los Arcos is the latest community to partner with Rainbow Network to build homes for the 25 families with greatest need. For a report on the first weeks of June 2009, click here.

During the weeks between June 15 and June 28, 2009 the progress continued. The Rainbow Network staff evaluated the skills of the residents after two weeks of work and made adjustments to crew assignments to make sure all of the work is being done effectively but also safely. Also, the staff conducted training seminars for some of the residents who had no experience in construction. This training included instruction in laying brick, taking measurements, and leveling the work site.

The floor and walls of four houses have been completed thus far. The lot for the fifth house was level and crews are ready to begin laying bricks.

A future resident ties rebar to form a frame during the construction process.

To see more photos of the construction of the Los Arcos Housing Project and the families who will live in the homes, click here.

The Rainbow Network employs a team of medical doctors and dentists full time in Nicaragua. These dedicated and talented physicians travel from village to village each day seeing patients, dispensing medications, and diagnosing those cases in need of specialized medical attention. This approach enables us to provide high levels of medical care even in remote rural villages.

Medical care by the numbers looks something like this: Rainbow Network’s annual budget for medical care (which includes operating our feeding centers) is $513,720. In 2008. 3,347 patients visited the dentist and 32,667 saw a medical doctor. In 2008, the nutrition centers provided 3,000,000 meals.

The area served by The Rainbow Network is immense. We cover about 2,100 square miles to serve 124 rural villages with total population of about 50,000 people.

But in the end medical care is not about big numbers. It is about people. For those of you who relate better to images and people than you do numbers or data, here’s a very short video clip shot by Rainbow Network board member Charlie Sauer of a young child that recovered from a stroke thanks to the care and guidance of Rainbow Network doctors.

I don’t really think I need to say any more.