Kelly Fitzgerald

It all started when...

Kelly Fitzgerald, Co-Founder

In 2009, I moved down to Nicaragua and was assigned to work in the El Chonco Community.  I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about it. My three summers prior had been spent in a vibrant community where I was constantly working alongside of community members who talked my ear off- and whose children wouldn't stop climbing on my back.  El Chonco was a different story.  Not used to gringos, they were reserved.  They hung back and peered at me curiously from the doors of their houses.  Those who came out to help build the school did so silently, only nodding graciously when I offered my water bottle.

I begged to work in another community. Surely there had to be somewhere else that needed me, somewhere else I could go. By the grace of God, there wasn't. Despite my best efforts, my projects remained in that rural community.

The truth was- El Chonco didn't need me.  I needed El Chonco.  The more time I spent in the community, the more I realized how horribly wrong my first judgements had been.  I fell wildly in love with the people of El Chonco.  They humbled me with their love, investing in my life and allowing me to invest in theirs.   

The school building and feeding center became my main haunts as I began to work more closely with education in the community.   Here I witnessed first hand how dire the needs of the students and teachers were.  I realized the vast difference between my experience as a teacher (even in a title one school) and the experience of the teachers in El Chonco.  They were working tirelessly each day, and there simply were not enough resources to succeed.

I made the tearful decision to return back to the States in 2012, but Chonco was never far from my heart.  I have returned each Christmas and summer since, continuing to team up with the teachers to help conquer some of their daily struggles.  With the support of an incredible private school in Atlanta, I have been able to bring suitcase after suitcase full of our leftover supplies as well as Spanish children's books donated by a few generous families from my American classroom.

The suitcases of books and supplies are stored in a local home. Each time I visit, I lug those suitcases full of books and crayons down to the school yard. Word gets around that I have returned, and within 10 minutes, the feeding center is filled to the brim with kids- who range in age from 6 months to 18 years- all desperate for books.  Summer 2015, I was struck by the sight more than normal and couldn't shake it. This couldn't be the only time resources were available to this community. This couldn't be the only opportunity for them to lose themselves in a story, to experience something different.  I came home and gave my friend Carmen a call.  After long conversations on countless porches, a few glasses of wine, and endless chips and queso- we founded Cuentos para Cambios.