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Barbara H. Padnos International Center 130 Lake Ontario Hall Allendale, MI, MI 49401 Phone: 616-331-3898 Fax: 616-331-3899 studyabroad@gvsu.edu 
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Estelí Innovation  Estelí Innovation is an incredibly unique educational experience for GVSU students. This program provides students the opportunity to travel and learn in the developing world, in Nicaragua, with two GVSU Professors (Dr. Paul Lane of the Seidman College of Business and Engineering Professor John Farris). GVSU students engage local Nicaraguan university students in the classroom for a week of interactive and experiential learning. Estelí Innovation works to teach Nicaraguan students how to identify needs in their community, design innovative and sustainable products to meet these needs, articulate marketing strategies, set financial goals, and strengthen local products, student confidence, and community.
GVSU students who elect to participate in Estelí Innovation do not necessarily receive university credit. What they do receive is the opportunity to travel abroad affordably (the cost never exceeds a thousand dollars) and for a short amount of time (typically ten days). The program enables non-traditional students, community members, family members, students on a budget, or those looking for an unconventional international educational experience to have one.   Students go on excursions to beautiful beach towns and small villages. The photographs above feature the lush landscape of Mira Fleur, an Eco-tourism site and location of one of the overnight excursions. Dora, a gracious hostess and close friend of Dr. Lane and Farris proudly prepares lunch over a traditional stove. Her amazing food is photographed below.    For the bulk of the trip, students stay with gracious host families in the city of Estelí, a fairly large town, with hotels and restaurants, including an ice cream shop, as well as cathedrals, a movie theater, a city square and NGO offices (Non-Governmental agencies and Micro-lending banks). The city is bright and vibrant, Sandinista murals and gorgeous graffiti cover most walls. The town was a Sandinista stronghold, and pieces of a powerful political history and a fight for equality can be found painted on university walls (Malcolm X) or on car bumper stickers (Che Guevara).   The week of Estelí Innovation is spent alternating between two universities, but with the same group of students. Two universities, Facultad Regional Multidisciplinaria (FAREM), and Universidad Popular de Nicaragua (UPONIC), are both GVSU partner institutions that host the Estelí Innovation class and provide students for this interactive workshop. Nicaraguan and GVSU students spend the week discussing project ideas, writing proposals, building models and strategizing marketing campaigns. Students engage in skits and give group presentations, and GVSU students lead sessions and participate in skits (in broken or fluent Spanish, some English, and effective hand gestures). Spanish language study is not a requirement to participate in Esteli Innovation, though all students who participate in this program take Spanish classes while there. The Spanish classes, like Estelí Innovation itself, are non conventional, interactive, engaging and fun. Nicaragua is an ideal learning environment for both Nicaraguan and GVSU students. The Estelí Innovation umbrella extends over other initiatives, including coffee and Eco-tourism, healthcare and education, water projects, and student entrepreneurship. Dr. Jodee Hunt, of the Biology Department and pictured below, initially traveled with Estelí Innovation and now travels on her own grants. She is conducting research on Ecotourism and collaborating with Nicaraguan counterparts on Eco-tourism curricula. There are ample opportunities for collegial collaboration for GVSU faculty. For more information on Faculty & Staff Grants and other resources click here.   For more information on Estelí Innovation please visit http://esteliinnovation.wordpress.com/
Articles on Estelí Innovation: Holland GVSU class promotes innovation, sustainability Sustainable to the Last Drop In a student's words “We’re not trying to bring them anything. We’re trying to help them develop a process that works within Nicaragua with Nicaraguan resources to develop products in Nicaragua that Nicaraguans can use. That’s the exciting part of it." __Paul Lane |
| Last Modified Date: July 31, 2009 | |
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