Nicaragua: The kindergarten “Sacuanjoche” started its work with 13 children in 2006. Only through charging a kindergarten fee, it remains possible for the Waldorf initiative to continue their commitment. However, a fund is being used to support children coming from financially disadvantaged families. The Waldorf kindergarten “Sacuanjoche” is the first and so far the only one in Nicaragua.

Granada, a former colonial city founded in 1923, hosts the first Waldorf imitative of Nicaragua – the “Sacuanjoche” kindergarten. Parents, who did not want to give their children to a public kindergarten since they are characterized as authoritarian and religious, are the founders of “Sacuanjoche”.

In the course of the foundation of the kindergarten it quickly became clear that it was a concern to all people involved, to open the kindergarten also to families whose financial means would not allow them to send their children to kindergarten. The setting up of a fund opened an alternative possibility, at least for a few families. Nonetheless, the financial means of the kindergarten remain restricted, which is why it is very important to allow the initiative to admit further children through educational sponsorships.

A lot of emphasis lies not only on the support of individual children, but also on the training of further educators. This is due to the fact that the pioneer state of the Waldorf kindergarten meant that foreign educators started building up the initiative. Next to the daily kindergarten routine people had to be educated in order to guarantee the future of “Sacuanjoche”. The initiative is doing a huge effort in this direction and has still the challenge of ensuring that at least one of the teachers completes an entire Waldorf pedagogical training.

As for now, four Nicaraguan teachers and one English speaking volunteer and a Spanish member of the pedagogical team (Helena Gil) are operating the initiative. One of them attended to a three weeks - training course in Cuernavaca in 2008. The five others have received pedagogical training with one-week training courses in January and August 2009, along with the First and Second Meeting of Waldorf - Kindergartens in Central America, in January 2010 and January 2011. Sacuanjoche kindergarten has been the host of these meetings and will also host the meeting in January 2012.

In 2009 the "Sociedad Educativa Waldorf de Nicaragua" (SEWN) was founded, which is conformed by parents and teachers of Sacuanjoche Kindergarten. It includes a Directive Board with 5 members, 4 family parents and one teacher. One of the aims is to promote the settling down of other Waldorf initiatives, as SEWN dreams of establishing the first primary Waldorf School in Nicaragua.