ProLiteracy Partner to Receive Honorary PhD for work in Nicaragua

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Dr. Bello has worked closely with Simmons College in Boston, MA and has been nominated to receive an honorary PhD for the her distinguished work in San Juan del Sur.

Dr. Rosa Elena Bello has been a committed health care, adult education, and women's issues activist for almost 20 years in the port of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, working out of the Servicios Medicos Comunales (Community Medical Services).

Dr. Bello started Servicios Medicos Comunales as an initiative to provide medical services to residents of San Juan del Sur and expanded the program into an educational project with adult literacy at its core.

Building on this foundation, SMC has developed a unique community oriented literacy program. Responding to the request of basic literacy students to pursue secondary education, SMC created the High School Institute, providing free education and catering to the schedules of adults. Although the education is free, a requirement to graduate involves tutoring a basic literacy student from the student' community on a weekly basis. This innovative model has been recognized by the Ministry of Education is being replicated in other parts of the country.
In addition to her literacy work she is a key member of a team working on an Anti-Parasite Campaign that won a major grant from the Conservation, Food and Health Foundation of Boston, and is the regional director of a large-scale cervical cancer screening program funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Dr. Bello, ProLiteracy is honored to work with you, and we offer our congratulations for the paramount impact you have in San Juan del Sur and all over Nicaragua!

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