Testimonials

Below are some comments and testimonials people have sent to Building New Hope. If you'd like to have your testimonial added below, email it to barbara@buildingnewhope.org.

From a teacher’s perspective, the connection with Building New Hope has worked out really well because it combines service, language, culture, and economics. I hope to continue or expand this program next year.

-- Richard Malmstrom, The Ellis School, Pittsburgh, PA

Building New Hope‘s Café de Nicaragua is a crisp, delicious, dark coffee that offers four things that most coffees don’t. It is organic, fairly traded, shade grown, and non-profit. In other words, this is truly sustainable coffee. It is no surprise to me that this coffee is consistently one of our best sellers at Whole Foods Market Pittsburgh. I am proud to offer such a product to my customers.

--Michael Hartigan, Coffee & Tea Specialist, Whole Foods, Pittsburgh, PA

Working with Building New Hope is one of the best experiences my students have ever had. Building New Hope’s coffee fundraiser has been a fantastic project for my students, for the school, for the community and for myself. A very gratifying project.

--Jeff Poole, Spanish teacher, Franklin Regional Middle School, Murrysville, PA

Thank you for sending my 30 lb order so promptly! Excellent coffee! I will be back to order some more! I’m giving some away as gifts to see if my friends and neighbors might want to join me in the next order. I love what you are doing! It makes the already outstanding coffee taste even better! Thanks!

--Elizabeth Peffer, Garland, Colorado

Iris Graville - Lopez Island, WA

The Spanish Club at our local high school has been selling El Porvenir coffee that we buy from BNH. It's very popular, and we use our proceeds to help fund student trips to Nicaragua - 13 students and 5 chaperones will go there in Feb. 2003. We will be hosted by the Center for Development in Central America (CDCA) and will work with them on various local projects. We'll also make a visit to El Porvenir! I got to visit that amazing farm this past January. Thank you for your support of their courageous work and for making their coffee so easily available to us way out in the Pacific Northwest. Your coffee crew is great to work with! And we're happy to be part of this growing circle of people helping to build new hope. Thank you!

Hola BNH, Donna and other friends of Central America. It's great to see the web site, to see photos of friends and read about places I care about. Thanks! Can't wait to tell friends who aren't in the loop yet how they can get in it! My friends, colleagues and neighbors who are drinking El Porvenir coffee are only the beginning. Diana Nelson Jones

Jon (Juan Carlos) Wasserstein VOSH-Northeast

It's great that you can now show everyone what we already knew--that you're making a difference in so many lives.

You are doing a marvelous job....direct to the people who suffers from the people who cares! Hope to be counted in your number very soon, Barbara Amoroso Rome Italy

I love your site, but even more I love the things you do! Colin

Very nice! The love shines through! Mary Pat Brennan

Que Fantastico! I cried upon seeing a photo of Jesus again - thanks to BNH he just celebrated another birthday recently. Donna, you truly are an angel in our midst. Susie Hansen

Hi I'm Nancy bergmans sister my hubby and i will be in Nicaragua next mont we've collected quite a few boxes of vitamins and other herbal thins shampoos soap what else do you need? Thanks keep up the good work.See ya soon

Hi I'm Nancy Bergmans sister. My hubby and I will be in Nicaragua next month, we've collected quite a few boxes of vitamins and other herbal things shampoos, soap, what else do you need? Thanks, keep up the good work.See ya soon

Fantastic is all I can say - Interesting website.

Thank You

Claire Millard

I would like to say that my visit to your school for street children in Granada, Nicarauga, was awesome. There is no way to measure what you are giving these children that would have no chance for a positive future without the education and values that you are providing them. Best of luck to all of you.

Cassandra Wallace, Toronto, Canada

Just visited for the first time. It is wonderful what you are doing.
Herbert Pulfrey, London, England

Wow! What a great web site. Very professional but with such heart! Found you through Google. I plan to visit Central America in the fall and will get in touch before hand to see what I can do to help. I teach Spanish at the high school level.

Pauline Ledbetter, Midwest City, Oklahoma

I am continuously impressed, and virtually "blown away" by the achievements of "Casa Nueva Esperanza" in Granada, Nicaragua. The stories written by Donna are soooo "humane," letting the reader actually feel what is being described with the printed word. I hope to help, as time progresses. I also hope to visit there again, when I next make a trip to Nicaragua. From: Gail Edmonds

I am happy to see the website (and the project!) getting bigger, better and more support. Colin Cape, Salisbury, England

I have had the privilidge of enjoying El Porvenir coffee since Feb 2003. I ordered 100 #'s then and sold it thru my Unitarian Universalist Church and to friends and family. Everybody is hooked and wants more. This world is a finer place because of people and organizations like Building New Hope and the CDCA (Center for Developement Central America)

hi! i love your coffee! you should sell it to giant eagle it would go fast!

A "wonderful" site. Donna, you are a special person & say hello to everyone in Nueva Esperanza & I sure wish I could be there with you. Have always wanted to make a return trip!!!! Mike Sorokach

I saw the piece on WQED's "On -Q" last night and was so impressed and delighted that Cafe Nicaragua is available in Pittsburgh. I will seek it out and buy it (I already buy fairly traded coffee). I would like to find out about volunteering in the Pittsburgh office. Thank you for your wonderful work. Kate Borger kateb913@hotmail.com

You are doing amazing work!! I recently found out about your organization through John Notte, a dear friend. I am a Nicaraguan who lives in Pittsburgh. Over the twenty-some years that I've lived in the US, I have longed for a way to help my people in Nicaragua, but have not found a way to do so. Learning about your organization has inspired me and given me "new hope" that I can, indeed help out some how. I would love to find out about ways to volunteer with your organization, here in the Pittsburgh area as well as in Nicaragua. Thank you for being so committed to my people, a people who have mostly been forgotten by the country that years in the past claimed to be their "savior" from dictatorship and later from communism. Once again, thank you. Sara Berg, Pittsburgh, PA

I have always been wary of non- profit organizations but after checking out your website, I have a different view. Lots of Luck, keep up with the good work. T. LoBianco, Ivrea, Italy

bnh Hello: I found out about you via a artical in our local paper. I did not expect to be so powerfully impacted by an artical presented for my casual parusal. I will buy the coffee ground right here in pittsburgh. And look for other oportunities to support your effort. thanx bill

Hi, I am a friend of Donna Tabor's and she asked me to try to donate some money in Canadian dollars as the website is now supposed to be set up to allow this. Unfortunately, I was unable to do this. The screen about this says it will tell you what the amount is but I can't seem to get it to actually do this. I have tried a couple of times. Sorry. Maureen Trotter

I am unable to get an e-mail message to go through so here it is: I received information about you from Birgit Cory in California. I would like to be on your list to receive newsletters. More importantly, I would like to help you. Healing the Children California Works to provide major medical help to children around the world and I work specifically with Nicaraguan children. I do not have a lot of funds, and do not work with incurable diseases or organ transplants. What I do work with are heart conditions, ortho work, plastic surgery, eye surgery, burn reconstruction etc. I will be coming to Nicaragua in late May to bring a cataract team to Esteli. If you get any cases that need to come to the USA, if I can help I will. If we accept a case we provide the coordination for the VISA, airfare, all donated medical help and foster family. Unless there is a special reason, we do not bring the parents, this keeps costs down, and is easier to place children in foster families. These families are fingerprinted, Red Cross trained and have references etc. I personally keep in contact with each child while they are here and try to have them returned ASAP to their families. My personal references in Nicaragua are with Johanna Castillo Torres (Sebaco · 622-2210) and Marlene Velazquez (Esteli - 742-2585) and Dr. José Antonio Alvarado Minister of Health in Managua. If you would like more information about our 501c3 organization (100% volunteer also) look at www.htcca.org <http://www.htcca.org> Thanks for all you are doing for the Nicaraguan children! Laura Renner Nicaragua Coordinator Healing the Children California glrenner@comcast.net www.htcca.org 661-713-8527

MAIL INFO OF BUSINESS TO STEPHEN CARL MURPHY COMPANY -P.O.BOX 1418 NEWYORK,NY 10027

I'm not surprised to find you doing something so amazing Birgit - you've always been an impressive woman! I am heartened to know about the existence of Building New Hope and hope that I can do something in the future to contribute. Mary Oehler Seattle, WA

I wish that you had your phone number and email listed under the contact us page because I am unable to have it connect to my email.

I bought some El Porvenir coffee in Granada and am delighted to find that I can buy some more online! I also visited Cafe Chavalos - that was a great night out with wonderful cooking and a really great atmosphere. Donna was really fantastic and explained the history of the project to us. It is great to see a charity with Nicaragua as the main beneficiary. So often this beautiful country gets overlooked. Keep up the good work! Laura Goodes, London, UK

Parabéns pelo trabalho e projecto que estão a desenvolver! Luís Silva - Portugal

Awesome work. I'll definitely spread the word.

hi Donna and everyone! Just wanted to say (as everyone else has) that what you are doing over in Granada is absolutely amazing - proof that small projects really can change the world. I still think of you and miss all the boys, would love to come back again at some point, good things come in threes?? Wishing everyone un Navidad Feliz, much love, Bel

Catherine Donaldson, Baltimore, MD People like you keep this world going. Live in hope, die in despair. Keep up the good work!!! I was involved in some volunteer work in Nicaragua as a teenager and felt so fulfilled. I hope to be part of it all again someday, in the not-so-distant future!!! Keep up the good work. Much love, Donna!

Hi: I have been reading all of your website! It is a wonderful showcase of your activities! I am from a small province in Canada ( Nueva Escosia). My husband and I are trying to learn to speak and understand some Spanish before visiting your part of the world in January 2006, God willing. We have been preparing ourselves to spend some time with you at Building New Hope, so we will be interested in reading your site regularly. Sarah and Howard MacVicar

This is a great website, it gives us an opportunity to feel like we can help in some way. Thank you Donna Tabor, you are a true humanitarian. I'm proud to have met you and hope to visit Nicaragua again one day. Jill Scott - E. Lansing, MI

Is your coffee fair trade certified by flo (fair trade labeling organzation international)?

I read about you in a book written by the Portuguese journalist Gonçalo Cadilhe, and I imeediately tried to know more about your organization, since it did struck me from the very first time I got in touch with it. Now that I know a bit more about you and have visited your website, what can I say? People can be so great and perform such wonderful things if they only want to. Thank you in the name of Humanity.

As geat as ever, Colin

God bless you Donna. Kisses Helena - Portugal

um sorriso cheio de ternura, Helena, Portugal

My eyes became wet with such great and good people in the world. A social planet where the human species are synonym of disillusion, people like you all are a ray of light for a better mankind. I say it not as clichet but deeply from my reflections. You all are a huge beautiful minority. Jorge Pires Lisbon, Portugal Europe's West Coast

Parabens, good work, keep going... Tiago Cação, Praia da Tocha Portugal (Obrigado Cadilhe por ter dado a conhecer este trabalho)

Just visited for the first time. I would like to visit Nicaragua and also be able to help as a volunteer. Keep up the wonderful work. Cristina Mendes, Lisboa, Portugal

Just visited for the first time. I would like to visit Nicaragua and also be able to help as a volunteer. Keep up the wonderful work. (Obrigado Gonçalo Cadilhe) Cristina Mendes, Lisboa, Portugal

i heard about your organization and wonderful work in a book, written by Gonçalo Cadilhe. I am sure you remember him. He stopped by Nicaragua, when he was travelling around the world. So, I was trully impressed and deeply moved when I realize that there are still people who give without hoping for a gain, unless it is a smile, or a bliss in bright eyes. I am a student (Social Psychology degree), I am from Portugal and I am here to let you know that you can count on me to help you as a volunteer, to build a better and world to all those children. I am really thankfull for what you are doing! Cheers, Laura Rodrigues (Gonçalo, tenho a dizer-lhe que o pequenino gesto que teve em publicitar esta organização, teve o condão de fazer com que as pessoas começassem,ao menos, a pensar que a vida é curta demais para nos rendermos a egoísmos. O mundo, esse que você conhece em grande parte, tem espaço suficiente para todos sermos felizes. Obrigada por isso, e parabéns pelo excelente trabalho!)

Hoy soy el Dr. Fabian Lacret-Subirat Ed. Maestro y autor de libros de Matematicas. Ayer un huerfano-nino de las calles por cinco anos. Hoy soy elfunda-dor y director de la non profit 501(a)3 Fundacion YPL con proyecto de dar ayuda a ninos (11-18) de las calles. Tan pronto consiga una casa particular donde estar unos dias viajare a Nicaragua para acompanarlos en dificil, dura y divina obra, pero no imposible. doctores, si es posible. Que Dios bendiga a ustedes salvadores de ninos abandona-dos. Dr. Lacret, 817-Summit Ave. Apt. #R, o P.O.Box #8171, Union City, NJ , 07087 USA

Hoy soy el Dr. Fabian Lacret-Subirat Ed. Maestro y autor de libros de Matematicas. Ayer un huerfano-nino de las calles por cinco anos. Hoy soy elfunda-dor y director de la non profit 501(a)3 Fundacion YPL con proyecto de dar ayuda a ninos (11-18) de las calles. Tan pronto consiga una casa particular donde estar unos dias viajare a Nicaragua para acompanarlos en dificil, dura y divina obra, pero no imposible. doctores. Que Dios bendiga a ustedes salvadores de ninos abandona-dos. Dr. Lacret, 817-Summit Ave. Apt. #R, o P.O.Box #8171, Union City, NJ , 07087 USA

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