Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Latin America. Working with eight local organizations in 22 different communities throughout Nicaragua, CCFC is making a difference in the lives of some 40,000 people by providing access to education, health and nutrition, safe water and sanitation, skills training and improving people's capacities to generate income.
All of our partners are locally registered experts in the area of international and community development, who are chosen through detailed pre-affiliation guidelines. Through our partnership, we develop participatory programs that build a community's ability to create and manage sustainable improvements. We help community members gain the skills needed to think about and manage workable solutions for their problems, themselves.
All of CCFC projects are planned and budgeted annually. The Country Office plays an oversight role and assists partner organizations to build and strengthen their capacities by providing direction, guidance and advice. It also plays a role in monitoring the project activities and assisting the partners in evaluating the impact of their programs.
- Number of partners: 10
- Number of programs: 22
- Number of Enrolled children: 9,324
Self Sustainability
Our experience in Nicaragua has shown that our efforts are multiplied and are long lasting if we help others develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to reproduce the projects we help them start.
It is more sustainable and lasting to teach, encourage, and train people to do things for themselves. If a community invests in a project physically, emotionally and economically, they are more likely to appreciate and value it. Having local perspective and knowledge of the community incorporated into the process means that it is more likely to be culturally appropriate.
We help local communities in Nicaragua to identify their needs, and then work with them to see what resources are available locally. As is often the case, there may be a lot of manpower in the communities we assist, but few materials and required skill sets. CCFC's approach is to allocate responsibility to the community for providing the land and labour, and we fund the materials.
Successes:
- A youth leaders network is being promoted, which complements the work that parent committees are doing in the different program areas.
- Approximately 2,000 parents from all 20 communities participate in parent assemblies and are informed about the successes of the community development program on a regular basis.
- Monthly meetings with program coordinators are scheduled to plan, evaluate, update, review, and train them in different issues pertinent to the role they play in facilitating community development.
Micro-Enterprise Development
In order to create a long-term cycle of self-reliance, families need sustainable ways to generate income. Initiatives like Micro-Enterprise Development (MED) provide lasting solutions to help the "poorest of the poor" learn to provide for themselves and jump-start the economy of their community.
MED programs encourage community members to work with Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC) and our local partners to develop new marketable job skills. Community members purchase the materials they need to start and grow their income and reinvest back into their small businesses.
To be eligible, each MED recipient must join a self-help group to act as each other's guarantors. If one member does not pay, then the others are responsible for repayment. This structure has been shown to greatly limit default of MED loans and presents a highly successful repayment rate of 98%.
The MED programs in Nicaragua are all community based. This program is designed to provide training in micro-enterprise skills and credit loans for four CCFC project partners and their communities. The majority of participants in CCFC Nicaragua's MED program are females.
- A local cooperative has been formed, where community members come together and manage special as well as their own funds, to finance micro-enterprises.
- CCFC and its 8 local counterparts are in the process of creating a national strategy for the development of micro-enterprises that could be implemented within the context of community development programs.
Education
CCFC and our partners in Nicaragua are committed to providing Nicaraguan children with the education they need to become productive members of the community. Education for children means access to more opportunities, better paying jobs and increased literacy rates in communities. With the help of our trusted local partners, CCFC Nicaragua raises community awareness about the importance of educating children and strengthening the capacities of children, parents, and teachers in order to maintain educational programs.
In addition to encouraging school-based programs, CCFC Nicaragua works with community members and families to develop solutions to obstacles standing in the way of basic education for children like the lack of classroom facilities, lack of teachers, lack of school supplies, the inability of parents to support their children in school and gender inequality.
Successes:
- 10,000 children received school packages for the start of the school year in 2007. The packages contain notebooks, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, color pencils, and in special cases, backpacks.
- Approximately 10,000 children are attending school regularly and local partners and community leaders are providing follow up to their status in school during the school year.
- At least 9 out of 20 communities are already creating a community fund to help finance school fees for children who need help in the communities. This fund is considered to be a matching fund to that received by sponsorship to ensure that all children in the community go to school.
- More mothers are getting directly involved in school committees, so that their voice can be heard by school authorities, and communities could effectively participate in their children's education process.
Health and Nutrition
Investing in health and nutrition programs means better health for families and children long before they are born. Healthy children mean a healthy and sustainable workforce.
Health and Nutrition programs run by CCFC are designed to reduce malnutrition and strengthen children's bodies and their minds. We focus on prenatal and natal care and medical treatment for children, as well as HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. Our free anti-parasitic treatment has saved hundreds of lives.
Malnutrition sometimes stems from a lack of knowledge, not a lack of food. That is why nutrition education is a major focus of our programs. We help teach families about proper nutrition and the foods children need in order to grow up healthy. By working with parents and educating communities, we promote the importance of good nutrition and explore ways to increase food availability.
Successes:
- At least 1,500 children benefit from a daily snack in community schools, to help raise their nutritional status.
- Some 900 children with special needs received special medical attention, from regular medicine to special surgeries.
- 1,000 children and adolescents have been actively participating in awareness raising campaigns to prevent youths from being exposed to HIV-AIDS.
- Anti-parasitic medication and vitamins distributed to 30,000 people twice a year.
Water and Sanitation
Investing in safe drinking water and sanitation means CCFC can reduce disease and sickness, as well as the large amount of time it takes to find water for cooking and cleaning- time that can be spent on caring for children.
Children, parents and community members are educated about proper hygiene, latrine building, well maintenance, how to protect themselves and their families against disease and how to manage water resources efficiently, through widespread training and skill building.
In its effort to improve the quality of life in communities, CCFC works on conserving natural resources like water and providing drinking water. Constructing sanitary latrines, harvesting rain water, management of coastal resources and creating awareness about sanitation are the areas in which CCFC focuses.