| PAST
& ONGOING PROJECTS
Community
health, women’s rights, environmental preservation: Strengthening
indigenous capacity in the Miskito rainforest of Nicaragua:
 Nicaragua
- Environment, Health and Cultural Survival in BOSAWAS
 Known
as the “Lungs of Central America”, the BOSAWAS biosphere
reserve is the largest tract of tropical rainforest north of the
Amazon basin. Severe poverty threatens this reserve as non- indigenous
peoples encroach upon the borders of the reserve, burning down
the forest to grow their crops.
This reserve represents an area of great importance for the planet.
It is a little-studied tropical rainforest that is home to hundreds
of species of birds, plants, animals and insects that have yet
to be catalogued. The health of the Miskito and Mayangna indigenous
peoples in the region continues to be a tragedy. For this reason,
Change for Children is implementing “'Community health,
women’s rights, environmental preservation: Strengthening
indigenous capacity in the Miskito rainforest of Nicaragua”
that places an emphasis on potable water, infant & child nutrition,
the cultivation and use of natural medicines and the distribution
of vitamins. It is evident that alternative solutions and health
education are urgent and essential for the survival of these indigenous
peoples. With the survival of the Miskito and Mayangna peoples,
comes the survival of the forest in which they live. A forest
that is important to us all.
This project takes place in thirty nine communities in the Bosawas
Biosphere Reserve in northern Nicaragua and will provide accessible
and sustainable health care (with an emphasis on traditional medicine),
potable water (water system rehabilitation in several communities
and water filter distribution to every household), sanitation
initiatives (latrines and community education), community leadership
capacity building, income generation for women, nutritional improvement
for community members (through community garden and community
kitchen initiatives) and health promotion (through natural medicine
cultivation and use).
Beneficiaries of this project are indigenous peoples (Miskito
& Mayangna) who live in isolated communities in the Nicaraguan
rainforest –within the UN protected BOSAWAS Biosphere. All
community members will benefit directly from project activities
such as latrine construction, water system rehabilitation, water
filter distribution and natural medicine promotion. Women will
be the direct beneficiaries of the natural medicine cultivation
project and the family garden and community kitchen capacity building
activities, but the entire community will benefit from the results
of these activities.
Three pillars of sustainability are combined in this project in
a unique and innovative way. The social standing of women will
be elevated because they are targeted specifically for training
as health promoters and community leaders. Economic benefits will
be gained by the promoters as their roles will incorporate an
income generation opportunity that will directly improve their
quality of life. Ecological health is also a key component of
this project as it is crucial that the health of the indigenous
population be assured in order to preserve this vital forest region.
The primary partner responsible for this project is the Nicaraguan
NGO Centro Humboldt, a non-profit, civil society organization
whose mission is to promote environmental protection through sustainable
development. Centro Humboldt has been working on environmental
preservation and sustainable development initiatives with Nicaraguan
communities since 1990. Centro Humboldt will work directly with
ADEPCIMISUJIN, the indigenous association that represents the
Miskito and Mayangna communities in the Reserve. The mandate of
the Association is to elevate the quality of life in the communities,
to strive for the respect of their traditions, languages and cultural
identity; to strengthen the practice of individual and collective
rights, and to try to arrange for material, economic and technical
assistance.
Children's Rights Project in Esteli, Nicaragua:
FUNARTE,
Building Self Esteem and Inspiring Creativity
In Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Americas, threats
of gang violence and HIV/ AIDS have increased dramatically due
to the prolonged economic crisis. Many youth are faced with enormous
challenges and are deprived of basic opportunities to develop
the skills and confidence necessary to chart the direction of
future positive change.
Change for Children Association works in partnership with the
Nicaraguan organization, FUNARTE (Foundation ART!) to provide
artistic and cultural programs to children living in poverty.
FUNARTE’s goal is to offer alternative educational opportunities
to boost young peoples’ self esteem and engage them in community
development.
Through creative, energetic activities, FUNARTE ensures that Nicaragua’s
youth are aware of their human rights and involved in building
a society that respects them. FUNARTE has offered responsive programming
to some of Nicaragua’s most at-risk youth since 1989. Through
muralism, leadership training, and arts -based rights education
FUNARTE’s programs empower youth to engage their communities
in recognizing and celebrating the value of youth in Nicaragua’s
future.
While FUNARTE has inspired international recognition for their
groundbreaking approach to advocacy on the human rights of children
in Nicaragua, funding from local government is practically non-existent.
Change for Children has partnered with FUNARTE to ensure that
their programs continue to empower the impoverished youth of Nicaragua.
“Seeing FUNARTE’s youth muralism workshop in action
made it so clear to me that giving these kids a chance to learn
and creatively express their rights is definitely part of the
solution towards alleviating the destructive cycle of poverty,”
Sheryle Carlson, CFCA volunteer.
Primary School Construction in Esteli, Nicaragua in conjunction
with Project HOPE:
Primary
School Construction in Esteli, Nicaragua
This project seeks to support the construction of a 2-3 classroom
primary school in the departmental capital, Esteli, of the department
of Esteli, Nicaragua. The school will be built in a poor neighbourhood
of Esteli where children currently have to leave their neighbourhood
in order to attend primary school. This project will work with
Nicaraguan partner, FUNARTE, with the support of the Nicaraguan
Ministry of Education (MINED) to build a simple, sturdy, bright
school so that children can attend school in their neighbourhood.
The school should enable approximately 200 students to attend
classes (in two turns) in their community and will meet a need
identified by families in this low-income neighbourhood.
Need
In the poor neighbourhood of Esteli where the school will be located,
children who attend primary school currently have to walk long
distances to arrive at school. As this is a neighbourhood where
the majority of families live in poverty, many children are engaged
in economic activities by necessity and the additional time lost
in their travel to and from school dissuades many parents from
encouraging the education of their children. Children from this
poor neighbourhood also face discrimination and taunting at their
schools due to their families’ poverty. Parents and children
alike have expressed the need for a primary school within their
own community to address issues of distance, time and safety.
Many families whose children are currently out of school have
communicated to Nicaraguan partner, FUNARTE, that the absence
of a local school within their neighbourhood is a major reason
for their children’s absence from school.
The Nicaraguan Ministry of Education has also acknowledged the
need for a primary school in the area but has been unable to provide
resources to support its construction. MINED supports the project,
agrees that there is a strong need for it, and has signed an agreement
with FUNARTE indicating that they will provide teachers, equipment
and materials to the school once it is built.
Location
The neighbourhood, of El Barrio 18 de mayo, is where school construction
will take place. This is a very impoverished one and therefore
is one in which malnutrition, unemployment, temporary informal
employment, illiteracy and children out of school are frequent.
Because of its location within the city, this neighbourhood is
one that suffers most from the frequent heavy rains and flooding
that affects the region.
Partnership
Change for Children is working with Project HOPE, a students group
a MacEwan College in Edmonton. The project HOPE team will travel
to the area in May of 2008 to help with the construction of the
school. For more information about Project HOPE visit: www.macewan.ca/web/services/sa/home/DetailsPage.cfm?ID=2285
PHASE I AND II-COMMUNITY WATER PROJECT – WELLS IN CHINANDEGA
AND LEON, NICARAGUA
Community
Water Project - Phase I Wells for 20 communities in Chinandega
and Leon, Nicaragua
Partners: CENTRO HUMBOLDT
(El Bloque in Phase I)
Beneficiaries: Phase I brought
potable water to 20 communities in the region, Phase II will benefit
50 communities directly benefiting 14,000 people. Phase I began
in 2005 and Phase II was approved in December 2006 and will begin
upon completion of environmental assesment.
This very successful project brings potable water
to small communities in three departments of Nicaragua and will,
by the end of Phase II have reached at least 70 communities. By
having access to potable water, these communities where the majority
of people live in poverty, are no longer faced with high incidences
of waterborne disease, which has very positive health outcomes.
Outcomes of the project include improved community health and
sanitation, improved community self-sufficiency and income security
and increased opportunities for women’s participation as
women are involved in community management of the wells drilled.
This project is supported by CIDA funding (Phase
I and II).
Background information
The departments of Leon and Chinandega are in Northwestern Nicaragua
and were the hardest hit by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. In 2001,
while still struggling to recover from the devastation of the
hurricane, the region was hit by a severe drought, which resulted
in the loss of virtually 100% of agricultural production in the
first harvest cycle of the year. Soil has been degraded by deforestation
and cash crop farming and the water table has largely been contaminated.
Most people who live in the region are sustenance farmers growing
corn, beans, wheat, and sesame. Access to potable water is a major
problem in rural areas and the Nicaraguan government makes little
effort to address this basic need of the population.
PAST PROJECTS
COMMUNITY CENTRE CONSTRUCTION, Esteli Nicaragua (May 2007)
PARTNERS: FUNARTE and Project HOPE
Beneficiaries: FUNARTE and the children and youth that
benefit from their programming
Student volunteers from Grant
MacEwan college, who make up Project HOPE, fundraise for their
projects and travel to the South to participate in development
projects in partnership with communities. They will travel to
Esteli, where they will help in the construction of a new community
centre for FUNARTE. FUNARTE will use the centre to conduct their
cultural, artistic and human rights programming with children
and youth. It will be used to host workshops with children, youth,
educators and parents and will become a vibrant location for popular
education and community development activities.
This project is supported by the Wild Rose Foundation
Primary
School Construction in Bosawas, NIcaragua
The primary school was built in the indigenous community of Pamkawas,
on the Rio Coco in the BOSAWAS Biosphere Reserve. It provided
primary school education for 340 children who are currently not
attending school and an additional 120 that currently attend school
in a sub-standard facility. Primary school education has been
the single most important factor in improving and diversifying
opportunities for the chidlren of Nicaragua-especially in isolated
areas like BOSAWAS.
Access to Education in Nicaragua is limited -nationally
only 79 percent of primary-school-age children are enrolled and
this number drops significantly in the Miskito Indigenous communities
to under 45 percent. In addition, the isolation of communities,
causes underdevelopment in curriculum and programming from the
Nicaraguan Department of Education.
COMMUNITY MEDICINE CHEST HERBAL MEDICINE FOR CURATIVE AND PREVENTATIVE
HEALTH- BOSAWAS FOREST RESERVE (end date 2006)
Community
Medicine Chest - Herbal Medicine for curative and preventative
health in the Bosawas forest reserve, Nicaragua
Partners: Centro Humbolt, APS (Atencion
Primaria en Salud) and ADEPCIMISUJIN (Indigenous Association that
represents the Miskito and Mayangna commuinties in the Reserve)
Centro Humbolt’s mission is to promote territorial
development and environmental management. Its central objective
is to foster holistic community and environmental development
by strengthening scientific capacity and the organizational strengths
of social groups.
Our Medicine Chest Project in BOSAWAS, Nicaragua
has lowered the rates of common diseases in over 25 indigenous
communities in this tropical forest reserve.
The Community Medicine Chest project places emphasis on infant
and child nutrition, on the use of natural medicines, on the distribution
of medicines and on the training of local women in health practices.
This project provides accessible, sustainable basic health care
in 25 remote indigenous communities, developing local capacity
by training health promoters in target communities. It will provide
health manuals in the Miskito and Mayangna languages, medicine,
supplies and medical equipment to each of the communities and
it revolves around restoring knowledge about and use of traditional,
natural medicine www.centrohumbolt.org.ni
This project was supported by CIDA funding
WATER AS A HUMAN RIGHT CAMPAIGN (end date 2006)
Nicaragua has made a committment
to reduce in half by 2015 the percentage of persons who lack access
to water and sanitation,(MDG #10). However since 2000, The Nicaraguan
government has been granting contracts for the modernization of
water and sanitation systems to transnational ompanies even though
there are numerous examples from Argentina, Indonesia and other
countries where research has proven that privatization is not
the solution to increased access to water.
Change for Children and their partner Centro
Humboldt created momentum in the fight against the privatization
of hydrological resources in Nicaragua. Thank you for your support
of this important effort to achieve one of the key MDG's.
LEADERSHIP, SELF-ESTEEM AND HUMAN RIGHTS WITH YOUTH AND CHILDREN
IN ESTELI AND MANAGUA, NICARAGUA (2004-2006)
Leadership,
self-esteem and human rights with youth and children in Esteli
and Managua, Nicaragua
Partners: FUNARTE, INPRHU
INPRHU promotes social change, creating projects
and models for development aimed at transforming social structures,
promoting participatory democracy in Nicaragua and educating about
human rights.
http://www.compasnet.org/espanol/miembros/inprhu.htm
FUNARTE is an innovative organization, based in
Esteli and drawing on the regions long tradition of muralismo.
Children and youth gain self-esteem, learn about human rights
and Nicaraguan history in mural workshops and teachers are trained
to bring art and creativity into the class room.
This project (2004-2006) brought together two of
CFCA’s long term partners in a collaborative effort.
This project provided human rights and self-esteem training to
children and youth in difficult circumstances including youth
working on the street and living in poverty. It applies the understanding
that addressing the self-esteem and self-awareness of these children
and youth will lead the empowerment necessary for them to take
a leadership role in advocating for and protecting their human
rights. The project uses art and creativity as tools to promote
learning about self-esteem and human rights and to give participants
the confidence to become vocal advocates. The project proposes
to cross-pollinate two established and effective programs and
extend their reach into new communities, and to bring the project
partners together in a national Nicaraguan campaign to promote
the Rights of the Child.
This project will reach over 2,500 children in Managua and Esteli
and involve inner city youth in Edmonton. Alberta Youth will visit
in 2005 to explore art-therapy and activism through art!
This project is supported by CIDA funding and a grant from the
Wild Rose Foundation
PAJARITO AZUL, NICARAGUA
Other past projects
CFCA has also worked in Nicaragua with: Union of Agricultural
Cooperatives (UCA)
UCA was founded in 1989 to combat the effects
of Hurrican Joan and support small producers on the Island of
Ometepe, Nicaragua. The mandate of the organization is to promote,
through the participatory work of its members, alternatives in
agricultural production which will result in improved income for
rural families in order that they may meet their social necessities
and improve their quality of life.
Change for Children began working with UCA in 1993.
Our first project saw the erection of a building to be used as
a community centre and for agricultural training and capacity-building
workshops. This was followed in 1997 with the Revolving Loan Fund
project which made funds available to small producers, enabling
them to purchase seed and plant their crops without need for bank
credit or for selling their crops as futures for a reduced income.
Our most recent project supported the purchase of a cleaner and
classifier for sesame, the predominant crop on the island, and
the building of a structure to house the machines.
Primary Health Care (APS)
APS’ principal aim is to revolutionize the way health care
is offered in Nicaragua’s poor communities by ensuring its
accessibility, self-sufficiency, and high-quality of care. Since
its inception in 1995, APS has established community-run health
posts and it has offered regular professional consultations in
poor communities throughout Nicaragua. Additionally, it has done
a substantial amount of research into the health care needs of
various communities.
In 1997, CFCA supported a APS project, which trained
health promoters and established community health posts in 12
poor communities in Managua and with our partner communities on
the island of Ometepe. Since that time, APS has continued to expand
their programming to various communities around the country.
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