Nicaragua Programs

Pathway to Change

Goal
Give children from poor families an opportunity to get an excellent education so as to enable them to break the cycle of poverty in which their families are trapped.

Background
Due to a great number of factors, children of poor families in Managua are getting a very poor education and will likely end up no better-off than their parents. Forty-five percent of children starting school in grade one in the public school system are no longer in school by the fourth grade. Experts agree that the surest way to escape poverty is through a quality education.

Method
• Work with pre-schools in poor areas to have them select their best graduating students based on attendance, comportment and intelligence.
• Send the selected children to good schools selected by HHM.
• Utilize HHM staff “Family Coordinators” to continuously work with the families, the schools and the children to facilitate the education process.
• Where necessary, feed the children breakfast and mid-morning nutritious snack.
• Provide transportation, where necessary, for the child’s attendance in school and the parents’ school involvement.
• Provide uniforms, school supplies and school books.
• Provide needed medical and psychological treatment.
• Meet with the parents on a monthly basis
• Require the parents to make a monthly financial contribution ( or work in lieu of cash) to enable them to demonstrate their commitment to their child’s education and development
• Provide after-school tutoring sessions with trained teachers when necessary.
• Provide presents and transportation to enable the child to attend classmates’ birthday parties.
• Provide a two-week English Camp in January of each year for new and returning students.
• Facilitate the bi-annual anti-parasite treatment of our students and their families.
• In coordination with our Immersion Trip Program, organize fun, interactive activities for the children away from their school and home settings.

History
• Program commenced in January 2006 as a pilot project with three grade one children.
• In 2007 the program grew to 19 children
• In 2008 we currently have 52 children enrolled in five high-quality schools in Managua.

Results

• 85% of our children and families are doing well. The remainder are having varying difficulties that we are working on.
• 18 of the 19 children who have had at least one year in the program are doing exceptionally well so we are confident that at the end of the 2008 school year the vast majority of the 52 sponsored children will also be doing very well.
• The average cost per child maintained in this program is $2000US per year.

Adult Vocational Scholarship Program

Goal
To provide an opportunity for qualified adults to continue/complete their education to improve their employment and income earning options.

Background
In the Acahualinca neighborhood where we work we have found many adults who cut their education short for various reasons. With a little encouragement and some financial help many are interested in finishing their high school or post-high school education.

Method
HHM accepts application from needy people looking to finance their educational pursuits. The assistance is in the form of monthly financing for school costs which they (if feasible) start to repay immediately. Participants attend monthly meetings and provide copies of results as available.

History
This started as a pilot project in 2007 with 10 students. We will be assisting 20 students in the 2008 school year.

Results
So far the results have been good. We are still working out difficulties arising from poor choices of schools by the students and poor school management practices by government-run institutions. However, 2008 should show better results as we learn in these areas. This year we are focusing more on helping young mothers complete their high school education as this holds a lot of promise for them and the program. We have five such mothers currently enrolled in our program. The average cost per student per year is $315US.

Immersion Trip Program
(Run out of the Louisville office with groups landing in Nicaragua)

Goal
To provide an opportunity for adults and students to be exposed to the realities of life in a poor country where 80 percent of the population lives on less than $2 per day and to show them first-hand the important work HHM is doing in Nicaragua.

Background
Founders Wayne Fowler and his brother Father Joseph recognized the importance of personal exposure to need as a result of their own humanitarian trips to Jamaica in the mid to late 1990s and so from its inception in 1999 HHM has incorporated Immersion Trips as an integral part of its programs.

Method
HHM accepts applications from groups wishing to participate and schedules regular trips to Nicaragua.

History
HHM has been sending Immersion Groups to Nicaragua since 2001. It started initially with 2 groups per year from Louisville, and has grown to eight groups from Louisville, Mobile and Halifax, Canada in 2008. With the increased demand, full-time staff was located in Nicaragua to receive these groups starting in August 2005.

Results
The results of Immersion Group visits have been excellent. The visiting groups have accomplished many good works in Nicaragua from building, repairing and renovating school buildings, to house construction and repair. Many lives have been changed as a result. The lives of many of the trip participants have also been changed forever as a result of their experiences with HHM and many of them have become long-term supporters of the organization.

Home Repair and Construction Program (New)

Goal
Using the resources provided by visiting Immersion groups to assist poor people in Nicaragua in improving their living conditions.

Background
With 80 percent of Nicaraguans surviving on $2 or less a day it is no surprise to see hundreds of thousands of people living in vastly inadequate conditions. Immersion Groups that come want to feel useful, and nothing fulfills that need more than the satisfaction of taking a family out of a shack and enabling them to live in a decent home.

Method
• HHM accepts applications from poor families who want financing to assist them in improving their home.
• Families are accepted on the basis of need and their ability to pay back at least a part of the costs.
• Family members work alongside the Immersion Group members to substantially complete the home in five days
• A local construction crew is employed to direct the construction process and ensure its completion after the Immersion Group has left.
• After completion, HHM staff inspect the home along with family members to ensure satisfactory completion.
• Within a month of completion of the home the family starts to repay the loan.

History
This is a new program started on a pilot project basis in January 2008. To date two homes and a partial home have been built with the families and the Immersion Groups.

Results
The families and the Immersion Groups have been very happy with the results. From HHM’s point of view the homes are a bit too big and a redesign has been carried out to lower the costs to keep them more in line with the contribution provided by the Immersion Groups. The new design of a 16 x 20 foot concrete block home with bathroom included and costs approximately $2700 US.

Support of Local Programs in Nicaragua.

In addition to operating its own programs in Nicaragua, HHM has over the years provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial and other support to:

a) help set up and run a private center providing 250+ hot meals daily, infant care, a pre-school and a computer center for families living close to the Managua city dump.

b) financially support a well-run, much-needed school in the Mercado Oriental district of the city of Managua, providing a safe and healthy environment for about 300 local at-risk children. This school runs classes from Pre-K through high school, provides the children with two meals a day and runs a vibrant after-school program that includes art, music and tutoring. In addition the school operates a Home for 24 at-risk boys.

c) conduct workshops to help in teacher training

d) carry out construction projects with visiting Immersion Groups from Canada and the U.S. to improve local school conditions. HHM has built school bathrooms, landscaped, refurbished a school basketball court and playground, built a playground from scratch, painted, replaced walls and ceilings, renovated buildings to name but a few of these projects.

e) provide medical care to those in need through the work of visiting medical and dental teams and the supply of necessary supplements and medicines to those in need

f) provide medical supplies and equipment and medicines to a number of private clinics and state-run hospitals.

g) provide considerable donations of gifts-in-kind, computers and software, toys, clothing, and school supplies to a number of Managua schools and pre-schools.