El Transito, Nicaragua.

El Transito is a small fishing village on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua that was practically wiped out by a devastating Tsunami in 1992. Since then the small community has struggled to become sustainable and provide enough resources for the families still living there. An organization called NicaFund has spent the last 10 years helping to provide more resources and opportunities to the community of El Transito. Friday morning I met Claudia Tinoco, the Nicaragua Country Director for NicaFund. In less than 10 years, NicaFund has helped El Transito build better roads, installed a well, create a feeding program and educational program, built a baseball field, provided jobs for the community, and set up community service projects where locals who participate receive assistance building their own homes. Although NicaFund has primarily worked in El Transito, they have begun a similar model in some communities outside of Managua.

Claudia took Johnny and I on the 1 1/2 hour drive to El Transito Friday morning, warning us that the roads can get a little rough, especially on a rainy day. Lucky for us the day stayed dry; I have no idea how anyone gets anywhere there when it's raining. At one point we had to cross a small stream to get to our destination. The stream turns into a river if rain gets heavy, which is usually daily now during the rainy season.

NicaFund has made so much positive impact in the community of El Transito that it's hard to imagine what the community would be like without them. The best part about NicaFund's work is they are not making changes independently, but rather empowering the people of the town to become self-sustainble. One example is a community development program, where locals are able to help with community service and in return earn large cut stone slabs to build their own homes. Saturday we were able to join a local community service project cleaning up the El Transito Pacific Coast as part of an International coast clean-up. Jonathan, NicaFund's El Transito local Director, is so dedicated to his job that he facilitated the beach clean-up while sick with Dengue Fever. Jonathan and Claudia, along with the the other NicaFund staff are doing great work in El Transito. They have plans to grow their model to many other communities in Nicaragua, and I have no doubt they are the organization to make that happen.

Claudia Tinoco, NicaFund Country Director, assisting Claudia Aburto, Food Program Supervisor, preparing for the local Feeding Program.

Claudia Aburto, pictured here with her family in front of their home. Claudia has been able to build her entire home with the help of NicaFund's community development program that allowed her to gain stone slabs.

Volunteers assisting with the International Coastal Clean-up day, including Jonathan Butcher, NicaFund El Transito Program Director.

Getting around El Transito however possible.

Claudia Tinoco in the Community Feeding Program Kitchen built by NicaFund.

My new favorite drink, Jamaica tea, made from Hibiscus flower.

Claudia Aburto outside of the school and feeding program supported by NicaFund.

Managua Nicaragua is the place to be...

I have trekked what feels like the entire city of Managua today. The day started at 8:00 am catching a cab to meet the wonderful people of Manna Project. Manna Project operates 17 programs in the Managua area. They work in communities in the highest need, including Villa Guadelupe. Villa Guadelupe is a community of families who previously lived in La Chureca, a community that existed on top of a dump. Hundreds of families, including children, literally worked and lived on a mountain of trash. Conditions in La Chureca were so bad the country of Nicaragua, along with the Spanish government, shut down La Chureca and moved the families into a refuge community next to the dump. The families who once lived in trash now have homes in safe structures with sturdy walls instead of among burning trash and pollution. Some of the workers who previously made their living sorting and selling trash now have jobs working in a recycling facility that was created as part of the La Chureca rehabilitation. While an improvement from their previous situation, there are problems that have crept up as a result of the families uprooting their entire lives from the trash dump to Villa Guadelupe. While living and working in the trash dump, all members of the family were able to find work selling and burning trash. Now, only select members of the community are able to work in the recycling plant, leaving many without work.

I met with Manna Project to learn more about their work in La Chureca, Villa Guadelupe and the many other communities around Managua they work with. I spotted Manna Project and their micro-bus full of friendly young faces at a gas station in a busy intersection. 13 people greeted me as I got on the bus and I quickly learned they have an incredibly productive volunteer model. At the time I met them, they had 12 long term volunteers serving a minimum of 13 months in Nicaragua. Most of the volunteers were college students, all studying various areas of community development, non-profit, and medicine. Along with them was Manna Project Country Director, Christina. They took me around to several of their programs, including a school, a clinic in Villa Guadelupe, a women's co-op, multiple homes of families they support, a pre-school and a youth camp. These were just a handful of their programs and I was amazed at how much impact this small group is making in these communities. It felt as though each person we walked by or home we passed someone was yelling out to greet to the Manna Project workers. They have done an amazing job building relationships with the community and the people they are working with. I learned so much more about Managua, Nicaragua, and the surrounding communities by listening and hearing the stories of the Manna Project workers. The tour of their programming ended in the home of a local woman they work with, Lupe. Lupe made an amazing home cooked authentic Nica meal. I am grateful for the time Manna Project and Lupe put into showing me a closer glimpse into Nica life.

Pictured above: Manna Project Country Director, Christina, along with 2 Manna Project long term volunteers and Lupe, our gracious host.

Pictured above: Family members supported by Manna Project in the communities surrounding Managua.

Back in Nica

I am so excited to be back in Nicaragua after nearly 3 years. This time around I am touring several communities and meeting non-profits working in educational and community development. I am here to observe, learn and find out how HALO can help the youth in Nicaragua. More than half of the population is under 18 years old here. If school is an option for them, it is less than half a day at most. Some workers I have met here this week told me they often see kids released from school as early as 10:30 am. While I would have loved to get out of school at 10:30 am when I was a kid, I realize as an adult that these kids are getting the short end of the stick with their education. There are some huge gaps; HALO wants to help fill them.

The first full day here I travelled to a city about 2 hours north of Managua called Jinotega. Jinotega is a beautiful mountain town with a lot of children and little resources for education. An organization called Outreach360 began working in Jinotega to provide educational support to the children living here. They are primarily run by volunteers, with hundreds of volunteers coming to visit each year to teach English and literacy, along with the other curriculum. While they have enough volunteers to keep their school afloat, they are lacking resources including funding and an adequate facility to support the many families who rely on them for educational support. Coco, the Nicaragua Country Director, is so passionate about the work of Outreach360 that her 2 years of service has turned into 11 years in the Dominican Republic and now Nicaragua.

During the visit to their afternoon English class, I was able to see why one of their biggest challenges is finding an adequate facility to hold their daily classes. They rent a small 2 room house to hold daily english and literacy classes for a huge amount of kids in the community. The small size of the classroom and heavy rain didn't put a damper on the eagerness in the room. There were kids busy reading, practicing English, interacting with teachers. It was clear from the amount of kids hanging around on the streets in the middle of the day that enrollment would skyrocket if they had a larger facility.