Justice and Human Rights Nicaragua Project #28192

Improve the Rights of Disabled Adults in Nicaragua

by Fundacion Cristiana Comunitaria para Personas con Discapacidad Ruach

Project Report | Jul 18, 2022
Dificult situation of the Fundacion Ruach

By Astrid Delleman | Coordinator

estimulacion visual

Visit to the Netherlands

In April I had the oportunity to visit after 2 1/2 year my homeland, the Netherlands.

I enjoyed to visit my friends and family. To hear all the time Dutch around me. To notice the changes and becoming in touch with the actual topics overthere. I could stay for three weeks.

Of course I also had a meeting with the people of Vivir Juntos, our mother foundation, with members of the old and the new Board. Vivir Juntos was established in 2015 with the aim of helping the Ruach Fundación to establish itself as an independent organisation in the first five years, in charge of the raising of funds in Nicaragua and elsewhere.

And during the existence of the Ruach Fundacion this Dutch organization always has been the most important donor with in the second place funds send by GlobalGiving and in the third place, money from a religious organization.

The plan was for Vivir Juntos to gradually reduce the percentage they fund of the total budget per year. Nonetheless, Vivir Juntos has agreed to the request of the Ruach Foundation to extend their financial help. But now almost 7 years later Vivir Juntos still covers about 50% of the total budget. A change in the composition of the Ruach Board in the middle of last year did not have the desired impact of a more pro-active approach to fund-raising, and the board of the Ruach Fundación even had to request Vivir Juntos to send a regular payment a month early.

So VivirJuntos started a serious mail exchange with Juigalpa but the board of the Ruach Foundation couldnot give clear answers to the questions of the Vivir Juntos board how to strenghten their independent financial position. As a result the goodwill of Vivir Juntos is ending. They donnot longer believe in the capacity of becoming, the Ruach Floundation, an healty and strong organization. And took the decision of ending their comitment with the Ruach Foundation.

I fully agreed with the opinion of VivirJuntos that an organization cannot life only from donations from abroad and that the plans of the board in Juigalpa, how to work on getting money, never lead to any results...

Vivir Juntos have acted as a very reliable and conscientious partner and we are very grateful for their compassionate attitude. Throughout the years they sought and found funds for the continuation of our work here. We are also grateful to a loyal group of regular donors among friends, family and sympathizers who support our work through Vivir Juntos.

What does it means for our communityhome?
It is clear that in a short time the Ruach foundation cannot exist anymore. Of course we are looking for a good alternative for the core members because they cannot go back home. But adopted by another organization.

So it is posible we have to close/ended our page on GlobalGiving soon, although we still need your help and support for the organization that will adopted the communityhome.

So I will ask you, in stead of sending money for us to GlobalGiving, if you will send it to the bank account of VivirJuntos, who promised me to help with the costs of the changes, and giving a new home to the core members.

From USA:

Swift: TRIONL2U Account: 0390 9437 11

to: Stichting Vivir Juntos, Kreek 30, 8212 XB Lelystad The Netherlands.

From Europe:

The account of Vivir Juntos, Leiden with the Triodos Bank in the Netherlands is
IBAN: NL 10 TRIO 0390 9437 11 and the name of the account is Stichting Vivir Juntos Leiden.
Payee address, if required Stichting Vivir Juntos, Kreek 30, 8212 XB Lelystad

In the Neherlands they use: Euro

Please contact me with any problem or doubt: asjedel@hotmail.com

Keep in touch

Greatful for your help

Astid Delleman

Links:

website in Dutch and English

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Apr 3, 2022
A day to the beach

By Astrid Delleman | coordinator

beach

The bus is driving up. We are ready for our first trip of the year to the beach. Promoted by our guests, the sister of Jonthan and her boyfriend.We load the food and drinks, the backpacks with bathing suits, extra clothes etc. The community core members are excited. Also on board are all the employees of the community house and our extra guests, Daniella and Jorge. Our inconditional friend Anielka supports us with her little bus to transport us where ever we want to go.

At the beach

When we left we did not yet know which beach we were going to visit. We wanted to find a different and cleaner beach than the one we went to last year, but our research prior to departure into alternative options was not conclusive. We knew what we wanted: a beach as near to Juigalpa as possible because we felt a four-hour journey by bus one way was quite enough; we also wanted a quiet beach with access to tables and chairs to enjoy our home-made food in comfort. We inspected a few beaches before we found our ideal beach and one we would use again a next time! The photos give an impression of the beach and surroundings.

Everybody enjoyed it to be in the water and time passed quick! There was a restaurant where we could hire tables and chairs . Because we brought our lunch meal and drinks, donated by another family friend, who owns a restaurant and provides our community with one meal every month on a day of our choice.

All is well that ends well
Time flew. It was about 4.30 pm and therefore the right time to pack up and travel back to Juigalpa. We made one stop in a little town to buy icecreams and at dinner time we were prepared to eat sandwiches in the bus, to shave time. We arrived around 8:30 pm, at home, tired but satisfied. We quickly got our core members ready for bed. All of them had enjoyed this day!
And the miracle was hat we almost spend no money because so many of our expenses were taken care of by friends!

Together we can make a difference. It is nice to see that this is continuously reflected in our work. We don't know what the future holds, but there is no doubt that our work is very worthwhile. Thanks to all of you, who are part of our work/our team!

our coremembers

Links:

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Dec 24, 2021
What is the standard of living in Nicaragua?

By Astrid Delleman | coordinator

tipical views in Nicaragua

In this report I want to tell you a bit about the context we are living is, Nicaragua, a small country in central America. And in the attach I made a special card for you, because we are so grateful you supported our work!

Nicaragua, Juigalpa

Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries on the continent. Although poverty has decreased somewhat in recent years, the differences between the rich top layer and the large middle class are unimaginable, let alone with those who belong to the poorest layer of society. This blog gives an outline of what life is like for many Nicaraguans.

The Ruach community is located in Juigalpa, a provincial town of about 80,000 inhabitants. The town has two traffic lights. Traffic has gradually increased in a city which was not designed for heavy traffic. The streets are so narrow that allowing parking on both sides would leave very little space for through-traffic. City buses in particular often face difficulty turning corners.

Nonetheless, having a car is still quite a luxury in Nicaragua. According to a research agency 11% own a car, 22% have a motorcycle. The majority of owners do not own their car outright, but are tied in to paying in instalments which, given a certain interest rate, makes owning a car expensive. Most cars are financed from monthly remittances, i.e. money sent by a family member who has immigrated to the United States or Spain (the most popular destination countries). Remittances generate a lot of foreign exchange for Nicaragua.

Family abroad

The majority of Nicaraguans have a relative living abroad. Before 2018 emigration was largely driven by economic reasons and the search for better opportunities to make a living. Since 2018, when political unrest started, many Nicaraguans emigrated because they no longer felt safe in the country due to repression. The situation has got worse recently which has causeed a new flow of people to leave the country. There left more then 100.000 people this year!

Salaries

By law, the minimum salary must be reviewed every six months by the government, unions and entrepreneurs. According to calculations, an average family needs at least 15,300 cordobas (about $430 USD) per month to live a modest life. We pay staff of our community home around 7000 cordobas per month, which is not a bad salary. For example, a teacher earns around 8,000 cordobas, a security guard earns 5,000 cordobas and a house helper worker earns around 4,000 cordobas.

Statistics

The national institute (INIDE) also provides the following statistics which define prosperity and living comfort : 44% of people have a refrigerator (although we live in a tropical country), 40% have cable TV and 27% have internet at home. 13% of households have a computer, 16% have a washing machine and 1.5% have air conditioning. 86% of the families have at least 1 mobile phone. 58% of households cook on gas, 40% still cook on wood! These statistics will give you some idea. Nicaragua has become a consumer society which leaves many Nicaraguans live in precarious conditions.

Attachments:

best wishes and thank you! (DOCX)

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