Help Nicaragua's Poor Climb out of Poverty

We work alongside our clients and local leaders to address chronic, community-wide issues that limit quality of life. Projects include working with communities to build wells and aqueducts, creating a community loan program to repair roofs among the poorest of neighbors and for local churches, and partnering with medical clinics to provide training in issues such as reproductive health, domestic violence and stopping child sex trafficking and labor exploitation.

Moving into 2018, Opportunity Nicaragua is refining its approach to community projects to more comprehensively engage the 60 farming communities where we currently operate. Through this approach, we aim to empower farmers and their families with technical skills to increase their yields, as well as leadership skills to work with their neighbors in addressing their communities’ most pressing needs. Our goals include:

1. Develop a scorecard to measure community progress: Opportunity Nicaragua is currently designing a scorecard to assess the strengths and skills present in the communities we serve. The scorecard will address areas such as the quality of infrastructure (roads, schools, bathrooms, etc), economic well-being and economic opportunities present, leadership capacity of community organizations or farmers, as well as spiritual welfare. Through the scorecard, we will help communities identify shortcomings, and design and plan projects that help the communities flourish and develop together.
2. Hire local advocates to organize and manage community projects: Opportunity Nicaragua aims to expand its team to include local staff dedicated to supporting communities in designing and implementing projects. The staff will also help develop partnerships with organizations that can provide communities with much-needed expertise, such as health training or water specialists. 

In addition to farmers, we work with microfinance institutions in Nicaragua to help other entrepreneurs and artisans gain access to much-needed financial services to grow their businesses and earn better incomes. With support from Opportunity, entrepreneurs can access small loans to invest in much-needed inventory or equipment, savings accounts to securely store their hard-earned income, and training in important skills, such as financial literacy and business management, to wisely invest in their business and sustainably increase their income. In impoverished communities, when one entrepreneur succeeds, it launches ripples of prosperity throughout the community – jobs are created, incomes rise, and more families break the cycle of poverty. 

Links:

• Where We Work: Nicaragua
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