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Food Security and Capacity Building in BOSAWAS, Nicaragua
• Water
Wells
• Clean Water, Healthy Lives: Pamkawas, Nicaragua
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Children’s
Rights Programming
Partner: Centro Humboldt, ADEPCIMISUJIN and MAKALANA indigenous associations. www.humboldt.org.ni
Known
as the “Lungs of Central America”, the BOSAWAS biosphere
reserve is the largest tract of tropical rainforest north of the
Amazon basin.
Here, Change for Children works in conjunction with the local Miskito indigenous association to improve food security and nutrition and stimulate economic development through agriculture in this disaster prone area of the Nicaraguan rainforest.
 Food Security and Capacity Building
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Water Wells
Partner: Centro Humboldt
www.humboldt.org.ni
Water Well: Chinandega, Nicaragua -
Update from the field: June 2010
During the last six months, our Nicaraguan partner,Centro Humboldt, was able to support the work of the national Coalition of Community Water Committees (http://capsnicaragua.blogspot.com), by facilitating the participation of the 702 water committee members who were trained to participate in the public consultation process around the drafting of a supplementary law (Community Water Committee Law), which will recognize these bodies as official organizations with local responsibilities and rights, that are capable of receiving funding from the National Water Fund and from external sources to execute and manage water projects in their communities.
In order to preserve the water table in this ecologically fragile area for the long term, this project also supported the distribution of eco-stoves that burn ¼ the amount of wood that a traditional adobe stove consumes on a daily basis. Please refer to our new project for details on the stoves.
This well is complete; water quality is potable as demonstrated by testing; Water levels are monitored and meet community needs; Beneficiaries provided qualitative indicators of satisfaction.
Community members also benefitted from information campaigns about environmental preservation, reforestation and health and hygiene. Reports, documentaries and testimonials indicate that people are changing their health and hygiene behavior and prioritizing the environment.
Workshops for municipalities were realized in the area which resulted in improved knowledge about the laws relating to water and environmental protection by municipal authorities. After the workshop they demonstrated concern for the state of their aquifers and suggested reforms to the Water Law that was passed recently by the Nicaraguan National Assembly.
Stories:
"A water well in my community means that now I attend school. Before I would have to walk for hours in the morning with my mom and older sisters to bring water back to the house from the river for drinking, cooking and washing. I was always late for school, missed many of the lessons and the teacher said I should stop coming. Now with a well in our community I am the first one in the classroom" Maria Lopez - 12 years old.
"My eco-fogon stove is wonderful. It can cook tortillas and beans at the same time! Before I had this stove I walked for hours every morning to collect enough firewood for the day's fuel. Now I use 1/4 the amount of wood and I find that amount close to my house. And now our house is no longer filled with smoke when I cook, because the smoke goes out the chimney. My children are happy because they are healthy now and are not always coughing - thank you Change for Children and Canada for changing my life"
Videos:
Every Drop Makes a Difference
This short film produced by CFCA partner, Centro Humboldt, captures the impact that Change for Children projects have had in communities across the Northwest region of Nicaragua. This film captures the work, the people and the stories of achieving water as a human right.
Since 2004, working with Centro Humboldt, in Nicaragua, and with
the support of CIDA and our generous donors, Change for Children
has provided potable water systems for 73 communities (over 25,000
people) in northern Nicaragua. But this project has accomplished
far more than the awesome task of providing clean water to 25,000
people, it is a project with a holistic vision of environmental
protection and preservation as well as a project that promotes
access to water as a human right.
This project provided the resources for Centro Humboldt to participate
in the drafting and consultation process for Nicaragua's new legislation
regarding water, which leaves control of the precious resource
in the hands of local people and empowers community water committees
to control the resource locally.
Furthermore, the project also involves measures to maintain rights
and access to water under local control through a training process
for municipalities without sufficient capacity to manage water
resources.
Nicaragua
Water Project 2010
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Clean Water, Healthy Lives: Pamkawas, Nicaragua
Update from the field: June 2010
This project is still in need of support to move forward. Project staff and beneficiaries have completed site selection and design. The community water committee has been formed and is made up of 10 community members, 6 of which are women. These committee members have begun their training in their responsibilities for the maintenance and operation of the system once it is installed.
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Children’s
Rights Programming
Partner: FUNARTE (Foundation ART!)
Rights Protection and Leadership for Children through Cultural Programming: Estelí, Nicaragua -
Update from the field: June 2010
Throughout the life of this project, FUNARTE led bi-weekly artistic workshops which focused on the themes of human rights, neighbourhood violence and HIV/AIDS prevention which reached a total of 1164 in Estelí; 54% female), significantly surpassing the project’s goal of 1000 children / youth.
FUNARTE held two artistic festivals and four artistic expositions, which facilitated an increased community dialogue around issues of children’s rights, HIV/AIDS and violence prevention. Project beneficiaries (including parents) reported attitudinal changes based on the knowledge gained about children’s rights and the prevention of violence and HIV/AIDS from the training activities of this project.
Six workshops with 437 parents (proposed target: 450 parents) were conducted on the prioritized themes; pre and post knowledge testing was not done, but the parents received ample information on the prioritized themes, participated in the same artistic and recreational activities as their children (including mural painting and dance), continued to send their children to the cultural programs (which included workshops on the prioritized themes) and reported with anecdotal evidence that they were being educated at home by their children on these issues.
In Nicaragua, Change for Children works with FUNARTE (Foundation
ART!) www.funarte.org.ni,
to provide artistic and cultural programs to children living in
poverty. 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.
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.
Children's Rights Programming in Nicaragua
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