Supporting the next generation in Nicaragua

By Laura Curkendall, CWS,  February 9, 2018

CWS has been working to end hunger along the Rio Coco on Nicaragua’s border with Honduras for years. This program unfolds in phases, as our team and partners recalibrate our efforts every couple of years to make sure we continue to implement activities that are effective and in line with community needs.

The most recent phase of our work – titled “Children Flourishing in Safe and Food Secure Communities” began in May and focuses on nutrition for young children and their mothers. More than 1,300 people live in the indigenous Miskito and Mayagna communities that are participating in the program.

The first 1,000 days of a child’s life – from conception until her second birthday – are a critical time for nutrition. With your support, we’re hard at work supporting moms here along the Rio Coco to help them nourish their children.

The most vital component of many CWS programs is information sharing aimed at behavior change, and this one is no exception. One of the first community information sessions that was held in the town of San Carlos after this phase of the program began focused on the importance of breastfeeding. As one of the moms, Evalin, told us, breastfeeding is logistically challenging for working moms in the region. She told our team that moms here often begin to introduce solid food at about three to six months. “The reason why we do that is because a lot of us have to leave our children with our neighbors while we go to work in our fields, which are often far away from where the community is. That means that our neighbors aren’t able to give them breast milk, so they will give them things like a mashed potato or a little suet or something like that. We’re learning through this program that that doesn’t have all the same benefits,” she said.

Armed with information on the importance of breastfeeding, Evalin and other moms have begun to make changes. Another woman from San Carlos shared that she stopped giving her daughter solid food and is now breastfeeding. Several moms told our team that they feel that they can better nourish their children given what they have learned about nutrition. A community health agent who received training through the program shared that an attitude shift is underway here. Families with young children and expectant mothers are more excited to hear the information she has to share, and they even actively seek out her advice.

The program, though, goes well beyond information sharing. The other community session that has been hosted in San Carlos so far was on vegetable production. It included information on techniques for planting gardens, marketing strategies for surplus produce and recipes to cook using the vegetables. Moms now report that their children now have a more nutritious diet. Plus, they can sell their surplus for extra income to help meet other needs.

Evalin says that the program has helped her have a better understanding of what to do when your child is malnourished, what food to give them and at what month to start introducing other foods besides breastmilk. She says that she is better able to cook for her daughter, Kati.

You are partnering with moms in Nicaragua to make sure their children have the nutrition they need to grow up healthy and strong. And together we’re just getting started.

Many logos, one purpose in Nicaragua

Laura Curkendall | February 9, 2018

This is the main building at the Wiwinak Center. There is a dormitory space above, and the classroom is downstairs. A separate building houses the kitchen.

The morning fog was just starting to burn off, and dew was still shimmering on the grass. Breakfast preparations were underway, and you could hear shuffling in the dormitory upstairs as people awoke and got ready for the day.

And yet, the group was at it again.

A handful of people were gathered in the classroom at the Wiwinak training center near Nicaragua’s Rio Coco, discussing the finer points of program strategy and methodology on a whiteboard. They had been locked in the same discussions the night before, speaking loudly to be heard over the rumbling generator long after darkness had fallen.

It was a small but diverse group. There was Martin, the Argentina-based regional director of CWS programs in Latin America. Standing across from him were Mark and Denise, Canadians with World Renew who have made Nicaragua their home for 14 and 25 years respectively. Augusto, David and Ishmael from Accion Medica Cristiana – our local partner and one of the most respected organizations in Nicaragua – lent their expertise. My fellow American traveler, Alex from Foods Resource Bank, listened intently.

Caption: Mark (standing, left, with hat) and Martin (kneeling, far right) with graduates from a CWS-supported agricultural certification program. They are in front of the Wiwinak Center.

These discussions weren’t on the schedule. They weren’t a formal part of the visits and meetings that we had done over the previous days. Instead, it was a moment when passionate people were so full of ideas and observations that they couldn’t keep them in any longer. I was humbled to witness this unfolding of partnership as staff from different organizations brought their talents and expertise to strategizing how to most effectively serve the communities in the region.

After spending time visiting this isolated part of Nicaragua and getting to know our work there, I’m convinced that there is no better word to sum it up than this one: partnership.

At every level, this program is rooted on collaboration.

The program’s flagship element is the training center model. Farmers from neighboring communities come to training centers for classes and information sessions. They work together to experiment in ways that will help them all. For example, they may plant three patches of beans using three different techniques. They will take note of how each performs and will use their observations to draw conclusions about what would work best on their own land.

A house in the village of Florida. This resident built a vegetable garden after seeing a neighbor who had participated in the program have success with his garden.

That collaboration spills over into the communities themselves. Each participating farmer agrees to share what he or she learns at the training center with at least two friends and neighbors. As we walked around villages, we saw many houses with beautiful vegetable gardens out front. Some were program participants, and others were simply neighbors who saw the success that a nearby farmer was having and decided to emulate it.

Taking one step back, the partnership between Accion Medica Cristiana and the communities was evident as well. Augusto, David and Ishmael spend three weeks living in the communities at a time before returning to the AMC office in the larger town of Waspam for a week. In the community information sessions, it was obvious that the participants were comfortable with the technicians, and vice versa. This wasn’t someone coming into town to explain how to do things; there was real friendship and respect here.

And finally, looking at the program from the macro level, this program struck me as a textbook example of organizational partnership.

CWS and World Renew both wanted to help meet the needs of the Miskito indigenous communities in this part of Nicaragua, who are facing tremendous challenges. AMC was already at work in this region helping to respond to disasters. Rather than building a new program from scratch, a partnership was born. In conjunction with World Renew and with support from Foods Resource Bank, CWS funds the work of AMC as they address challenges of hunger and malnutrition here. The program unfolds in cooperation with municipal authorities and government agencies, including the Ministry of Health.

On that misty morning, the logos of four different organizations were sprinkled across hats and shirts. But more important than any logo was the unity of purpose I saw on full display. It was a dedicated group hard at work with a single purpose: how to steward resources to reach the most people in the most effective way. That is the CWS partnership model.

Laura Curkendall is the Associate Director of Communications at CWS. 

Cesar the Engineer

I would like to introduce you to Cesar Arias, he is the engineer that is in charge of heading up the water project in La Pita. Cesar has been working  on water projects with San Lucas for a number of years.  For those of you who have participated in the water project work in the past, you likely have met him.  Cesar has many roles in this La Pita water project, he has been working on it for the last six months already.   His first task

was to organize community meetings and work alongside the La Pita water committee in doing a feasibility study, then once approved, implementing a geo-hydrological study, then working with the committee in selecting a site.  Cesar also put out  a call for bids, three drilling companies responded. The hold up right now is the legalizing of the site, the landowner who was going to provide the land is backing off a bit, so its still in negotiation.  Please pray that this can get resolved amiably in the next couple days.  Regardless, even without out a drilled well right now, the project can still start  because the  ‘water distribution’ part of the project is off this well site.  Cesar has a lot of work ahead of him, he will be working with the water committee in building a storage tank and then organizing the committee to dig about six kilometers of ditches for piping, as well as the technical aspects of installing the water pump and construction a solar panel system.   Thanks for being part of this project Cesar!

 

Efforts by All Result in Water for All

My name is Marvin, and I’m the coordinator of our community water committee here in Nicaragua. After years of effort, we’re just about ready to inaugurate a system of piping purified spring water directly into all our homes.  You’ll understand what a big deal this is when you learn that our wives used to have to fetch water many times a day from a well almost half a mile away.  We never helped because men just didn’t do that in our community.

I used to prefer to keep to myself, so I was very unsure about accepting the responsibility when I was elected coordinator. I wanted to do something about our lack of access to clean water, though, so I decided to rise to the challenge. 

We first presented our water problem years ago to our municipal authorities, and then to some international organizations, but we never got a response. When FRB started a new program with World Renew and Acción Médica Cristiana (AMC) that included water, we requested their support.

With lots of coordination with the technical staff of AMC and the municipality, we started the process of preparing a project proposal, taking field measurements, preparing a budget and submitting our proposal. We’ve all donated labor and funds, too. What a great achievement it’s been for us – a lesson in persistence and patience – to have clean water coming from a tap! Our children will be healthier, and our wives are done for good with the drudgery of hauling water.

We’re better organized as a community. Everyone’s more willing to volunteer and give of their time without expecting payment: no one’s saying “not my problem” anymore.  And we share more work with our wives now.