Nicaragua: A chance to help!

Hello, friends!  I bring you this special Friday update to let you all know about an opportunity to get personally involved in the work I’m doing down here in Nicaragua.

As I have mentioned, I am helping Casa de la Mujer plan and implement a workshop series on entrepreneurship.  The series will begin with a workshop on starting and managing a small business.  The participants will then divide into two groups, one that will learn to make jewelry and one that will learn to make a few different pastries.  Casa de la Mujer will provide the participants advice and support in the coming months in the hopes that they will use these skills to start a small commercial enterprise.  The series will then conclude with a workshop about Law 779, The Comprehensive Law against Violence towards Women, such that the women living in these communities may better know their legal rights and the resources that exist to help them should they suffer any sort of abuse.

As I have also mentioned, I have been in the process of writing a grant to secure funding for this event.  However, the grant application with FSD is a competition, meaning that it is not certain that I will receive funding.  Even if I do an excellent job writing the grant proposal, another intern here or at another FSD site might have an even better idea.  So in order to be sure that my project is funded, I am also launching an online fundraising campaign.

The funds we need to raise will cover the materials for the workshops (notebooks, paper, beads, thread, flour, sugar, etc.), fees for some of the instructors, and refreshments for the participants (which is very important in Nicaraguan culture; it's expected that if you are hosting an all-day event, you will serve food.  Hospitality, from what I have experienced of their culture, is a big cultural value). If we do not win the grant, this campaign will ensure that we can still carry out this project.  In the event that I do win the grant (or if you all are super generous and we exceed our goal), we will be able to expand the program and make it even better—opening it up to more participants, purchasing starting materials for the women to use as the initial boost in launching their businesses, and expanding the follow-up activities that Casa de la Mujer will carry out after I leave.

This is where you come in!  If you are interested in my work down here in Tola and if you are able to help out, I would love it if you could chip in a little bit to help empower the women on this community.  Our current fundraising goal is $350, meaning that if only 20 people chipped in just $20, we would easily exceed our goal.

The deadline to donate is this coming Thursday, July 18--meaning we have only one week to meet our goal!

If you are interested in donating, please click the following link for more information:

http://www.fsdinternational.org/donate/projects/christina

I would really love it if you could help out in getting this project funded.  The women whom I have met through Casa de la Mujer’s network of Women’s Rights Promoters are all such amazing, dedicated, and strong people, and I really hope that my work here can be of assistance to them in expanding their efforts in the communities of Tola.

Best wishes to all, and thanks in advance for your generosity!