Off to the Races

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My travel this year is starting with time in Nicaragua to meet with an organization that has been in existence for over 50 years.

CEPAD (Council of Protestant Churches of Nicaragua) was started just after the earthquake of 1972 that took place in the capital; Managua. Upwards of 10,000 people were killed, 20,000 injured and 300,000 left homeless when the capital was brought to the ground. With financial support from The Presbyterian Church of America, Dr. Gustavo Paragon started CEPAD just 5 days after the disaster.

A few years later the organization transitioned to development work which now includes sustainable agriculture and gardening and newly economic development of women among many things. Their goal is to work with the 'last mile' villages that other organizations do not reach. For example, one village they currently work in can only be accessed by hiking up a mountain for 1.5 hours. The office manager in this region at the ripe old age of 73 regularly visits this community. I asked if he could pull me up in a wagon 😊 CEPAD only goes into communities that have requested the opportunity to work with them. They work with the concept of 'teach a man ( or in this case "woman") to fish' where they provide training to people selected by the community who will later teach the rest of the community what they have learned.

As you may have guessed I am focused on the women's empowerment initiative, which is new within the last 3 years. Over the course of 5 years they work in 47 different village, most having a population of approximently 200 people. In each village 5 women are selected to receive financial and business training. The women are encouraged to start or expand small businesses in their community. This could be anything from raising livestock, having a small store front, or mending clothing.

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Comments

[Elyse]

Glad you made it!
Thanks for the update and all you are doing to help others around the world. :) I hope you enjoyed the wagon ride LOL