MPI Nicaragua from Ashley Zeiger on Vimeo.
Community Overview
Cedro Galán and Chiquilistagua - La Chureca
Nicaragua, located in the heart of Central America, is often called the “land of lakes and volcanoes” for its beautiful and rugged landscape. However, its natural beauty is belied by a long history of violence and political turmoil, which has been compounded by a series of devastating hurricanes and earthquakes that have stymied Nicaragua’s development. With a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of only $2,600, Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (compared to a US per capita GDP of $45,800). At present over fifty percent of Nicaraguans are underemployed and unable to find sufficient work to meet their basic needs. [1] As a result, nearly half of the population resides below the poverty line. [2]
A severe educational deficit contributes to the cyclical nature of this poverty, with only twenty-nine percent of children completing primary school. [3] The direct and implicit costs of schooling - books, uniforms, loss of potential income - force many to drop out at an early age. Even those who do attend school do so for a mere four hours a day, often in classrooms with over forty students. This state of education, coupled with lax attendance policies and grade advancement regardless of a student's mastery of the necessary skills, leave the children of Nicaragua uncompetitive in an educated global marketplace.
Cedro Galán and Chiquilistagua are neighboring communities to the southwest of Managua, the capital city. Straddled between the encroaching urban sprawl and picturesque countryside, the two neighborhoods exhibit an interesting juxtaposition of the contemporary and traditional. Imported cars and ox-drawn carts navigate the same roads. Machete-bearing farmers and book-toting collegians share bus seats. Yet, despite the diversity, strong family bonds underpin the community.
Maintaining the traditional Latin American model, a vast majority of households are male-dominated yet female-centered. While fathers and sons make most familial decisions and provide the income, mothers and daughters manage the home. Typically working and studying from shortly after sunrise, most families take long breaks for lunch – the largest meal of the day. The afternoons in Cedro Galan and Chiquilistagua belong to the children, schools let out and students flood the streets to play. After a light dinner, Nicaraguans enjoy the comparative cool of the evening, which is also the best time for visiting and receiving guests.
However, means don’t run as deep as familial bonds or codes of hospitality. Communities are also united by their relative poverty, limited healthcare, and lack of social mobility. Even for the most industrious breadwinners, opportunity for financial advancement is rare. Widespread educational deficiency is another hindrance, as most adults lack even a high school degree. And so the cycle self-perpetuates. Families still live in open-air homes with dirt floors and suffer from health-related problems uncommon in the developed world. The population lacks a basic understanding of the prevention and treatment of disease, while public hospitals and clinics are grossly over-booked and under-staffed. While our two communities have this and much more in common, Manna Project International attempts to attack this poverty in all of its phases.
Manna Project International & Funjofudess from Matt Katsolis on Vimeo.
The Los Martinez neighborhood, known as “La Chureca” is located within Managua’s trash dump, in the northwest part of the city. In this area, approximately 2000 people, making up around 120 families, work collecting trash that comes from nearby neighborhoods as well as other counties. All members of the family work collecting and classifying trash (paper, plastic, copper, iron, shoe soles, glass, aluminum, etc). This is the main source of income and their workday can last between 12 and 14 hours. Weekly income may vary between 150 and 200 córdobas, which is equivalent to 8 and 10 US dollars. Most of the families are headed by single mothers and have between 2 and 9 children.
The extreme conditions surrounding this community lead to rampant disease, drug abuse, and sexual violence. Manna Project focuses its efforts in La Chureca mainly on health. Currently, with the financial support of Austin Samaritans and numerous generous donors, MPI supports a small clinic that is located within the dump. The clinic, called the Casa Base de Salud, is run by the Nicaraguan foundation, FUNJOFUDESS, and provides general medical attention as well as health education and promotion. The clinic is currently open 5 mornings a week and is staffed by 2 general practitioners, a pharmacist, a nurse, and a health promoter.
Government statistics show that 88% of the children have respiratory problems, and 62% suffer from parasites.
- Copyright, Guardian Newspapers Limited, Apr 07, 2003
La Chureca Update, October 2010
La Chureca has seen many changes over the past year. What was once a mountain of trash has now been covered over by dirt and the entire area is being transformed and will eventually become a regular working landfill with a recycling component. In August 2007, the Vice President of Spain, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, visited La Chureca. She was deeply impacted by what she saw and promised to help the people of La Chureca. After she left, The Spanish Agency of International Development Collaborations (the AECID), promised 30 million Euro (approximately $45 million USD) in order to close down the dump, create a recycling industry and provide housing and jobs for the people currently living in La Chureca. As you can see from the picture (taken in Sept 2010), much of the land that was used for dumping has been covered with dirt. The Spanish government has already started extracting methane gas from the trash below that can be converted into an energy source.
Due to unexpected delays, the project most likely won’t be finished for one or two more years. In the meantime, families are still living and working in La Chureca and Manna will continue to work there as well.
[2] CIA
[3] UNICEF
Nicaragua Facts
Half of the country's population is under 18. (UNICEF)
One in four children is born to a teenage mother. (UNICEF)
One third of the adult population can not read and write. (World Factbook)
One in three children suffer from some form of malnutrition. (UNICEF)
