Nicaragua

Nicaragua is located between Honduras and Costa Rica in lower Central America and currently has a growing economy, however it is among the poorest in educational value and results in high unemployment numbers in the regions of the outskirts of it's capital, Managua. Education and poverty being directly related, decide economic structure, value of society, growth, and increase in overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP). If a country's people is not exposed to business options or education, and if nothing is done to change poverty, it will continue to stay the same. This is where you can help.

If you have been wanting to try something new, worthwhile, and love to help people, mostly kids in the area of education, then there are several key companies that you can sign up with and actually help. But first let's explore the region and area's most affected with low education percentages and how they got this way.

POPULATION

As you can see, most of the inhabitants of Nicaragua have settled on the west coast near the capital Managua. As a different perspective, comparing Nicaragua with a familiar geographical place like Tennessee, we see the population density in TN is 14 persons per sq km more than Nicaragua with roughly the same area per sq km, and the population growth rate is very low. This means that there is very little incentive for Nicaraguans to have kids, which can eventually lead to overall deterioration.

	POPULATION	POPULATION GROWTH RATE (%)	POPULATION DENSITY (per sq km)	AREA sq km
NICARAGUA	5,466,000	1.5	42	127,849
TENNESSEE	5,962,959	16.7	56	109,150

In the legend above, 1=1000 people.

For more information on Nicaraguan development click here.

POVERTY AND LANDSCAPE

Nicaragua is among the poorest regions of Central America. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch swept through this region and displaced as many as 870,000 people. Around 70% of the roads were destroyed and at least 71 bridges were demolished or damaged. But even today, poverty in Nicaragua continues to manifest and over 25% of the overall population lives on less than one dollar per day.

According to countriesquest.com, western Nicaragua is lined with active volcanoes, and their frequent eruptions have produced soil that is among the most fertile in Central America. The country is also subject to very severe earthquakes. Its landscape ranges from tropical rain forest and marshes to forested mountain slopes. Nicaragua generates revenue from exporting coffee, tourism due to famous volcanoes, gold, silver, tungsten, timber, and fish.

To the left is a photo taken in 2001 showing how a single family lives. This one room shack serves as a kitchen and living room. I was given the opportunity to travel to Granada, Nicaragua in 2001 for 2 weeks with a friend who was teaching 12-15 year old kids in a secondary school. Granada is located about 45 As I experienced the culture there, I was able to take these photographs of poverty, the school systems, and different landscapes as well.

As you can see Granada is located about 45km or 73MI from Managua.

To the right is a picture taken of a boy sent to the streets by his mother to sell bubble gum to help pay for food and other household amenities. This is a common practice among the families of Granada, Nicaragua.

This is a photo of the streets in Granada. As you can see there are no stoplights or stop signs, and the roads are rough.

For more on poverty in Nicaragua.

EDUCATION

Education teaches people from a young age to think outside the box. It provides opportunities and opens doors for teenagers to further their knowledge and interests.

HISTORY

The Sandinistas are a left-wing Nicaraguan regime who in 1979 set up an opposition to Somoza Debayle, a former Nicaraguan leader. Somoza was toppled and the Sandinistas adapted a Cuban educational program. The Sandinistas government doubled the GNP spent on education in 1984 and reduced illiteracy from 50% to 23%. Then to consolidate gains, the Ministry of Education setup Popular Education Cooperatives and the college level jumped from 11,142 students to 38,750 in a 10 year period. The Sandinistas government also instituted new textbooks with help from the US for International Development.

TODAY

Despite the growth over the last 30 years Nicaragua still suffers with getting kids educated. All elementary and middle schooling is free but because families struggle with finances and income, many children have to work to survive and schools becomes second to the labor market. There are several companies that understand the educational need and have created some momentum in Nicaragua. These are companies that you can contact below to learn more about where you might fit in.

For Fabretto Children's Foundation click here.

For House of Childhood's Project click here.

For Outreach International click here.

For Casa Xalteva School click here.

This is photo of the secondary school funded by an American entrepreneur who has currently been living in Granada for 15 yrs. Although the picture looks a little like paradise, the school's capacity tops out at 16 children and several can't always attend due to work.

This photo was taken after dinner inside the secondary school as the kids play Monopoly with the teacher.

Click here for Nicaraguan Education.

Click here for New Nicaraguan Education Publication