Superemos Report

CENTRAL AMERICAN FUND FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT RAISES $111,100

 

 

Since it was initiated , the CAFHD has raised over one million dollars for women and children in Central America.  This year the total was $111,100,00.  Donations were received in 2010 from the following named donors and from an additional twenty people who did not specifically give permission for their names to be publicized.   An anonymous donor also contributed #100,000 of this amount. We are deeply grateful to all.

 

Recipients were:

Friends of Casa Materna  $10,000

Fundeci                            $47,080

Superemos                       $54,020

Balance                             $     515.63

 

DONORS:

Albrecht, Wayne and Betty

Calhoun, Natalie

Chulich, Micki

Dolan, Susan

Fauci, Julia and Dominick

Jesser, Clinton

Kenney, Dan & Maylan Dunn

Larson, Richard

Loubere, Frances and Paul

Maurer, Joel

Meyer, Cele

Moore, Douglas

Mounts, Martin and Jacqueline

Mounts, Nina and Valentiner, David

Noe, Nick and Gingie

Reid, Stephen

Salazar, Grace

Seguel, Mary Louise

Smith, Lester

Tomkins, Trevor and Jennifer

Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Committee

Vary, Pat

Voss, Lolly

Wilcox-Gok, Virginia

 

Support the Central American Fund for Human Development (CAFHD)

CAFHD is a not-for-profit project of the DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice

 

The DeKalb Interfaith Network began in the 1980s as part of the opposition to the then-war in Central America that pitted the might of the US against popular movements for Democracy in El Salvador and Nicaragua.   Our continuing support for democracy throughout Central America is expressed through our not for profit arm, CAFHD.

 

Also, learn more about Nicaragua by visiting http://www.tortillaconsal.com/

 

Please support CAFHD with your generous donations.  Click here to donate.  Read about our projects below:

 

Do you ever wonder whether what you do makes any difference in the world?  Giving to CAFHD is a way to be sure you do.  We have very personal ties to the organizations we support in Nicaragua.  We know they are headed by good and capable people and are doing essential work.

care, legal aid and infant/maternal care provided by our Nicaraguan partners,    Superemos in Esteli, Fundeci in Managua, and Casa Materna in Matagalpa.

Al and I along with Laura Peterson first got to know these Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) on our visits to Nicaragua in the eighties and nineties.  Later visitors included Network member Karen Gutierrez, Network Coordinators Maylan and Dan Kenney, and, most recently, my grandson Nick Ryan and his friend Katie Rodgers.  All were deeply impressed with the devoted job our partners are doing.

In addition to an anonymous major donor, it is the money we raise that enables these hardworking organizations to continue helping desperately poor communities help themselves   Please take a few moments to read about them on the reverse of this letter and to check out their colorful websites for stories and pictures of the people and projects of each partner.

 

We ask that you help us to again provide this vital support to these three effective grass roots NGOs.  You can either give on-line by clicking here, or  by mail.  Send donations to CAFHD c/o Lolly Voss, 136 Ilehamwood Drive, DeKalb, IL 60115.  By doing so, you will indeed be making a difference in the world!

 

Please send your tax deductible gift now.  For this we thank you most sincerely

 

Cele Meyer,
Treasurer, CAFHD

 

 

Here’s a word about each of our partner organizations:

First, Superemos: It’s well-known the best way to lift families out of poverty is to educate the women.  The Women’s School in Esteli, run by Superemos and a women’s community group, does just that. Women with only two or three years of schooling can, by attending night classes, obtain a high school diploma in three years. With this education,mothers are better able to land jobs to support their youngsters. 


This is crucially important in a country where over a third of the people live in deep poverty and many children are in single mother households, as a result of fathers going abroad in search of work.  Meanwhile, instead of being left on their own while mothers are in
school or at work, little children receive loving care in one of the many pre-schools supported by Superemos and Fundeci.  .These NGOs also support  community infrastructure  like bridges and drainage projects. as well as pumps for irrigation, and other necessities for small
farms

A democracy cannot function, nor an economy thrive in a country where people cannot read. With one-third of its youngsters not able to attend school, thousands are on the streets, and drivers at busy street intersections in Managua are bombarded with children (along with people of all ages), attempting to sell items such as chewing gum, to wash windshields, or just begging.


Fundeci, the second of the three NGOs we support,  reduces the  number of kids on the streets by providing scholarships to boys and girls at all levels from primary to university. It arranges medical clinics in the poorest barrios and the most remote areas by conducting tours of medical doctors, nurses, and assistants from the States to provide free service and medicines.

Rural women with high-risk pregnancies in areas with shockingly high infant/maternal death rates are cared for in the third NGO we help fund, Casa Materna, for a week before and after delivery, along with being transported to and from hospital when the time comes.  The Casa has lost only one infant in 18 years of service,  While there,  mothers receive education about taking
care of themselves and their children, as well as help with family planning.  The Casa also provides tubal ligations to women who request them, which is usually those with multiple, life threatening pregnancies.  Reducing the number of pregnancies vastly improves their
ability to feed and care for the children they already have.

You can check out the grant proposals for 2010 from Superemos, Fundeci
and  Casa Materna, which are posted on our DeKalb Interfaith website, www.dekalbinterfaithnetwork.org.  THANK YOU for taking the time to read about our partners.

You can visit their websites at : www.manosjunctas.com, www.superemos.com and casamaterna.org.

---

SIX COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS  IN ESTELÍ

presented by Superemos Foundation of Estelí, Nicaragua, November 2009

Contact: Profesora Gladys Ruiz Gonzales

Postal address: del puente Las Chanillas 100m al norte, Estelí

Telephone: (505) 2713 7166

E-mail: admin@superemos.com

Background

Estelí is a city of around 140,000 people in northern Nicaragua, the department has a population of around 250,000. The municipality of Estelí has an area of 795 square kilometres. The population is currently growing at about 3.5% per year. Estelí is the principal urban centre for a region which is among the poorest in Central America.

 

The average age of Nicaragua’s population is under 25. Over a million children and adolescents fail to participate in full time education. 36% of under-5s suffer malnutrition. The general adult population consumes an average 1790 calories when the minimum adequate intake should be over 2000. 21% of Nicaraguans do not have access to clean drinking water. These national indicators mask worse conditions in northern Nicaragua.

Despite improvements in the local agricultural economy which had record production in the first semester of 2009, unemployment  and underemployment in the Estelí area is still very high.   Migration from rural areas to urban centres keeps up the  pressure on infrastructure even as resources available for improvements have slightly increased for things like housing, electricity and water. Most people  still find that they cannot afford the medicines they are prescribed in the local health centres, although hospital care for more seriously ill people has definitely improved and is genuinely free.

For many families the best employment option remains migration to Costa Rica or further afield. This in its turn puts pressure on the families and family members left behind. It contributes towards the very widespread phenomenon of single motherhood. Despite the economic crisis in the United States and Europe, most families here continue to regard remittances from relatives working abroad as a key component of their household budgets.

Within Nicaragua, price inflation has dropped dramatically compared to last year so wages better maintain their value helped by regular annual increases in the minimum wage. The basic basket of goods now costs somewhat more than  US$200. Nurses, policemen and primary school teachers earn around US$125-150 per month. Secondary teachers earn around US$150-175 per month. Agricultural workers earn US$3 or US$4 a day, when they can find work. A building worker earns US$5 per day when work is available. Domestic workers typically take home a monthly wage of US$75. Around a quarter of the population live in severe poverty, finding it difficult to buy enough food for their families.

The Superemos Foundation is able to keep its costs relatively low by working with partner organizations in Estelí, Ocotal and Matagalpa. Likewise, capital resources built up over the last 10 years by the foundation and its supporters, contribute significantly to moderating program costs  by making available already exisiting infrastructure and equipment. Programs also benefit greatly from the foundation's accumulated prestige and goodwill among both local institutions and municipal authorities and also national government bodies like the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education.

CHILD CARE PROJECT

Summary

Superemos has supported pre-schools for children from low income families in Estelí since 2003. The present project will help guarantee child care through 2009 for over 60 children from poor families in deprived districts of north-western Estelí, Many of these children are from extremely poor families, mostly headed by single mothers. The total amount requested is US$7500 for one year.

 

Local need

Estelí, like every other urban centre in Nicaragua, lacks child care facilities. So parents, especially single mothers, are caught in the trap of either not working and so not earning enough to feed their families, or else leaving their children alone all day or in the care of friends or relatives, who themselves have little by way of resources to care adequately for their own children, let alone children from other families. Nor can women and girls readily take up courses of study in order to improve their employment chances.. So they and their children are truly trapped by their deprived circumstances.

 

The north west of Estelí has a concentration of cigar factories, the main source of employment in the area. Women are the main labour employed, earning US$4-US$5 per day. Many women and their families use the educational and health services offered by the Superemos foundation and the “Christine King” cooperative.  Since January 2004 we have helped operate 3 local community pre-schools in Estelí's western barrios. We have decided  to focus on just two preschools in 2010.

 

Project activities

These pre-schools, one in the Nuevo Amanecer barrio and another in the nearby Felipe y Mery Barreda barrio, provide opportunities for over 60 children to play and learn in pleasant, healthy and safe surroundings. The classrooms have appropriate facilities for small children. The children are cared for by a team of 2 trained nursery teachers supported by auxiliary staff. In 2010, as  in previous years the foundation will provide resources to fund staff to continue training activities to improve their skills as educators and carers.

BUDGET (in US dollars)

For one year

Line item	Amount Requested
Salary for 2 educators	3000
Salary for 3 assistants	2400
Food	2100
Total	7500

 

 

HEALTH CARE PROGRAM

Summary

The health program operated by Superemos originally began as a service to mainly rural communities affected by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Most of the program is now dedicated to preventive health care in Esteli and a companion program in Matagalpa. The program liaises closely with the local Health Ministry, especially in the organization of medical delegations from the US to Nicaragua.  The amount requested for 2010 is US$10,000.

Objectives

The general objective of the project is to complement under-resourced public health services available to low income families in Estelí and Matagalpa. The specific objective is to enhance the health services avialable to over 800 children from low-income families in Esteli and Matagalpa and to a further 150  families of people participating in our education and training programmes in Estelí.

Beneficiaries

• Over 150 families of people participating in the foundation’s adult education, preschool and training programs (approx. 900 people)
• Over 700 children from low-income families in marginal barrios and nearby rural communities of Esteli and  Matagalpa

 

Activities

The project will provide:

• weekly psychological and general medical attention to about 30 project participants per month in Estelí
• weekly workshops on preventive health care to adolescents in Estelí
• low-cost medicine from the program's dispensary for program participants in Estelí
• monthly dental, skin and scalp hygiene check ups for over 700 children in Estelí and Matagalpa
• blood pressure and diabetes monitoring for program participants in Estelí
• assistance to cases of individual hardship
• organization of medical birgades to visit communities in and around Estelí, Matagalpa and Ocotal.

 

BUDGET (in US dollars)

For one year

Line item	US$
Psychiatric and counselling services	1200
Preventive health care in barrios	4800
Help for cases of special hardship	1000
Health promoter salary	3000
Total	10000

 

LEGAL AID PROGRAM

Summary

This project originated in 2003 from the social work program of the "Christine King" Multi-Service Cooperative aimed originally at young male and female prisoners in the local penitentiary in Esteli. From that work a clear need emerged for legal aid for people on low incomes who are at a serious disadvantage when caught up in criminal and civil legal proceedings, or even in routine administrative procedures such as obtaining a birth certificate. In 2009 the program worker dealt with approximately 250 cases.  The current funding request is for US$6220.

 

Background

In Estelí, lawyers typically charge US$10-15 for a simple legal document and US$50-100 for legal representation. For families on incomes of US$100 to US$200 a month or less, these costs are prohibitive and in effect deny such families the possibility of defending their basic rights. A further pressing need has also clearly emerged from the cooperative's social work in urban barrios for legal services to women who suffer physical, and psychological abuse as well as exploitation from their partners, their employers and sometimes too from their own relatives.

 

Objective

The general objective of the project is to improve the availability of legal services for people on low incomes in Estelí. Specifically, the project aims to provide free legal services for at least 20 cases a month to people on low incomes who would otherwise not receive the legal advice and assistance they need to defend their basic rights.

 

Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries of the project will be around 240 individuals whose families live on less than US$200 a month with special emphasis in favour of low-income women victims of abuse and exploitation.

 

Activities

For 2010 the current full time worker will be supported by a second part-time lawyer to provide services in the following areas

• Support for prisoners in the local penitentiary who require legal assistance for both criminal and administrative proceedings
• Support for people on low incomes in cases involving family law such as divorce and child maintenance
• Advice to people on low incomes on property law and administrative procedures (birth certificates, civil status documents, wills and other public legal documents)
• Assistance to people on low incomes in employment disputes
• Advice and assistance to low-income women victims of abuse and exploitation
• Legal representation in cases requiring it.

 

BUDGET (in US dollars)

For one year

Full time lawyer	3600
Part-time lawyer	1500
Office supplies	400
Transport	720
Total	6220

ESTELÍ WOMEN'S SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Project summary

The Estelí Women’s School is located on the northern outskirts of the city of Estelí.. The school runs a programme to benefit up to 70 women in Estelí itself and also a group of 15 women in the city of Ocotal in the department of Nueva Segovia. All these women - many of them single mothers - are from low income households who would be unable to complete their secondary education without the scholarships they receive from the Estelí Women's School program. The total amount requested for 2010 to fund this scholarship program is US$15,300.00.

Objectives

The general objective of the women's adult education program in Estelí and Ocotal is to improve the access of women from low income households in northern Nicaragua to adult secondary education. The specific objective is to provide scholarships to a total of 85 women on low incomes so as to enable them to pursue their secondary education for one year.

 

Main activities of the project:

• Weekday night classes in Estelí for up to 70 women given by experienced teachers;
• Transport home each night to deliver students safely to their barrios;
• Saturday classes for 15 women in Ocotal with transport and tuition by experienced teachers;
• Exams and courses of study supervised by the Ministry of Education.

 

Geographic area:

The project takes place in the city of Estelí located in the city of Estelí, capital of the northern Nicaraguan department of the same name and in the city of Ocotal about 100 km from Estelí in the department of Nueva Segovia

 

Beneficiaries:

The direct beneficiaries of the scholarship program in 2010 will be 70 local women in Estelí whose earnings are around US$100 per month and 15 women community leaders in Ocotal from poor rural communities.

 

Budget :

For one year

Line item	Amount Requested
85 Scholarships@ US$180 each	US$15,300
Totals	US$15,300

 

 

Note: each scholarship covers:

 

• monthly tuition fees totalling US$150 a year @ US$12.50 per month
• transport from the school to the students' barrio averaging approx. US$2.50 per student per month

MUSIC EDUCATION PROGRAM

Summary

The present project began as a pilot project in May 2008. Currently, it provides choral training and instrumental training to over 60 children in a public school and a marginal barrio in Estelí. For 2010 the project will  give music education classes to over 70 children from poor families in deprived districts  in different parts of Estelí, including a group of between 12 and 20 street children participating in government programmes to re-integrate them into the education system, The funding request for 2010 is US$4000.

Local need

There is no music education in the Nicaragua public education system. The Superemos programme has been in operation for about nine months working with a total of over 80 children aged from 5 to 14.

 

Objectives

The general objective of the project is to improve the virtually non-existent music training and education for children from low income families in Estelí. Specifically, the project will give classes to over 70 children aged from 5 to 12 years old who have shown some aptitude for either choral training or to learn an instrument.

 

Project activities

The programme has two educators, both qualified and experienced musicians. They give classes for a total of 16 hours a week (8 hours each) in local barrios and in local schools. By way of resources at the moment the project has a total of three guitars, twelve recorders, an electric piano and about a dozen percussion instruments. The classes will be almost entirely music and singing pratice with a small amount of theory to help the children undertsand the structural aspects of what they are learning. The emphasis will be on local Nicaraguan music and musical traditions. The project will provide various opporunities for the students to perform their newly learned skills as cultuural activities during appropriate public occasions.

BUDGET (in US dollars)

For one year

 

Line item	Amount Requested	Total
Salary for 2 educators	3000	3000
Instruments	700	700
Transport	300	300
Totals	4000	4000

 

 

WASTE WATER/SEWAGE  PROJECT

Summary

The present project is the second phase of a project begun in 2009. It will  facilitate the installation of waste water and sewage infrastructure serving a total of four barrios on the western outskirts of Estelí benefiting a total of around 2000 people.. The total cost of the project is US$3000.

Local need

Many of the marginal barrios on the periphery of the city of Estelí lack mains sewage and waste water drainage. Since 2006 Superemos has assisted the Felipe y Mery Barreda  Barrio with a community pre-school programme and also a preventive health care programme serving the 150 or so families in that barrio. In 2008 the community asked us to help them get funding to install sewage/waste water drainage infrastructure. The project is being worked out between the local community, the local municipal authority and the local office of the national State-owned water utility. To date, the process has led to the drawing up of a topographical plan, a proposal for the infrastructure's installation based on that plan and a budget for that proposed installation. The total budget amounts to US$43,000 to which the community, the municipality and the water authority will all contribute. In addition, the communities living in three other barrios adjacent to the proposed project will benefit, These barrios are, Betel, Belen, and San Miguel.

 

Project objective.

The general objective of the project is to improve living conditions for low-income communities of the city of Estelí living in marginal barrios on the edge of the city without adequate water, electricity or drainage infrastructure. The specific objective of the project is to assist in the installation of 1200 metres of mains sewage to serve  all or part of the following barrios on the western outskirts of the city of Estelí : Betel, San Miguel, Felipe y Mery Barreda, Belen.

 

Beneficiaries

In total we reckon the number of beneficiaries at about 2000 people currently. The project is part of a continuing public health infrastructure programme planned by the municipality in conjunction with local communities designed to meet both current needs  and future needs resulting from foreseeable population growth.

 

Project activities

To follow up the allocation by Superemos of US$3000 to the preparatory stages of this project in 2009, the current project proposes to support the community's contribution to the later stages of project in 2010 by purchasing construction materials to a value of US$3000.

 

We provide here the total budget for the whole project to which the current project will contribute as part of joint funding involving the community in Barrio Felipe y Mery Barreda, the communities in the other barrios adjacent to the project's planned location, the local office of the national ENACAL water authority, the local municipal authority and the Health Ministry's public health department.

 

BUDGET (in US$)

Purchase of construction materials                                 US$3000 (see Appendix)

APPENDIX

TOTAL BUDGET (in US dollars) to which the current waste water / sewage project will contribute

Mains sewage groundwork

Line item	Description	Unit	Qty,	Unit cost	Total
1	levelling and grading	linear metre	1200	1.00	1196.41
2	excavation to 1.0 metre	linear metre	600	1.00	598.21
2.1	excavation to 1.5 metres	linear metre	600	1.33	797.71
2.2	machine excavation	cubic metres	864	5.48	4737.79
2.3	refill and compacting	cubic metres	648	2.79	1808.97
2.4	top refill and compacting	cubic metres	216	2.79	602.99
2.5	tube installation 6”	linear metre	1200	1.00	1196.41
				Sub-total	10938.48

 

Pipe and Auxiliary works (manholes etc.)

Line item	Description	Unit	Qty,	Unit cost	Total
1	pvc tube 8”	unit	47	89.73	4217.35
2	pvc tube 6”	unit	200	64.81	12961.12
3	wedge shaped bricks	unit	8000	0.07	598.21
4	sand	cubic metres	16	19.94	319.04
5	3/4” gravel	cubic metres	7	34.9	244.27
6	cement	100lb bag	160	7.33	1172.48
7	manhole covers	unit	16	89.73	1435.69
8	timber	unit	20	5.98	119.64
9	nails	pounds	20	0.35	6.98
10	pvc seats 6” & 8”	unit	200	8.97	1794.62
11	pvc 45 degree elbows	unit	200	5.98	1196.41
12	pvc tube 4”	unit	200	23.93	4785.64
13	construction  sand filter	unit	1	498.5	498.5
14	construction  inverted siphon	unit	1	2492.52	2492.52
15	fine refill material	cubic metres	216	4.99	1076.77
				Sub-total	32919.24
				TOTAL	43857.73

Superemos Report  on projects supported by  Central American Fund for Human Development

CAFHD has worked with the Superemos foundation based in Estelí for many years helping guarantee basic rights to education and health care in low income communities throughout the central northern area of Nicaragua - the Segovias, covering the area between Estelí, Ocotal and Matagalpa.

 

The Estelí Women's school

The main project run by Superemos with help from CAFHD is the Estelí Women's School a unique project in Nicaragua, perhaps in the region, that delivers women only classes to adult women so as to help them complete their secondary education. The project aims to thus improve the employment options for women on low incomes in Esteli - and in the program's Ocotal branch - at the same time giving them the confidence and knowledge of their rights to help them realize their potential as individuals and as members of their community. Student  Maria Esperanza Ramirez thinks the school "helps us women workers a lot with marital and family problems and economic problems, It helps psychologically to reduce the stress in our lives." Almost all the school's students are women who work in the local tobacco factories. Some are very low paid domestic workers, others are unemployed. Many are single mothers. Zayda Melgara comments, "The school is very important for me because I have always wanted to study but being a single mother has made that difficult, because I have to work and also figure out who can take care of my children. So I am grateful to the project becuase it lends us the conditions and the opportunity for me to realize my dream."

Music education

The music education project began with funding from CAFHD in May of 2009. Currently, two music teachers work with about 50 children from low income families teaching instrumental and choral skills and the relevant theory. Student Maria Cerrato writes "For me getting music classes is of vital importance because it helps me develop my abilities, to express myself in public through songs and playing an instrument. So we can show everyone that we are all capable of achieving our aspirations - and it doesn't just help us but it helps our barrio as well to have a cultural grooup to animate people and give them positive energies."

Pre-schools

One mother from the Nuevo Amanecer community on Estelí's western periphery explains about the Sinai pre-school funded by CAFHD, "for me as a mother I can go to work without stress, knowing my children are in responsible care of the people who work in the pre-school and they look after the children as if they were their own. They give them affection, care and love. They keep us informed as parents and when we make suggestions they listen to us and treat us with respect. This is a great help to us women who go to work in the local factories and other jobs. It means we don't have to leave our smaller children with their older sisters and brothers. So I feel blessed to have this preschool."

Casa Materna Request to CAFHD for 2010

 

Dearest Cele and Lolly,

Warm love-filled greetings from all the staff at the Casa Materna!

Today we met to discuss our request to CAFHD for 2010 and would like to ask for the following:

Support for staff nurse's annual salary        - $4,500

Medicines for the Casa mothers/newborns  -$1,000
Food for the Casa mothers                        -  4,500

$10,000

 

As always, we understand that your funds are limited and if you are not able to send the amount requested, our priority would be for the Medical Area, including the medicines and support for our staff nurse, Gladys Chavarria.

 

In the beginning of January we will send a more comprehensive report but do know how deeply grateful we continue to be for your friendship together with your moral and financial support.

 

blessings to all in these upcoming celebrations of Light and Love,

Kitty Madden, liaison between CM and FCM

 

we would request that your gift once again be sent through

Friends of the Casa Materna   18907 Martin Rd.   Roseville, MI 48066-3076

att:  Patricia Doyle

 

Here is an excellent website on Nicaragua:

 

www.tortillconsal.com