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 & Chiquilistagua

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.

La Chureca

Manna Project International & Funjofudess from Matt Katsolis on Vimeo.

The Los Martinez neighborhood, known as “La Chureca” is located within Managua’s municipal trash dump, in the northwest part of the city. La Chureca is the home and working place to the poorest of the poor in Nicaragua. Roughly 120 families, over 1,200 individuals, live and work collecting and classifying the one thousand tons of trash that arrive daily within the 42 hectares that make up the dump. 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 varies between 8 and 10 US dollars. Single mothers head most families; the average family has 7 children, 3 of whom are under the age of 13. Government statistics show that 88% of the children have respiratory problems, and 62% suffer from parasites. These conditions lead to malnutrition, hunger, rampant disease, drug abuse, and sexual violence.

Esmeralda, Manna's social worker, and Yamileth, pharmacist at the clinic

 With the financial support of Austin Samaritans and numerous generous donors, MPI supports a health clinic that is located within the dump. The clinic, Casa Base de Salud, is run by a Nicaraguan foundation, FUNJOFUDESS, and provides general medical attention as well as health education and promotion for the 120 families living in La Chureca. The clinic is open 5 mornings a week and is staffed by 2 general practitioners, a pharmacist, a nurse, and a health promoter. In 2011, the clinic provided over 25,000 medical treatments and consults for La Chureca families.

Manna Project Program Directors supported Rosa Esmeralda Diaz, a Nicaraguan Social Worker and health specialist who has been working with Manna for over 7 years, work at the clinic three mornings a week directing MPI’s Child Sponsorship program, which focuses on improving the health of young mothers and children under the age of 5. MPI also partners with the nonprofit Juntos Contigo and the local school, Esperanza, to provide English courses for 30 children and adults weekly. In 2012, MPI hopes to provide small business development courses for women participating in the Child Sponsorship program. The goal of this program will be to improve livelihoods for young mothers and their children.

La Chureca Update, January 2012

La Chureca has transformed in the last few years with more dramatic changes in recent months. 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 started extracting methane gas in 2010 from the trash below that can be converted into an energy source. In June 2011, the Spanish government broke ground and home construction commenced. Currently, about 40 homes have been built for families living in La Chureca.

Although positive changes continue to occur in La Chureca, many families are concerned about their futures. Once families move into their new homes, they will not be allowed to bring livestock, which will dramatically alter their way of life. Moreover, families are concerned about job opportunities in the recycling plant, since workers will need to have a cedula, identification card, and a clean criminal record. Although construction commenced in June and much of the dump has been converted into a landfill, much work remains before La Chureca is a working landfill with a recycling component. Most likely, the project will not be completed for another year or two. In the meantime, families are still living and working in La Chureca and Manna will continue to work and serve families there as well.

[1] CIA World Factbook

[2] CIA

[3] UNICEF