Feliz Navidad

Cuso Nicaragua's Coke-bottle-adorned Christmas tree.

It’s 35 degrees Celsius outside, and strangely enough, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  My coworkers and I decorated a tree with repurposed plastic Coke bottles for a festive flair, and our grocery store plays “Feliz Navidad” on repeat.  The first lady of Nicaragua ordered even more giant electric trees erected for the season, leading to intense media backlash and producing a magical effect akin to a Seussian dreamland.  If you walk down the main drag of Managua you’ll find a string of giant altars to the Virgin Mary.  Making no pretensions about separation of church and state, government departments compete to produce the most over-the-top display of affection towards Jesus’ mother.  This ranges from depictions of Mary nestled inside a crest of flowers, to Ninja Mary fighting a multi-headed dragon. It’s hard to imagine the Department of Finance in Canada putting on such a display.

Ninja Mary

This time of year causes me to reflect on why I became a volunteer in Nicaragua in the first place.  I want to make a difference in peoples’ lives.  How have I done that?  Over the past three months, I helped to develop and implement a monitoring and evaluation system that will allow Cuso International to track the impact of the poverty-reduction programs it supports.  Cuso International’s model is to send skilled volunteers to work in local NGOs as consultants who build capacity for sustained impact. I’ve had an opportunity to witness these impacts first-hand.

Take Ronald Anzoleaga, for example, a Bolivian economist who, since arriving in Nicaragua in May, has trained 161 female coffee producers in entrepreneurship skills: how to create a business plan, how to negotiate, and how to market a product to make it stand out from the competition.  By empowering women, he’s helping them develop a more secure economic footing.

Ronald with entrepreneurs in Esteli.

What about Andre, a soil scientist from Edmonton, who on his previous placement in Nicaragua worked with local scientists at an agricultural university to set-up a soil lab?  Back for a second placement, he’s conducting soil experiments to find ways to help farmers mitigate the effects of climate change in the dry corridor of Nicaragua.

And let’s not forget Jennifer, an eco-tourism specialist from Winnipeg.  Jennifer is working with members of a poor community in northern rural Nicaragua to develop an eco-tourism plan.  She is trying to help locals leverage stunning hiking trails, rivers and mountains by enhancing community organization and online promotion.  In doing so, she is creating new opportunities for an agricultural village plagued by three years of drought.

Jennifer speaking to community members in a Palmira town meeting.

By monitoring impacts in a way that is quantifiable and systematic, I’m helping to ensure that Cuso’s programs continue to receive funding, so that Ronald, Andre and Jennifer, among others, can keep empowering women and creating opportunities for poor communities. 

To ensure that Cuso volunteers can continue doing this important work, I need your help.  I am currently only $142 short of my fundraising goal of $2,000.  Please consider helping me to reach my target, by going to my fundraising page and clicking on the link to DONATE NOW.  Each dollar you donate is matched nine times by the Canadian government. That means when I attain my $2,000 goal, Cuso International will have $18,000 - enough to send another volunteer for a one-year placement. You will automatically be sent a tax receipt for all donations over $10 (keep in mind that the tax deadline is December 31^st). 

Thank you to everyone who has supported me in this work.  From the sweaty, electric tree-lined streets of Managua, Matt and I want to wish you and your families a very happy holiday!

Kate and Matt