Nicaragua: Acahualinca Community Library

Location

Acahualinca is neighborhood that a tourist is very likely never to visit. It is a section of Managua located on the edge of contaminated Lake Managua and home to the city dump. And this is no ordinary city dump; it is home to a community of extremely poor Nicaraguans who sift through the garage to find items of value that they can sell to make money. It’s hard to keep children in school here since the families or single parent need the children to work in order to provide the basic necessities they need.

While a visit to this area is a very sobering and sad experience, there is hope coming out of Acahualinca. There are many from within Nicaragua and from other countries trying to change the way of life here. One of these places is the Acahualinca Community Library. The library is located on the grounds of a preschool and is open to the community.

A visit to the Acahualinca Community Library will bring a smile to your face. Children, teens, and young adults fill the small one-room library. Elementary and high schools students are finishing homework while others are simply enjoying a good book; a way they can escape from the harsh reality they live in.

Educating the children and youth in Acahualinca today will give them and their families a hopeful future. They will become employable adults and be able to contribute positively to society. The will be able to escape the difficult cycle of poverty they are currently stuck in. The Community Library is helping to educate the future generations of Acahualinca. With your assistance this library could change the direction of so many lives. Your financial gifts will assist the library in providing the following education resources that are needed so much in this community:

Books for all ages

Computers

Internet

Education games/puzzles

Toys

Art and craft supplies

Imagine you never had the chance to receive an education and no one to help you. Or that you only were able to finish the 6th grade. How would you get a job? How would you provide for your family? How would you give your children the future you had always dreamed of? The gift of an education is a gift that resonates through generations.