Santa Matilde Community Library

The Santa Matilde Community Library now sits it a building that began as a sewing school. Five years ago a U.S. based organization called Amigos for Christ opened the doors to this library.  They started out with only a few books, but now the library has a collection of 1500. Like many libraries in Nicaragua, a great majority of students rely on the textbooks here to complete their homework assignments. Most don’t own their own books.

The library also has a scholarship program in which they send community teens to college. The young men and women in turn complete community work such as cleaning and watering the park surrounding the library. Jessy Hernandez is a 22 year old on a scholarship who does community service every week.

            “I come to find information. I study civil engineering, so I find books with information on everything I need. I see kids come in and learn about the environment, so that they want to take care of it.”

Currently the library is involving the community in activities such as book reading, story telling, and acting. These are some of the library needs:

Books

Computers

Furniture

Internet

The community of Santa Matilde was formed in 1998 after hurricane Mitch struck. The first inhabitants were the hurricane victims who had lost their homes and families after the total destruction of their town, Posoltega, in a giant land slide. Families living at the Chinandega city dump were also given homes in the community. A local Priest, Father Marcos Desi, was the initiator of this project and handed it over to Amigos for Christ in 2001.  Unfortunately, Santa Matilde is currently in extreme poverty.