Explore Our Projects

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 garbage 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.

The Batahola Cultural Center began in 1983 as an oasis of transformation.  It offers programs for kids and youth to instill interest in literacy and the arts.  Adult classes, often attended by single mothers, focus on leadership training and other skills: cooking, crafts, accounting, cashier training, and computing.

Chiquilistagua is a rural community on the edge of Managua.  A missionary family from the United States is constructing a community center which provides educational resources as well as sports activities to keep kids off of the streets and out of gangs.

“Sweet as sweetest Grecian honey will my song be when I sing, O Beloved, in the season of the Spring!”  So wrote the Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario, born in this city named in his honor.  Like Dario’s poetry, the Dario Public Library is an inspirational resource for children and adults alike.  Mr. Benvenido, a local farmer, used the library to learn how to increase the number of hens he could raise and provide income for his family.

Diriamba Public Library has been a great resource to the citizens of this coffee-growing town for many years.  Francisco Javier Mendieta, a volunteer at the library in his 70s, has received many literary awards, and attributes his success to the help books have given him.