Jamie McCaughey and Emma Hill visited our barrio outside of Granada, Nicaragua in December last year and found it to be an incredibly memorable experience. They have since been volunteering with Empowerment International and create regular newsletters for us . Here they describe their experience in detail:
“We visited Granada recently and were moved by touring the barrio and meeting the children and their families. The city changes slowly, bit by bit, as you walk out from the center toward the edge.
On the surface, colonial buildings give way to more modern but good concrete homes; then solid wood and metal homes; then salvaged wood and scrap metal homes; and finally homes made of the most basic materials. By the time we reached the edge of town, we watched a beautiful sunset in a field behind a house made of sticks and plastic sheets. Read more…
Breaking down the Familial Barriers
Often, due to poverty, lack of education or lack of time parents or guardians become barriers to continued education. In spite of having their kids’ best interests in mind, families fail to prioritize education for better future. EI recognizes this and helps families in relevant ways.
A typical home setting in the barrio
Most of the families EI works with have an income of less than $250/month. Lack of adequate funding is a major issue for education of the kids and EI helps these families overcome this barrier by providing books, school supplies, uniforms, and shoes to children to allow them to attend pre-existing schools.
This helps children who have never been able to afford school to attend.
Because of their low income, families often can’t afford medical care. This prevents children from attending school, as they are out sick more regularly than other children.
Saying no to drugs and violence – how EI helps
Although Nicaragua itself does not produce drugs, because of its location – sandwiched in the middle of the drug trade – the country still feels significant influence from drugs. Nicaragua is a major transit country for drugs coming from South America on their way to the U.S, including routes along both coasts and the Pan American highway.
Drugs are particularly an issue among young people in the country, with an estimated 5.1% of male high school students smoking crack, 10.5% smoking marijuana, and 5.7% sniffing glue [1].
Along with drugs, Nicaragua and its youth also face a culture of violence. Many weapons from the armed conflicts of the 1980s remain in circulation, while youth gangs have become increasingly violent and have started recruiting younger members. The average age for youth gangs in Nicaragua dropped from between 18 to 25 years old in 1999 to between 15 and 18 years old in 2006. Read more…
Kids on why they love photography
Here is what the kids who are into our photography program and who had their photos exhibited in the Photo Exhibition at a gallery in San Juan del Sur have to say about photography. (You can learn more about Joseline, one of EI’s earliest students, who also participated in the exhibition here.
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Elvis Alfredo Arroliga is 16 years old and this is what the 7th grader has to say :
“I have 2 years of photography experience thanks to the Foundation (Empowerment International.)
I like to focus on people with limited resources and children with drug problems. I love taking pictures because I discover things that I did not know before. I thank the Foundation for the support and love that it have given me.”
Leslia Mendoza, another student from EI says, “I like the photography classes because I learn how to handle the camera. I also learn how to delete the photos that do not come out well! Also, I liked the time when EI took us to the park, to the Malacos in the Fortin neighborhood, to visit the schools, and other places in order to capture them through photos. I am very grateful for that opportunity.”
Expressing people’s feelings through photography – Joseline
We bring to you the life stories of the 8 participants of EI whose photos were selected for the exhibition ‘Mi Camera Mi Mundo’ held in an exclusive gallery in San Juan del sur. Click here to see the photos shown in the exhibition.
One of the most dedicated students of EI is 14 years old Joseline who is also one of the first participants in 
EI’s program. For the past 5 years Joseline has been living in an extremely poor neighborhood close to Villa Esperanza where EI works. In these neighborhoods the families have very limited resources, and the possibilities of a child to going to school are about 5%. The working fathers in these families are paid barely enough to buy food for the basic daily meals. Most of the children help their fathers by working along with them.
Here Joseline describes how she learned about EI and the impact the organization had on her and her family:
“In 2004 a person came to my neighborhood looking for my father, Horacio. This person and my father chatted for a while. After that, my father introduced my Mom, my sister, and me to this visitor. This person came over to my house because she wanted to start a project to help the poor families of the neighborhood. Her name was Kathy Ann Adams. Since then, Kathy has been working with my Dad. Read more…
