Community Development:
NICARAGUA

Country Profile

Colonized by Spain in the sixteenth century, Nicaragua declared its independence in 1821. The Sandinista revolution in 1979 touched many aspects of Nicaraguan society. Land reform, health, and education advances were made. The left-leaning tendencies of the Sandinistas during the Cold War polarized them toward the Soviet Union and Cuba and alienated Nicaragua from the United States. In the early 1980s, the United States financed and backed a rebel movement against the Sandinistas from bases in Honduras. Known as "Contras"--the conflict sparked ten years of civil war for the country. Steps toward democracy have been taken, but the process has been slow, with the political pendulum swinging between socialist and conservative forces. Nicaragua also is vulnerable to natural disasters, in 1998 Hurricane Mitch caused significant damage. Nicaragua once again made international news when Hurricane Felix, with its category 5 fury, barreled into Nicaragua in September, severely impacting several provincial towns and hundreds of rural communities.

CRWRC has been working in Nicaragua since 1973. Today, CRWC works with five national Christian partner agencies. A primary focus is the continued development of the Nehemiah Center impacting numerous churches, businesses, Christian schools, and communities through intensive leadership training and networking. CRWRC also works along side Partners Worldwide trying to connect the CRC constituency through the Lawyer-to--lawyer and Farmer-to-Farmer program.

Fast Facts

Population: 5,891,199 (July 2009 est.)
Area Comparative: slightly smaller than the state of New York
Literacy Rate: 67.5%
Life Expectancy: 71.5 years
Population below the poverty line: 48% (2005)
Gross Domestic Product per capita: $2,900 (2008 est.)
Religions: Roman Catholic 72.9%, Evangelical 15.1%, Moravian 1.5%, Episcopal 0.1%, other 1.9%, none 8.5% (1995 census)
Languages: Spanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census)

note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast

(From the World Factbook. CLICK HERE for more information on Nicaragua)

Partners in Nicaragua

YMCA of Nicaragua (ACJ)
ACJ is a Christian organization whose mission is to organize youth to come alongside community leaders and make a difference in poor communities. ACJ is working 6 communities in the central part of Nicaragua. ACJ’s specialty is promoting community health and sustainable agricultural techniques.

Christian Medical Action (AMC)
AMC is a group of Christian medical professionals that work in poor communities to improve the health of women, children, and adolescents. AMC currently is working with CRWRC in eight communities in the central part of Nicaragua and 10 communities on the Atlantic coast. AMC’s specialty is promoting community health and sustainable agricultural techniques. AMC also puts a lot of emphasis on promoting human rights and in particular, training communities to participate in Municipal affairs. In the Atlantic region we are working with AMC in in rehabilitating communities that were affected by Hurricane Felix in September 2007.

Christian Center for Human Rights (CCDH)
CCDH is an organization of volunteer lawyers who promote and protect Nicaraguan human rights. This is done primarily through civic education and public advocacy. CCDH has set up a network of ‘houses of justices’ throughout Nicaragua that serve the communities by providing legal advice and mediation at low cost.

Nehemiah Center
The Nehemiah Center’s seeks to teach people how to integrate a Biblical worldview into every area of life. It does this by promoting Christian individuals, families, schools, churches, businesses, and governments to work together and share a common vision. The Nehemiah Center provides training to church leaders, teachers, business people, and community leaders from five clusters of communities. As a result local churches are growing and reaching out to their communities, and community leaders are taking responsibility for community problems and progressively resolving them.

Staff in Nicaragua

Mark Vander Wees
The Vanderwees family has been serving with CRWRC since 1991, the first eleven years in Haiti. Then, in 2003, they joined the Nicaragua field. Originally from Canada, they enjoy living cross culturally. All three children: Jesse (1992), Lisa (1995) and Kaitlyn (1998) were born in Haiti. Mark thrives on being part of a dynamic country team. He has a background in agriculture and management. Nancy is a trained occupational therapist who is currently volunteering part-time with a local rehabilitation center in Managua, while balancing her work with three active kids at home.

EMAIL: crwrcnic@ibw.com.ni