Strategic Planning Workshop Transforms Dreams Into Skills

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Unity. Strength. Forward Movement. Love as a family. Love for God. Deep thankfulness. Hope for the future.

These are a few of the things CEPAD community leaders said they felt after a two-day workshop where they learned how to solidify their visions for their cooperatives and associations and spring forward into success.

Inocente Ramos Hernandez, the president of the community association for seven communities in the Matagalpa region, expressed his sincere thanks to the U.S. donors and friends who made the workshop possible with their donations to a special campaign in September. “Thank you so much for this gesture, we are so energized after these two days,” he said.

“It was an excellent opportunity to develop a plan we can implement,” Inocente said. “Our association focuses on training our associates in farming techniques and commercializing our products, and now we understand all the elements that will go into making that happen.”

Inocente believes ASOCAD will transform the seven communities in Matagalpa where CEPAD began work in 2009.

Inocente says ASOCAD will transform seven communities in Matagalpa where CEPAD began work in 2009.

With guidance from CEPAD staff, participants outlined goals, set mission statements and developed action plans that will allow their six community organizations to bring better financial opportunities to all 43 communities where CEPAD worked from 2009-2014. Read more

Communities Celebrate Five Fruitful Years

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At a celebration in San Francisco Libre, community leaders gave a gift of squash, corn, plantains and limes to CEPAD staff. It was a beautiful gesture from families who are facing a difficult crop year because of record drought. And the gift held even more meaning because they learned from CEPAD how to grow a diversity of produce that didn’t exist in their communities before 2009.

“CEPAD has taught us to fish for five years, and today they are entrusting us with the fishing rod,” said Jose Reyes, a community leader from San Benito Uno.

He and others said they are ready and excited to take what they learned from CEPAD and continue to strengthen their crops, families, and businesses. In their testimonies, community members shared the ways CEPAD had changed their lives. After five years, farmers were producing a greater diversity of foods and higher quality products. Danilo Espinoza, who worked with the youth leadership and family development program, said CEPAD gave him a new lease on life after an illness badly damaged his eyesight.

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With New Skills, El Ingenio Leaders Move Forward

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Polvazal, and all the new communities in the Jinotepe region, have the potential to achieve a lot with CEPAD, said Cesar Chavez, a community leader from El Ingenio, one of the communities finishing its time five years with CEPAD.

“If they are serious, responsible and grateful they will see amazing results like we did,” Cesar said. After five years with CEPAD, the community has learned new agricultural techniques, created new opportunities for youth and women and developed an organizational structure that will carry the community into the future, Cesar said.

The community development committee there has already made progress — they successfully petitioned the local government to improve the road that goes through the community to improve access to schools and jobs. The road has improved access to goods and means it will be easier to implement future infrastructure projects.

“We haven’t achieved everything we want, and we have learned a lot that will help us continue into the future,” he said. “The next project we want to work on is getting potable water, because the one well we have only serves a few houses.”

Cesar says his two-year-old daughter Ixa will have many more opportunities.

“The biggest feeling I have is thanks,” Cesar said. “CEPAD believed in us, and that’s been just the beginning of so many changes. Ixa will never know the kind of poverty I did.”

In Polvazal, Community Leaders Tackle Challenges

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Polvazal’s 42 families see every day as a new chance. They work the land, travel to the river for water and make sure their children attend school. The next five years CEPAD will accompany this community to help them harness their full potential.

Sonia Maria Esteban Gonzalez, a 33-year-old community leader and mother of three teenagers, uses tires as pots for different vegetables — but they are mostly empty this year. She says the community’s biggest challenges are adjusting their agricultural practices to account for increasingly dry years and developing a community organizational structure that will allow them to pursue big goals, like getting a better well in the community. Despite Polvazal’s many challenges, Sonia and others are optimistic.

“I have seen what has happened in the communities nearby, they have learned so much and life has improved a lot,” Sonia said. “I know that we can see similar progress here because people are ready to work hard and take it seriously.”

For the last five-year cycle ending this year, Polvazal was a control community in the Jinotepe region. CEPAD visited with leaders there regularly but didn’t implement programs directly. This made it possible to see the changes in communities working with CEPAD compared to those that weren’t. After the experience, Sonia and other community leaders are ready to get started and plan to look to leaders in nearby communities for advice.

“We appreciate CEPAD isn’t here just to help one person or bring supplies, it’s about working for the whole community and region,” Sonia said. “The communities in this area are friends and help each other.”

The community had no May harvest this year because of drought, and many people had weak September harvests because of continued water shortage and lack of seeds. The community is also concerned about deforestation, which CEPAD will help address by providing seedlings and training. CEPAD couldn’t be coming at a better time, Sonia said.

We need your help to carry out a critical training workshop, please give today!

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As CEPAD finishes its work in 43 rural communities around Nicaragua, we need your help today to carry out additional training for 6 rural community organizations on Developing a Strategic Plan. 36 community leaders, six from each community association or cooperative, will attend the workshop and then take what they learn back to their communities to help them plan for the needs of their community for years to come.

Knowing how to develop strategic plans will allow the communities to better prioritize their needs and advocate for their citizens. Your donations will provide transport, lodging, materials and staff support for the training. With your gift we can make this critical training happen in the next few months. Once we move into 2015 we will be moving into new communities so your contribution today is vital! We’ve created a crowdfunding campaign on Razoo for this project to make it easy to give and share the effort with your friends, family and fellow CEPAD fans.

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Community Leaders Collaborate To Plan Cooperatives

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“It’s because of CEPAD that we have come as far as we have, and it’s because of CEPAD that we’ll be able to continue on our own,” said Yalena Hernandez Serrano after a meeting at the Nehemias Center last week.

Yalena, from the Los Angeles community in Nueva Guinea, was one of 36 representatives from CEPAD’s partner communities who came to a two day workshop last week to learn how to navigate the forms and rules for creating an official association or cooperative. When the official partnership between CEPAD and these communities ends this year, the associations and cooperatives allow communities to Read more

Psychological and Social Program Gives Youth Room to Grow

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Kimberley Flores

Kimberley Flores

Laughter and the thwack of wood against papier machete fill the air in Bálsamo, a community near Matagalpa.During the last year, 15 youth in the community met twice a week through CEPAD’s psychological and social program to learn about the environment, practice public speaking, and develop interpersonal skills like leadership, patience and respect. Today, they celebrate with an end of year presentation and piñata.Kimberley Flores, a student in the program, said she felt a change in her self and the other students after completing the program.“The other kids used to make fun of me because I’m fat, but now we respect each other and I have more confidence,” Kimberley said.

She plays more and is healthier too, added her mom Caridad. The program encourages kids to eat nutritious food and play sports, and the psychological and social program leaders in many communities also organize baseball and soccer teams.

With your support, CEPAD works with more than 600 youth every year through its psychological and social program. Your donations and partnership make a huge difference in the lives of kids in Nicaragua who otherwise don’t have access to sports or other after school programming.

CEPAD’s psychological and social program aims to work with young people in communities who are at risk of drugs and alcohol abuse, physical abuse at home, low school achievement and other challenges. Older teens in the community lead the groups of 7- to 12-year-olds in twice-monthly workshops.

The teachers receive training from CEPAD staff on how to identify abuse and depression in children, how to teach values, and how to creatively engage children in activities related to themes like the environment.

“A lot of the kids used to be really shy, but now they will sing in front of the group or lead a prayer,” said Diana Hernandez, 16, who leads the group in Bálsamo.

The skills and knowledge students gain include concrete behaviors, like how to protect the environment by not littering, and broader concepts like leadership and optimism.

“Before, if I had a test in school I would always be pessimistic and not do well,” said Katherine Tatiana Luquez Gutierrez, 12. “Now I know how to have a good mind set and I do a lot better in school.”

We are so thankful for all supporters like you who make it possible for students including Katherine and Kimberley to become better students and leaders. Your pledge today will ensure we can continue to empower youth around Nicaragua!

CEPAD Fights Violence Through Education

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Half of Nicaraguan women experience violence at the hands of a husband, partner or family member. In CEPAD’s psychosocial program, we work directly with women to help them learn what their rights are and how to report abuse.The primary legislation against gender and family violence in Nicaragua is the Integral Law Against Violence Against Women, or Ley 779, which passed last year. This law expands on previous anti-violence laws and includes protections for physical, psychological and sexual abuse. This article provides a great history and summary of the law. This article provides great background in English on the history and details of the law.But for the legislation to affect women, they have to know about it. That’s where CEPAD comes in. We train women in our 43 partner on how to identify domestic violence and abuse and how to respond to it. Last week, CEPAD staff went to the Pantasma region of Jinotega and conducted a workshop with 13 women from seven communities about the law. Read more