September Nicaragua Appeal

In September we combine the monthly charity with the annual Harvest Appeal, and this year we are supporting the Congregational Federation’s work, with Christian Aid, to help projects in Nicaragua.
Nicaragua is approximately the same size as England and is in Central America, between Honduras and Costa Rica. It has a population of almost 6 million people, a quarter of them living in the capital city Managua.

The country, which lies within the tropics, is regularly hit by hurricanes and tropical storms that sweep across the Atlantic each year. The destruction these cause have held back the country’s economic development. Nicaragua’s problems have been made worse by its turbulent recent history.
Following many years of military dictatorship, a revolution in 1979 and a counter revolution in the 1980s left the country’s infrastructure ruined and its people desperately poor. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere after Haiti: 80 per cent of the population live on less than US$2 per day.



Christian Aid in Nicaragua
The country faces two key challenges that Christian Aid and its partners are seeking to tackle.
Climate change: Nicaragua is one of the three countries in the world worst affected by weather catastrophes, and the United Nations has warned that storms here will only get worse.

Economic justice: in Nicaragua, 80% of urban jobs are in small companies, and 90% of rural businesses are linked to small, family-run farms. One of the biggest challenges for small producers is being able to reach a market where they can sell their products. With limited access to transport, little bargaining power and no marketing or sales expertise, many struggle to earn a living.

Christian Aid works with three main partner organisations in Nicaragua. Our gifts will be funding the overall Nicaragua country programme.

This summary is taken from the Congregational Federation’s website. If you are able to access it yourself you will find details of individual projects, and I am sure we will be sharing more details in church during this month.
Mary Michael