One of the key projects that we sponsor in Nicaragua with our volunteers is the Villa Esperanza house building project in the local community where we stay. From 2015 to 2017 we are one of a group of charities working together to fund and build 170 homes, helping to relocate and offer stability to a displaced community.
Why is this so important?
The community lives on the North West shore line of Nicaragua, while this provides the community with a career and a future of fishing for their families and community, they face coastal erosion and flooding year on year.
During our 2015 visit we saw a road that we used to travel on each day, crumble into the ocean. The issue of coastal erosion does not just affect the roads in and out of the village, each year we see more and more homes disappear into the ocean.
The homes built are a mile inland, and offer a place for every family in the community to live, centralising commerce, trade and community. They are built out of bricks and concrete, offering a solid defence against the elements in monsoon season, and a place of stability for generations to come.
As with any humanitarian work carried out by volunteers, it is important that everything is done to compliment and work with the community, providing a sustainable impact, long after the volunteers have left.
Below are the three main reasons why the house building project will have a real lasting impact in the community:
- We work alongside the community, assisting to build their homes – From the very first moment that you pick up a shovel as a volunteer you realise that you are there to assist and support the community. By working side by side with families that will be moving into the homes, you hear of their stories and experiences, and learn from the skills and talents that they have.
2. Every family has to give 40 hours a week to receive a home – As is often the case, charities seek to help communities by working as hard as they can for the limited amount of time that they are present before they leave. Having done everything for the community, it often creates a welfare mentality in the communities receiving aid. The house building project has ensured that this is not the case by placing responsibility and ownership upon the families of the community. As volunteers we are there to support the locals in their efforts.
3. Each house is sustainably built for this and future generations – Each house that is built is free from the risk of flooding and coastal erosion. The project has also been supported by the Nicaraguan government, with a Nicaraguan architect brought in to ensure that the homes and community are built to the highest specification.
We are proud to sponsor such an important project in Nicaragua, that will have a real and lasting impact for generations to come.
In recent months dōTERRA Healing Hands has come on board to help raise funds for the project, offering to match fund any donations up until 31st May 2016. The funds raised will go directly towards providing a family with a home to call their own, and make a sustainable impact in Nicaragua.
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