Funding project 2020 underway!

Friends, we have begun fundraising for our 2020 trip to Nicaragua. Here is our message to supporters:

Eleven years ago, Vecinos of Leon was begun as part of Adelante, a larger nonprofit founded by Mateo Garibaldi, who is now one of our board members,that provided educational services in the city of Leon, Nicaragua. We began by providing school supplies to small rural schools in the countryside around Leon, with a goal of helping farm children get through the 6th grade. Most farm kids still don’t get that far, but those that do can go on to further education, and also have the basic math and writing skills it takes to run a small business or help their families succeed.

Today, Vecinos of Leon is a stand alone non-profit, consisting of five American board members and 14 Nicaraguan volunteers. Each year we provide school supplies for all the children in five impoverished farm communities. We also provide teaching supplies to the teachers, dental care to children and families in need, veterinary treatments for the local farm animals, and small repairs for school buildings and equipment. We know that the decision about whether to allow a child to stay in school depends a lot on the health and economic strength of the family, and we are committed to helping in the ways that Nicaraguans tell us will do the most good.

We take great pride in the fact that our project is guided by Nicaraguan people. Our team leaders, Crispin and Maverick, coordinate with the school district every year to identify struggling communities and to learn their needs. Our dentists and veterinarians are all Nicaraguan as well. We simply make it financially possible for Nicaraguan people to provide assistance to their fellow citizens, in the ways that they know best will help lift them out of poverty.

With your support, we can help our neighbors to the south achieve their goals for their children. Rural schools often consist of small cinder block buildings with little electricity, no indoor plumbing, and no technology of any kind, long distances down dirt roads from the nearest dentist or vet. It is possible to get a good basic education under those circumstances, but only if the kids can go. We help make that possible.

Fortunately, it costs little to help. Just nine dollars supplies a child with a year’s worth of school supplies. It costs about four dollars to supply dental care to a patient. It costs less than a dollar to give vitamin and anti-parasite treatments to a cow, horse or pig, which helps keep water clean and families and animals healthy. Every dollar of your donation goes directly to the cost of supplying these services in Nicaragua. We pay our own travel expenses, and we are all volunteers.

Please find us on facebook at www.facebook.com/vecinosofleon, read more about our story, see pictures of the people we assist, and touch a child’s life.