El Tuma La Dalia (Matagalpa- NICARAGUA)

Educational

2015-2016

The creation of different reading points and the provision of the necessary materials for their operation. Among them, 9 rural schools with scarce resources have been provided with books and school materials, a reading point has been set up at the COMULACS cooperative headquarters, and a public library has been created in El Tuma.

COOPERATIVA AUGUSTO CESAR SANDINO (COMULACS), AND CECOCAFEN.

FUNDACIÓN LOGÍSTICA JUSTA, MUNICIPALIDAD EL TUMA LA DALIA, EL CIRCULO DE LECTORES, FUNDACIÓN CARES.

Terrassa City Council Alternativa3 NGO has been carrying out this project since 2009. It consists of providing grants to young people, 50% men and 50% women, from the rural communities of El Tuma- La Dalia (North of Nicaragua), to increase the literacy of the communities and to ensure that, in the future, thanks to this training, there will be technical workers in productive, educational and cultural activities. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Latin America and one of the most food insecure countries in the world. According to the UNDP's 2011 HDI data, 46.2% of the population lives in conditions of poverty, 11.2% live in extreme poverty, a percentage that increases in rural areas. The problems that this programme seeks to solve are:

• 9 rural schools with limited resources.
• We have created a public library in El Tuma, with the collaboration of the local NGO "books for children", with an agreement with the Municipality of El Tuma la Dalia to maintain a person hired to provide a full time service to the children.
• A reading corner in the Augusto Cesar Sandino cooperative and the Benjamín Zeledón Secondary School, with more university and technical books. These two corners are strategically located to link different rural areas.

The Logística Justa Foundation, together with the Círculo de Lectores, donated more than 3,000 books, but the project also included the purchase of Nicaraguan culture and reference books, such as encyclopaedias, technical books on agronomy, industrial mechanics and animal nutrition, among others. In addition, rural schools have been provided with school materials, and all of this has encouraged the habit of reading and motivation to study.

This project has led to a reading competition in the community, and a lot of interest from public institutions because of the good results obtained and the motivation and community strengthening it has generated.

This project included workshops on the good use of reading and gender equality, which were given by former graduates, strengthening the professional generational relay and giving an example to the younger ones of the options offered by study.

Education, access to culture, study grants and the improvement of educational conditions are all part of a process of improving the quality of life of the communities, always with a vision of gender equality to help improve the empowerment of women.

The school year begins in February and ends in November.
The number of scholarship holders to date.

El Tuma La Dalia (Matagalpa- NICARAGUA)

Educational

2010-present

The provision of scholarships for technical, secondary and university studies. Increasing literacy in the communities so that in the future, thanks to this training, there will be technical workers in productive, educational and cultural activities, which will help to improve their quality of life, in an autonomous manner, and at the same time promote generational change and reduce emigration.

COOPERATIVA AUGUSTO CESAR SANDINO (COMULACS), AND CECOCAFEN.

BON PREU SUPERMARKETS (FROM 2009-2011), CROWFUNDING.

Terrassa City Council.

Alternativa3 ngo has been carrying out this project since 2009, which consists of providing scholarships to young people, 50% men and 50% women, from the rural communities of El Tuma-La Dalia (North of Nicaragua), to increase literacy in the communities and to ensure that in the future, thanks to this training, there will be technical workers in productive, educational and cultural activities.

Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Latin America and one of the most food insecure countries in the world. According to the UNDP HDI 2011 data, 46.2% of the population lives in poverty, 11.2% lives in extreme poverty, a percentage that increases in rural areas.

The problems that this programme seeks to solve are:

• Technical and secondary schools for young people over the age of 18 operate on a distance or meeting basis. They are located in towns or cities. Students have to pay fees, transport and meals. The children of the producers are not able to pay the full cost.
• There is a high rate of illiteracy among adult cooperative members, and there is a risk that their children, who have only primary schooling, will join them.
• Many of the children drop out of secondary school, technical and university courses due to lack of resources.

CECOCAFEN's BECAS programme was born as a result of a diagnosis carried out on the educational levels in the area. The result indicated that the average level of schooling is second grade of primary school for 60% of those surveyed, and the remaining 40% could neither read nor write. It concluded with a negative development index.

For scholarships, the following will be considered:

• The economic situation of the family.
• The number of children studying in the family.
• Scholarship one student per family per year.
• The geographical location of the pupil.
• Academic performance history is taken into account

The scholarships are for secondary school, technical studies and university studies. The amount covers the costs of transport, school materials, food and the cost of transport.

• University students: 250€.
• Technical level: 150€.
• Secondary: €100

Acceptance of the scholarship means that the scholarship holder will do 100% of work in the community, which they can choose where they do it (collaboration in community literacy, organisation of events, collaborating in the cooperative...). The aim of this is to foster a sense of belonging to the community, and to encourage generational change rather than emigration once they have finished their studies. The results are already evident, with farmers trained in agronomy, public personnel with studies working on social issues...

The school year starts in February and ends in November.

Number of scholarship holders to date.

El Tuma La Dalia (Matagalpa - NICARAGUA).

Educational

2012 – 2015

The creation of a computer classroom to give young people in the community access to new technologies.

COOPERATIVA AUGUSTO CESAR SANDINO (COMULACS), AND CECOCAFEN.

INATEC (National Institute that regulates technology studies), MINED (Ministry of Education), Municipality El Tuma La Dalia.

Terrassa City Council.

During the follow-up visit of the scholarship project, the young people asked us for a computer classroom, in order to be trained in new technologies and to have better access to the world of work. The total lack of knowledge in the use of computers limited their access to jobs, as well as their access to certain university studies.

In 2012 we started the project, initially with a rented room, and then the municipality gave us a classroom in the Tuma educational centre, a central location to provide good access to the young people. The photocopier could not be installed in this room, as the electrical system was very unstable. The idea of the photocopier was to be able to provide a service to raise money for the maintenance of the computer room.

At the end of 2013, an agreement was reached with the Municipality of El Tuma La Dalia to work together with the local organisation COMULACS and CECOCAFEN in the creation of a commission to study requests for computer courses and to provide a classroom in the Benajmin Zeledon secondary school, where the computer classroom could be installed. In addition, an agreement was signed with INATEC (National Institute that regulates technology studies) and MINED (Ministry of Education), where they took charge of the teaching staff, extending shifts from 1 to 5, adding English classes and opening a university degree in computer science.

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Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica.

Educational

2011 – 2012

The creation of a computer room to give children access to new technologies.

COOPEAGRI (COSTA RICA).

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ACCD and ACJ.

There is a major concern within Coopeagri's analysis related to generational renewal: statistics show a growth in membership, but with an average age of 48 years.

There is also an important problem in Costa Rica and in Pérez Zeledón related to land and its use for agricultural activities. Land that parents give as inheritance to their children is increasingly sold to foreigners who show no interest in continuing agricultural activities.

The mission of the "Leaders of the Future" programme is to train the future heirs of the cooperative: to try to ensure that the new generations see agriculture as a development option for their families.

"Leaders of the Future" is aimed at children aged 0-18 years. Most of them come from rural areas where coffee and sugar cane are produced. These families have agricultural activities as their only source of income, but with a very low production volume, which means that their basic needs are not covered.

The learning methodology is constructivist: children and young people learn cooperativism by participating in a real experience.

They work on values such as: leadership, loyalty, friendship, discipline, entrepreneurship, creativity, self-improvement, integration, love of family, community and nature. They also provide knowledge of social economy, environment, agriculture, languages, computers and art.

As technology and information are nowadays the key tools, "Líderes del Futuro" has included computer science and the Internet as priority topics in its training programmes and the Internet as priority topics. For this reason we have created this project, with the aim of generating a new generation of associates, with a link to the land and agriculture, but equipped with the tools to improve their quality of life.

Municipality of Saisama, Colombia.

Rural community development.

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The aim of the project was to purchase 10 cows to promote rural community development.

Zuá Foundation.

Bon Preu (2010-2013).

Fair trade consumers.

Alternativa3 collaborated with Fundación Zuá to raise the money needed to buy 10 cows for the 'Los Senderos' Rural Study Centre, located in the municipality of Sasaima, Colombia.

There, several families from Fundación Zuá have decided to leave the suburbs of Bogotá and form a self-sustainable rural community. Their livelihood comes entirely from the produce grown on the farm, from incipient livestock activities and from raising chickens and selling them on the local market.

In October 2007, this community had only one cow, Silvana, which did not provide enough milk to feed all the families. Milk is an essential part of their diet, one of their scarce sources of protein. Now everyone can drink milk daily and they have started making yoghurt and cheese.

In addition, they have started to use solid and liquid waste to produce compost and fertilisers, making vermicompost that they use to improve pastures and to fertilise crops.

Our target was to get 10 cows and in January 2013 we achieved it!
In fact, more were obtained, as many bred.
All illustrations in the campaign are by Daniela Violi.
Strengthening the capacities of women and young people at risk of social exclusion for the promotion of empowerment and the improvement of their living conditions.

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El Guapotal region, municipality of Tuma La Dalia (Nicaragua).

Rural community development.

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Promoting the empowerment of the women's and young people's collective in the rural community of El Tuma La Dalia.

Augusto Cesar Sandino Cooperative COMULACS.

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Terrassa City Council.

The project aims to carry out a process of capacity building for members at risk of social exclusion, mainly women and young people, in order to promote their empowerment and contribute to the sustainable human development of the community.

The means to achieve this will be, on the one hand, a series of trainings and trainings that will allow us to increase the future opportunities for this group. In addition, there will be specific training and awareness-raising activities on gender equality, not only for women, but also for men and families.

On the other hand, the project will include a participatory diagnosis, which will be carried out by the beneficiaries themselves, tutored by a technical promoter in gender and participatory methodologies. The objective of this is to analyse their situation, their needs and the best way, within their possibilities, to address them.

With this diagnosis we promote the choice of a local activity that gives excluded groups access to productive resources, fostering economic independence and equal opportunities.

Local bodies support the project and the regional Ministry of Family Economy has provided technical support as well as productive materials for the productive activity to be developed.

Also included in the project is an item to continue providing scholarships for young people in the community.

Project beneficiaries
The training will be offered to women and young people from the 80 families of the Augusto Cesar Sandino Cooperative. The people who will form the training groups will be the same people who will develop the participatory diagnosis.

The Gender Committee of the Augusto Cesar Sandino Cooperative as well as the board of directors of the cooperative have been involved from the beginning.

Sensitisation on gender equality will be given to women, men and youth of the co-operative. The promoters and trainers will carry out these sensitisation activities in the different parts of the community.

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