Compassion’s ministry in Nicaragua began in 2002 with the Child Sponsorship Program. Currently, nearly 50,000 children participate in 166 child development centers throughout the country.
With its diverse ecology and tropical climate, Nicaragua is a popular tourist destination. Nearly 20 percent of its land is ecologically protected, and it’s home to 23 private nature reserves. Yet, in the midst of its natural beauty, Nicaragua is also a country of extreme poverty. From a lack of quality education and affordable health care, to unemployment and natural disasters, this Central American country faces many challenges.
Nicaragua is a primarily agricultural country, and many of its rural residents earn a modest income growing corn or peanuts. Others work along the country’s 565+ miles of coast as fishermen. Most rural towns don’t have supermarkets, just small shops and street vendors. People travel to nearby cities to buy fresh vegetables, like cabbage and tomatoes, which women use to prepare traditional meals with eggs or meat, beans and rice, tortillas and fruit.
In urban settings, such as the capital city of Managua, there are blackouts, water shortages, high-energy prices and overcrowding. Lake Managua, which borders Managua, is so polluted that swimming in it has been prohibited. It is along this lakeshore that the poorest families live.
Throughout the country, one in four children is not in school, because families can’t afford the required uniforms and supplies. In rural areas, it is not uncommon for children to walk four miles to schools that lack supplies, chairs and even roofs. In urban areas, some classrooms are packed with as many as 50 students.
Compounding Nicaragua’s other challenges in is the country’s propensity to natural disasters: earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, droughts and floods. Managua is still recovering from two major earthquakes — one in 1931 and the other in 1972 — as well as from Hurricane Mitch in 1998, a civil war in the 1970s and ongoing political instability. The annual rainy season causes less extreme, but equally impactful, disasters in the form of fl ooding. In rural towns, unpaved roads to mud, making transportation diffi cult, and in the cities, stagnant water causes respiratory infections and skin diseases. Other common health problems include hepatitis A, malaria and leptospirosis.
Source: www.cia.gov
Quick Facts
- Nicaragua has the largest land area of all the countries in Central America.
- Nicaragua is the second-poorest nation in the region, after Haiti.
- Over 20 percent of Nicaraguan children experience growth stunting, an often irreversible condition resulting from chronic malnutrition during early childhood.
- 40 percent of Nicaraguan girls are married by the age of 18.