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== Project Details ==
== Project Details ==
Morrito, Nicaragua is the third poorest municipality of the second poorest country in the Americas and 34% of the population lives in extreme poverty at less than 1$ per day.
BRIDGE Nicaragua is a group formed by students from San Francisco State University who are working with local Nicaraguan communities in an effort to improve infrastructure and quality of life. We are currently working on a project in the small fishing community of Morrito, Nicaragua.


Volunteers for BRIDGE Nicaragua (Building Resources in International Development for Global Equality), hosted by the local judge visited the community in August of 2008 after members of the community requested a library be constructed.  Morritians live in conditions which restrict their options for personal advancement in life, and BRIDGE Nicaragua seeks to expand their options and empower them.  There is no better way to do that than to expand access to information, education, and job skills with a library and computer center.
Morrito is the third poorest municipality of the second poorest country in the Americas. 34% of the population lives in extreme poverty at less than $1 per day.


BRIDGE Nicaragua is a group of students and faculty from San Francisco State University who have grown tired of the status quo and the increasing divide between rich and poor.  Thousands die daily of treatable diseases and malnutrition.  We recognize that the only way to create positive change is to take action.  We have chosen this project after careful consideration of where the problems lay both geographically and systematically and where our skills can be best leveraged to create the change we seek.   In early April, 2008, community leaders met with several teachers to prioritize needs in Morrito and decided that a library was the highest priority. BRIDGE Nicaragua volunteers decided on this project after a survey trip in August of 2008.  A second trip to finalize construction details will be made in January 2009 and construction will begin in July of 2009 if sufficient funds can be raised.
Volunteers for BRIDGE Nicaragua first became involved with the town of Morrito after being informed by a local contact of the underdevelopment in the community. In April 2008, local Mayor Eda Medina and Judge Juan Sandino, along with other community leaders, met and decided a new library and computer center was of the highest priority. This would allow for access to information, education, and job skills at the moment inaccessible in Morrito.
   
   
BRIDGE Nicaragua is working with several organizations on this project.  The International Humanities Center is providing us with fiscal sponsorship.  The Hester J Hodgdon Libraries for All Program will help us obtain our initial collection of books, along with development of the initial library policies.
Figure 2: Typical Construction in Morrito
The structure will be designed by San Francisco State University Engineering Students and placed on the site of the largest elementary school in the municipality. After construction, the structure, books and computers will be a gift to the local Ministry of Education (MINED) who has agreed to provide a librarian, maintenance, and monthly power costs for the structure.  The library will provide materials to the entire community.


These books and computers will empower Morritans by teaching them valuable job skills and giving them access to a wide variety of information both in the books and in digital archives stored on the computers. The only current library in Morrito is 30 years old and is composed of only 50 children’s books in a community of 7000 people.
In August 2008, a small group of BRIDGE Nicaragua volunteers made our first trip to Morrito in order to meet with the community and make preliminary plans for the project. After raising some funds, we returned in January 2009 and donated laptops, books, and other materials requested by the community. We were also able to finalize details on the library and computer center as well as perform health surveys and hand out health packs to families.


But as always, these things require money and that is the purpose of this pledge request.  We are requesting pledges in the hopes of protecting our donors and ultimately receiving more donations.  We acknowledge that there is always a chance that something unforeseen will occur and the library will fail to be completed which is why we have opted to construct the library from our own funds.  This takes the risk off of donors in the event that the project fails, the donors don’t have to feel that their funds were wasted.
At this point in time we are in dire need of funding for this project as well as future projects we are in the process of planning. If you are interested in donating to our cause or would just like more information about BRIDGE Nicaragua, please leave a message on the talk page.
 
BRIDGE Nicaragua will also complete a minor project during the trip this January. This project will be entirely community guided, and an opportunity for BRIDGE Volunteers to develop closer ties with Morrito.  It will be determined in a community meeting this January. If you are interested in making a donation to this effort, please contact us at bridge.nica@gmail.com.
 
To maximize the efficiency of the $12,000 needed to construct this library, all volunteers, both American and Nicaraguan are entirely unpaid and responsible for their own travel and lodging expenses. The exceptions to this are the project foreman and translator, both Nicaraguan employees getting paid $20/day.  Also, 5% of all tax deductible donations go to cover the International Humanities Center’s costs as fiscal sponsors for this project. 
 
If you have questions or comments, please call David Reber (415-889-3863) or Kristine Low (415-503-8884). Please visit us on our website at bridgenicaragua.org.  We are a very open organization always looking for people to join us and help out where they can.


== Donate ==
== Donate ==

Revision as of 17:21, 19 March 2009

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Fig 1: Volunteers helping with the construction of a medical clinic in Amaya
Fig 2: Students walking home from the school which will manage the completed library
Fig 3: Typical home construction in Morrito
Fig 4: Lacking running water, Morritans use these structures for bathing and washing cloths
Fig 5: Fishing Lake Nicaragua from the port of Morrito

Our first project as BRIDGE Nicaragua is the construction of a 18'x30' library and computer center for Morrito Nicaragua which grew out of our first trip.

Project Details

BRIDGE Nicaragua is a group formed by students from San Francisco State University who are working with local Nicaraguan communities in an effort to improve infrastructure and quality of life. We are currently working on a project in the small fishing community of Morrito, Nicaragua.

Morrito is the third poorest municipality of the second poorest country in the Americas. 34% of the population lives in extreme poverty at less than $1 per day.

Volunteers for BRIDGE Nicaragua first became involved with the town of Morrito after being informed by a local contact of the underdevelopment in the community. In April 2008, local Mayor Eda Medina and Judge Juan Sandino, along with other community leaders, met and decided a new library and computer center was of the highest priority. This would allow for access to information, education, and job skills at the moment inaccessible in Morrito.

Figure 2: Typical Construction in Morrito

In August 2008, a small group of BRIDGE Nicaragua volunteers made our first trip to Morrito in order to meet with the community and make preliminary plans for the project. After raising some funds, we returned in January 2009 and donated laptops, books, and other materials requested by the community. We were also able to finalize details on the library and computer center as well as perform health surveys and hand out health packs to families.

At this point in time we are in dire need of funding for this project as well as future projects we are in the process of planning. If you are interested in donating to our cause or would just like more information about BRIDGE Nicaragua, please leave a message on the talk page.

To donate, please click here

BRIDGE Nicaragua is a project of International Humanities Center, a nonprofit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code. All donations are tax deductible.

Please note that BRIDGE Nicaragua is an independent organization of Appropedia. To donate to Appropedia, please go here. Thanks Appropedia for allowing us to use your webspace and creating this wonderful community of people who are making the world a better place.

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