The primary feeling that stays with me from my first visits to La Chureca was that children should not live like this – living among rotting rubbish, smoke-filled air and polluted water is life threatening. Much has changed since I first stepped foot in that community in 2007, but the reality remains that families are fighting an uphill battle to make ends meet and secure a better future for their children. So little can go so far here to make a difference in the lives of these youth.

I decided to create Nica HOPE –an education and vocational training program– because I believed that if people knew, they would care. I had faith that if the extent of the need was understood by those with resources, then they would be willing to give. It’s often hard to know how to give to make a difference in the lives of those who most need it, but provided the knowledge and the means to help, I believe that the goodness in people’s hearts will lead them to contribute where it is so clearly needed.

The decision to stay involved wasn’t a choice for me. Knowing so many from this community, I couldn’t turn away. Building ways to contribute from afar, and for others to do so, was the natural continuation of the work I started in Nicaragua…It’s important to connect to the lives you are aiming to impact, to the real stories of students and families these programs are aiming to help.

In 2008, Deanna Ford founded the Nica HOPE Project in the Managua municipal trash dump, La Chureca, Acahualinca, as an education and vocational training program to enable children and youth to receive an education while providing alternative sources of income and skills training. For two years, Deanna lived and breathed Nica HOPE, nurturing the project’s growth from an idea to a developed set of programs that supported hundreds of youth in La Chureca.

After Deanna left Nicaragua, the Nica HOPE Project became part of Fabretto’s Education Center in Acahualinca, yet she remains deeply involved with the project and now serves on the Fabretto Children’s Foundation Board of Directors. 

On #GivingTuesday – the global day to give back – join Fabretto to support Nicaraguan underserved children through education. Donate and honor a loved one today. You will receive a hand made pine-needle ornament made in rural Nicaragua.

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