Emprendedora High School
Born and raised in the community of Guapinol, Diriomo, Darling lives only a few minutes away from Emprendedora Technical High School. At age 16, she is in her fifth and final year at Emprendedora. Of her 7 siblings, she is the youngest and the only one to attend a private school. Her favorite classes are physics, chemistry, and math, but she says English classes are the most engaging. Darling talked at length about how excellent the teachers are at Emprendedora, both academically and personally. She stated that they are willing to go above and beyond to find the best ways to adjust classes for her and her peers to understand the material. She also likes that there is such an emphasis on a learn-by-doing method and feels this is preparing her well for her future career.
It’s an excellent high school that helps so much in the formation of our values. They help us learn how to express ourselves. They have also implemented classes that other schools don’t offer, such as computer classes, advanced English classes, and the technical courses in agriculture and tourism.”
After graduating in December, Darling plans to go to a university to study agricultural engineering. Since starting the agriculture technical track at Emprendedora, Darling says she has learned different farming techniques that are not used by her family. She now has specific strategies to help protect the crops from disease and maximize their yield. Her dream is to have her own fully functioning organic farm one day. While Darling admits Emprendedora requires a lot of work, she emphasizes how the care shown by the teachers and the high level of education is invaluable. She appreciates how her time at Emprendedora has prepared her for the future. With her technical degree in agriculture, Darling feels prepared to continue her studies to one day implement this knowledge on her very own farm.
Darling
Agricultural Program
In the community of San Blas, the agricultural program of Opportunity International is well established. Around 200 different farmers in the area currently partner with OI in some capacity. They farm at least one manzana (1.7 acres), and the majority rent their land. Cassava is the preferred crop, but they diversify their harvest with other crops such as corn, beans, bananas, and pumpkins.
Four of the farmers — Edwardo, Jose, Horacio, and Javier — have very positive opinions on the impact of Opportunity on their methods and profits. Before they began selling cassava to the processing plant at OI, they regularly took their product to the local market where prices were very volatile. Because the market value fluctuates greatly, it is often difficult for farmers to turn a profit. Because of Opportunity, small shareholder farmers can sell the entirety of their harvest to the processing plant in Granada and be assured of a good, consistent price and prompt payment.
“We learned (from the technical training) about the planting process. We learned how to prepare the soil and what variety of cassava would bring the largest yield. These are the types of things they teach us, and we don’t pay one dollar.”
Edwardo, Jose, Horacio, and Javier
Community Savings and Credit Group
In 2021, community members of Quebrada Honda came together with the idea of forming a savings and credit cooperative. The vision was to encourage the practice of saving money to avoid borrowing to accomplish specific projects or make large purchases. This is an attractive alternative for people who don’t have the credit to receive a loan from a bank (or official lending office) and want to avoid predatory loans at high-interest rates – which can be as high as 30% per month.
A great example of the benefit of these loans is Medardo and his wife, Petrona. The two of them joined the savings and credit cooperative at Quebrada Honda. Their first savings deposit was C$400 (about $11). He added a few hundred cordobas every couple of weeks until he was close to C$10,000 in total. Eventually, he was able to take out a loan to build a wall around the base of his home. The house is on the edge of a large hill, and the drop-off was dangerous and unstable. They borrowed C$15,000 (about $420) and plan to repay this within 6 months.
Merdado and Petrona
Women in Business
Juana lives in the community of Montegrande along with her husband and their three children. They live right next door to her parents and just down the road from her sister. Juana’s husband and father have worked with Opportunity International through the cassava processing plant, and Juana’s father recommended her for a small business loan that Opportunity provides to women to help them start or grow a small business.
In February of 2022, Juana received a loan of $300 from Opportunity International for her clothing business. Each month she travels to the nearby town of Masaya to buy used clothes and shoes. She brings them back to her community and goes door to door to sell to her neighbors. Juana says that the initial investment from OI helped her get the start she needed. In the first month she spent about $280 on clothes. She then spent the next four weeks selling her items door-to-door. By the end of the month, she had completely sold out. She earned a total of $385, which allowed her to reinvest and buy more clothes and gain $85 in profit. This supplemental income is especially impactful considering the average income in Nicaragua is only about $300 a month, and even less in more rural communities.
“It (Opportunity International) helps us to continue on in life to achieve our goals and our dreams. That we women can do it. We don’t just have to wait for our husbands. We can do these things ourselves.”
Juana
Emprendedora High School
Jonathan is 17 years old and in 11th grade (senior year) at Emprendedora. He was born and raised in San Juan de Oriente where he lives with his parents and his two younger brothers. The family business is making and selling artisan pottery, and Jonathan started helping his parents when he was just 10 years old.
As a student, Jonathan is highly motivated. Since starting at Emprendedora in 7th grade, Jonathan says he has come to recognize how valuable this education is for his future. Jonathan’s choice to specialize in the technical study of tourism in 9th grade was his first big decision regarding his future career. Through Emprendedora, Jonathan is able to gain crucial experience in all the aspects of operating the hotel.
“When I arrived here in 7th grade, I didn’t have any vision of the future. I didn’t see myself working or studying at a university. Later, after spending a couple of years here at Emprendedora around the teachers and my classmates, they made me look more towards the future – my work, my life, my degree, and the value of education.”
Jonathan
Community Project
The community of El Comején is in the municipality of Masaya, Nicaragua. After local leaders connected with OI’s community outreach team, OIN helped the leadership board organize their priorities for different projects. Even in 2022, this community is still mostly without drinking water and electricity and one of the main roads leading to the nearest large city of Masaya is badly in need of repair. After much discussion, it was was eventually decided that latrines for the Evangelical church were going to be the project they focused on.
The biggest obstacle in the path toward El Comején’s new outhouse was a financial one. However, OI was able to pay for half of the cost, and the community came together to cover their part and provide the necessary labor. The pastor, Gregorio, explained that when an organization like OI becomes invested in small communities like El Comején, it has an incredible unifying effect on the people. Now, the outhouse has changed the way the people of El Comején can gather. Before, it was difficult to bring large groups of people together for extended periods of time. Now, they can come together more comfortably for celebrations, community events, religious ceremonies, or to plan their next impactful community-led project.
“We have been here fighting. Fighting little by little to build this (latrine) here with a lot of effort… with the help of Opportunity we succeeded in building the latrines which were the most necessary thing we wanted.”
El Comején