Report for SRF trustees from recent visits to projects in Nicaragua

THE CMO
Saturday morning 26th July 2014, Chinandega.
A long meeting with the Council of Women of the West [of Nicaragua] some of whom had
travelled a long way to meet us. The SRF
has awarded them $1,000 (USD) of the
Miles family money which was less than
their application for the funding of a series
of training workshops in vulnerability
reduction for women in various barrios of
Chinandega. Their original application had
been for $1,500.
Each woman in turn introduced themselves
and explained what their livelihood
involved they are all women
entrepreneurs of one kind or another, as follows:

Mara Nicomedes jicaro (gourd) producer in El

Jicaral
Esperanza bee-keeping and honey business +
CMO legal rep.
Victoria shrimp cooperative in Puerto Morazn
Mara Castillo president of the CSMMO,
advising businesswomen
Nubia pottery cooperative of 25 women
Santa Espinoza provides marketing service to
businesswomen e.g. jicaro gourd sales
Candelaria provides voluntary technical support
Danelia Rivera provides voluntary technical
support; lives in Five Pines close to Honduras

We went over their application and funding from the

Miles' money. Their programme of workshops on
managing vulnerability and increasing resilience is a
little vague on specifics, but it will serve as a learning curve for the CMO. But at least the
Miles money gives them a start. Impressive women.
They talked particularly about the current problems they face:
The current drought
The period of earth tremors throughout the first half of the year
The emigration of thousands of women
The dependence on remittances
The current volcanic activity