Blog

ViviendasLeon was founded in 2003 to create solutions to the interconnected causes of rural poverty in Central America.

Our Nicaraguan staff recently organized an activity to present the environmental documentary titled, ”The Planet Needs Us”.  We wanted to increase awareness in the community about the need to protect the environment and conserve the soil. This was aimed at girls, boys, parents and the entire community present at the Rubén Darío School in La Gallina, our newest community.

Gender disparities and unequal power relationships represent a challenge to women, children and communities, and to successful development in Nicaragua.

“When I started to participate in the HCT training process, I was a very shy woman with self-esteem problems. In our country Nicaragua, women have had few opportunities to work outside the home.”

ViviendasLeon trains families in rural communities to farm their small plots of land while diversifying and updating their methods to secure their food supply. They are given fencing, drip irrigation, and hand operated fumigation pumps.

Dinia Amador, a young teenager and daughter of Paula Hernandez, completed the HCT program with her mother and received the delivery of material for the construction of her farm. Paula and Dinia are currently harvesting a great variety of vegetables, some of which Paula uses for her and her children’s consumption.

ViviendasLeón has been working since March with 23 indigenous women from the Los Planes community in Santa Lucía Utatlán, Guatemala.  The Mayan communities of Central America live with multiple challenges including lack of food security, unemployment, and access to education. Additionally, indigenous women have faced violence and discrimination. Our training program works to restore women’s self-esteem, personal empowerment, agency, social development, and technical skills to take on the challenges of the multiple needs they have lived with for generations.

In June 2022 ViviendasLeón expanded to a new community in Nicaragua called La Gallina. The challenges there are similar to other communities where we work, as they are throughout the underdeveloped tropical countries around the world. Lack of food security, high unemployment, and limited access to education are common.

My name is Alexandra Galeano and I live in the community of Troilo, Sutiava. I am 19 years old and married with a one-year-old girl. Being a homemaker doesn’t prevent me from continuing my education. I am currently in the 10th grade of secondary school at the Public College Salomon de la Selva in the city of León.

According to the UN Meteorological Organization WMO, there is an 80 percent probability that the El Niño effect will begin by September 2023.  Agriculture being one of the main sectors of the economy, will be deeply affected. Engaging almost 70 percent of the population and contributing to 20 percent of the country’s GDP,  agriculture is central to the rural and economic survival of Central America.