With influence from Venezuela president Hugo Chavez, Nicaragua is in the middle of one of most vulnerable times in recent history. With the election of former Dictator Daniel Ortega in 2006, the country has been in a steady decline losing some 200 million dollars in IMF (International Monetary Fund) funds in the last 18 months. This money is critical for the nation’s poorest people in funding basic needs such as medical, agricultural, and farming subsidies.
We’ve been able to see the effect with the families that we’re working with in Cuidad Sandino, just outside of Managua, where the LifeLink International Ministry Base is located. As the number of children increases each week in our feeding program, we’re realizing that we truly are in a strategic location at an important time in Nicaragua’s history.
The completion of the LifeLink Ministry Base, with education facilities designed to accommodate preschool through twelfth grade, will bring with it the hope for a better life for children that now face uncertain futures.
The Department of Education in Nicaragua reports that only 30% of children that begin first grade will finish the required six grades of schooling. This is partly because of the lack of educational facilities, available funds and the lack of emphases placed on education by the current Nicaragua government.
As Deborah and I spoke with some of the children we are targeting in our area, I couldn’t help but wonder what the future would hold for these precious kids. Sometimes it’s as simple as creating opportunity and hope. Our banner is Linking People – Changing Lives… one person at a time. Thank you for being a part of changing the lives and the hope of a future to those in desperate need.