NICARAGUAN FOUNDATION FOR COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT (FUNDECI)

APARTADO POSTAL #2694

MANAGUA, NICARAGUA

Tel: (505) 266-4373/ Fax: (505) 266-3381

CONTENTS

1.0 Summary

2.0 Major Assumptions

3.0 Target Group

4.0 Background

5.0 Objectives

6.0 Methodology

7.0 Evaluation

8.0 Reports

9.0 Budget

1.0 SUMMARY

1.1 The present program is designed to meet the educational needs of people

most affected by the economic crisis in Nicaragua in the poorer barrios

of the capital, Managua, and in the northern region of Nicaragua.

1.2 FUNDECI works in a number of arenas to develop solutions to the many

challenges facing the Nicaraguan people. FUNDECI's programs include

work in health, reforestation, education and community organization

as well as legal and technical assistance. Additionally, FUNDECI works

with community organizations, women's organizations and youth groups

from neighborhoods in Managua and the northern regions of Nicaragua.

1.3 The scholarship project will enhance these existing programs by choosing

scholarship recipients from the pool of people who are currently involved

in FUNDECI's programs.

1.4 The budgetary allowance of the program for its first year is US$4420.

2.0 MAJOR ASSUMPTIONS

2.1 In Nicaragua the critical unemployment situation and low salaries continue

to inhibit social development. FUNDECI wants to implement programs that

will create possibilities for Nicaraguans to expand their knowledge and

thereby improve their living conditions.

2.2 In Managua where FUNDECI has developed its youth education program,

and in urban and rural areas where it has worked with poor families, there

is sufficient interest in providing educational alternatives to ensure the

success of the project.

2.3 With the help of modest external funding in the form of scholarships,

FUNDECI can work with existing organizations and networks to reach

families worst afflicted by the current economic crisis.

2.5 Political and social conditions are sufficiently stable for the program's

objectives to be successfully achieved.

3.0 TARGET GROUP

3.1 The beneficiaries of this project are 6 people from Managua and the

northern region of Nicaragua who have demonstrated a positive attitude,

dedication, responsibility and at least a 70% grade point average in their

studies. The recipients vary in age and level of education. Four of them

are currently enrolled as students. They are an elementary school student,

a high school student, a college student, and an adult scholar who is studying

English. Additionally, there are two people who hope to study computer

skills, one of them being a young woman from Managua and the other a young

man who is disabled. (See Appendix for descriptions of each recipient).

4.0 BACKGROUND

4.1 Over the last 20 years, Nicaraguans have suffered a devastating earthquake

that destroyed Managua,underwent a painful revolution to overthrow a 50

year dictatorship, suffered a ten year war and an embargo, as well as other

natural disasters. The elected government is paralyzed because of an

external debt which accounts for 80% of the budget and internal policies

which are ineffective. This has resulted in severe poverty, malnutrition, and

unemployment, with 70% of the population living at or below the poverty

level. The cost of the basic foods basket rose from US$122 in 1991 to

US$200 in 1995 in spite of worsening cash shortage.

4.2 Young people between 13 and 24 years old constitute 50% of the country's

work force and represent more than half of the unemployed. The most

serious obstacles to finding employment are lack of work experience, high

cost of training programs, discrimination, poor education, and a pervasive

environment of unemployment at all levels of society.

4.3 Every year 40,000 people join the work force in Nicaragua. However, many

of them are unable to complete their schooling or undertake vocational

training through lack of financial resources. For this reason, opportunities

for many job-seekers are limited. This is compounded by Nicaragua's endemic

social and economic issues, contributing to the alienation of thousands of

young people throughout the country. This crisis is particularly acute in

Managua where 33% of the nation's population live. Nationally, the figures

are stark. Secondary education reaches only 13% of the population, while

41 % of the adult population have not finshed primary school. In a society

where almost half the population is under 24 years of age and prevailing

statistics indicate that 70% of the population of working age are either

under or unemployed, prospects are bleak for young people and adults alike.

4.4 The future of manual labor that awaits young men provides little incentive

to look for work and they therefore turn to drugs and criminal activity.

The young women, for lack of work, dedicate themselves to prostitution,

waiting on the corners in the cities in hopes of finding a client that will help

them to survive the profound economic crisis with the hope of abandoning

prostitution and landing a better job. This, in many cases, leads them to

frustration. The actual situation is high unemployment among youth, especially

among young women. The unemployment of young women has become higher

than young men in the last few years. Many youth hold financial responsibility

for their household or face the prospect of being the head of their household

in the near future.

4.5 In recent years crime has risen dramatically. In Managua armed groups called

Pandillas operate on public transport and in the streets, committing acts of

opportunist crime. Members of these groups include young men who, failing to

secure another source of income, are drawn to criminal activity.

4.6 Connected to criminal activity is the pervasive problem in Nicaragua of drug

abuse. According to the National Police and the Ministry of Health, an estimated

3,000 to 3,500 people under the age of 16 are drug addicts. Presently there

are ten centers in Managua which help to rehabilitate drug abusers. Considering

the scale of the problem, this is an inadequate response.

4.7 Addressing social problems and helping implement solutions is the principal

'raison d'etra’ of FUNDECI's work with disadvantaged communities in

Nicaragua. Important components of this work have been education and training.

In the past four years, FUNDECI has supported pre-schools in more than 30

barrios of Managua, provided classes to children with special leaming needs, and

enabled teenagers to take vocational training in computer skills and automobile

repair. FUNDECI's Women's Education Program has trained over 90 women in

a variety of skills. Now, by means of a scholarship, FUNDECI will provide more

educational opportunities to a small group of individuals.

5.0 OBJECTIVES

5.1 More that ever in contemporary societies education opens up economic avenues

for the poor and increases the prospects for the achievement of democracy and

social justice. FUNDECI believes that it is essential to preserve and protect this

basic human right of education for people. FUNDECI's scholarship project thus

has two major objectives:

1. To provide opportunity for people from disadvantaged communities to choose and follow a career and which will improve their chances for gainful employment.

2. By providing professional skills and education, to rekindle hope in the future and consequently help to deter the process by whch many are drawn into anti-social activities such as crime and drug-abuse.

6.0 METHODOLOGY

6.1 FUNDECI will begin a process to provide financial assistance to 6 people who are in various stages of educational development. FUNDECI will require the following of the scholarship recipients:

Maintain a grade point average above 70%

Take care of the materials they will receive as part of the scholarship

        Provide the scholarship coordinator, teachers and parents (if the          recipient is a minor) with all pertinent information that s/he           receives regarding the scholarship

6.2 In the case that the recipient is a minor, the parent or guardian will have

the following duties:

6.3 The financial assistance for each student will vary according to his/her course

of study. In the case of elementary and high school students, it may be possible

to cover most all costs for the school year. However, for a student at the

University, the scholarship may only cover tuition, with the student and family

paying the other expenses.

the student and/or parents as well as a personal history and photo of the student

and family. These will be kept as records for FUNDECI's use and for the use

of sponsors and associated learning institutions. (See Appendix 1).

6.4 This will serve as a pilot project. If successful the number of participants will

be expanded over the subsequent years.

7.0 EVALUATION

7.1 The student's progress and overall success of the project will be evaluated by

means of two meetings, one in August at the end of the first semester and one

in December at the end of the second semester. This meeting will include the

scholarship recipients, their significant family members , the FUNDECI project

coordinator, and the educators.

7.2 Additionally, the FUNDECI project coordinator will visit each student at the

institution of learning four times during the school year to assess the student's

progress and address concerns that arise during the course of the school year.

* Written comments from teachers, parents, and scholarship recipients

* Records from the two meetings and four site visits conducted during

the school year

* Records of expenditures

* FUNDECI's end of year evaluation