NICARAGUA-BUSINESS/WOMEN Charity empowers women in Nicaragua with jobs, skills and hope

Record ID: 540056

  • Title: NICARAGUA-BUSINESS/WOMEN Charity empowers women in Nicaragua with jobs, skills and hope
  • Date: 11th February 2015
  • Summary: MANAGUA, NICARAGUA (RECENT) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF MAIN AVENUE WITH IMAGE OF VENEZUELA'S LATE SOCIALIST LEADER HUGO CHAVEZ RESIDENTS WALKING IN STREET CHILDREN PLAYING IN POOR HOUSEHOLD MAN PUSHING WIFE IN CART / CHILDREN WALKING ALONG BUS AT RUBBISH DUMP LA CHURECA SIGN AT RUBBISH DUMP MAN PULLING CART AT RUBBISH DUMP MAN AND WOMEN SEEN SORTING RUBBISH RUBBISH THE EARTH EDUCATION PROJECT SIGN WOMEN WALKING INTO ROOM SIGN THAT READS: "EMPOWERING WOMEN IN NICARAGUA, RECYCLED PAPER WORKSHOP" VARIOUS OF WOMEN RECYCLING PAPER (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) EARTH EDUCATION PROJECT'S IN-COUNTRY ADMINISTRATOR, ANA GONZALEZ, SAYING: "We give them (women) opportunities because they are the ones who have the least have job opportunities in social life and so we try to get them involved with us and develop abilities, to become more responsible and work as a team." SHREDDED PAPER VARIOUS OF WOMEN WORKING IN WORKSHOP (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VIRGINIA CASTANO, WHO BENEFITS FROM CHARITY, SAYING: "It was terrible. I wouldn't recommend anyone to live there (rubbish dump) because of the smoke, gas we used to breath in the rubbish dump, a lot of pollution." VARIOUS OF ANDREA PALTZER, FOUNDER OF THE EARTH EDUCATION PROJECT, WORKING WITH WOMEN (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ANDREA PALTZER, FOUNDER OF THE EARTH EDUCATION PROJECT, SAYING: "The project itself began in the rubbish dump after seeing people were collecting things to sell them and then others would recycle. The idea was to give value to that recycling chain and to be able to give the community the tools they needed in order to be able to recycle and give value to those products." VARIOUS OF WOMEN WORKING IN WORKSHOP (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LUISA PEREZ, WHO BENEFITS FROM CHARITY, SAYING: "I was given the opportunity to be involved in the project. I've been involved for a year now and I am able to bring my daughter. My daughter is four-years-old and I bring her here and I wouldn't be allowed to this this anywhere else." NEWSPAPER CLIPPING ABOUT CHURECA CHIC JEWELLERY LINE THAT READS: "TRANSFORMING RUBBISH" BABY ASLEEP IN PUSHCHAIR MORE OF WOMEN IN JEWELLERY WORKSHOP VARIOUS OF WOMEN MAKING JEWELLERY MORE OF JEWELLERY WOMAN PUTTING NECKLACE INTO PLASTIC BAG NECKLACE IN PLASTIC BAG (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ANDREA PALTZER, FOUNDER OF THE EARTH EDUCATION PROJECT, SAYING: "We are a NGO but we created the brand Chureca Chic, to be able to better get in touch with possible donating clients trough a product. The idea of Chureca Chic is to create something nice which creates demand on behalf of clients." VARIOUS OF JEWELLERY MADE BY WOMEN
  • Embargoed: 26th February 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nicaragua
  • Country: Nicaragua
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAHZ0NH086JCVNJ2SP6XU7O53O
  • Story Text: Nicaragua, a Central American country which suffers from crushing poverty, has been pinpointed by a charity which provides education and employment opportunities for women.
    Nicaragua is the second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, after Haiti, with more than two-thirds of its people living on $4 a day or less, according to the World Bank.
    This is La Chureca, Managua's municipal garbage dump, which is located near Lake Managua.
    It is home to hundreds of families living in shelters made of whatever they can find in the landfill site. They spend their days sifting through the collected rubbish brought in daily, for food to eat and for any item that can be recycled and sold.
    Some of the children here go to school but many have to work for their families, also going through the rubbish.
    After observing what was happening, The Earth Education Project (EEP) - a registered UK Charity - was formed to empower Nicaraguan women with the education and social skills they need to enter the labour market and leave behind a life of extreme poverty.
    EEP teaches women who live in La Chureca, which is also Central America's largest rubbish dump, to recycle scrap paper by hand and to produce original works of art on cards, books and bags.
    To further fuel their work in Nicaragua, in July 2013, EEP launched the Chureca Chic jewellery and stationary brand.
    All items are made by the beneficiaries of the EEP programmes from recycled materials. The collections are inspired by the flora and fauna of Nicaragua and its volcanoes.
    The women receive an economic learning stipend for participating in the workshop which they feed and support their families with.
    Several workshops in school classes - for the 45 percent of Nicaraguan women who did not finish primary school - nutrition, social development, healthcare and paper recycling are offered.
    Women in the paper recycling workshop are taught how to transform scrap paper into artisan materials by hand, following techniques, to create unique, and high-quality products.
    The Earth Education Project's in-country administrator, Ana Gonzalez, said they had chosen to help women, who are usually the most vulnerable.
    "We give them (women) opportunities because they are the ones who have the least have job opportunities in social life and so we try to get them involved with us and develop abilities, to become more responsible and work as a team," Gonzalez said.
    Virginia Castano, who benefits from the charity making jewellery and has now moved away from La Chureca, said living at the rubbish dump was difficult.
    "It was terrible. I wouldn't recommend anyone to live there (rubbish dump) because of the smoke, gas we used to breath in the rubbish dump, a lot of pollution," Castano said.
    To make the project sustainable their aim is for the women to run the workshop and train other women.
    Swiss Andrea Paltzer, who founded EEP four years ago, explained how the project began.
    "The project itself began in the rubbish dump after seeing people were collecting things to sell them and then others would recycle. The idea was to give value to that recycling chain and to be able to give the community the tools they needed in order to be able to recycle and give value to those products," said Paltzer.
    Luisa Perez, who also benefits from the charity, said she is now able to work while looking after her daughter at the same time.
    "I was given the opportunity to be involved in the project. I've been involved for a year now and I am able to bring my daughter. My daughter is four-years-old and I bring her here and I wouldn't be allowed to this this anywhere else," said Perez.
    In September 2013, Chureca Chic premiered at London Fashion Week and again in February 2014.
    Last year, Chureca Chic teamed up with emerging Nicaraguan fashion designer Shantall Lacayo and the international brand 'Kuero' by Alejandra Velazquez.
    "We are a NGO but we created the brand Chureca Chic, to be able to better get in touch with possible donating clients trough a product. The idea of Chureca Chic is to create something nice which creates demand on behalf of clients," said Paltzer.
    Computing lessons will also be available to beneficiaries in 2015.
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