Nicaragua

Programs in Nicaragua

Our longest-running initiative, serving communities in the León Department since 1996 with comprehensive programs in housing, education, health, and agriculture.

500+

Infrastructure Projects

125

Scholarships Across 6 Communities

300

Library Visitors per Month

Acre Agroecological Farm

Children holding books at the community library in Nicaragua

Volunteer team group photo with local partners

About Nicaragua

The Heart of Our Work

Country Overview

Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America and one of the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. Despite these challenges, the Nicaraguan people are known for their resilience and warmth.

Population: ~6.5 million
Capital: Managua
Language: Spanish

Our Focus Region: León

We work primarily in the León Department, focusing on rural communities where access to healthcare, education, and infrastructure is limited.

ChacrasecaLa CeibaLos LechecuagosSalinas GrandesMonte Redondo

Infrastructure

Housing Program

In October 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastated Nicaragua. In early 1999 we began building homes for families who lost everything. Today, we have built over 250 homes in 6 communities with a 90% payback rate.

300+

Houses Built

Volunteers and family members laying foundation

Construction progress showing wall framing

Cost Breakdown

Average Cost $3,200

Family Contribution 35%

Repayment Terms 4 years at 2% interest

FNE Contribution 65%

What's Included

Brick home with steel beam supports
Compliant with Nicaraguan earthquake standards
Latrine included
Home titled to woman head of household

Our Model

Families pay 35% of the cost over 4 years at a 2% interest rate and contribute labor, volcanic rock for the foundation, and daily meals for the foreman. Upon completion of payments, the home is titled in the name of the woman head of household. The fund collected is recycled to provide loans of up to $800 for repairs, home expansion, or starting a small business.

Sanitation

Latrines cost roughly $220 and families pay 50% of the cost over 12-18 months. Having a clean, safe bathroom at home is life-changing, especially for women and girls who benefit from better menstrual hygiene.

Micro-Finance

Offering micro-loans of up to $800 to families — whether providing pigs to a single mother to build her savings or financing a small, home-based business. With a 90% payback rate, the fund is recycled to help more families break cyclical poverty.

Water Initiatives

Over the past decade, FNE has provided filters to reduce harmful bacteria, financed rainwater harvesting tanks in remote communities, and most significantly, helped finance a potable water system serving 4 communities through a gravity-fed system from natural springs on the side of a volcano.

Education

Building Futures Through Learning

Comprehensive education programs from early childhood through university, breaking the cycle of poverty through knowledge.

Students in classroom raising hands during lesson

Tengo un Sueño (Dreamers)

First cohort now in college

In 2009, professors and students from Miami-Dade College traveled with FNE to Chacraseca and decided to replicate the "I Have a Dream" (Tengo un sueño) program. The first cohort of 37 kindergartners now has 24 young women and men entering their second and third years of college.

Full-time English teacher, counselor, and coordinator
Daily English and computation classes
Homework support and hands-on learning
Expanding to new sectors: El Recreo and La Concepción

Scholarship Program

125 scholarships in 6 communities

Started in 2008, the program now provides 125 high school and college scholarships across 6 communities. Recipients attend monthly meetings with proof of matriculation and progress reports, and perform 20 hours of community service monthly. Graduates include doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers, architects, and agronomists.

High school and college scholarships
Monthly progress meetings required
20 hours community service monthly
Graduates become mentors for next generation

Children holding books at the Ricardo Streb Library

Richard Streb Memorial Library

5,000+ books, 300 visitors/month

Nicaragua's first rural lending library, built after surveying nearly half of Chacraseca's 1,100 families. The library has over 5,000 Spanish language books and serves approximately 300 people per month with tutoring, computer classes, printing services, and internet access.

Math, science, art, and poetry programs
Computer classes and internet access
Interactive Bilingual Reading Program with Miami-Dade College via Zoom
Daily homework support and in-depth tutoring

Special needs classroom with teacher and students

Niño Feliz School

Special education support

Supporting a special education school in Chichigalpa that provides essential services to children with disabilities.

Special needs education
Teacher training
Educational materials
Community integration

Health

Caring for Our Communities

Providing essential healthcare services with a special focus on children with chronic conditions.

Salud para Todos los Niños (SPTLN)

~140 pediatric patients with complex conditions Focus on Duchenne muscular dystrophy

A pediatric health program providing ongoing care for approximately 140 children with complex conditions, including many with muscular dystrophy.

Regular check-upsMedication supportPhysical therapyFamily counseling

Women's Health

Since 2009 with Ministry of Health

Since 2009, working with the Ministry of Health to improve access to healthcare for women. FNE supports pap smear supplies, finances equipment for colposcopies and cryotherapy, and provides medicines not available through the health system. Over the past 7 years, we partnered with Project MESA at University of Michigan to develop a portable exam table for more remote areas.

Pap smear support and suppliesColposcopy and cryotherapy equipmentProject MESA portable exam tablesAlso conducted in Peru

Volunteer doctors examining patients during medical brigade

Medical Brigades

Organizing volunteer medical professionals to provide free healthcare services in underserved communities.

General medical careDental servicesVision screeningsHealth education

Fighting Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Our SPTLN program has a special focus on children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare genetic condition that causes progressive muscle weakness. We provide ongoing medical care, physical therapy, wheelchairs, and emotional support to these children and their families.

Food & Agriculture

Growing Sustainable Futures

Teaching sustainable farming practices and improving nutrition through hands-on education.

Finca Girasol (Sunflower Farm)

30 acres of demonstration farm

In Chacraseca, local farmers produce primarily cassava, corn, and sesame — often the same crops on the same land with heavy pesticide use. Through Finca Girasol, our 30-acre agro-ecological farm, we teach organic agriculture, soil regeneration, reforestation, and composting to give the community more control over what they plant, harvest, eat, and sell.

Organic agriculture and composting workshops
Educational tours for university students and local farmers
Working with Ministry of Education on school-feeding programs
Sustainable through sales of organic pesticides and fertilizers

Family learning to plant vegetables in their home garden

Sow Eat Grow

A nutrition and agriculture education program teaching families to grow their own vegetables and improve their diets. The typical Nicaraguan diet is abundant in unhealthy fats and refined sugar, and families with fewer resources often cannot purchase nutritious food.