Nicaragua

Nicaragua, the “land of lakes and volcanoes,” is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. In addition to wars and rebellions, dictators and communists, natural disasters have led to the destruction of the capital city of Managua twice in the last century. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch ravaged the country and more than 750,000 people lost their homes or possessions. Estimated at $1 billion, the damage further weakened an already dwindling economy. The drought of 2001 caused additional hardship to the people of Nicaragua, damaging most of their crops and setting back the economy. According to the World Bank, approximately 50 percent of the population live in poverty and 19 percent live in extreme poverty. Almost half of the population lacks access to safe water, illiteracy is still high, and there is a whole generation that was unable to attend school or saw its education interrupted by the war. Half of Nicaragua’s population is now living below poverty line. The leading causes of death among children under a year old are intestinal infectious diseases and malnutrition.

Food For The Poor Projects in Narcaragua

Food For The Poor has been working in Nicaragua since 1998.

In the last five years, Food For The Poor has built more than 8,000 housing units .
Food For The Poor works with 23 orphanages, as part of the Angels of Hope program. Through this program, 769 children receive shelter, and an education.
There are 10 water projects in the country, including development of wells, restoration of water resources, and sanitation projects.

Fast Facts Page

Nicaragua Press Releases & Topics

Papaya Trees In Nicaragua Give Families a Reason To Celebrate

Using Computers to Take a Byte Out of Poverty

Vacation Bible School Students Inspire a Parish to Build Homes

General Information - Nicaragua

Area - 49,998 sq. miles (slightly larger than New York State)
Population - 5,891,199 (July 2009 est.)
Capital - Managua
Independence Day, Sept. 15 (1821) from Spain
Languages - Spanish (official), Amerindian dialects
Religion - Catholic 73%, Evangelical 15%, Other 12%
Currency - Gold Cordoba (NIO), 17 cordobas = $1 US
Unemployment - 3.9% plus underemployment of 46.5% (2008 est.)
Literacy rate - Total population: 67.5% | Male: 67.2% | Female: 67.8% (Defined: age 15 and over can read and write), (2003 est.)

Nicaragua History

The Pacific coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish colony from Panama in the early 16th century. Independence from Spain was declared in 1821 and the country became an independent republic in 1838. Britain occupied the Caribbean Coast in the first half of the 19th century, but gradually ceded control of the region in subsequent decades. Violent opposition to governmental manipulation and corruption spread to all classes by 1978 and resulted in a short-lived civil war that brought the Marxist Sandinista guerrillas to power in 1979. Nicaraguan aid to leftist rebels in El Salvador caused the US to sponsor anti-Sandinista contra guerrillas through much of the 1980s. Free elections in 1990, 1996, and 2001, saw the Sandinistas defeated, but voting in 2006 announced the return of former Sandinista President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra. Nicaragua's infrastructure and economy - hard hit by the earlier civil war and by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 - are slowly being rebuilt.

Food For The Poor has maintained fundraising and administrative costs of less than 4% of its expenses; more than 96% of all donations go directly to programs that help the poor.

Food For The Poor provides emergency international relief to Latin America & the Caribbean — and takes swift action whenever and wherever people need help.