Community Work

The work we do with the community is funded from guest income. So even if you don’t volunteer yourself, just by staying at the Rancho for a few days you are still supporting your host community. However, if you’re more actively interested in what we are doing and would like to volunteer with us, that’s possible too.

Current Work

Pre-School

Three mornings a week we teach basic literacy to 3 to 6 year olds. Craft activities and games make learning their alphabet and numbers fun and give the children a more engaging experience at school. The class teachers we work alongside also get new ideas for interactive teaching methods, which they value because teacher training in Nicaragua is under funded.

We support other age groups by providing lesson materials and resources, including loans from our Spanish language book collection that contains everything from stories for little ones to science and math textbooks.

Kids’ Club

Each afternoon we run a children’s club. Games, story time, arts and crafts help the children develop team work and communication skills as well as being lots of fun and burning off some energy. We incorporate learning on science and environmental themes too, like making tin can telephones or recycling non-biodegradable waste in craft projects. The club is a fun way of engaging with the community and giving the children an opportunity to use their imaginations and to try something different like juggling, acro-balance, jewelry making or poi spinning.

Future Initiatives

As Rancho Esperanza develops, and more resources are available, we will begin more initiatives. Ideas for future work include…

An Organic Community Garden

We are developing this to explore what can be grown successfully here in the village, where fruit and vegetables are not currently produced. Now our first compost bins are reaching maturity its all systems go. Once established and working, we want to make it a community garden where people can come to learn more about composting and organic production.

Health Promotion

The people of Jiquilillo face health and hygiene risks through mere lack of information. We want to work with the local health promoter to give “charlas” (health workshops) for the community. These will focus on common health concerns within the village: nutrition, food and water hygiene, diarrhea, malaria, dengue and basic first aid. Supporting the introduction of a pharmacy in Jiquilillo will be part of this scheme.

Discovery Center

In Jiquilillo almost all income is from fishing, and such a narrowly based economy has inherent risks. At the same time, Jiquilillo lacks basic provisions and services within the community: bakeries, barbers and bicycle repairs are all an hour and a half bus ride away. A long term Rancho Esperanza goal is to develop a discovery centre to host demonstration workshops from a trades person from the city and provide information and resources to assist anyone wanting to set up in a trade. This activity will be particularly geared towards the single mothers in the village, who particularly struggle to provide for their families. It will benefit the entire community by allowing the village to keep money within the local economy.

webmaster Brian VanGalder