Emergency aid, reconstruction of villages and schools

Limonal, Chinandega, Tipitapa, Nicaragua

Project Summary

Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries on the South American continent. It was affected by many years of dictatorship, revolutions and civil wars. 80% of the population lives below the poverty line. In October 1998, the crisis-ridden country was even harder hit by a devastating environmental disaster. After continuous rainfall, an enormous cyclone developed, the largest that the country had ever experienced. Rivers flooded and huge areas of Nicaragua were destroyed by the water. While the cyclone was active in the north of the country, the Casitas volcano erupted. This however, was not the end of the devastation because in the same period an earthquake hit the city of Chinandega. Ap - proximately one million people were impacted by these environmental disasters.

People had to be evacuated from the disaster ar - eas. Most of them found shelter in tented camps or in un-destroyed schools. One of the urgent problems was the provision of clean drinking water, which had to be transported for long dis - tances and was insufficient to meet the needs of the disaster victims.

For several months, AMURT distributed food, water, clothing, and pharmaceuticals. We also dispatched a US doctors’ team to the disaster areas, in order to provide people with medical support.

AMURT helped the local population reconstruct 650 houses in the Limonal, Tipitapa and China - ndega villages. The construction was in coop - eration with families and the local authorities. Besides the reconstruction of houses, AMURT also initiated the rebuilding of schools in Juan Pablo II and Limonal. This project also included a training programme for adults and construction of a day care centre for children.

Furthermore, AMURT supported the creation of cooperatives and offered help for small business - es by providing small loans through its microcredits programme.