Stand with Us
100-Strong: invest in women’s power
Powerful women get things done. The women of Comunicada juggle family duties, make ends meet, and still find the passion to better their communities. With little or no formal training, they host women’s health workshops, run cooperative businesses, and manage micro-banks. How much more could they do if they DID have formal training? Nicaragua’s future rests not with the UN or World Bank, but in the hands of these talented leaders. We must invest in their skills. You can help Comunicada Foundation do that. Join 100-Strong, our North American sister group. With your support, we’ll transform a grassroots team of Nicaraguan women into effective, powerful professionals in sustainable development. We ask you to pledge the same amount for three consecutive years, and incubate our crucial early development. As one of only 100, you’re more than a donor. You create a relationship, and a lifetime of change for a woman in Nicaragua.
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Buy a chicken... change a woman’s life! Find out how here!
Why do we need 100-Strong?
Comunicada is entering a crucial period of growth. In the next three years, we want to solidify our best programs, train women leaders as effective managers, and collect proof that we’re improving women’s lives. With your support, we can focus on getting better at what we do, instead of scrambling for scarce international funds.
We believe passionately in the power of grassroots leaders. Rather than hiring outsiders with more technical training to work in our communities, we want to provide technical training in project management to women like Carmen (left), a member of our executive council, who have proven themselves as leaders in their own communities. These leaders’ deep relationships and years of experience in their communities count as valuable expertise often missing in NGOs. Comunicada’s focus on capacity-building at the grassroots level sets us apart from many other organizations. It also means that our efforts take time to grow. Support like yours is crucial in an era when many grant-makers demand fast results.
Join Us!
Join 100-Strong, a community of 100 supporters who pledge a fixed amount over three years to incubate Comunicada. If you believe in the power of women working together, 100-Strong is a unique opportunity for you to join a community across borders. You’ll personally support grassroots women leaders in Nicaragua, and you’ll have the opportunity (if you choose) to network with other members, contribute your expertise, and even travel to Nicaragua to visit.
Your contribution will support consulting and technical training to build the capacity of our executive council, and also help us recruit and train more grassroots leaders through our community projects. As a 100-Strong member, you can be involved at many levels. You can simply donate, receive updates that show you our work in progress, or offer your own expertise as a volunteer.
Find out more here!
Buy a Chicken!
Support Comunicada’s Chickens Changing Lives Project! Only $35 will buy a starter flock of 6 native hens for a woman entrepreneur in Nicaragua. Native hens are a sustainable food source: they are hardy and feed on native seeds and insects, eliminating feed expenses. In the current food crisis, these hens provide eggs and meat for families, as well as an extra source of income for women. Buy hens here!
Volunteer!
Meet Comunicada’s women and lend a hand! In early January of 2009, Elizabeth Gore, Comunicada’s U.S. based development coordinator, will lead a trip for a small group to Masaya, Nicaragua. Contact lizzy_gore@yahoo.com for more information about this, or fundacioncomunicada@gmail.com for other volunteer opportunities in the U.S. and Nicaragua.
Leader Profile:
Carmen Mercado Membreño
Carmen leads the communal bank and agricultural cooperative of Nuestra Señora de Fatima in El Arenal, a rural community out-side of Managua.
The bank provides micro-credit services to over 70 members in El Arenal. Though she had to leave school after only third grade, Carmen has been invited to development conferences in Belgium, Honduras, Costa Rica, and El Salvador because of her successful work with women in community-scale microfinance.
Carmen, like most women in her community, is a farmer. She has farmed in this area since she was a child. In 1985, she started her first farming cooperative with 17 other women. They cultivated wheat, corn, and sorghum on rented land, but the enterprise failed to turn a profit. Then, with the help of a North American friend, Carmen and the women who remained bought their own parcel of land for $7,000. They re-formed the cooperative as Nuestra Señora de Fatima have been farming grains, legumes, and vegetables on this land collectively ever since.
Carmen is a founding member of Comunicada’s executive council.
Join 100-Strong, and unite with other women to support leaders like Carmen!
Margarita, manager of communal bank in Catarina, and enterpreneurs discuss opening a cooperative souvenir stand in a nearby tourist area.
