What is this Project?
The Project is the construction of a house for Cruz Family; composed of 9 kids, an old woman and two adults. All of them “live” currently in a wood & plastic shack in the city of Granada, Nicaragua.

Who are the members of this Family?
12 members form this family, 9 of them are kids. Adults are: Mamita, grand mother of all the children and Luisa´s mother; Luisa, and her husband Esteban.

Of the 9 kids, 5 are Luisa´s sons, and 4 of them her nephews. Kids´s ages are: 16, 13, 12, 12, 11, 7, 6, 4 and 10 months.

Where do they live now?
It’s hard to call “home” their present house. The original building, an adobe colonial house, it’s a wreck, with a real danger of prompt collapse, and cannot be fixed due to its bad condition. Fortunately the plot is wide enough; so from months ago, the family moved to sleep to an improvised refugee made of plastic and wood; in the back of the plot, under a corrugated iron roof, mostly already rusty. They keep their belongings in plastic bags, in two wood living rooms. They have no single rooms, so they have no intimacy and privacy at all. Their wc is made of four rusty corrugated iron plates, above a latrine. Their shower, an old pipe surrounded by plastic and iron plates. The kitchen does not have the minimal conditions, and all the area suffer from serious dampness and drips with winter rains, 6 months a year.

All these conditions affect seriously the daily children’s lives; who are exposed to possible infections and dangers to their health. They have no intimacy and privacy at all, and have not a proper place for them to study or play.

How are the kids? What is their condition ?
Thanks to the cares and constant attention by their mother/aunt Luisa, and by their dear grandmother Mamita; the kids are well enough considering their present living condition. Though they don’t suffer of serious health problems, they have a lot of colds, especially in rainy season, and light stomach problems, due to the difficult hygienic conditions they have at their present shack.

Luisa and Mamita are completely conscious of how important the education is for the kids. So with their present possibilities, they try that all the kids go to school. Nevertheless, because of the circumstances of Nicaraguan public education and the serious conditions the live, the kids suffer a serious scholar deficiency.

From some months ago, a group of volunteers - mostly from the local NGO La Esperanza Granada – ( I wanna thank them again from here their fantastic work ) have gone almost daily to give school support to the family kids, trying to improve their performance. With our support the kids have made a lot of progress, though it´s very hard to make those progress to last, due to the difficult conditions they live, with no proper place to study and concentrate. That’s why it’s completely necessary to build a studying and play space where these kids are able to develop properly.

Which is the cost of this house ?
The estimated cost of the new home for the Cruz Family is about 8,200 euros. In case of having money left over after the project, the amount would be destined to an education fund for the kids, to spend on school costs.

How it´s going to be the construction process?
The project will be carried out by local workers, to promote work among unemployed people of the neighbourhood. Once the total amount of money needed for the project is collected, we´ll ask to the council for the construction licences. A local company will start the building in the shortest time possible, to have the new home ready before the next rain season, in may 2009.

What kind of house will be built ?
The new house will be simple and modest, with no luxury at all; but will have the minimum conditions to make it decent and habitable. And will take into account the economic and social reality of the surrounding neighbourhood. It will have the necessary area and rooms to facilitate a nice coexistence, with privacy and intimacy. With a space for the children, for them to play and study.

We´ll try the house to be as ecological and green as possible; so it can get the most from local resources like solar power and rain water.

What guarantee do I have that the money will be destined to this project ?
I, Lorenzo San Segundo Padrones, want to personally guarantee that all the collected money will be destined to the construction of this house; and that the process of fund raising and building will be as transparent and efficient as possible.

• By this website there will be constant information about the project; both the fundraising part and the building process as well.

• There will be a meticulous and detailed accounting, both deposits and expenses; with a final report summarizing the project economically.

• There will be direct and transparent contact with the people collaborating in the project.

• Once the house is finally built, every person who has contributed to its construction will receive a report, and a gratitude letter.

The project will have the advice of two experienced local NGO´s; both dedicated to social projects in the city of Granada:
Social Centre Tio Antonio Nicaragua and Casas de la Esperanza.

You can know their important work by visiting their websites
http://www.tioantonio.org and http://www.casas-de-la-esperanza.org/indexes.html

Who finance this project ?
Funds are private, coming from people like you, who want to help this family to have a home. We don´t have public funds, since the different NGO´s working in Nicaragua carry out communitarian projects, so we prefer to appeal to individual persons.

Arriba