A Letter From Our Team

Where We Work

In Managua, Nicaragua, capital of the second-poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, there is a place so destitute that it stands out against the surrounding poverty.

Life inside Managua’s city dump, known as “La Chureca,” reserves a particularly foul brand of injustice for the children that are born within its confines, living among the trash and smoke. They can be found barefoot, muddy, and often half or completely naked playing in the waste-laden pathways that snake through their tarp and scrap metal homes. Living conditions result in high rates of parasite infection, skin and respiratory disease, anemia, and lead poisoning. Understandably, many children in La Chureca also suffer from varying degrees of malnutrition.

What We Do

Manna Project International’s Child Sponsorship Program targets severely malnourished children in their most critical stages of development. By providing vitamins, milk, and oatmeal for each child, we are able to reverse the harsh sentence of malnutrition. Our children also receive regular consults with a pediatrician, as well as any blood work and medication necessary for treatment of illness.

MPI partners with Nicaraguan-run community clinic Casa Base de Salud to host weekly health classes to which a guardian of our sponsored children is accountable. Growth charts and weekly visits with mothers allow us to determine when a child is able to maintain an acceptable nutrition level, at which point the child is graduated from our program.

Sponsoring A Child

The Child Sponsorship Program is currently at capacity, but the unyielding conditions of La Chureca constantly bring new cases of malnutrition to our attention. 20 dollars a month allows Manna Project to provide nourishment to a child that would otherwise go without. As our volunteers and Program Directors raise their own funds, every dollar given to Child Sponsorship goes directly to feeding your sponsored child.

To sponsor a child, or for more information, visit Child Sponsorship online at http://www.mannaproject.org/nicaragua-child or e-mail us at childsponsorship@mannaproject.org. For more information on Manna Project International (MPI) visit www.mannaproject.org.

Thank you for taking the time to consider sponsoring a child.

Our sincerest regards,

The Child Sponsorship Team

Chureca Gets A Play Day

The following is an excerpt from our official MPI blog, www.talesofsudorandamor.com, written by PD and CS team member Ian Rountree.

Child Sponsorship's quarterly field trip gave the children and mothers in our nutrition and health education program an afternoon's rest from life in Chureca. It took two buses to get everyone from Chureca to El Salero, or "The Land" in Manna jargon, and back, but it was well worth the trip for everyone. The sponsored kids received lunch and each his or her own children's book, but most importantly rare time to play in clean air and open spaces. Kathy and Halle August's sports complex was the perfect venue. The new Program Directors were particularly thankful that we had time to get to know both the children and mothers in the Child Sponsorship Program, but above all it was a day full of joy. Enabling a child to run, laugh, and play brings joy in a portion that is rarely matched. Here we share some snapshots of Chureca's play day.

Lauren Page "LP" Black attempts to help Maria Antonia simultaneously tackle her fear of swings and cameras.

Andrew Hemby, more commonly referred to as "Andrés" or just "Hemby," being kept from his Gallo Pinto by Heysel and Josué Daniel. Heysel helped us hand out cookies!

Jose Manuel, rarely separated from his faithful backpack, braves the tire swing on his own.

In addition to his undying love for Spiderman, or Hombre Araña,Josué Daniel always brings a laugh when he insists on introducing himself by his full name, Josué Daniel Chávez Ortega.

Hemby gives Jefrey a boost toward the basket.

The children of Chureca are a sincere lesson in the resilience of a child's joy. I suspect that we, the new Program Directors, may find that Manna's sponsored children and students have more to teach us than we ever suspected.

- Ian