The Trans-American Association of Volunteers in Solidarity (ATRAVES in spanish for Asociación Trans-Americana de Voluntarios en Solidaridad), is an independent and duly registered with the Nicaraguan Government from 2004 as a non for profit organization. The association adopts a non-political, non-religious, non-discriminating and inclusive policy in all our activities and projects. We always promote clear and transparent relationships with our donors by fully reporting and documenting the activities carried out as well as the use and application of the resources.
In 2019, we opened international operation based out of Laurel, Maryland (USA) as ATRAVES International with the same objectives and scope to support, today more than yesterday, the work being done in Nicaragua, especially under the current socio-economic circumstances that afflict the country nowadays. A strong hunt for non-governmental organizations has been unleashed in recent months, some have survived, like us, for not being involved in political issues of relevance to the riots developed in April 2018. Unfortunately the work being developed, and the one already carried out, is being undermined by irresponsible government actions against the civil society and citizens.
We are committed to education for the development of the country and we need to continue the work with youngster in marginal areas with the objective of forming thinking and conscientious citizens of their role within the country.
ATRAVES is an organization founded in one of the poorest and marginal areas of Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, where it provides attention to different needs in the community which is made up of almost 600 families, with over a thousand kids and more than 800 elders. In this area, we are pursuing programs and projects along three axes: Education, Health and Community Development.
Along the years, since 2000, we have carried out a number of projects in the area of entrepreneurship promotion, agriculture and food production, special education and vocational training, general health and diabetes, environment protection and development, rehabilitation of street gangs, among others, both within the region of Managua and other regions like Jinotega, Rivas and Chinandega.
Our foremost project was to build and manage a primary school in the “barrio marginal” William Galeano, part of the southern part of the Barrio Camilo Ortega, to improve the feeble presence of public institutions in the area of education and to provide support to the families of the area. The school officially opened in 2004 but had been working since few years earlier and since then we have attended an average of 250 children per year, providing not only the education, based on the legal framework of the directives of the Ministry of Education, as well as the nutritional and psychological aspects of growth in children aged from four to twelve years old, or from preschool up to sixth grade.
We at ATRAVES created the school as an independent organization, duly authorized by the Ministry of Education, where the objective of our association is to mobilize the resources to provide for current and capital costs, as the salaries and other costs that the school requires in order to function correctly. As well, with the help of God, we offer breakfast and lunch to the attending students who come from families of very scarce resources and temporarily unemployed, as well, we provide for school supplies twice a year and on demand; along with covering the physiological needs of the students, we provide psychological monitoring, and health care promotion days under the Heath Awareness Program for the Community.
As you might know from the national and international media coverage, the socio-economic and political situation of our country has changed dramatically following the events developed after April of 2018 which have caused social unrest and triggered a strong economic slowdown where more than 600,000 people have lost their jobs at the national level, many leading economic sector of the Nicaraguan economy like the tourism sector have almost shut down, and the economic outlook has turned to a negative perspective for next years, so far.
However, within the new environment we have to deal with has forced to scale down several programs and we have temporarily delayed some projects given the involvement of the community and the risk of exposure of our collaborators and volunteers to possible harassment from the local authorities and of pro-government groups; as a consequence of the decrease flow of resources within the country and from international organizations, we are seeking the help of generous people and organizations in order to maintain and reactivate the projects. As of today, we are reactivating some of our sleeping projects and we are actively promoting ATRAVES Nicaragua so that we can find the needed resources to support the future of this community and provide the students with a better future, improving their lives and that of their families.
How can you help us? ATRAVES need your support in any of the following activities:
International Adoption Program:
o Sponsoring a teacher and his/her assistant will provide a better chance for students to improve the quality of learning by employing well prepared academic individuals. As well, we can fund a Tutoring Program for Special Attention to students who need special attention.
o Sponsoring a student will provide a better quality of academic life by providing schools materials as books and activity supplies, recreational activities and excursions, as well as, improve his/her nutrition level. As well, the costs for the graduation of the students at the end of each grade and at the end of 6th grade which require a small investment that the families should pay to the Ministry of Education to receive their diploma.
o Sponsoring a family will provide health support for the family members and in particular for reproductive health and the elders which are part of the Heath Awareness Program with the Diabetes Support Project. Or sponsoring directly the Heath Awareness Program or the Diabetes Support Project, not only with financial resources but with medical materials as well.
Capital Improvement Program:
o Funding the improvement and the expansion of the infrastructure of the school, classrooms, and class furniture’s as well as class supplies and tools.
o Funding the Lab Test Center, for providing easy access to blood and other lab tests to the community at reasonable prices.
Health Awareness Program:
o Sponsoring the Community Nutrition Program, where we provide training and access to healthier food supplies especially for elders.
o Sponsoring the School Nutrition Program which provides improved nutrition to students, twice during the school day.
o Sponsoring the Basic Health Program for families in the area
o Sponsoring the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Program. This program includes the attention to elder with diminished physical capacities and the Diabetes Support Project.
Training and Labor Integration Program:
o Funding the Vocational Training Program for Business for vocational training and the Micro-Enterprises Start-up Fund for the start-up of new small and micro entrepreneurs, with coaching and support to the entrepreneurs.
o Funding the Vocational Training Program for Labor Insertion for vocational training for street gang members and their job positioning in the local labor market, with coaching and support to the employee and the employer.
o Funding for the New Business Incubator Program
Community Development Program
o Funding training for the Adult Access to Alphabetization Program, as well as part of the Vocational Training Program.
Volunteering Program
o National Volunteering Program
o International Volunteering Program
These are just a few of the examples of the activities we carry out. We hope you got a good grasp of what we are doing to help the local community develop.
We need your help and the help of those who share our passion for the future of our children and the community we live in. We need your support to save the future of this community.