Project Gettysburg - Leon

Reparto Felix & Pedro Quiroz is a very low income community on the outskirts of León, named for two young brothers killed in 1979 during the initial revolt against the Somoza dictatorship that controlled Nicaragua for more than 45 years.  Although it has many amenities that are absent in other poor areas of León, access to this rural farmland area is almost impossible during periods of heavy rain when the roads are washed out.

Through the infrastructure grant program sponsored by Project Gettysburg-León (PGL), the community will be building a kitchen annex to the pre-school, which enrolls about a hundred children. The kitchen will be used to provide at least one meal a day in order to ensure that basic nutritional needs are met for the children of this poverty-stricken community.    

PGL is providing the building materials, the community will be providing all the non-skilled labor, and funding for the food is being provided by another nongovernmental organ-ization (NGO).

Las Tias (“The Aunties”) is a support program in the city of León for economically deprived, at-risk children and adolescents who might otherwise be living on the street due to their families’ circumstances. Las Tias offers a way for such youths to escape the dangers of human trafficking, prostitution and the drug trade. 

The organization runs two centers, both of which provide at least one meal a day.  Younger children take classes and receive supplemental tutoring, though in some cases this may be the only schooling for children who work to support their families from as young an age as five or six. For adolescents, in addition to after-school support for those still in school, there are job training programs in carpentry, hairdressing and sewing.

Project Gettysburg-León (PGL) is contributing to the children’s welfare by funding an outreach teacher position.  This teacher/social worker will be assigned 40 students ages 10-14,  and will not only provide academic counseling, but also will intervene or mediate if a student is at risk of abuse, or not able to do schoolwork.