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Taolinga is a rural community of about 200 people that sits on a mountain ridge whose access road is only usable during Nicaragua’s dry seasons.
Project Gettysburg-León (PGL) provides a revolving loan fund that enables Taolinga community members to borrow money for the purchase of agricultural supplies. The loan is repaid with interest and the funds are held by PGL for use during the next harvest cycle. This very successful partnership has been underway since 2007.
In 2010 the community applied and was approved for a PGL infrastructure grant to fund the building of 20 latrines, to meet the sanitary needs of about a fourth of Taolinga’s population. The materials are being purchased by PGL and the labor is being provided by community members. Not only will the latrines help to improve the health and living conditions of the residents of Taolinga, but community solidarity will be reinforced as people work together for their common good.
Other PGL projects in Taolinga include workshops with Taller Artistic Xuchialt, the traditional arts school in León supported by PGL (see project page). Two students are travelling to León on weekends to be trained as adjunct teachers and Xuchialt plans a two-day festival of arts in Taolinga after the rainy season.
Additionally, FUPROSOMUNIC, the solar ovens project supported by PGL, will be holding a two-week workshop for 10 women on how to construct and use the ovens.
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Taolinga community leaders Angela Rivera and her father Horacio Rivera are in charge of the PGL revolving loan fund and submitted the latrines and solar ovens proposals.
Despite the heavy rains that make the single road from the bottom of the mountain usable only by foot or mule, the children of Taolinga – like kids everywhere – find a way to enjoy the muddy mess.
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