My Nonprofit Reviews

In November 2023 Self-Help International (SHI) completed its 25th year of promoting agriculture, small businesses and clean water in Nicaragua. As a Self-Help Board member, I was able to attend the celebration event, which also honored Jorge Campos for his 25 years serving as Country Director. Over 40 employees, collaborators and clientele attended. Many gave testimonials about the valuable work SHI was doing and told how they had benefitted from SHI programs.
Expansion into two new territories was a highlight for 2023. A long-time priest serving two rural communities in northern Nicaragua invited SHI to extend its agricultural extension programs into his area. Self-Help was able to hire a full-time agronomist from the local community and start a credit program for small farmers. Initial results from a series of technical workshops and demonstration plots utilizing improved seed and production techniques look promising.
Solentiname is an archipelago of over 30 small islands in Lake Nicaragua. Community leaders invited Self-Help to present a series of workshops and provide samples of improved corn and bean seeds to small farmers on the island. The increased production and higher nutritional attributes of the grains should contribute to better health and income for the families.
Aracelly Cruz, a new specialist for the Women’s Empowerment Program, enrolled 23 new participants in 2023. A total of 117 women received funding for starting or expanding their small businesses and agricultural plots.
The Clean Water program is focusing on rehabilitation of existing chlorination systems in small towns in southern Nicaragua, with 67 communities receiving financing in 2023. SHI will add a second technician in 2024, and look to extend its efforts to provide clean and safe water to more families, schools and businesses.
As a Board member, I was impressed with the dedication of the SHI staff in Nicaragua and their abilities to not only maintain programs and contacts during the COVID pandemic, but also expand into new areas and initiatives. They richly deserve our moral and financial support.
William Edwards, Boone, Iowa.
Self-Help International Board member and retired Professor of Agricultural Economics
January 10, 2024