19 January 1999

Vivian Stromberg, Executive Director
Elena Arengo, Program Director
MADRE
121 West 27th Street, Room 301
New York, NY 10001

Re: Condega Homemakers Project Proposal

Dear Vivian and Elena,

Thank you very much for meeting with me recently. Here is the proposal for the women's building project that we discussed.

I hope MADRE will agree to be the fiscal sponsor for this project and that you will be able to assist us in raising the needed funds. I think you'll find that the goals of the project are quite consistent with MADRE's mission. Through monetary aid and the labor of our brigadistas, our project focuses on the immediate survival needs of the women of Condega, Nicaragua. The project will also have long-term effects: local women will be trained in construction and empowered with job skills. Some of these women will be the owners of the new houses, which will help to shift the balance of power and to promote long-term development and social justice.

The Condega Homemakers Project is a practical and feasible way for women in the U.S. to work in direct partnership with the women of Nicaragua. Our partner organization in Condega, the Women's Construction Collective, has existed for more than ten years, teaching women skills that are especially useful in this time of crisis. By working directly with the Collective, we can leverage their expertise and rootedness in the community to present a very effective means to channel labor and funds to an important end.

Ultimately, this project could last much longer than the proposed one-year term. It may take decades before the Nicaraguan economy recovers from the set-backs of Hurricane Mitch. Through the work of our brigades, we hope that we will be able to develop a longer-term working relationship with the women of Condega that will assist in this recovery. MADRE's fiscal sponsorship, assistance with fund-raising, and potential reduction of the associated administrative fee would enable us to meet these goals.

Thank you very much for your consideration of this proposal.

Sincerely,

Margarita M. Suarez
Coordinator, Condega Homemakers Project
Columbia University Station
P.O. Box 250516
New York, NY 10025 [an error occurred while processing this directive]

The Condega Homemakers Project is a small, New York-based grass-roots organization of women formed in November 1998 to help women rebuild their houses in the poor, rural town of Condega, Nicaragua. Beginning in February 1999 we will be sending groups of volunteers to Condega. We will be working in partnership with the Women's Construction Collective in Condega, a 10-year-old grass-roots NGO (Non Governmental Organization), who is organizing the construction of homes for women who lost their houses in the flooding brought by Hurricane Mitch. The Condega Homemakers Project is collecting donations to cover the cost of building materials, minor administrative expenses, as well as travel expenses for brigadistas who may need assistance. We are asking MADRE to be the fiscal sponsor of this project and to assist us in raising funds needed for our work. Through the course of this year-long project, we will build an alliance with the Women's Construction Collective in Condega that will hopefully develop into a longer-term working relationship.

The severe flooding brought by Hurricane Mitch in October and November 1998 destroyed 550 houses and affected 10,000 people in the poor, rural town of Condega, Nicaragua. The Women's Construction Collective in Condega, La Asociación Colectivo de Mujeres Constructoras (a project of the Network of Women against Violence, RED de Mujeres Contra la Violencia de Condega), is planning the reconstruction of a number of houses. The recipients of these houses will be women, many of them single mothers, who have been left homeless by the floods. While the Nicaraguan government and other organizations have begun the task of rebuilding in Condega, the Collective's priority is to reach out to those who have been overlooked.

The Collective has existed for more than ten years. After receiving training from INATEC (Instituto Nacional Tecnologico) in August 1996, the women gave their first 168-hour carpentry course from October 1996 through January 1996. There were two welding courses given in 1997; the graduates have already received contract work. Recently, the Collective finished construction of a two-story building featuring an office, kitchen, laundry room, and welding studio, as well as a sixteen-bed dormitory on the second floor, used to house students of the workshop. Through their hard work and dedication, the Collective is responsible not only for providing women with valuable skills: the confidence and empowerment that they inspire in women are immeasurable.

In response to the crisis caused by Hurricane Mitch, the Collective has planned a six-month period beginning in mid-February 1999 in which to do the construction. They are currently working to secure land on which to build. Additionally, they have identified about 25 women who are most in need of housing. However, they require money for building materials as well as skilled and unskilled volunteers to help with the construction. They are prepared to offer the brigadistas room and board, but they have asked us to help raise the money needed for building materials. They have planned to build fifteen houses at the start, and are prepared to build up to fifteen additional houses as funding allows.

The construction project planned by the Collective fits nicely with MADRE's mission to enable women to change the conditions that lead to human rights abuses. The beneficiaries of the houses will be directly involved in the construction, and when finished, they will be the legal owners of the property -- which is quite uncommon for women in Nicaragua. In addition, other local women will be trained in carpentry, iron work, and construction, so that at the project's completion they will be able to earn money using these skills. The combined goals of empowering women with marketable skills as well as making them the legal owners of property will have a lasting effect of shifting the power balance and thereby promoting long-term development and social justice.

The Condega Homemakers Project was formed in November 1998 to help the Collective and the women of Condega. Beginning in February 1999 we will be sending volunteers to Condega to help with construction. We are hoping to send another group of volunteers in May as well. We are collecting donations to cover the cost of building materials, minor administrative expenses, as well as travel expenses for volunteers who may need assistance.

The first of our brigades will leave from New York on February 19, 1999. Brigadistas will work for one to two months in Nicaragua. We have begun assembling our brigade and are currently networking with women's trade organizations such as Non-traditional Employment for Women to locate skilled labor, especially forewomen. Regardless of experience, our brigadistas will bring hard work and dedication to Condega, whether it is skilled or unskilled volunteer labor to help with construction or fund-raising efforts here in New York.

We have already begun to raise the funds needed to realize this project. Our fund-raising goals are based on the costs of building materials and travel expenses. Working closely with the local council of Condega, the Women's Construction Collective has estimated the cost of rebuilding one house at US $3,500. They already have an architectural plan for the houses. The modest yet respectable houses, which will measure 50 square meters, will be constructed out of concrete blocks, with wooden beams and tin roofs, and enhanced with tile floors, wooden doors, and wooden window frames and shutters.

We would also like to be able to provide some need-based assistance with travel expenses to the brigadistas. Not only will they be volunteering their labor, but also they may have to take unpaid leaves from work and will need to cover rent and other expenses while they are gone. We anticipate that women that we reach through the trades organizations especially will require assistance with travel expenses.

We are asking MADRE for fiscal sponsorship and to help with the fund-raising. We are currently in the midst of a broader outreach. We have already created an extensive Web page detailing our project. We are preparing a press kit to be distributed by January 20, 1999. Organizations such as Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York and Non-traditional Employment for Women have offered to help us to advertise our brigade.

By the time the first brigade leaves on February 19, 1999, we would like to have raised the cost of at least one house as well as some funds to offset the travel costs of the brigadistas. To accomplish this, we have planned two benefits, and each brigadista will send out a fund-raising appeal to family and friends.

After the initial brigade returns from Nicaragua, we will compose a report of our trip, and we will resume our fund-raising efforts using this information. By September 1999, we hope to have sent at least one more brigade and to have raised a total of $50,000, equaling the cost of fourteen additional houses.

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp In late October 1998, after a week of constant rain, the rivers on either side of Condega suddenly and unexpectedly rose. When the Rio Estelí broke its banks, knocking over trees and power lines and causing people to be evacuated from their homes, the town of Condega promptly set up an Emergency Committee, made up of local government members, NGO representatives and individuals. The Network of Women against violence and the Women's Construction Collective were integrally involved in the Emergency Committee from the very beginning. They immediately began the task of setting up refuges and helping people move what possessions they had, never thinking that the town might be stranded. A day later the Rio Piré took a short cut across three barrios to meet Rio Estelí taking with it whatever was in its path: houses, factories, trees, crops, animals, and unfortunately three children and one adult. In addition to the damage to life, property, and land -- much of which is permanently covered with water or has been left barren without the possibility of cultivation -- the wrath of the two rivers left Condega stranded without means of transportation, electricity, telephone, or clean water for twelve days.

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp During Condega's period of separation from outside help, the women's groups of Condega began to address the needs of the town, making sure that women and children were not forgotten. The two women's organizations are also involved in the Reconstruction Committee, which gives priority to long-term plans, as larger organizations and the government are are now providing food and temporary refuge. The Women's Construction Collective, one of the only construction workshops in Condega to survive the floods, has made it their priority to build houses for women affected by the disaster and to involve women in the whole process of rebuilding their community. The Condega Homemakers Project would like to help them in this reconstruction.

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp We feel that the Condega Homemakers Project fits perfectly with MADRE's mission to work with women's organizations to address urgent and concrete needs in their communities, while empowering them to work for long-term change. We hope MADRE will help us in our efforts to support the women of Condega, Nicaragua.

November 1998 -- Present	Development of Web page, networking and outreach, individual fund-raising efforts
January 1999	Fund-raiser party at Rising Cafe, Brooklyn, NY Mailing to businesses asking for donations of food and door prizes for the fund-raiser Non-Traditional Employment for Women distributes information about our project at their monthly coffeehouse Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York piggy-backs a flier describing our project with their weekly mailing
February 1999	Fund-raiser concert in Rhode Island Lucinda Grinnell, Sonja Hubbert, and Margarita Suarez travel to Nicaragua
March -- April 1999	Brigadistas return, assess project's progress, and resume fund-raising and outreach efforts
May 1999	Second brigade leaves for Nicaragua Fund-raiser concert in New York
July -- August 1999	Brigadistas return, assess project's progress, and resume fund-raising and outreach efforts
October 1999	Margarita Suarez returns to Nicaragua for two weeks

Last updated: Wednesday, 12-Jan-2000 21:29:37 EST
<homemakers@homemakers.org&gt