The severe flooding caused by Hurricane Mitch 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) is asking for women's building brigades to assist with the reconstruction of 15 houses for women, some of them single mothers, who have been left homeless.
We are the Condega Homemakers Project, a small, New York-based grass-roots organization of women who want to join this effort. 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 as well as travel expenses for volunteers who may need assistance.
The collective is currently working on securing land on which to build. Additionally, they are identifying the women who are most in need of housing. While the government and other organizations have begun the task of rebuilding the 550 homes, the collective is interested in reaching out to those who have been overlooked.
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, local women will be trained in carpentry, iron work, and construction, so that when the project is finished they will be able to earn money using these skills.
We are trying to raise funds to cover the cost of building materials for the 15 houses, which will cost approximately $4,200 each. If we raise enough money, the collective is prepared to build up to 15 additional houses.
While our brigadistas are making every effort to raise money to cover their own airfare (about $525 each), donations may also be used for needs-based assistance with travel expenses.
MADRE, an international women's human rights organization, has offered to be the fiscal sponsor of this project. Your tax-deductible contribution can be sent to:
Please make checks out to MADRE, earmarked for Condega Homemakers Project.
For more information, please contact homemakers@homemakers.org. Please do not contact MADRE, as they do not have this information. More details about the project are available on the World Wide Web: http://www.columbia.edu/~marg/homemakers/
Last updated: Wednesday, 12-Jan-2000 21:29:39 EST
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