Promoting Gender Equality in Nicaragua through

Education

Greta TomEastern University

The Efforts of Two Non Governmental Organizations

Nicaraguan Context

are strictly defined in Nicaraguan culture, with more power being held by men. This phenomenon is called machismo. Many women become single mothers at some point in their lives.

(Country Studies)

Gender Roles…

Proyecto Miriam

• Project Miriam was founded in 1989 to provide access to education to women living in poverty in Nicaragua and Guatemala.

• Objective: To promote women’s holistic development-through empowerment, reclaiming rights, gender equity and social justice.

Scholarship Program Impact Study

• In Nicaragua and Guatemala, Proyecto Miriam partnered with Bread for the World to provide 30 scholarships to women between 2000 and 2009

• Priority for scholarships was given to women in rural areas and of indigenous background.

• In 2010, Proyecto Miriam surveyed 45 former scholarship students in Nicaragua in order to assess the program.

• Nearly all scholarship students surveyed received a degree from a public or private university, with only two opting for vocational-technical training.

• Students chose to study Accounting, Law, Medicine, Education, and Engineering.

Most of the students surveyed who

completed their university degree also went on to

further their studies in the same field or

receive an additional degree in a different

field.

• Scholarship recipients are required to fulfill social/community service duties and maintain good grades.

• Proyecto MIRIAM provides support to students through periodic group meetings and individual follow up.

Employment

• Because of their difficult economic situations, women sometimes leave the program if they find employment, rather than finishing their studies.

• A survey of 45 scholarship students who completed the program showed a 96% employment rate, with 24% employed by Proyecto Miriam.

Success!

Women who completed the survey reported higher rates of employment, increased self-esteem, more equable relationships within their families and with their partners, and a sense of hope for their futures as a result of participating in Proyecto Miriam’s scholarship program.

(Proyecto Miriam)

Centro Cultural Batahola Norte (CCBN)

Founded in 1983, the CCBN has

grown exponentially over the last

29 years. From humble

beginnings as a children’s choir

and women’s sewing class, the

center now offers classes in adult

literacy & primary education,

technical and arts classes.

• Since the very beginning the CCBN has endeavored to empower women through education by offering classes in sewing, cooking, cake decorating, natural medicine, cosmetology.

• The skills they acquired in class, enable many women to work from their homes, where they can also care for their children and households.

(Friends of Batahola)

Gender Equality

The CCBN seeks to educate both its male and female students about gender equality through workshops and by integrating discussions on gender into class curricula.

(Centro Cultural Batahola Norte)

True story…

Rita Cruz took her first cooking class at the CCBN over 20 years ago when her kids were little. The money she earned selling food from her home enabled her to leave an abusive marriage. Today she also teaches cooking classes and is well respected in Batahola.

References

Centro Cultural Batahola Norte. Áreas programáticas. Retrieved from http://centrobatahola.org/programas

Country Studies. Nicaragua. U.S. Library of Congress. Retrieved from http://countrystudies.us/nicaragua/29.htm

Friends of Batahola. Adult Programs. Retrieved from http://friendsofbatahola.org/adult_programs.htm

Proyecto Miriam. (2010). Estudio de impacto del programa de becas de MIRIAM en Nicaragua. Managua, Nicaragua. Retrieved from http://www.proyecto-miriam.org/esp/esp_22.html