Why Nicaragua?
Millions of Nicaraguans face circumstances and challenges of everyday life where the average income per person is only $485 a year - an amount few families can live on leaving a deficit for many families to provide the most basic human services such as education, health care and sanitation for their family. A quarter of the population over the age of 6 has not completed the first grade and more than 50% of children that do attend school drop out before the fifth grade - often because they cannot afford basic school supplies or because they must work to help support their family. Those that make it to class go to schools that do not have enough desks so children must sit on the floor, or there are not enough text books so children crowd around one or use none at all. All of these factors make it difficult to combat the country's nearly 40% illiteracy rate.