Directions in Managua
In August, I spent two weeks volunteering my IT services with Esperanza en Accion, a non-profit in Managuat wor, Nicaragua that works on economically empowering Nicaraguan artisans, garment workers, and coffee farmers through fair trade practices. They do incredibly good work, and it is mind-blowing to see the lifestyle changes in their artisans who have been able to pay for further education, afford needed medical bills for family members, and rebuild their board-and-cardboard houses with cinderblocks and other better materials in four short years, particularly in comparison to the many workers in Nicaragua's free trade export zone factories, who suffer from inhumane working conditions, union-busting businesses, and human rights violations. These things aside (!), they are not rebuilding their homes nor furthering their education, they are barely getting by.
But I digress. I feel that IT capacity building among these small non-profits is of huge value. It's a bit removed from front-line development work, but in the two short weeks I was there I was able to greatly increase their workflow efficiency and capacity, which will enable them to do more with their current setup and to grow, hopefully, in the near term.
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