JustHope
Creating global partnerships that combat extreme poverty and nurture sustainable community.
Last month around 1 billion people in nearly 192 countries participated in environmental activities to celebrate Earth Day. While we’ve seen incredible achievements in environmental conservation, education and activism, there is still much to be done. This holds true for our Nicaraguan partner communities as well. In this newsletter, we take a look at “green” JustHope programs.
Nicaragua is especially vulnerable to climate change due to its geographic position. Since the 1960s, Nicaragua’s mean annual temperature has increased about half a degree (F) each decade. This has resulted in a drastic decrease in total rainfall (5-6% each decade) yet heavy, monsoon-like rains during the traditional rainy season. Check out the World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal for more data on how Nicaragua has been impacted.
When you hear from JustHope, you usually hear about Nicaragua. Most JustHope news addresses the work we do on-the-ground in our Nicaraguan partner communities and how those communities are impacted by our Education, Agriculture, Health and Social Enterprise programs. But there’s another side to JustHope. JustHope’s mission starts with “creating global partnerships,” and creating global partnerships starts with informing, educating and cultivating a sense of global citizenship in the next generation.
Thanks to perseverance, prayer and a partnership between JustHope and the Northeast Ohio-based Hands United in Hope & Love, a joint ministry of St. John of the Cross and St. Mary Parishes, people in a remote area of Chacraseca, Nicaragua, who once worshiped in a makeshift sanctuary will soon gather in a permanent chapel.
OSU-Tulsa student Rachel Millea confesses she didn’t know much about the rest of the world before this semester. “My education on international volunteerism was very limited.” But in just a few short months, a spark has ignited in Rachel to learn more and to become more involved globally.