Democracy at work in our Nicaraguan Partner Communities
Both La Flor and Chacraseca have processes in place to elect new leaders every two years. And in Chacraseca those bi-annual elections just happened! JustHope offers a big WELCOME to the new "Comite" (a short term we use for the Board of Directors of the community) in Chacraseca!
As the new leaders move into place, JustHope will be negotiating a new "Partnership Agreement" with them to lay out the ways in which we will work together to promote Health, Education, Agriculture, and Social Enterprise in Chacraseca... and the methods we will use to insure our collaboration continues to be grounded in mutual respect and trust.
Each of these leaders is entrusted by their peers with the responsibility for active, engaged community organizing on behalf of the 9000 residents of Chacraseca. That means long hours every day visiting in their neighborhoods, attending meetings (often several miles away), advocating with government officials for better services, and facilitating effective, sustainable partnerships with their North American partners. All of it is volunteer, and they often have to pay their own expenses for transportation and supplies.
