Anita*

  • Overview
  • Medical
  • Dental
  • Water
  • Business
  • Public Health

Overview

Anita is located in the mountainous region of northern Nicaragua in the department of Jinotega. A typical house is made of wood. The community has access to a local health centre 6 kilometres away as well as a multigrade primary school. 127 students attend the primary school with 4 teachers and 4 classrooms. The primary school goes up to grade six, and there is no secondary school located in Anita.  Most people in the community work as agricultural and coffee labourers.

Global Brigades is currently working with the Business Program in Anita. In their communication with Global Brigades, the top three needs expressed was access to clean water, access to public health infrastructure, and access to health care. Anita is on the waitlist for continuing Holistic Model implementation as part of Global Brigades’ strategic plan in Nicaragua.

Municipality: Jinotega
Department: Jinotega

*Brigades to this community are temporarily suspended at this time

Homes : 44
Population : 181
Water System : Yes
Community Bank : Yes
Electricity : Yes
Health Center : No
Community Health Workers : Yes
% of Homes with Latrines : 23%
Education : Up to 6th Grade
Distance from Lodging Facility : 28 km

Medical

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

HEALTH CARE ACCESS

Healthcare access in Nicaragua is structured by the Ministry of Health, based in the capital, Managua. From there, each of the fifteen departments has its own department hospital, which is overseen by the SILAIS administrations (Sistema Local de Atención Integral en Salud). At a municipality level, there is a health centre (Centro de Salud) for every municipality within the department. While they are not hospitals, health centres in the municipality are typically staffed with one doctor, and two nurses, that can attend to patients with chronic, communicable, or noncommunicable diseases, as well as pregnancies. They, however, do not have the ability to perform surgeries.

Lastly, most but not all communities have a Puesto de Salud, a smaller health centre. These health centres are usually staffed with only one nurse and a rotating physician. Physicians are staffed in these health centres by Nicaragua’s Social Service. This is an initiative that requires Nicaraguan medical students to do two years of service in rural communities prior to graduating. The physician density in Nicaragua is approximately 1,099 people for every doctor.  

According to the World Health Organization, there should be a maximum of 435 people per physician to qualify a country as having adequate access to medical attention. This density is significantly lower for the 40.6% of the population that lives in rural areas. It is for this reason that Nicaragua’s Social Service initiative brings medical students to these communities. However, access remains limited since these training physicians may be assigned to up to fifteen communities at a time.  

Anita does not have a health centre within the community. The closest Health Center is located 6km away. Unfortunately, people do not always people get what they need there and must travel 2 hours to Jinotega in order to have medicine and specialized attention.  

Currently, the community has issues with mosquitoes due to the thick vegetation within the community. Also, the community sees issues with hygiene due to latrines being damaged and outdated. The three top illnesses found in children are the flu, the common cold, and diarrhoea. Some top illnesses found in adults are hypertension and diabetes.

COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS 

Anita has 3 Community Health Workers that are trained by the Ministry of Health. Community Health Workers, or Brigadistas de Salud, work on a volunteer basis as advocates for healthcare within their communities. They are tasked with treating and preventing common illnesses, and some of their responsibilities include first aid, supporting and caring for pregnancies and newborns, and responding to emergency situations. They are also responsible for following up with chronic patients to ensure proper administration of medications and treatments to avoid further complications.

Global Brigades is planning to establish a partnership with {Community name} Community Health Workers and the Ministry of Health and is looking forward to providing these Community Health Workers with blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes, glucometers, and first aid kits, to facilitate more impactful work. The presence of these volunteers and their advocacy for health within their community contributes to the sustainability of healthcare supported by Global Brigades’ Medical Program and is one of the most impactful disease prevention strategies in rural communities.

Dental

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

DENTAL CARE ACCESS

While medical access is low, dental access is even more sparing. Dental services are not available within the community health centers, or even the municipality health centers. Instead, if a patient was needing dental care, they would be required to travel to one of the country’s fifteen department hospitals. This could be up to a 2-3 hour bus ride, with many needing to first walk or horseback ride to the bus stop.

36

Patient Consultations

15

Number of Extractions

17

Filings Performed

N/A

Dental Education Workshops

Water

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

ANITA’S WATER CHALLENGE:

Currently, the community of Anita does not have a water system. People collect water directly in several springs or water sources located in nearby mountains. Many of the people funnel the water through hoses directly to their houses however not all the community members are at the same level of coverage. Alternatively, ten households have access to pump wells on their private property.

Currently, the water is not treated and there have been no studies on quality. There is a partnership between Global Brigades and the Municipality of Jinotega in order to build the water system in 2019 which will supply water to the approximate 62 houses of Anita bringing water to approximately 255 individuals.

*Volunteers were able to support this program but continued progress has been made through the generous support of the Merkel Foundation.

0*

Volunteers

150

Project Beneficiaries

3

Kilometers of Pipeline Installed

2,640

Storage Tank Volume

ANITA’S WATER SOLUTION:

After identifying a potential groundwater source in the community supplying 3.56 gallons per minute of water, Global Brigades presented the design details of the water system to the municipality of Jinotega. In turn, the municipality requested Global Brigades’ support to supply 30 additional houses with water in return for counterpart funding.

This partnership with the municipality and community resulted in the water system’s completion in December 2019. The new surface water system with a pump is able to provide clean chlorinated and reliable water. The system is attached to a 2540-gallon storage tank that is able to provide water to the entire community through 3 km of underground piping.

Business

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

ANITA’S ECONOMIC CHALLENGE 

Rural communities in Nicaragua face a number of structural obstacles when it comes to economic growth. Access to credit is limited by physical barriers in transportation and exclusion from formal financial institutions. This exclusion can be the result of a lack of financial literacy, credit history, and land titles or substantial assets consumer goods to offer as collateral. Additionally, maintaining savings is not a common practice in rural communities in Nicaragua, and when families do save, they often do not have a safe place to do so.

In Anita, the average family income is low per household. The main form of employment in Anita is agriculture, and the primary crop produced is coffee. Economic growth faces additional obstacles due to the community’s dependence on agriculture and day labouring, as its inhabitants’ incomes are earned on a seasonal basis, determined by crop yields, and susceptible to external factors like drought, disease, and international market trends.

*Volunteers were able to support this program but continued progress has been made through the generous support of the Merkel Foundation.

0*

Volunteers

28

Loans Disbursed

42

Savings Accounts Opened

$260

Capital Invested

ANITA’S MICRO-FINANCE SOLUTION 

The Business Program works to stimulate the local economy by organizing community residents around a community bank, which is entirely owned and operated by its members. Focusing on providing access to low-interest loans credit and savings for the members, its Bank Council members are tasked with growing the community bank and managing the funds.

The Business Program provides training and support to help strengthen these community banks and stimulate the flow of capital within the community. These financial services can be used by members for everything from farmers taking out loans to buy their seeds before planting, to a family taking out a loan to cover medical expenses. 

Anita’s community bank, named La Esperanza, was established in February 2018 with the support of Global Brigades. The community bank has 21 female and 12 male shareholders who meet monthly along with a bank council that leads the shareholders and oversees the meetings. In order to pool funds together, increase the capital available to the community bank, and expand the impact of its financial services, each member contributes a monthly share or fee for which they receive a proportional amount of the bank’s dividends at the end of its fiscal year.

Additionally, Global Brigades provides matching capitalizations once these capitalizations meet established benchmarks. Global Brigades also has monthly follow-ups and training with the community bank to strengthen the bank over time and ensure its sustainability. Global Brigades and Anita’s community bank are working towards being able to disburse loans, increase savings and train individuals on financial management.

Public Health

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

Global Brigades is working on the implementation of the Holistic Model in Anita but has not yet begun with the Public Health Program. Now in the planning phase, the financing, delivery, and installation of household health infrastructure products will start as soon as feasible.

% of Homes with Latrines : 23
% of Homes with Showers : 0
% of Homes with Washing Station : 1
Common House Materials : Wood

Local Reference Points

View the map to see the closest volunteer lodging facilities, hospitals, and other relevant points of reference.

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