Introducing Nicaragua

A DEL MAÍZ COMPASSION BLOGGERS IN NICARAGUA Compassion Lin Jesus name Partnering with bloggers to RELEASE CHILDREN from poverty IN JESUS' NAME TWICE A YEAR Compassion International takes a handful of bloggers to the developing world to learn about its ministry and to experience extreme poverty firsthand. Today, they're introducing you to Nicaragua. NICARAGUA AT A GLANCE GUATEMALA Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America BELIZE There are no street names in Nicaragua. 57% of the total population (2010) in Nicaragua lives in urban areas. HONDURAS (82% in U.S.) Lake Nicaragua and the EL SALVADOR River San Juan are home to the only known freshwater NICARAGUA sharks in the world. 5.7 million people (10 times the population of Wyoming] live in 130,370 square miles (slightly smaller than New York state) Nicaragua has 11 メメ airports with paved runways. The U.S. COSTA RICA has 5,194. LANGUAGE Nicaragua had the first female 97.5% SPANISH president in Central PANAMA 1.7% MISKITO America. Violeta Chamorra 0.8% OTHER served from 1991 to 1997. RELIGION 58.5% ROMAN CATHOLIC 23.2% PROTESTANT 30% of Nicaraguans are 0.9 % JEHOVAH'S WITNESS under the age of 14 1.7% OTHER (20% in the U.S.) 15.7% NONE BASEBALL 12 Major League Baseball players have been born On Opening Day 2013, two of 856 MLB players were from Nicaragua. is the most popular sport in Nicaragua. in Nicaragua. TO PUT THINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE ATTEND COLLEGE AVERAGE INCOME U.S.: 55.7% Nicaragua: 8% U.S.: $48,112 99% of the U.S. population is literate. Nicaragua: $3,812 67.5% of Nicaraguans are literate. 75% of the population lives on LESS THAN $2 A DAY OWN A CAR U.S.: 79% Nicaragua: 5.7% ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER PEOPLE USING INTERNET U.S.: 99% Nicaragua: 85% U.S.: 245 million Nicaragua: 199,800 77.5% of Americans use the Internet. NUMBER OF 3.5% of Nicaraguans use the Internet. CELL PHONES U.S.: 290.3 million 42% of Internet users in Nicaragua Nicaragua: 4.8 million visited social media sites in 2011, and Facebook is the most popular social media 91.8% of the U.S. population has cell phones. site among Nicaraguan Internet users. 84.2% of the Nicaraguan population has cell phones. THE CHALLENGES IN A SPAN OF 40 YEARS Nicaragua has seen cruel dictatorship, civil war, hurricanes and flooding Nicaragua may be the largest Central American country-but it's 46% OF THE POPULATION HAS NO also one of the poorest, SECOND ONLY TO HAITI. ACCESS TO ADEQUATE SANITATION The most vulnerable victims of the extreme poverty in Nicaragua are WOMEN AND CHILDREN. 65% MORE THAN 71% of rural 40% women are illiterate of children will not of young girls finish primary school are married while they 33% are still minors. of maternal deaths are teenage girls 95% In economically disadvantaged of all disabled children in the country have no access to needed resources or regions, poor families see The child marriage MATERNAL therapies. as a way to DEATH RATE is 4.5 times greater improve their lot in life. than in the U.S. 1 OUT OF 3 A child born in Nicaraqua is 3 times as likely to die before age 5 than a child born in the United States. CHILDREN SUFFERS FROM CHRONIC MALNUTRITION 25% of Nicaraguan households are headed by single mothers. 10.7% of U.S. households are headed by single mothers. A Hidden DANGER In desperation they look for jobs... The Nicaragua Center for Human Rights estimates that there are 322,000 WORKING CHILDREN in the country. That's about 6% of the population. Child labor in Nicaragua is reported in the production of export crops such as coffee, cotton, bananas, tobacco, and rice. CHILDREN OFTEN WORK FOR LESS THAN US $1 PER DAY Banana and coffe lantations. alongside their parents on And some are lured into the DARKEST SIDE OF CHILD LABOR... In the Central American region, Nicaragua is considered a country of origin and a transit country for men, women, children and adolescents who are victims of SEX TRAFFICKING AND FORCED LABOR. COMPASSION IN NICARAGUA 2002: Compassion began work in Nicaragua 264 150: Nicaraquan churches that Compassion partners. Each church partner carries out at least 44 weeks of programmed activities a year. On average, a child spends at least 264 hours a year at the Compassion center! Across the country, an estimated of 124,569 meals/snacks are served to Compassion-assisted children-each week! That's a lot of rice, chicken and tortillas! 41,523: CHILDREN COMPASSION NICARAGUA SERVES AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR parents receive training, and twice a year they receive medical check-ups. That's MORE THAN 40,000 sets of parents learning and growing through Compassion and the local church! SPONSOR A CHILD IN NICARAGUA compassion.com/blog-trip RESOURCES: CA World Factbook, Department of Higher Education, World Bank, Monga Bay, PBS, Foundation for Sustainable Development, World Health Organization, UNICEF, United States Department of Labor, Children's Rights Portal, Casa Alianza, Nehemiah Center, Humanium, Compassion International Compassion Releasing children from povery Tin Jesus name