Poder Ciudadana (Citizen Power)

When I was at PDM, my counterpart, Rafael, mentioned to me that his NGO was going to be doing a series of trainings with community leaders from the small communities around San Rafael about laws guaranteeing citizen participation as well as how to design a community project. He asked if I’d like to help out and obviously I jumped at the chance.

Those trainings were this past week and it was a very eye-opening experience. I had the opportunity to meet folks who live in some very impoverished areas, hear their thoughts and concerns, and see what projects they would like to see completed in their communities. One thing that caught my eye was how many women were in attendance – I guess that even in a country where machismo is the norm and women often don’t have the same opportunities as men, they still are the ones who are most involved in their communities. I suppose too that since the training was held during normal working hours that perhaps there were men who would have come but were working.

Groups working:




Rafael presenting:


Part of the agenda was for groups to make a map of how they want their community to look in five years, and then a list of projects needed to make it that way. Since CEDRU was going to take the lists to the mayor’s office to give them an idea of all the needs in the communities, we asked the participants to make the lists as specific as possible (exact numbers, distances, etc.). I was helping one group put more detail in their list – the project listed was for electrification so I asked how many houses were without electricity and they answered 22. Then I asked how many houses were in the community and they said 25.

I was surprised to see how many communities had electrification projects as well as drinking water & well building projects on their lists – imagine that, living only a couple kilometers from people who have lights, water, TVs, computers, the works, & you’re stuck carrying water from the river and burning candles. Living in my fairly large site with all its amenities, I something forget how poor Nicaragua really is. Other desired projects included repairing and paving roads, building health centers, fixing roofs for the poor, food programs for children and the elderly, libraries, classrooms, and parks and playing fields.

The idea behind the training was to educate these citizens about their rights to participate in local government and to get started on a project proposal to turn in to the mayor’s office to be included in the budget for next year. Many of the participants thanked the NGO for providing the training, they never knew anything about the laws guaranteeing their participation and even less about how to formally present a project. They were excited and motivated to participate, now let’s see if a) they turn in their proposals and b) if the mayor follows through and funds them.