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Our annual Grey Cup was a touchdown!!!
Thanks to all you who came out in support of CP's partners in Nicaragua and Guatemala, and to our volunteer team that make it happen.
Great prizes, great fun, and great company were all had.
¡¡¡GO ARGOS!!!
We are excited to introduce you to some of the people participating in this year’s gender and agroecology (GenAgro) project. It is being implemented with our partners in three communities: Santa Julia, Santa Teresa and Jiñocuao.
This year’s project revolves around training in agroecological techniques and gender equality practices in agricultural production and at home. Two people were selected from each family, be they a married couple, mother – son, or other duo.
Gema Cruz & Yader Gutierrez show off their lush and diverse model garden in Santa Teresa.
A family with a model farm and another with a model garden were chosen from each community. The families were selected because of their commitment to using agroecological techniques, the diversity of plants or crops, and their willingness to learn, share and exchange with others. They also exemplify gender equitable practices among family members.
Maria Esperanza Perez discusses the agroecological techniques she uses on her cassava crop in Los Norteños, Santa Teresa.
Examples of capacity building topics that they are learning in this project include making organic insecticides, pruning of trees and coffee plants, and distributing household responsibilities more equitably between women and men (known as the care economy).
Producers receiving training in the model farm of Jiñocuao.
The owners of the model farm in Jiñocuao are Filemon Sanchez and Facunda Gavache, fifth and sixth from the left.
We are making short videos in each of the communities. They will provide testimonies and practical demonstrations, and participants will discuss what they have learned from the project. We will distribute the videos among the participants in the three communities, with other producers, and with our donors and supporters.
Dear Friends & Supporters of Casa - Pueblito,
Last Sunday 22ND, you all came out in numbers to support our 1st annual BBQ Musicfest By the Lake at the best deck in town!
Rancho Relaxo's own Donnie Blais came through with their usual excellent catering, ushering us into Casa-Pueblito's 33rd year with delicious flavours!
A HUGE thank you to our volunteers, performers, donors
who made this event possible.
and a big thank you to all of you who came out!
We were able to meet our fundraising goal, and as usual, the community projects we support in Nicaragua will be grateful for your solidarity.
THANK YOU for supporting grassroots solidarity from Canada to Nicaragua.
Dear Friends & Supporters of Casa - Pueblito,
Please mark your calendars and SAVE THE DATE, SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 22ND for our first annual BBQ Afternoon Party overlooking Lake Ontario on the best deck in town, at the Legion on the Lakeshore.
The BBQ will be catered by none other than Rancho Relaxo's own Donnie Blais, as Casa-Pueblito heads into year 33!
Date: Sunday Sept 22nd
Where: The Legion Hall, Branch 344 (1395 Lake Shore Blvd W)
Time: 2:30 - 5:30pm
Regular tickets $50
Value added tickets $75
All proceeds support Casa-Pueblito projects in Nicaragua & Guatemala.
Sharing food is something Casa - Pueblito does well. Here, kids enjoy one of over 50,000 portions of food served annually by our partner, Hogar Luceros del Amanecer.
Casa – Pueblito's fundraising event this year is a wonderful BBQ catered by Rancho Relaxo, with live music, on a lovely outdoor deck with great views on the shores of Lake Ontario. It will be held in Toronto on Sunday, September 22, 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM at The Royal Canadian Legion Hall, Branch 344 on the Lakeshore Blvd West.
This event is an important source of support for our community development projects in Nicaragua and Guatemala. Please come out and enjoy this great location with your friends and help us raise funds!
2:30-3:15 pm - Cocktails & live music on the deck, 50/50 draw ticket sales
3:15-4:15 pm - BBQ & catered food from Rancho Relaxo. Bill Heffernan hosts & holds an abbreviated live auction
4:15-5:15 pm - President Carl's ice cream & more music on the deck
5:15- 5:30 pm - Last call & 50/50 winner announced
Let's keep making reading and learning fun and accessible for children, youth and adults in our partner communities in Nicaragua and Guatemala.
When you buy a regular ticket for $50 per person you will be issued a partial tax receipt for $25 per ticket. Or you can buy a value added ticket for $75 per person and receive a partial tax receipt for $50 per ticket and each ticket will be entered into a lucky draw for sports tickets. Only the person that pays for the tickets will receive a tax receipt, which is in compliance with CRA regulations.
Have questions? Please email info@casapueblito.org
Looking forward to see you there,
The Casa - Pueblito Team
On June 27, 2024, our partners Huellas de Paz inaugurated a community health clinic. It will provide much needed services to this marginalized community of Managua. A volunteer nurse, psychologist and medical doctor will provide services at different times.
Inauguration of the community health clinic (L-R): Jaime Torres (Director of Huellas de Paz), Fátima Gónzalez (volunteer psychologist) and José Molina (volunteer medical doctor).
Huellas de Paz director and staff discuss the purpose of the clinic with community members.
Mural on the exterior of the clinic painted by the art teacher and students.
Volunteer psychologist Fátima Gónzalez in the community health clinic.
Dear Casa – Pueblito supporters and community,
It has been raining in most parts of Nicaragua since May of this year. This is a welcome change from 2023, when consistent rain did not start until about October (depending on the region).
Nevertheless, April and May were the hottest months on record, with the average temperature in the country in May being 29.6 degrees Celsius (without factoring in the humidex). Managua reached a record-setting 38.8 degrees.
These temperatures led to forest fires close to or in some of our partner communities. A fire just outside Ocotal, in northern Nicaragua left one youth dead.
A forest fire burns in Dipilto (close to Ocotal) in mid-April.
A forest fire in the community of Santa Julia near the end of April.
In Managua, the rain started almost at the beginning of May. All of our partners reported significant rain before the end of the month. Since this is a “La Niña” year, our partners know that it is likely that we will have more storms and rainfall, as well as the resulting effects, including mudslides; damage to homes, crops, infrastructure and livelihoods; and possibly loss of human and animal life.
One of our partners, the Gloria Quintanilla Women’s Cooperative, will be using this year’s project to update their community risk management plans and training. They will also acquire equipment and tools so that the community can prepare for the effects of storms on the main road in and out of the community, as well as repair any damage, by building run-off ditches and trails.
We will also support some of our partners to adapt to the climate crisis through our gender-responsive agroecology project. This year’s project will be based on developing a model farm and model garden in each of three communities – Jiñocuao, Santa Julia and La Calera – to build knowledge and practice skills regarding both agroecological techniques and more gender-equal relations related to both production and household tasks. Here is one of the beneficiaries, Toño Díaz, showing off his citrus trees in mid-June.
Toño Díaz (Jiñocuao) showing the fruit on one of his citrus trees grown with Casa – Pueblito support.
Thank you for your support in face of these compounding challenges,
Nadine
Country Director
Some of the most generative aspects of our work is when 2 (or more) of our inspiring community partners get to meet, exchange and build bridges.
The Gloria Quintanilla Women’s Cooperative in Santa Julia recently welcomed back the staff from Hogar Luceros del Amanecer of Camoapa at the end of April 2024.
Staff from Hogar Luceros del Amanecer’s Bosque Verde Farm learn from members of the Gloria Quintanilla Women’s Cooperative.
Sebastian Rodriguez, the director of Hogar, commented that, “the women of the Cooperative are an encyclopedia” after their first visit. When Hogar hired new staff for their Bosque Verde (Green Forest) farm this year, they brought them to learn some key insights from the Gloria Quintanilla Women’s Cooperative.
Gema Cruz (left), a member of the Gloria Quintanilla Women’s Cooperative, takes Hogar Luceros del Amanecer staff on a tour of her farm in December 2023, explaining to them her agroecological practices.
Hogar Luceros del Amanecer brought educational materials to the Gloria Quintanilla Women’s Cooperative during their first visit in December 2023.
Dear Casa – Pueblito supporters and community,
Have you received our Spring 2024 Newsletter in your mailbox yet?
Its full of inspiring stories from the past 6 months of Casa - Pueblito's solidarity work with communities across Nicaragua.
In case you missed it, the newsletter is available as a downloadable file on our website.
Daukaia students, parents and staff remove a log to prepare a garden for planting.
Students at our partner schools explore reading activities. In an increasingly digital world, its especially important to introduce kids to reading books in schools, whether for learning or for pleasure.
Photos from Daukaia, and the Christine King Cooperative.
Carl Melvin (President) and Bill Heffernan (Co-Founder and Vice-President) visited our partner Daukaia during their visit to Nicaragua last month.
Daukaia – which means ‘learning by doing’ in Miskito – provides academic reinforcement, nutrition, hygiene, and personal development for poor children in primary and secondary school in Ocotál (Nueva Segovia) close to the Honduran border. Our newest partner, we have been supporting them since 2022. The children who go to Daukaia love their time there. Some like to say, “full belly, happy heart and energy to learn.”
Dear Casa – Pueblito supporters and community,
Carl Melvin, President, and Bill Heffernan, Vice President and Co-Founder of Casa – Pueblito, recently returned from a visit to Nicaragua in February 2024.
Their visit was planned to coincide with a special event: the 20th anniversary of Hogar Luceros del Amanecer, our community partner in Camoapa (department of Boaco), held on February 10th. Carl and Bill, along with Nadine Jubb (Country Director) and Daniel Paredes (Agricultural consultant), were excited to attend!
The ceremony was uplifting. About 500 students and family members from the three schools served by Hogar partook in the games and celebrations. Hogar’s dance troupe performed, as well as a professional group from Managua. A trio from the Son de las Segovias orchestra – a project of the Christine King Cooperative – played Nicaraguan folk music.
Many of the students served by Hogar attended, accompanied by a family member.
We shared a special feast afterwards at the Bosque Verde farm and nursery. That evening, the Casa – Pueblito contingent had a lovely dinner with Sebastián and Aleyda. Some of our community partners also attended: Huellas de Paz, Christine King Cooperative, and the Gloria Quintanilla Women's Cooperative. These are some of the organizations that do exchanges with Hogar. [See our Fall 2023 newsletter for an article on partner exchanges.]
Casa – Pueblito with some of our community partners in Camoapa, February 2024. Standing (L-R): Irene Suarez, Carl Melvin, Lola Esquivel, Bill Heffernan, Nadine Jubb, Daniel Paredes, Luisa Solorzano, Sebastian Rodriguez. Kneeling (L-R): Jaime Torres, Aleyda Rios
Caption: Rachel Greenwood, Co-Founder of Hogar Luceros del Amanecer, presents Carl Melvin with a plaque
The Hogar Luceros del Amanecer dancers pose for some well-deserved applause.
¡Felicidades, Hogar Luceros del Amanecer!
You can find more information about our 2024 visit in the upcoming Spring Newsletter.
Please also find out more information about our work and our partners on our website.
We also accept tax-deductible donations at our website here.
In solidarity,
Bill and Nadine
Co-Founder and Vice-President; Country Director
