Rijo Athletics Los Marqueses Project 2010
Rijo Staff will be in Nicaragua August 9 – 17.
IBC in Managua, Nicaragua is engaged in an outreach program to assist the inhabitants of a group of six villages in the Department of Carazo, near the town of San Marcos, collectively called Los Marqueses.
ABOUT LOS MARQUESES: The current Sandinista Government does not provide services or funding for any community of under 30,000 inhabitants. The inhabitants of Los Marqueses number only about 1,500. This community is categorized as one of “poverty” to “extreme poverty”. There are a few houses that are composed of cinder-blocks, but the majority are composed of anything that can be found to create a dwelling.
SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES OF LOS MARQUESES: There is a school that provides education to children in the 1st to 6th grades. The estimated average number of children per family in the area is five. It is therefore estimated that there are approximately 400 - 600 children of school age in Los Marqueses. The families must provide each child that attends the school with notepads and pencils, and adequate clothing that includes shoes. Normally, school children in Nicaragua wear uniforms - white shirts and black trousers for the boys, and white blouses and black skirts for the girls. However, as is the case in Los Marqueses, if the economic condition is such that the family cannot afford a uniform then some form of adequate clothing is required.
NEEDS OF LOS MARQUESES: In the case of Los Marqueses, the poverty is such that the families can usually only afford to send one child to school as they lack the resources to provide more than one child with notepads, pencils, and even adequate clothing. Another need in the villages is the lack of prenatal and children’s vitamins, which increases the risk of birth defects and childhood problems.
WHAT WE DID LAST YEAR: On our trip last year, Jose’, Troy, James, students from our program and their parents all went and took part in this successful project. They first worked with the college baseball team at the University of America Managua. They mentored, coached and trained the college team and encouraged them to go out to the village with our staff to help reach out to the less fortunate. After arriving at the village, we all spent time with the kids of the village by playing games, serving food, and spending time mentoring and being a positive role model for all. We also shipped a container to Managua of collected donated items that consisted of sports equipment, vitamins, clothing, school supplies, etc. through the help of our generous clients, friends, family and people in the community!
HOW YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE: We will be going to Nicaragua every August and our goal is to raise $150K. Rijo Athletics is partnering with IBC again to assist the families of Los Marqueses. We will be providing the children with school supplies and enough adequate clothing for them to go to school comfortably in the hot climate with the humidity varying from dry to very wet, but we cannot do this without your help! Any and all amounts will help.
If you would like to provide funding for this project, please make checks payable to:
Safe at Home
22620 State Route 9 SE
Woodinville, WA 98072
TAX ID #: 26-3877194
Your generosity and kindness is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support!
Rijo Athletics Staff
DOWNLOAD NICARAGUA 2010 FLYER HERE