The path of La Prusia                          
Before the works                                     After the works
Niños
de
La Prusia

Casas de la Esperanza,
La Esperanza Housing & Development
(ACE)
is a non denominational, non political
NGO, tax exempt: 501 (c) (3).  
It develops housing and provides technical
education to families who are currently
squatters, living on the outskirts of
Granada, Nicaragua.  
Casas de La Esperanza,
ACE, February 2012   

Casas de La Esperanza provides homes, micro-loans, medical care, education, job
creation, hope and dignity to the slum dwellers of La Prusia, Nicaragua.
U.N. Millennium Development Goals, Goal 8, Target 16: "In cooperation with the developing
countries, develop decent and productive work for youth"

                          La Prusia lacks many essential services:
    Those who have water pay it at a high price. Water comes to them every other day a few hours and many times it does not aarrive.
    Some families buy water barrels transported in two-wheeled carts.
    Although ACE has achieved that two foundations donate new pumps, the pipes system needs a total renovation.  
    There are no drains, of course, only latrines.
    Electricity reaches at low-voltage and outages are frequent. Much of the slums are illegally hooked to electrical wires.
    Until very recently the trash was burned or thrown down a ravine. The truck that enters now once a week has many difficulties
    throughout the winter due to the conditions of the path.
Casas de la Esperanza
ACE
    The level of education at the neighborhood is very low. Many have not completed primary education, and very few complete
    secondary school. To go to University or vocational training is an exception.  
    There is hardly any stable work. They survive being temporarily busy in construction, collecting firewood, family farming,
    food and drink sales, as caretakers, sweepers, security guards, etc.
    There are many health problems and premature deaths. Alcohol causes havoc, contributing also to family violence.  
    Living conditions are harsh. There is an urgent need for education and work for all, and especially for young people.  
    Let us help this young community helping itself, using its energy and dynamism to acquire education and overcome poverty.
AFTER THE RAINS, NO WAY THROUGH. WATER PIPES, EXPOSED.
From May to November there is rain almost every day. La Prusia residents have to walk for attaining the city.
Just the kids enjoy the mud.
     The situation is very similar every year: the rains do not allow to enter any vehicle into La Prusia.
    Even not emergency cars or ambulances.
    When the neighbours have enough, they go to Granada's Mayor. The city workers come with some machines
    and earth, and fix the path on a provisional way. During the rest of the dry season, everybody is happy.
    When the first strong rain falls, in May, the path can no more be used.
We thank Engineers without Borders United States and especially those of the University of Connecticut,
who came to La Prusia and are doing a study to divert water and prevent that the trail be again impassable.
La Prusia needs $50,000 for gutters, sewers and reinforcement of the path.
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Las casas de La Prusia
  • Son chabolas hechas de tabla ('ripio') y chapa, con suelo de tierra y letrinas en el exterior.
  • chabolas que se inundan y letrinas que, igual que la ropa, mantienen muy limpias
  • En ellas viven algo más de mil personas, con una media de edad en torno a 25 años.
  • Antiguos campesinos desahuciados, sin sitio en la ciudad, en un área semi-urbana. .
LA PRUSIA
LA LAGUNA DE APOYO
ACE1
ACE2
                               The slums of La Prusia
  • Shacks made of old wood (‘ripio’) and tin, with a mud floor and latrines outside.
  • About a thousand people, with an average age of 25 years, are living in the shacks.
  • They are mostly former peasants without site in the city, living in a semi-urban area.

    More than two hundred families live in shacks in several areas of La Prusia, the majority on the edge of the municipal
    road. There are just a few who have land to build their own houses, also with remains of wood and tin.
    Food is elementary, based on rice and beans, and insufficient.
    Children sometimes say "in my home there is no dinner because there is no money".
THE WINTER'S RAINS
ACE1
ACE2
ACE1
ACE2
ACE2

                                                               PICKING UP THE TRASH

    ACE's volunteers got that a truck from the City Council comes to La Prusia to pick up the trash.
    It is not enough for all the families, and many neighbours are still spreading, burying or
    burning waste. The whole area is usually full of garbage.
    ACE decided to make a campaign of awareness in the school and in the neighborhood,
    explaining to everybody how toxic and dangerous this habit can be for them and their children.
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.............................................................................................................  .......................................................................................................................DDD...................................................................................... hERE
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SUMMER ARRIVES TO LA PRUSIA. KNOW SOME OF ITS RESIDENTS:
Candida, Silvia, Margarita ...
remarkable women of La Prusia
The Marimba
ACE has provided the girls of first degree at the school of La Prusia Marimba’s dresses,
(essential for dancing at the school on holidays and for participating in Granada’s annual festivals).
Here we see them dancing for the first time at the festival of Xalteva.
  • La Prusia, or Las Prusias, is the name of a neighbourhood in Granada.
  • It is one of many poverty belts surrounding Nicaragua cities.
  • It is a marginal and marginalized neighbourhood, about two miles to the South West of Granada.
  • The only access by car to La Prusia is a road that passes along to the neighborhood of Las Camelias,
near the cemetery, and directs westward, toward the Apoyo lagoon.

  • Most homes in La Prusia are placed beside this path of municipal property and beside a private road.








Vídeo de Noelia y Josian sobre La Prusia








Vídeo de José Luis Bauset,Navidad de 2008