• La Esperanza Housing & Development / Casas de la Esperanza, EH&D,  needs volunteers ready to help the families of La Prusia,
    collaborating in the Projects of the organization and helping to start up other new ones. Anybody ready to help the families of the district
    is welcome. There is no fee of inscription. We do not stablish minimum nor maximum stay limits: everything that is done in favor of the
    families of La Prusia is well received. We work every day of the year, there are no temporarily limited projects. Basic knowledge of
    Spanish is required.

  • La Esperanza Housing & Development / Casas de la Esperanza, EH&D, is a NGO with recognized legal personality in the United
    States, Spain and Nicaragua. We are not a big NGO: we do not have offices, stores nor headquarters, we do not have employees, we
    reduce bureaucracy to the minimum. But the people who endorse the EH&D projects are of the highest guarantee. And we took ahead
    the projects with total seriousness. In Spain, the promoters and most of the Board of directors are professors of the Complutensian
    Universities and of the Autonomous University of Madrid. The Coordinator of the Association in Spain is Mercedes López Salvá (Tel. 91
    4474617), University professor of Greek Philology of the UCM. In Granada, Nicaragua, the President of the Association is the lawyer
    María Auxiliadora Martínez (Tel. 505 4254912).

  • La Esperanza Housing & Development / Casas de la Esperanza, EH&D,  is a NOG composed exclusively by volunteers. It is directly
    dedicated to offer support to families of very poor areas of Nicaragua (we have begun in the marginal district of La Prusia, in Granada),
    trying to help them to go out from poverty in the line of the Objectives of the Millenium. The 100% of the donations received revert
    completely in its Projects. All the work of secretariat, information and support is done by Internet.

  • The objectives of La Esperanza Housing & Development / Casas de la Esperanza, EH&D, are concrete: To make available the means
    that may allow the families to palliate their problems of water, house, education, development, work, health… etc. We offer to them a
    small piece of land and building materials that they will have to give back little by little as micro-credits without interest in so many years
    as it will be needed. The EH&D volunteers help in the construction and the courses, dealing directly with the families of the Prusia. We
    are not going there to solve their problems. We go there to help them to do that.

  • La Esperanza Housing & Development / Casas de la Esperanza, EH&D, does not impose anything to its volunteers either. It lets to
    them a large margin of initiative so that they may find the best way to help to the families of the district in consonance with their
    preparation and preferences, and even to design their work schedule. The only norm is that alcohol has to be excluded from any EH&D
    activity or center. There is a serious problem of alcoholism in the quarter and we cannot aggravate it. Also we recommend not to give
    money to the families without speaking it previously and verifying that the necessity is real. Unfortunately, we have had already several
    experiences that confirm to us that the one that better requests usually is not the one that needs it most. We do not come to give alms,
    but to help to find a way to leave the poverty.

  • La Esperanza Housing & Development / Casas de la Esperanza, EH&D, puts the new volunteers in contact with the people of La Prusia
    and it requests to them that they contribute with all their energies to improve the conditions of life, education and economic and
    professional development of the zone. To help them to build their houses is already organized and is very important, but it is not our
    only care. As you have already seen, we have ongoing courses of School Support for children, Adults education, a sewing course and
    another one of craftsmanship, etc. From October 26, 2007, all Wednesdays, there is a doctor of the public System of Health in the Model
    House of EH&D, taking care of the health of people of the quarter. Manuel, Arantxa and other volunteers have formed an Association of
    Women, in view of future cooperatives. We would like to begin soon with courses of carpentry, plumbing, computers, etc. We do all this
    in the School-workshop that we have already finished.

  • La Esperanza Housing & Development / Casas de la Esperanza, EH&D, is exclusively based on the voluntary work of its promoters
    and cooperators. We all have to pay for the trip, the food (except for the lunch of the working days) and the lodging (unless you are lived
    in the House of Volunteers that is in the quarter itself and is free). The rooms of the House of Volunteers are shared; those that remain
    more time have preference. To live in a hostal in Granada is also quite economic. To stay in the Volunteers’ House is not only a
    question of saving money: you will be living within the quarter, and you experience more thoroughly their problems. You have to give up
    to the comfort that the city of Granada offers, but you gains in real contact with the life of people.                        
STEPS TO FOLLOW

    FILL AND SEND THIS FORM:

  • Prepare your passport. You do not need to care about the visa before the trip. You get it at the
    border, paying $5 in the airport, or $8 if you come by highway from Costa Rica. It is valid for three
    months, but you can renew it easily. If it is necessary, you cross the border to Costa Rica, that is
    not far, and come back.

  • If you are going to fly, buy your ticket to Managua or San Jose de Costa Rica as soon as you
    decide the dates. You may look for it in Google or Yahoo under “cheap tickets” for different dates.
    There are much difference of price according to the companies and the days of the week. If you
    arrive at Managua, we can send somebody from La Prusia to pick you up (charge: $35). The taxis
    of the airport are more expensive and they do not know how to arrive to La Prusia. To take a bus
    the first time is not recommendable, specially if you arrive at night. Granada is about 50 minutes
    from the airport, but it is likely that if you ask where is La Prusia nobody knows (it is a marginal
    quarter, near Granada’s cemetery).

  • Some volunteers have found better prices flying to Costa Rica. From San Jose you can arrive at
    Granada in bus (Transnica or Ticabus, 8 hours with conditioned air) for less than $15. If you take
    this option, or if you are traveling through Central America, you can tell us when you arrive and we’
    ll send somebody from La Prusia to pick you up at the bus-station; you will arrive to the house for
    less than $2.

  • The Volunteers’ House is in La Prusia, 2 miles Southwest from Granada, in a very pretty site,
    with a fence and with monitoring all 24 hours. Once you buy the ticket, if we have place we will do
    the reserve for you. You must confirm to us the day you arrive and when you go away. For the
    couples it is more comfortable and recommendable to live in the city.

  • If you decide to live in Granada, you have many options, from dormitories in youth Hostels
    (“mochileros”) (about $4), to more formal hotels; if you intend to stay longer it is also possible to
    rent a room or a small apartment. To us The owner of the Hostal San Angel, Orlando  (Tel. (505)
    552 6373) does a good price to us. It is like a simple Nicaraguan house, close to the Cathedral,
    where you can prepare your own food. Our volunteers are charges 109 córdobas ($6 or 4,75
    Euros) for a single room with bath. Couples are charged $10 per night. Breakfast, if you take it, is
    paid extra. In Granada you can improve your Spanish in many Schools of language.

  • To arrive at La Prusia from Europe is expensive, but the life in Nicaragua is very cheap. It is
    possible to live reasonably well for about $25 or 20 Euros a week. Internet and international
    telephone calls are also cheap. You get almost 19 córdobas for 1 dollar (change in the places
    that Angelica will explain to you when you arrive). It is convenient to bring with you a few dollars,
    since they are easier changed than euros.

  • The address of EH&D 1 (where we are working) is “Del Trillo de San Alfonso 2 Km al Oeste,
    junto a La Escuela de la Inmaculada.” And of EH&D 2 (where we live), “junto a la granja de las
    mariposas.” Angelica - everybody knows her in La Prusia- is our representative in the district and
    a member of the Board of the Association. You can connect with her when you arrive: 468 6326.
    Other useful telephones: Judit or Angel, 681 5690; Hugo, 809 1176; volunteers, 471 2843; Maria
    Auxiliadora Martinez, President of the Association, 425 4912; Embassy of Spain in Managua, 2
    276 09 66. In case of emergency it is possible to call any of those telephones. In Granada there
    is a Spanish honorary Consulate.

  • In order to go from Granada to La Prusia, or from La Prusia to Granada there are many
    possibilities: bicycles can be rented in La Prusia itself (Carlos or Jackle, by less than $1 per
    day); you can ask Hugo or Javier to pick you up (less than $2), take a bus that leaves not too far
    away from EH&D 1, take a taxi until the cemetery (a bit more than half a dollar), or even ask the
    driver, paying more, to enter into the quarter.  

  • If you have any doubt, ask us. Some people are worried about safety, remembering the time of
    the Contra war. That is history. Today Nicaragua is a democratic country, with free elections
    before international observers, without terrorism and violence, with a lower rate of crime than
    Europe or the USA, one of the safest countries of the continent. It does not mean that your purse
    will not be stolen, or that you can walk at night by solitary sites. In Managua there are places like
    the Mercado Oriental that should not be visited without local people who know it; you may also
    meet in certain districts somewhat aggressive gangs. La Prusia is not one of those dangerous
    places; our volunteers have no problems. Of course, you cannot leave valuable things
    unattended.

  • Many people ask to us if they need vaccinations before going to Nicaragua. Although you may
    find in some Web pages maximalist recommendations, the truth is that it is not necessary. It is
    convenient to take the tetanus vaccination, since we live and work on the fields. There is no
    malaria in the zone, and although there are some cases of dengue, they are not frequent; it is
    recommendable to have anti-insects protection and mosquito net for the night.

  • The Nicaraguan system of health is good enough. There are good doctors and dentists, and the
    pharmacies sell any type medicine with no need of prescription. There is a quite recent public
    Hospital (Japan), and another private hospital (Cocibolca), in addition to small private clinics.
    Prices are reasonable. If you have insurance from your own country, much better.

  • The water of La Prusia comes from our well, to more than one hundred meters of depth, and is
    of excellent quality. Food is in general healthy, organic and very cheap, especially fruits and
    vegetables, although you should always takee the more usual hygienic measures.

  • The climate of Nicaragua is quite different from the North American one: the station of rains
    (winter) extends from May to November, while that of December to April is the dry time (summer).
    Temperature is high even in winter, but particularly during the summer, and sometimes a fan is
    necessary to be able to sleep. Clothes must be adequate for that climate, and for walking in non-
    urban zones.

  • Any thing that you may take with you to La Prusia can be useful for the work or the classes;
    prizes for kids competitions, or aid to the families in general are welcome: from school supplies,
    books, old laptops, tools, toys, clothes, medicines, infantile food, etc. As your personal objects,
    you are recommended to bring protection for the sun and the insects, a lamp, bath suit, adapter
    for electrical current (110 volts, like in America), etc
You don't need to care too much.
We will be waiting for you.
If you come, you will help them a lot. People of La Prusia and their children will capture your heart.
You will live some experiences that you will never forget.   
Gràcies Oriol
Thank you Rachel
APPLICATION