A high illiteracy rate throughout Central America has prompted Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in the region to declare 2003 as a "year of literacy."
A high illiteracy rate throughout Central America has prompted Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in the region to declare 2003 as a “year of literacy.” To address the issue, the church initiated one of its first projects in Nicaragua. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency is joining with the church in the region to target local and church communities Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.
“Nicaragua has suffered economic struggles due to the country’s civil war in the early 1980s, and the numerous natural disasters that have affected them at poverty levels,” says Wally Amundson, Adventist Development and Relief Agency director for the Inter-America region. “This literacy program will help improve their emotional, physical and financial situation.”
Amundson says that a special office was established in the Nicaragua Mission of the church, in coordination with ADRA, to, among other things, head the literacy program for Managua. The office has signed an agreement with the Minister of Education to assist with school supplies in the country’s literacy programs.
Ana Torpoco, director of the literacy program, says that although the project was originally targeted toward women, it has been extended to men because of the great need. With the help of 50 volunteer teachers, most of whom are the spouses of pastors working at the Adventist Mission office, the program is able to reach four districts in Managua, the capital city. They teach in Adventist churches, student homes, teacher homes and schools.
The project is funded by ADRA Inter America and Ingathering—Hope for Humanity, an organization that supports literacy programs and other initiatives throughout the world. Ingathering—Hope for Humanity has funded literacy programs in Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador and Mexico.
Maitland DiPinto, director for the Ingathering program in North America, says that aside from the benefits literacy can bring to the people, “Their main goal is to be a catalyst through funding projects, and have church members involved in reaching out and making a difference in the community. That’s what we’re seeing in this well-organized program in Nicaragua,” says DiPinto, who recently visited Nicaragua to evaluate the project’s progress.
There are more than 55,000 Adventists worshiping in 136 churches in Nicaragua.
