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W h a t w e d o |
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We aim to accomplish our mission through three main activities:
Nicaragua is a country of great poverty and few opportunities. Combined unempolyment and under-employment is at 47% and the GDP is a mere $481 US per capita (DFAIT 1998). Many live under conditions that are incomprehensible to people who are used to having their basic needs guaranteed.
Furthermore, Nicaraguans are for the most part very skeptical of any sort of movement that purports to bring a better tomorrow. If you study their history at all, you'll see that they've been betrayed too often by those that they've trusted.
As a result, it's very important that we support persons or groups that try to make a positive difference in their communities.
To support them, we provided funding, materials, and volunteers to the projects. The three types of support can be independent of one another - there have been cases where a project has received only one of funding, materials, or volunteers.
Even though we often refer to them as "our volunteers", the relationship between FOG and the volunteers in Nicaragua is not that of employer and employee. The volunteers can be as independent as they wish. They don't receive a salary from us and are responsible for their own expenses.
What FOG does for the volunteers is to help them find a suitable community where they can live and find good opportunities for contributing to the community, and to give them advice based on our collective experience.
In return we ask them to, if possible, send us reports from the field on their activities and on those of the projects we're supporting. These reports are a bonus for us: we consider it sufficient that we help others learn about Nicaragua, first-hand.
The richest knowledge of Nicaragua and Latin America is gained by living there. Our field-volunteers certainly acquire such an in-depth knowledge, while also acting as representatives of Canada in Nicaragua.
Through their reports, the volunteers bring Nicaragua closer to those who follow our activities and receive our reports by email or read them on this web-site. The reports keep us up-to-date on major events and developments in Nicaragua and update us on the status of our Nicaraguan friends.
We hope through our efforts, we'll encourage each of our readers to visit Nicaragua, the projects we support, and the friends we've made.
Fair Opportunities Group
This page last modified on 14 Oct, 2001
Inquiries about this page should be directed to the
FOG members
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