This document discusses two non-governmental organizations in Nicaragua, Proyecto Miriam and Centro Cultural Batahola Norte, that promote gender equality through education. Proyecto Miriam provides scholarships for women to attend university and technical training, with over 90% of recipients gaining employment. Centro Cultural Batahola Norte offers classes in literacy, skills like sewing and cooking, and discusses gender equality, empowering women and allowing many to work from home. Both organizations aim to promote women's rights and development through access to education.

1. Promoting Gender Equality in
Nicaragua through
Education
The Efforts of Two Non Governmental
Organizations
Greta Tom
Eastern University

2. Nicaraguan Context
Gender Roles…
are strictly defined in
Nicaraguan
culture, with more
power being held by
men. This
phenomenon is called
machismo. Many
women become single
mothers at some point
in their lives.
(Country Studies)

3. Proyecto Miriam
• Project Miriam was founded in 1989 to provide
access to education to women living in poverty in
Nicaragua and Guatemala.
• Objective: To promote women’s holistic
development-through empowerment, reclaiming
rights, gender equity and social justice.

4. Scholarship Program Impact Study
• In Nicaragua and Guatemala, Proyecto Miriam
partnered with Bread for the World to provide 30
scholarships to women between 2000 and 2009
• Priority for scholarships was given to women in
rural areas and of indigenous background.
• In 2010, Proyecto Miriam surveyed 45 former
scholarship students in Nicaragua in order to
assess the program.

5. • Nearly all scholarship students surveyed
received a degree from a public or private
university, with only two opting for vocational-
technical training.
• Students chose to study
Accounting, Law, Medicine, Education, and
Engineering.

6. Most of the students surveyed who
completed their university degree also went on to
further their studies in the same field or
receive an additional degree in a different
field.

7. • Scholarship recipients are required to fulfill
social/community service duties and maintain
good grades.
• Proyecto MIRIAM provides support to students
through periodic group meetings and individual
follow up.

8. Employment
• Because of their difficult economic
situations, women sometimes leave the
program if they find employment, rather than
finishing their studies.
• A survey of 45 scholarship students who
completed the program showed a 96%
employment rate, with 24% employed by
Proyecto Miriam.

9. Success!
Women who completed the survey reported
higher rates of employment, increased self-
esteem, more equable relationships within
their families and with their partners, and a
sense of hope for their futures as a result of
participating in Proyecto Miriam’s scholarship
program.
(Proyecto Miriam)

10. Centro Cultural Batahola Norte
(CCBN)

11. Founded in 1983, the CCBN has
grown exponentially over the
last 29 years. From humble
beginnings as a children’s choir
and women’s sewing class, the
center now offers classes in
adult literacy & primary
education, technical and arts
classes.

12. • Since the very beginning the CCBN has
endeavored to empower women through
education by offering classes in
sewing, cooking, cake decorating, natural
medicine, cosmetology.
• The skills they acquired in class, enable many
women to work from their homes, where they
can also care for their children and
households.
(Friends of Batahola)

13. Gender Equality
The CCBN seeks to educate both its male and
female students about gender equality
through workshops and by integrating
discussions on gender into class curricula.
(Centro Cultural Batahola Norte)

14. True story…
Rita Cruz took her first cooking
class at the CCBN over 20 years
ago when her kids were little. The
money she earned selling food
from her home enabled her to
leave an abusive marriage. Today
she also teaches cooking classes
and is well respected in Batahola.

15. References
Centro Cultural Batahola Norte. Áreasprogramáticas. Retrieved from
http://centrobatahola.org/programas
Country Studies. Nicaragua. U.S. Library of Congress. Retrieved from
http://countrystudies.us/nicaragua/29.htm
Friends of Batahola. Adult Programs. Retrieved from
http://friendsofbatahola.org/adult_programs.htm
Proyecto Miriam. (2010). Estudio de impacto del programa de becas de
MIRIAM en Nicaragua. Managua, Nicaragua. Retrieved from
http://www.proyecto-miriam.org/esp/esp_22.html