Mercon Coffee Group and Seeds for Progress Foundation inaugurate new development centre in Nicaragua
As part of their commitment to promote quality education in the coffee-growing communities of Nicaragua, Seeds for Progress Foundation together with Mercon Coffee Group, have inaugurated the third development centre as part of the Cultivating Education Program; an initiative that contributes to the prevention of child labour in coffee producing regions.
This new centre opens at a community level at the Violeta Barrios School in Nueva Guinea, providing service to children of coffee working families of the area. This school joins the programme as part of the 6 “Cultivating Education” centres that will be opening this year with the purpose of providing care to more than 400 children during the coffee harvest.
“Cultivating Education is a programme that contributes to the economic and social development of the country’s coffee communities by offering free educational attention to the children of working families who participate in the coffee harvest, with a total investment of $317,000 for the creation of these integral development centres in Nueva Guinea and Jinotega in Nicaragua”, shared Rosa Rivas, director of Seeds for Progress Foundation.
Seeds for Progress Foundation has been present in the Nueva Guinea area since 2013 as part of its efforts to promote quality education in coffee growing regions. The Violeta Barrios School has been sponsored by Seeds for Progress Foundation since 2017 with contributions in infrastructure, school materials, teacher training and support for strategies that strengthen reading and writing in the first grades of primary education.
Thanks to the implementation of the Cultivating Education Program, starting this year, the Violeta Barrios School will have the capacity to serve up to 50 children whose parents participate in the coffee harvest. As part of the programme, this school was provided with didactic materials according to the different needs and age groups, in order to execute all the nutrition, health, and protection components of the programme.
Additionally, the project included the expansion of the school infrastructure with a kitchen, storage room, and dining room area, as well as the improvement of sanitary ware.
“The development of the Cultivating Education programme and the opening of these educational centres, which open during the harvest season, are part of the commitment of Seeds for Progress Foundation and Mercon Coffee Group to continue transforming lives in coffee-growing communities by offering alternatives that support the prevention of child labor in these areas,” said Rivas.
During 2020, Seeds for Progress Foundation in alliance with Mercon Coffee Group, benefited more than 5,000 students and 340 teachers in 24 schools in Nicaragua. It also invested $1.65 million through the implementation of its five education programs that contribute to the different levels of student training.
