Running a functional NGO can be tricky sometimes. We often have to be creative and resourceful in figuring out how to do things – how to transport computers and irrigation equipment across borders, how to find reliable suppliers, and how to deal with unreliable electricity and communication. Most importantly, how inexpensively can we do these things? Nicaragua is not a place of easy logistics, and a lot of our time is spent inventing solutions to make our projects possible.
On the other hand, we’ve gotten pretty good at figuring out what to do. That’s an often-overlooked skill – the Nicaraguan countryside is full of abandoned buildings that were constructed by NGOs for various projects, but that fell into disuse after the NGO left. Thoughtful project intention is just as important as good project implementation. We design our projects by simply asking:
-What does this person want to do?
-What do they need to be able to do it?
-How can we help them get what they need?
That’s it! This formula has led to the creation of some recurring programs like computer grants and drip systems, since both are in high demand, but also to some individually-tailored programs designed to give one person or family the lift that they need. These programs have taken varied forms – bus fare for a deaf-mute child to study in León, incentives for families to open savings accounts, stipends for students to be able to continue their higher education – but for sheer, bootstraps-hauling impressiveness, there is no better example than our own Tololamos co-director, Beto Juarez.
Beto is 31, and his life was pretty hard even by Tololar’s standards. He never knew his father, and his mother left when he was 3. Beto was raised by his grandmother and her neighbors; he dropped out of school in the third grade, and started working in the fields and learning to be a motorcycle mechanic. As a young adult he discovered an interest in photography, and he started working part-time as a photographer at weddings and other events.
Beto became a close friend while I was serving in the Peace Corps, and a very useful collaborator. He was excellent at resourcefully getting things done and finding ways around problems. He was also warm and funny and a terrific teammate for playing cards. When I was preparing to leave, he asked if it might be possible to find him a cheap digital camera in the US, and I said that I would.
When I returned a year later, I brought him a used Canon DSLR as well as an old HP laptop. Both were pretty cheap and battered, but with those two items he built a small miracle. With the DSLR and computer he was able to expand his photography business, and within nine months he had rented a storefront in León. He started also doing camera repair, working chiefly from instinct, but he built a reputation for good work and began attracting great volumes of business, including contracts from the León government.
Beto is currently thriving, and business continues to boom. He was recently able to buy a new Nikon DSLR and a Macbook for photo editing, and he’s planning on hiring an assistant this coming year. He has also returned to school to get his diploma. In barely two years, Beto has dramatically changed his life trajectory, and all it took to get him started was a clunky computer and camera. No one understands better than he does how to ignite someone’s potential, and Tololamos would not be half of what it is without him.