Background

In Nicaragua, the government, employers and families are legally obligated to prevent child labour. However, the current poor economic situation makes it extremely difficult for many families not to send their children to work and/or not to transfer household duties to them. 25 percent of the population live below the national poverty line, and, since in rural areas poverty is proportionally even greater, many small farmers migrate either to nearby countries or else move to the outer districts of larger cities. In Matagalpa, many poorly qualified immigrants live in recently established districts on the outskirts of the city. During the coffee harvest, they work on the surrounding plantations, and in the other months eke out a living doing odd jobs in the city.

In the poorer areas, securing the family’s existence takes priority in most households. Thus children are kept at home to help instead of being sent to school. Although primary education is free, many households can’t pay school-related expenses like uniforms or textbooks for all their children. Local NGOs assume that the 2005 Nicaraguan government figure of over 240’000 working children has risen considerably since. In 2015, UNICEF mentioned half a million children and youths between the ages of 3 and 17 who did not attend school.

The Las Hormiguitas Project changes the lives of the boys and girls involved decisively. The project’s title says it all, with its name for the children and youths who work like little ants (Hormiguitas). In time, parents realize the usefulness of schooling, since their children complete primary school or attempt a higher level of education and consequently find a better job.

The project so far

Las Hormiguitas looks back on a long history of experience. With the help of a Finnish organization, the mayor of Matagalpa in 1992 launched a food program for the children working at the Guanuca Market. However, this did not achieve a reduction in child labour. The project director, María Isabel Gutiérrez, therefore suggested placing the emphasis on education from 2000 onwards. She was able to attract new donors and persuaded the city government and the Movimiento Comunal Nicaragüense de Matagalpa to set up a project centre in the immediate vicinity of the market.

Since then the project team has continued to develop the concept further. Many youths completed their schooling and afterwards started – provided the funding was available – vocational training or university. Two former participants work in the project today. The small team has made an excellent name for itself in the city, and there is no other organization that concerns itself with the complex problems and hard social realities of child labour.

An annual total of up to 80 children and youths, aged 8 to 15 years, benefit from a range of project offerings. They come mainly from neighbourhoods surrounding the market, where they unload goods from vans, prepare vegetables, dash back and forth doing small jobs, drag packages from one place to the other, deliver meals to the market workers, sell produce or get rid of rubbish. Because many of them work for their own family’s stall, their pay – apart from a meal – is normally minimal.

Until 2023, the project staff from Las Hormiguitas took their mobile school to the market or to parks in the city, where children searched the garbage cans for reusable items. The special lessons allowed them to escape everyday life for a moment and discover new things. The mobile school is a small vehicle decorated with 250 pictures, which exemplify letters and numbers that at the same time show forms and everyday objects.

In the past few years, the government has withdrawn the legal status of several thousand aid organisations. At the end of 2023, we received the news that the umbrella organisation of Las Hormiguitas, the Movimiento Comunal Nicaragüense de Matagalpa, had also been closed by the state. We are currently clarifying in detail whether our support for working children and young people in Matagalpa can continue in another form.

Success and challenges

The project has achieved success because a number of its components work together to achieve the desired result. Involving parents has resulted in the children being relieved of some of their workload and supported in their educational process. Access to free learning materials and scholarships enables them to attend school. Due to targeted extra tuition and psychological supervision, most beneficiaries complete school with good marks. In addition, children and youths are further encouraged with workshops and a multifaceted activities program and, finally, supported during their entrance into the world of work. The chances of their being able to support themselves afterwards are thus considerably increased.

Las Hormiguitas has for many years maintained close ties with schools, organizations and private persons. Contact with local schools allows for the rapid enrolment of children and teenagers in school. The good contact network also facilitates the organization of continuing education or of major events for the boys and girls as well as their parents.

The project team is always developing imaginative further ways for Las Hormiguitas to earn money. For instance, they run a photocopying service in the project centre and rent out tables and chairs for weddings. Unfortunately, however, the proceeds have not always covered all expenses before EEF support began. People who work for Las Hormiguitas earn a very low salary. In the past, if an expected donation did not arrive, the staff simply didn’t receive part of their salary and had to reduce part of the project that was planned. But now, with the whole array of project offerings, the project goals can be effectively and lastingly achieved.

Goals

Each year the project allows 80 working children and youth to attend school. Supporting them with school materials, shoes, and daily extra-tuition guarantees that at least 85 percent of the pupils can be promoted to the next grade and ultimately complete their schooling.

The working children and youth live in vulnerable social conditions. They are poor, neglected and often victims of family violence. Thanks to psychological supervision and workshops, the beneficiaries overcome their emotional burdens, raise their self-esteem and begin to recognize life goals in the perspectives shown to them.

The rich and varied activities program helps the children and youths to become stronger both in body and in spirit, and transmits basic social values and norms. At the same time, it fosters their mental and physical development.

Close parental involvement is an essential component of the project. By means of a contract, parents promise to reduce their child’s workload, to support him/her in attending school, to participate in the workshops and generally to support Las Hormiguitas through active cooperation. Relations with parents are intensified by periodic visits to their homes. Furthermore, the project centre is always open for questions and advice.

Support by the EEF

After consultations and project visits by EEF representatives, the board of the equal education fund decided to support the work of Las Hormiguitas starting in 2016. It is important for the EEF to recognize the staff’s engagement by assuring them a reasonable salary. The effects of these payments are passed on directly to the children in the form of instruction, psychological supervision and the structured activities program. Further funding will be spent on school equipment, books and materials for the workshops.

Connections with Europe in the form of city partnerships have existed for a long time. Through a photocopying service, the rental of chairs and tables and contributions by the parents of the beneficiaries, the project also generates some of its own income. With its engagement in the project, the EEF intends to expand this self-generated income. A basic element of this engagement would be the professionalisation of reporting and bookkeeping. In addition to financial support, the EEF will therefore contribute its know-how in the areas of administration and planning.

Prices in Matagalpa (as of February 2020)

• 1 litre of petrol:
  CHF 1.10
• 1 litre of milk:
  CHF 1.–
• 1 litre of Coca-Cola:
  CHF 1.15
• 1 kilo of bread:
  CHF 3.20
• 1 kilo of rice:
  CHF 1.10
• 1 cinema ticket:
  CHF 4.50
• 1 pack of cigarettes:
  CHF 2.30
• 1 bar of soap:
  CHF –.75

Sources:
CIA World Factbook, Unicef, World Bank, Information from María Isabel Gutiérrez, own formatting and calculations.