Juan 23: The Importance of Being Organised

Every visit I make to Juan 23 leaves me inspired and hopeful. Juan 23 helps people to realise their aspirations by getting organised at a community level.

I meet Ketxu, one of the agency’s directors, who has worked the length and breadth of Nicaragua for three decades. As we speak, I see that Juan 23 has left a real legacy by bringing people together in local organisations that are open, democratic, and empowered with the right information and skills, to bring about positive change.

We leave at dawn as it will be a full day. Meetings have been arranged at five different villages in the Ciudad Dario region. We are going to talk with community groups that began working with Juan 23 around 18 months ago thanks to SCIAF funding.

This area was selected as it is a particularly poor part of the country and one where community organisations are not yet well developed.

The first village we visit say they had received some short-term aid from charities in the past. This is what they had expected from Juan 23; however, they soon discovered that this agency was different. Juan 23 wanted to help them manage projects themselves, win funding from the local government and influence the decisions that will affect them now, and in the future.

People realised that this meant engaging as a community, and giving their own time. At first, some had doubts that they would be successful. In most communities it was women and young people who got involved but membership has grown as others have seen the benefits of getting organised.