The Kathy McGregor Family recently visited Nicaragua to help a business owner improve her store front and increase the size of her business. Kathy, Brad, Gentry and Jared were able to help add an addition to the storefront of Yolanda del Carmen who makes her living selling her groceries and other essentials to the people in her neighborhood. Yolanda is a client of Cause For Hope. She has learned fundamental principles and has become succesful in increasing her savings and income.

Kathy Writes

Our family recently returned from Nicaragua as our son, Brad, chose a service project through the Cause for Hope Foundation for his Eagle project.  Brad collected clothing apparel to donate to prospective missionaries who would like to serve in Central America but are not able to finance their provisions. 

As part of Brad’s service project, we were also able to help build a kiosk on the front of a CFH client's home who has a small store of snacks, food stuffs and toiletry items for sale.  Three young men about Brad's age came to donate service hours in exchange for their access to the clothing.  Great concept!  The lady’s storefront had previously been left wide open on her front porch with no protection from the elements or theft.  As we visited with her that day, she expressed her gratitude and said that her dream was finally coming true for her future.  Wow!

Another great benefit our family experienced through being there with Cause for Hope was the opportunity to visit many businesses sponsored by CFH in Nicaragua where men and women are succeeding in business because of the training and resources that Cause for Hope offers to help support their business plans.  We spent quite a bit of time with the Managers employed by CFH who oversee the business training and managerial affairs of the CFH mission in Nicaragua.  It was impressive to see how they work with business owners in such a professional way and hold them accountable to the goals they have set for their businesses.  They also served as our hosts from visit to visit during our trip.  They provided an added advantage because most of them spoke English, and my children speak no Spanish.  Most of our time was spent with Maxwell one of the Managers in Managua, who spoke excellent English and was a lot of fun to be with.  The kids really liked talking to him and having him along.

We were able to see several types of businesses.  For example, we visited a family who runs a bread bakery out of their home, and another family who makes tamales and sells them through various vendors in her neighborhood.  One of our family’s favorite businesses was a family who makes baseball mitts.  The kids enjoyed watching the various stages of mitt-making from scratch and even brought a couple home as souvenirs.   

For me, watching as a clothing maker showed his financial books to his Manager while we visited his home was one of my favorite visits.  The self-satisfaction this business-owner showed as he proudly showed off his neat and precise ledger of expenditures and increasing income was humbling and impressive.  

As my children and I returned home from our trip and were visiting about our great experiences, the number one impression that was left on my children was the mindset of the people and how positive they seem to be about their future.  Even though the people of Nicaragua live in impoverished conditions, we were clearly able to see beyond the poverty in visiting with the people we met.  They are people who have reason to feel great hope and faith in their future because of the goals and dreams they are seeing themselves realize through their own hard work and effort.  Clearly the Cause for Hope vision works in the lives of good people who just lack the training and opportunity to pursue their dreams.  And ironically, the experiences that our family was able to have and the things we learned in Nicaragua through our involvement with Cause for Hope, was a dream come true for our family. -- Kathy McGregor