Flag of Nicaragua

Transforming Lives

Residents, such as this woman with her child, are now more likely to come to the San Lorenzo health center in Nicaragua

The San Lorenzo Health Center was recently named the best of the six health centers in Nicaragua’s Boaco district. This recognition caps a period of four years without a maternal death in the municipality, following several years of averaging more than three a year. Dr. Horacio Moreno, the municipality’s medical director, credits much of the success to a USAID-supported leadership development program.

Program works with farmers to ensure quality crop management and processing.

The southern state of Rivas is the traditional home for Nicaragua’s plantain fields, where more than 50,000 acres are under cultivation. But neglected fields produced small yields and undersized fruit. And in recent years, local prices have declined, making the U.S.

Ingrid Cornejo and fellow graduates demonstrate their skills as junior cuppers

When Ingrid Cornejo sips a cup of coffee she is now likely to use words like "citric," "chocolaty" or "herbal" to describe the flavor. She also can describe a bad cup of coffee. "If it has a taste like dirt, fermentation, mold or medicine, it's defective."

Daniel Nunez, president of the Cattle Raising Commission of Nicaragua, tends to his "organic" calves.

The Rio Lama cattle ranch, located 110 miles northeast of Managua, recently celebrated the birth of its first "organic" calves. Forty-three Nicaraguan cattle ranches, including Rio Lama, now have pastures that have been certified as organic by the International Agriculture and Cattle Organization.

Students of the new Los Ositos Presechool, financed by increased profits from Fair Trade coffee sales, pose with their teacher

A couple occupies the corner of a room in the emergency department at Zanoel Adidin Hospital in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital of Indonesia's Aceh Province. The young woman on the cot is hooked up to an intravenous drip, and her husband sits on the floor. They speak to each other tenderly as they eat lunch.

Pages