Project Sonrisas
Submitted by Atalanta on Wed, 08/20/2008 - 08:02.
Last updated on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 14:11.
Vital Stats
ongoing project
01/01/2006
People Impacted:
2000People Involved: 20
Money Raised: $7,875.52
See It
Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in the Americas. Access to health care and education is a luxury. Sonrisas works with poor women and children in Nicaragua to improve their quality of life and help them to achieve a more hopeful and sustainable future for their families.
Believe It
Sonrisas is a 501©3 non-profit organization that represents a collaboration between community-run projects in Nicaragua and educational outreach in the United States. We work to improve health and educational access to women and children.
Organizations within Nicaraguan communities create projects to address particular health and education challenges of an individual community. These projects are then supported within the context of a working relationship between the Nicaraguan communities, organizations & Sonrisas.
Projects include: health workshops, free health care, emergency health care, educational scholarships, school lunches, community pharmacies, construction of latrines and chimneys, etc.
Build It
While visiting rural Nicaragua in 2004, Sonrisas founder, Atalanta Sunguroff, perceived a profound need for improved education and health care accessibility. In her time there, she was able to discuss this situation with many Nicaraguans, who expressed their desire to provide more opportunities for their children. These conversations led to the formation of a community-run project that worked to create a variety of education and health care initiatives in the village of Lagartillo. Upon her return to the U.S., Atalanta worked to raise awareness about the project. She began fund raising in order to send aid directly to the community of Lagartillo.
Sonrisas became incorporated in January 2006 and has since become established as a non-profit organization. Sonrisas currently works with three different communities in Nicaragua. It continues to operate according to the principle that in order to achieve sustainable change, these projects must be conceived, designed and operated by the Nicaraguans affected by these projects.
How Can Others Get Involved?
www.projectsonrisas.org
Check out our website. Contact us. Volunteer. Donate. Spread the word!
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Comments
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It seems like you are doing some major stuff but you don't have a lot of money. Can you pls explain how you spend it? I'm so curious because I would love love love to do something like this too. But some of the stuff you write about seems so big and impossile--but then you dont have a lot of money, so maybe i can do it too?
Thanks for asking. There are a few different aspects to your question.
1) I first ran Sonrisas out of my pocket, personally giving money to start the project. From there Sonrisas was under the umbrella of another organization to continue its projects. So there was a bunch of funding that is not counted within Sonrisas, that was first used to start the project. Sonrisas has also worked with a few college students, who were able to fund projects through their schools. Again, this money did not go through Sonrisas as an organization, though it did fund its projects.
2) Sonrisas is all volunteer based, so no one receives salaries or stipends. The money that has been spent on administration tasks has been for non profit status, postal fees and the website. So the majority of money has been able to go to fund projects.
3) So much credit goes to the amazing Nicaraguans organizing these projects. They are able to do so so so much with so little. That is how we are able to do so many different projects with not much money. (That said, Sonrisas is in definite need funding for many proposed projects that we aren't able to fund due to lack of $.)
4) It takes a lot of work and time to organize and keep the project running. Volunteers and sincere dedication help make that happen.
Let me know if you have any more questions.