Masaya, Nicaragua 7/13/2011 5:03:07 PM
News / Education

Casa-Nica: The Next Generation of NGO in Nicaragua

The next generation NGO has been born in Nicaragua. Casa-Nica, a new NGO founded by former Peace Core Volunteer Coordinator, Josh Allsup, and British techno-traveler, Elliot Cooper, is pioneering a new dynamic in the international development world. Casa-Nica is a volunteer-based organization deviating from the traditional mentality of many foreign NGOs that enter into a country without consulting those community leaders and preexisting institutions that understand the local needs more efficiently than outsiders.

“At Casa-Nica,” says co-founder Josh Allsup, “we are doing something different with our development work because we believe that the most effective way to truly help Nicaragua is by working with and contributing to the preexisting projects and foundations already created by the Nicaraguan people.”

Casa-Nica is also disenchanted with those organizations that pretend to offer their volunteers and interns a rewarding experience, but in reality saddle them with burdensome fees and menial work. Casa-Nica recruits enthusiastic volunteers and interns of all ages and professional backgrounds from around the world to take an integral part in developing their unique NGO and contributing to their diverse array of community-development projects, while also offering custom-tailored Spanish classes and weekend adventures throughout Nicaragua.

Still in its nascent stages, the organization has already developed many successful projects and relationships with prominent Nicaraguan nonprofits and benevolent institutions. Masinfa is a Nicaraguan nonprofit that has partnered with Casa-Nica to help contribute to and expand its language and medical programs. In addition, the NGO assists with educational needs and sustainable agricultural programs that benefit several schools such as Escuela Especial Melania Lacayo Cuadra, the only school dedicated to children with special needs in the region, Orphanage El Verbo, and an impoverished K-12 school named Laura Vicuña.

Perhaps the NGO’s most recognized partnership is with the Zamora Terán Foundation and the international nonprofit OLPC, or “One Laptop Per Child,” that design and freely distribute unique educational laptops for poverty-plagued children around the world. Casa-Nica assists in computer programming, repair, diagnostics, maintenance, and education. Casa-Nica doesn’t just relegate itself to the needs of humans, however, as they also lend their services to Nicaragua’s National Zoo caring for exotic animals, aiding in park maintenance, and general day-to-day operations.

Founders Allsup and Cooper are passionate about doing diverse development work that truly meets the needs of the Nicaraguan people while providing a fun, educational, flexible, and professionally fulfilling program for their volunteers and interns that is unlike any other in Central America.


Contact:

Chris Ponzi
Casa-Nica
315 Calle El Calvario
Masaya, Nicaragua
25225946