Project Overview

Thanks to the funds raised at UK Coffee Week between 2016 and 2018, Project Waterfall helped to bring clean water, restore sanitation, introduce improved education and healthcare, and build better structures within 6 schools across the coffee regions of Nicaragua. With our partners, Seeds for Change and Caffe Nero, we changed the lives of 758 children and teachers.

5 of the schools were located in coffee growing communities in Jinotega and Matagalpa and were chosen due to the necessity of a clean water source, and their proximity to producers who were part of the Nero LIFT program. Through this partnership, producers benefit by receiving trainings that increase their level of productivity with responsible and sustainable practices, and their children, who attend these schools, have access to better schooling conditions by having better hygiene and clean water all year round.

The 6th school is located in the community of La Esmeralda where 90% of the economy is based on the production of coffee. With the support of Caffè Nero in 2017, a new classroom was built. The construction of the new classroom, allowed for 1st grade and 2nd grade students to have separate classrooms, instead of receiving classes all in the same space, in a multi-grade format. This investment, along with the better schooling conditions increased student enrolment by 20%. In 2018, with the support of Caffè Nero, Lazaro Talavera School continued the Digital Seeds program in addition to the infrastructure improvement. This program works with an intensive, individualised focus on teacher professional development that positions classroom instructors as vital change agents in school reform. By better understanding the challenges faced by each teacher, facilitators and teachers can then work together in the task of improving the skills of their students.

Quality of education begins with having the proper conditions at school.

Project Stats

Start date: 2016

Status: Completed, 2018

Community: 6 schools near or in Esmeralda, Jinotega

People reached: 758

Delivery Partner: Caffe Nero / Seeds For Change

about Nicaragua

6,100,000 population

32% of rural lack access to water

63% of rural lack access to sanitation

29% live below the poverty line

A Better education

The region’s school population is primarily composed of the children of these coffee laborers, most of whom live below the national wealth standard. In many households with single mothers, children must care for the home and their siblings, and as a result may not begin formal schooling until they are seven or eight years old. By supporting the Coffee Industry and securing a safe income for the family the current students are the first generations going to high school and have the opportunity to continue to university.

safer buildings

Lazaro Talavera School has a preschool and elementary school, grades 1st to 6th, with 155 students and 5 teachers. With the support of Caffè Nero in 2017, a new classroom was built with an investment of £25,030.00, raised during the UK Coffee Week. General school maintenance and drainage systems were installed making the school a safer learning environment.

Increased school attendance

As a result of the project, attendance has increased greatly allowing the younger generations to obtain an education. As most parents of children in Jinotega are Coffee Growers, the average adult has only a 3rd grade education, however the Children of Jinotega are attending and achieving more in recent years due to this project. Student enrollment increased from 126 students in 2016, to 155 students in 2018, representing a 20% increase.