Programs

The Rainbow Network works in six key areas: housing, healthcare, education, economic development, feeding, and sustainable agriculture. Below you can find brief descriptions of our efforts in each field.

The key to remember, though, is that what makes Rainbow Network unique and our work more effective is the combination of these services into a unified effort to provide real opportunity to some of the poorest communities on Earth.

Housing

We build houses. Actually, we help families build houses a community at a time. What does that mean? Two things; first, every family that receives a Rainbow Network house not only helps provide the labor to build the house but they take out a mortgage to pay for it. Second, we build 20 to 25 houses at a time garnering the strength of entire villages to accomplish the project and to promote community.

Healthcare

We employ doctors, dentists, and public health workers full-time in Nicaragua. Healthcare is needed every day – not just when well-meaning North Americans can spare a week for a mission trip. So we hire Nicaraguan doctors and health professionals to provide real care all of the time. Whether a patient needs a simple anti-biotic or special case surgery our doctors are there to deliver care.

Education

Education is the key to ending poverty. Rainbow Network’s education program is two-fold. One, we provide elementary education to more than 8,000 young children. This takes place in volunteer based “home” schools and are coordinated by our staff of professional educators. Two, we provide scholarships that allow students to attend Nicaragua’s public high schools. We don’t build schools, we just make it possible for students to actually attend; it’s more efficent, more effective, and better for the futre of Nicaragua.

Economic Development (Micro-loans)

Micro-loans change the future. In rural Nicaragua a relatively small amount of money is all that a family or young high school graduate needs to get started as an entreprenuer. But with regular wages of less than $2 a day the economic nest egg necessary can be very difficult to save – even for the most dedicated and capable.

Given the chance to create their own income through a Rainbow Network micro-loan thousands of rural Nicaraguans are lifting themselves up and out of poverty.

Feeding Centers

For some of the families we serve in rural Nicaragua, the situation is truly quite severe. Many in our world’s wealthy nations are accustomed to images of starving children from overseas. We shut down, turn away and feel the problem is too big to solve.

The problem is not too big to solve. But sometimes, before we can get to the real solutions, things like education and job creation, we have to make sure everyone has something to eat. Rainbow Network feeds thousands of our world’s poorest people each day. Young children, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and those at risk due to age or illness all find needed nutrition in our volunteer-run feeding centers.

When you can provide a meal to a person who truly needs it for only 10 cents, why would you not do it?

Sustainable Agriculture

The key to green food production is location. Local foods are greener foods because they haven’t been shipped around the world by burning fossil fuels. Locally grown foods also tend to be better tasting and more nutritious. In addition, foods that families grow themselves are the least expensive available. For all these reasons, Rainbow Network operates a gardening education and support program that trains people to operate individual, family, and community gardens. We provide the seeds, tools, and know-how necessary to succeed. In doing so, we are not only enabling hungry people to feed themselves and keep a little more of their very hard-earned income—we’re also making agriculture in Nicaragua more sustainable and doing what we can to ensure the safety of our planet’s future.

Make a gift to support one or all of these programs by clicking the purple give button to the left.