Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/smart-sustainable-growth-in-a-small-non-profit/5025261/
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CIELO de Amor
CIELO stands for Construimos Inclusión, Educación, Libertád, Opportunidades – “we build inclusion, education, freedom and opportunities.” CIELO de Amor directly translates as “Heaven (or Sky) of Love.”
Picture this: two children give each other rides on a tricycle amid a garden of plants, balls and other simple toys. Some teenagers are cooking and making cards in the kitchen. A man with strong hands and a determined smile repairs a wheel. A woman helps a young girl solve a puzzle. In many places, these would be rather ordinary scenes. At CIELO de Amor in La Concha, Nicaragua, this tranquil, busy moment is now the norm and yet it is remarkable in many, many ways. Children and youth come to CIELO to receive wheelchairs, physical and swim therapy, individual and small group learning sessions, and vocational training, in a community where no such services existed five years ago. The small town is not far from Managua, Masaya and Jinotepe, all epicenters of political violence which peaked in April 2018. Ongoing violence made access to basic transportation, goods and services difficult at best and dangerous at times, and more than doubled the jobless rate ...