Nutritional Education and Vitamin Supplement Program

We need information concerning the drug and alcohol abuse program in Managua city dump, known as La Chureca. Many more come daily to comb through the piles of trash to find enough to sell to pay for food and other life necessities. There are severe respiratory and other health problems from breathing in the fumes from the smoking and burning piles of trash. Malnutrition is widespread and evident in the children’s swelled bellies and blond hair that lacks nutrients to maintain its natural dark color. STDs and prostitution are also a problem, and girls of all ages sell their bodies for money or other commodities. Many children and adults are addicted to sniffing shoe-glue, which helps suppress hunger and allows them to escape the reality of the life they are confined to in the dump. There are limited opportunities for these families for employment or residence outside the dump. They also often lack the motivation to take advantage of the opportunities that do exist, having become complacent with now dependent on their existence in the dump. The United Nations estimates that between 35 – 45 % of the Central American population live in gross poverty and extreme want. Dumpsites and hillsides are crawling with tens of thousands of squatters who put up dwellings of plastic and cardboard trying to eke out some measure of life. These primitive camps without electricity, sewers, or clean water exist along expressway roads and in the midst of cities.