Global grant for Nicaragua update

 

I received the following update from Malcolm this week.

Our club was committed to supporting this project, due to lack of support from the Government the project has been canceled.

 

Al

 

Dear Diane,
 
I would ask the Rotary Club of Coquitlam Sunrise Global Grant GG1525673 be cancelled.
 
While we were in the process of making the appropriate changes to our application the Nicaraguan Government made changes to their education funding model and it has had a negative impact to our Vocational School project. Up until December 31, 2014 the Vocational school we were going to support was under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Education. They were very supportive and were willing to sign an MOU insuring funding and thus sustainability.
 
As of January 1, 2015 the Vocational School came under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Finance. Our NGO in Nicaragua has worked, unsuccessfully, with the Finance Department  and has been unable to get them to agree to commit to supporting the Vocational School at this time. We received word last week that they would not sign an MOU nor would they be in a position to do so in the near future. They suggested that we approach the local community  for their financial support to ensure sustainability. We feel the local community is in no position to provide financial support. The purpose of our project was to get the Vocational School set up and supported for the first couple of years and then the Nicaraguan Government had agreed through the Education Minister to maintain it after that. Without the Government support, the Vocational School is not sustainable, and we cannot support it so must cancel our Global Grant application # GG1525673.
 
It was fortunate that our application was not approved in November as we would have been on the ground in Nicaragua in January,  when the changes were made by the Nicaraguan Government, leaving us with a project that was not sustainable.
 
Thank you for your support,
 
Malcolm
 
Malcolm Kennedy
Rotary Club of Coquitlam Sunrise
malcolm.rotary@outlook.com
604-941-8606