ABSTRACT
“Paths to Empowerment: A Case Study of Local Sustainability from Rural Nicaragua” presents the history of an ongoing collaboration among a village, a domestic nongovernmental organization (Grupo Fénix) and the people and programs of dozens of international partners. These partnerships have created a path out of poverty and dependency for many of the villagers. Just as importantly, not only have many people in the community become more materially secure as a result of these collaborations, but they have also become teachers themselves – teachers both to others in the community and to visitors. Indeed, the increased confidence and self-esteem of the community members as a result of these genuinely reciprocal collaborations (both reported in oral histories and visible in the social empowerment, especially of the women) is perhaps the best evidence that the changes in the community are enduring and sustainable.
