Come Celebrate with Amigos
At the Villa Catalina Dedication!
December 7, 2006

A Community Built on Prayers

After 2 Years of Living in a Tent....

Their Reward is Finally at Hand.

Amigos for Christ has partnered with several international charity organizations,
in its first 8 years, to support building programs for families around Chinandega.

In 2003, we embarked on an ambitious project all our own: Villa Catalina.
We had no funding for the project.

We couldn’t ignore the misery we witnessed each time we visited El Limonal. The families living in squalor there beside the city dump, our brothers and sisters, were trapped there for years, victims of the wrath of Hurricane Mitch.

Children's faces cried out in silence.

We handed them pieces of candy and walked on.

Adults pleaded to us in the midday heat.
The stench of burning garbage filled the air.

We searched our soul as an organization.

We made a promise to help the people of El Limonal.

We found 52 acres of beautiful farmland; a promised land in the shadow of a massive volcano. We named it Villa Catalina,
after a young American woman whose life ended too soon.
Her memory remains in this far off place that comes to life with each new day.

A Progress Report...

- On July 20, 2003, we purchased 52.5 acres of farmland for $29,000.

- On March 13, 2004, we finished building a temporary kitchen feeding center and storage area. We leveled part of the land.

- We built 120 temporary shelters and latrines during the April 2004 mission trip, assisted by the beneficiary families.

- We moved all the families from El Limonal to Villa Catalina in May of 2004. We celebrated their first days there together.

- In June of 2004, we built a temporary primary school. We are paying the teacher’s salaries. We planted yucca, corn, squash and bananas to help the families survive. We installed a clean water system for the community.

- In July and August of 2004, we dug a canal around the village to fend off the summer rain. We finished the community feeding center and started furnishing one meal a day to the children and elderly.

-The families of Villa Catalina voted to build a school before any permanent homes were started. This was completed by early 2005. The 2005, the mission teams then helped community members at Villa Catalina build their first 60 permanent homes.

In 2006, the community cooperative projects are coming to life. Summer mission groups have helped raise the remaining 16 homes. The people of Villa Catalina look forward to finally moving their families to a safe new environment by the end of this year!

Here is our vision for Villa Catalina:

A Sturdy New Home for Each Family

Each three room home has 500 square feet of living space. A detached kitchen and outdoor latrine accompanies the main structure. Each family’s lot is 7200 square feet, allowing space for micro farms. A house and shower/latrine cost $3,800.. You can help defray costs by making a gift toward home construction.

Income Producing Ventures

We have established a thrift store, organic vegetable farm, organic compost enterprise and pig and poultry cooperatives that will foster a spirit of pride and self-sufficiency among the families. These families are products of generations of stressful existence, so there is much to overcome. You can help give these families hope by donating toward business cooperatives.

A Clean Water System

A 340 foot community water well now provides clean water for Villa Catalina. Villagers carry buckets to and from the well to various corners of the community. We planned a system large enough to pump clean water closer to all the homes, as well as to serve the farming cooperative that will help sustain the village in the future. A 10,000 gallon, 30 feet high, water tank now graces Villa Catalina. Plans call for an electrical powered submersible pump and a network of two inch PVC pipes to distribute the water to various parts of the site. The new transformer will someday serve the village's electrical needs. Once the water system is completed, the community will be responsible for the labor, well maintenance and electrical expenses associated with it.You can help make this water system a reality.

The courageous families who stepped out of the shadow of El Limonal are now learning to exist together as a safe and productive community.

They will need our love and support for years to come.
We can only accomplish this with your help and prayers.