Nueva Esperanza
Nueva Esperanza is a direct collaboration with rural land steward communities in and around Teotecacinte, Nicaragua.
In partnership with these communities, Campesino Commons is committed to providing the resources needed to support community-led efforts for both climate resilience and collective well-being.
The community has established community circles—collaborative spaces for decision-making where members identify their most urgent needs and guide the development of projects accordingly. These efforts are rooted in the shared goal of nurturing both the land and the people, ensuring that both can thrive in harmony.
Nueva Esperanza Communities
El Guineo
Located across the river from Teotecacinte, and literally a stone’s throw away from the Honduran border, El Guineo is one of the poorest communities in the Jalapa Valley, and very possibly in the world. El Guineo means ‘The Banana’, and is an apt description, as the community is surrounded by banana trees and lush, tropical forests. They are located across the Poteca River from Teotecacinte. The river has become heavily polluted by agricultural chemical runoff and waste from large cattle and pig lots across the border in Honduras. Much of the community is literally on that border, meaning that they can cross a fence and be in Honduras.
The people, almost to a person, have never stepped foot outside of Teotecacinte, many spend much of their days barefoot, work for pennies on the dollar at the local tobacco plantations, tend to their land to grow crops for food, connect with each other deeply and frequently, are often boisterous and happy, and have a connection with the land that most of us can’t even imagine.
Gualacatu
The people of Gualacatu live across the Poteca River from El Guineo, on the same side as Teotecacinte. They have a large public meeting area, which is a concrete pad covered by a tin roof. They meet and eat together there on a daily basis. If someone in the community doesn’t have enough food, they can pass by and ask for a tortilla with gallopinto (a fried mix of rice and beans).
The people of Gualacatu always think of others before themselves. They are currently planning to build a bridge to give the people of El Guineo better access to town.