PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
Costa Rica, being one of the most prosperous and politically stable countries in the Central American region, is home to more than 85,000 refugees and asylum seekers from neighbouring Nicaragua. Nicaragua, on the other hand, is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. The migration of Nicaraguans to Costa Rica is not a new phenomenon; due to a difficult situation, they have been leaving their homeland for decades. Yet, in recent years, this trend has intensified as a result of the oppressive forms of the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega. The La Carpio district, located in the capital of Costa Rica, San José, is mainly inhabited by Nicaraguans. It was established in 1993-1994 by a group of immigrants and urban settlers, and has grown from the few families that inhabited the neighbourhood in the early 1990s to now around 50,000 inhabitants. La Carpio is characterised by high rates of poverty, unemployment, and crime. The houses are makeshift, made of sheet metal. It has a high rate of overcrowding and pollution, with an insufficient access to basic services such as electricity and drinking water. The lack of financial resources results in poor housing conditions (dirty floors, roofs made of poor-quality materials) and limited infrastructure (lack of suitable roads, which in turn requires dangerous river crossings and makes it difficult to protect residents in the event of a crisis).
ORGANISATION
Sifais (Sistema Integral de Formación Artística para la Inclusión Social) was founded in 2011 and aims to support migrants and refugees living in the La Carpio district of San José. The organisation was founded by two women, Alicia Avilés and Maris Stella Fernández, who initially wanted to create an orchestra for children and young people in La Carpio, so as to provide them with an alternative to a dangerous life on the street. However, the range of Sifais activities quickly expanded, and today the foundation carries out a number of activities to increase the social inclusion of children, adolescents, and adults. At the same time, it aims to improve the living conditions of those living in La Carpio by involving people from more privileged backgrounds in volunteering. Thanks to the volunteers, Sifais’ beneficiaries can acquire artistic, sports, academic, technical, and entrepreneurial skills, which reduce barriers and stereotypes between people from different socio-economic backgrounds and cultures. In addition to various training and educational activities, Sifais helps create new jobs for its beneficiaries and encourages them to gain professional experience. To this end, the foundation sets up various social enterprises, including the Entre Costuras tailor shop, where women from the local community sew and sell their textiles, or the SIFAISSORI women's company, which produces and sells wooden toys for children, the funds from which are spent on, among others, the functioning of the Montessori kindergarten run by Sifais.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
We support Sifais and its female beneficiaries living in La Carpio, thanks to which the organisation has launched a project aimed to combat period poverty – 200 women living in extreme poverty receive sets of reusable sanitary pads. At the same time, Sifais’ volunteers from more privileged backgrounds train them in the field of health and menstrual hygiene, as a result of which they become more aware of the problems that women of La Carpio face. The sanitary pads distributed as part of the project are produced by poor and unemployed women associated in Entre Costuras. Thanks to our support, the foundation has purchased new sewing machines and all the necessary tools, which all stimulates women entrepreneurship and provides them with a regular source of income.
