Microgrant empowerment initiative: Pairing microfinance and program planning training to increase community participation and ownership over local development efforts

Teach for Health (TFH) consults with a Health Promoter Network in 25 rural, low-income communities in San Ramon, Nicaragua to develop local expertise and leadership for communities to enact their own health and development agendas. The Microgrant Empowerment Initiative (MEI), launched in 2012, provides a series of competitive, escalating “microgrants” with local matching for community-developed program proposals to improve health and well-being. Five escalating rounds of grants are coupled with comprehensive training on skills required to facilitate the process. The total cost of all grants is $11,600, funding 69 increasingly advanced and autonomous, cost efficient local development projects. This will lay the foundation for future independent resource seeking to implement community driven projects. This presentation reviews the successes and challenges encountered thus far while implementing the MEI, and describes the program characteristics that simultaneously build capacity within a regional health promoter organization and at the community level. Seventy-five per cent of communities are developing and 6 communities have completed their “practice” microgrant to improve first aid supply chaining – a problem common to participating communities - and 1 has begun their second project to place waste bins throughout the community, with incorporation of organic trash sorting and education on waste management. Ten communities have raised money through creative mechanisms such as horse racing, raffles and community fairs, and 20% have conducted a community diagnosis to choose issues for their next, higher level proposal. New initiatives to further support and catalyze community project design and implementation will be described.