Knowledge Bank

Nicaragua is the third poorest country in the Americas. This presentation will focus on the journey toward attaining a service-learning course designation for a nursing education abroad course in Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua. The journey began in 2015, when the presenter participated in a course-design faculty learning community sponsored by The Ohio State University Center for the Advancement of Teaching (UCAT). The initial learning community provided a safe environment in which to evaluate the prior education abroad course and explore strategies for revision of course objectives and learning activities that would promote service learning opportunities for faculty and students. The presenter was subsequently accepted into a second UCAT learning community, Internationalization of the Curriculum, which provided a safe space for further course refinement and support through the process of curriculum change. A grant from the Ohio State Office of Service Learning provided additional resources. A potential community partner was identified: http://jhc-cdca.org. The Center for Development in Central America (CDCA) is a project of the Jubilee House Community, Inc. (JHC), a nonprofit organization. It has 501(c)(3) status in the United States and International Mission status in Nicaragua. The goal of CDCA is to work in partnership with communities and cooperatives to facilitate empowerment. This enables them to find their own solutions to the problems they identify and connects them with resources to solve their problems. The job of CDCA is not to tell others what to do, but to first listen to the needs and then respond as they are able. The CDCA's mission is to enable communities to become self-sufficient, sustainable, democratic entities. In 1994, the work of CDCA began in Ciudad Sandino, the most densely populated city in Nicaragua, and one of the poorest. Ciudad Sandino has long been the dumping ground for refugees from natural disasters and violence. Invited to work with the poor in Ciudad Sandino, CDCA works in four main areas: sustainable agriculture, sustainable economic development, health care, and education. The focus of the service learning partnership is health care. The health work focuses primarily on families living within Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua. The CDCA continues to work with local community leadership, building partnerships and listening. The CDCA works to connect Nicaraguans with others from around the world who have access to all types of resources. Financial resources, professional expertise, time and energy, creative problem-solving, and physical assistance are all needed. This exciting community engaged partnership exhibits participatory bi-directional capacity building. We look forward to sustaining our collaboration in an upcoming visit on May 8-20, 2018.

AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing, College of Nursing Graduate Studies, fitzgerald.118@osu.edu (Corresponding Author); Jennifer Kue, Director, College of Nursing Office of Global Innovations and Assistant Professor, College of Nursing.