The Mission of the 4 Walls Project: 4 Walls Project / Proyecto 4 Paredes is dedicated to helping change the lives of families in the rural town of El Sauce, Nicaragua. 4 Walls goes beyond a simple donation to forge connections between donors and Nicaraguan families, building better lives and a more caring world.
The Vision: 4 Walls Project / Proyecto 4 Paredes aims to provide adequate housing for every family in the area of El Sauce, Nicaragua. We will keep working as long as there are families in need of a home.
Unlike many non-profit projects, the 4 Walls Project operates with a fully functioning local governing body that includes a team of El Sauce residents who help to find, screen and choose deserving families in El Sauce. In addition to a fully Nicaraguan governing body, each house is constructed with locally sourced and sustainable materials that give back to the local economy. 4 Walls employees 1 full-time construction supervisor who oversees the construction of each house, and local builders who help with construction.
Why is 4 Walls Doing this Work? The problem that 4 Walls has worked to address over the last 20 years is extreme poverty. Rural Nicaragua is filled with families that survive on very little money, and families often live in conditions that make it extremely hard to focus on education, employment and many of the things that American families take as a given. Being able to help families afford their own house can provide a simple but paramount foundation to help both the adults and kids in the family dream bigger than survival and this important work directly contributes to the well-being and vibrance of the local economy.
Where does your money go? Uniquely, 4 Walls is 100% volunteer driven, so 100% of all donations go directly to the material and labor costs to build houses for families. The cost to build one house in El Sauce is $2500.00 USD which is approximately $88,000 Nicaraguan Cordoba. As of 2017, a living wage in El Sauce, Nicaragua amounts to just under $9 dollars USD/Day*. Each 4 Walls employee is paid beyond a living wage, so not only does your money go to families in need of housing, but you are also supporting local workers with salaries that allow them to support their own families and contribute to the leadership of the project.
How does it work? When you donate to the 4 Walls Project, your money goes to Journey for Solutions which is an upstate New York non-profit supporting several projects. This money then goes directly to Nicaragua where it goes to purchase supplies for the next house to be built. As of right now, the local board of governors has a waiting list of over 40 families that are in need of housing, so your money is needed right now. 4 Walls is committed to continuing its work until every family in the El Sauce, Nicaragua area has a safe and sturdy home. As part of the construction, the family that is selected by the local board of governors has to volunteer a worker to work alongside builders as a commitment to the project. This creates a local partnership and shared buy-in to the work, outcome and mission. As part of the work of the 4 Walls Project, all 193 houses are monitored, and the local board keeps track of families and houses to ensure that older houses get repaired and residents are keeping the houses up and in good repair.
What does the 4 Walls Project Need? The best and easiest way to support the project is to donate money, so that families who are on the waiting list can begin construction, but the 4 Walls Project also works with schools, churches, and local groups from around the world who are interested in traveling to El Sauce to help with and work alongside the local crew for construction. In addition, the 4 Walls project works with foundations, donors and estates wishing to build houses or neighborhoods as part of their annual giving or estate legacy.
How much do I need to donate and how do I do it? Donors range in age from 5 to 105, and no amount is too small or too large. If you would like to build a house on behalf of your family or someone you know, you can give in increments of $2500, but every dollar donated goes to the cost of the next house in line, so any and all gifts in USD are accepted. You can donate directly on this site, or you can go to the donation page of The 4 Walls Project website to set up a reoccurring donation.
Do I get a tax benefit? Because the 4 Walls Project is partnered with Journey for Solutions, a 501c3 non-profit organization, all of your donations are tax deductible, and you are provided with a receipt for every donation.
Our Current Goal: Our goal is max out the crew building in Nicaragua for the calendar year of 2022. This would mean building 20+ houses in one year. There are certain times of the year in El Sauce where building is not possible due to the rainy season, but 2022 will be the year we finish house number 200, and we would like to get to 300 by 2025.
The History: In 2007, a Peace Corps Volunteer named Meghan Haslam was teaching in the rural schools around El Sauce. Everyone in the community was friendly and warm, and as soon as she met someone, they would invite her over for a cup of sugary coffee or a plate of gallopinto (rice and beans). Everyone except for her best friend. Meghan asked where Juan Pablo and his mother Margarita lived, but they always evaded a visit. After months, she finally discovered why – Margarita and Juan Pablo’s home was made of crumbling mud brick, plastic sheets and bits of cardboard. Rain filtered through the holes in the plastic roof. They were humiliated by their situation.
After she saw the house, Meghan was shocked. And it wasn’t just Margarita’s home. Dozens of families lived between mud brick walls that disintegrated in torrential rains or shredded plastic sheets. But no one was doing anything about it. Meghan scribbled down a project proposal: help poor families replace plastic and cardboard with four sturdy brick walls. She photographed the houses. Evidence in hand, she went home to the US and asked family and friends to donate $700 to help four families rebuild their homes. In January of 2008, the first 4 Walls Project bricks were laid.
That same month, Meghan met Bonnie Yannie, an emergency room nurse from Rochester, NY who was volunteering in El Sauce’s health clinic. Bonnie came to El Sauce seeking change; rebuilding her own life after a tragic year. Early one January morning, Bonnie enthusiastically volunteered to help move 2,000 bricks to a 4 Walls Project construction site. When the truck carrying the bricks started up an incline and bricks slid off the back of the truck, Bonnie was amazed to see the entire neighborhood turn out to help – children, grandmothers, teenaged boys – everyone lent a hand to get the precious cargo safely to the house. Bonnie was so inspired, she said, “Meghan, we have to do this again! We have to bring more people here to be part of this!”
A woman of her word, Bonnie put her energy and her ‘fire’ for 4 Walls to work. By the end of 2008, a group of volunteers was headed to El Sauce to build houses. No one has looked back. Today, numerous groups of 4 Walls volunteers travel to Nicaragua to build homes and connect with families every year.
Through Bonnie’s connections, the 4 Walls Project was incorporated into the Rochester, NY non-profit organization Journeys of Solutions (JOS) in 2009. Since then, JOS has helped with publicity, financial management, and non-profit status. Most importantly, JOS guarantees that 100% of donated funds go straight to the project! The combined generosity of donors, JOS, Bonnie’s fire, and a lot of sweat, cement, and hard work have kept the 4 Walls dream alive.
4 Walls is growing: one brick, one volunteer, one family at a time. We have a board of directors in the US, as well as a committee – made up of beneficiaries, a project manager, and other local members – on the ground in El Sauce.
Let’s keep on building!
*https://www.globallivingwage.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2017-LW-Nicaragua-Benchmark.pdf
guidestar.org/profile/26-2399434