The pandemic has changed life for all of us – in the United States and in Central America. One of the chief challenges for CoCoDA has been how to continue to meet our mission of connecting North Americans and Central Americans. We had to cancel all delegations during 2020 and 2021. With the Delta variant hitting Central America this month, we cancelled the delegations planned for January and February of 2022. These challenges have forced us to be creative in continuing to...
According to the United Nations “Midwives are the backbone of maternal health systems, as they perform tasks that go far beyond attending deliveries, they provide support to women in their most vulnerable moments and day after day, they defend the human right of women to have safe pregnancy and delivery”.Since 2014, CoCoDA has worked alongside the Suchitoto Midwives Association through the ENLACE Global Health program that brings students from the Indiana University School of Medicine to work alongside midwives providing...
The pandemic has shifted life in many ways. For CoCoDA, it forced us to think more creatively. We retooled our annual Febrero Fiesta fundraiser as a four-night internet event and TRIPLED donations and doubled attendance with people participating from a dozen states and five countries. We took our Sun and Water Conference virtual and have already seen nearly $85,000 pledged to water projects in 2022. We may never go back to the in-person events.However, one of our losses has been...
In October of 2017, CoCoDA held its first Sun and Water Conference in Suchitoto, El Salvador. That conference leveraged nearly $180,000 for four small, rural solar powered water projects serving about 1500 people in Central America. Based on the success of that initiative, CoCoDA had planned another conference in October of 2020. Of course, we hadn’t planned on a pandemic.That didn’t stop us.On April, CoCoDA held its second Sun and Water Conference virtually. We had over 70 participants from North...
A virtual gathering of Central American community leaders and North American supporters to explore the incredible potential of using solar power to bring clean, affordable and sustainable water to rural Central Americans. The Need Since 2000, Companion Community Development Alternatives (CoCoDA) has been partnering with Central American communities, local NGOs, Rotary International, local Rotary Clubs, and the Washington Ethical Society in building potable water systems. While there has been significant progress, potable water continues to be a challenge in Central America. At...
The CoCoDA Speakers Bureau is designed to create one-hour Zoom presentations that: Sustain positive connections between Central American and our partner universities, churches, and Clubs during the pandemic when face to face interactions in Central America are impractical. And, Generate revenue for CoCoDA during a period when we cannot sustain the income normally generated by delegations.These one-hour presentations could include one or more of the following:1. A CoCoDA staff person presenting on a subject or theme.2. A staff person...
In the months after the pandemic began, CoCoDA transitioned from our previous projects to supporting Nicaragua and El Salvador through the “Central American Relief Effort” (CARE) campaign.While we continue to sustain other programs, our priority has become supporting the response of our partners to this terrible virus. Through donors like you, we have distributed over $5,000 of masks, PP equipment and other resources.However, the need still exists, the danger is not over and we will continue to fight against the coronavirus. We have...
On the 50th birthday of Ivan José María Villasboa, we celebrate his life, his dedication to the people of Central America and his years of service to Companion Community Development Alternatives (CoCoDA). On October 31st, Ivan will be retiring from his position as CoCoDA Program Director and transitioning to the CoCoDA Board of Directors. For the first time in nearly 30 years, he won’t be involved with the day to day activities of CoCoDA. This is possible because of his diligence...
In this video, Dr. Alex Hurtado and Midwife Higinia Hernandez explain how desperately they need the resources to fight Covid-19 in Central America. In El Salvador, there have been about 22,000 “reported” cases and about 600 deaths. Nicaragua has had at least 130 deaths. These are high numbers for these small countries. There is also lots of evidence that many are dying at home and that the mortality and case rates are higher than reported.Both countries have few ventilators...
Companion Community Development Alternatives (CoCoDA) alongside Central American communities, local NGO’s, Rotary International, local Rotary clubs and the Washington Ethical Society have been partnering in building potable water systems.During these difficult times, much of our work in Central America has stalled, but we are still able to prepare for four new solar-powered water systems coming in 2021. These systems make possible the distribution of this vital liquid straight to homes at a low cost using renewable energy.Thanks to solar energy as...
