WCCN study tours of Nicaragua enable North American participants to learn firsthand about the history, politics, culture and social issues in Nicaragua. They also offer a unique opportunity to travel through different parts of Nicaragua while gaining insight into current Nicaraguan realities. By structuring our tours to allow dialogue with Nicaraguans from a variety of social sectors, participants are able to experience Nicaragua from the perspective of Nicaraguans themselves.
WCCN sponsors two study tours of Nicaragua each year. Our January tour focuses on microcredit, fair trade, and housing in Nicaragua while the June tour addresses women's empowerment through women's access to economic resources.
Upcoming Study Tours to Nicaragua
Mark you calendar for WCCN's June 2008 study tour from June 14-22 entitled Social Change through Alternative Economic Projects: Women's Empowerment and Microcredit in Nicaragua. Topics covered in the tour will include women's access to land, fair trade, and microcredit. Throughout the tour, participants will also have the opportunity to meet with dynamic leaders of the Women's Movement in Nicaragua whose struggle for gender equality is truly inspiring.
Tours already completed in 2008
From January 12-20, 2008, WCCN hosted a study tour entitled Empowering Communities Through Alternative Economic Projects: Microcredit, Fair Trade, and Housing in Nicaragua. Participants on the tour had the opportunity to not only interact with and witness the work of organizations that provide microcredit to small urban and rural producers, cooperatives involved in the fair trade coffee movement, and housing organizations working in poor urban neighborhoods, but also the Nicaraguans whose lives have been changed through their work.
Join a WCCN Study Tour
Our study tours build on 24 years of experience in Nicaragua, and more than 16 years supporting alternative credit organizations and fair-trade cooperatives. The cost of the tour is on a sliding scale, $900-$1200 (plus airfare to/from Managua), depending on what you can afford. The fee includes food, lodging, in-country transportation, language interpretation services, and charges for planned group activities in Nicaragua as well as pre-trip materials. Individuals of all backgrounds are welcome! WCCN staff is happy to advise interested people about possible ways to fundraise to help cover their costs.
Please feel free to contact WCCN [1] with any questions you have regarding our study tours or to request a study tour information packet.
Past Participant Experiences
You can read the impressions of past tour participants by clicking on the links below.- Seven Days in Nicaragua [2] by Mary Ann Fahl
- Reflections on Feminism and Social Movements [3] by Marc Becker
- Trip Report [4] by Marc Becker
- Snapshots from the Economic Development Study Tour [5] by Frances Smith
Download Tour Participant Forms (PDF format):
- Delegation Handbook [6]
- Participant form [7]
- Health form [8]
- Release form (adults only) [9]
- Release form (under age 18) [10]