Artisan Village Model™

- Model Community

Already in Hope and Development Foundation’s initial planning stages, a model community for Nicaraguans is being designed near the Gran Pacifica Beach and Golf Resort. This community will have homes for students of the vocational schools and for workers at the resort. For local Nicaraguans skilled in art and fine crafts, an artisan village which tourists could visit would support local artists and their families. Establishing agricultural training for future farmers and giving access to fields for organic crops would also provide visitors with a place to buy fresh vegetables and, in turn, help the producers.

Villa El Carmen Artisan Village and IBACA – Development Analysis »

  1. Housing – The Master Plan provides an area specifically for community housing. Quality housing options certified by the government will be available for purchase to interested members of the Villa El Carmen community. These houses will be financed through the Vocational Village Lending Bank™ and will initially be offered to individuals working through the Village Vocational Program, at Gran Pacifica Resorts or in the IBACA complex.
  2. Education – The Master Plan provides designated facilities for the construction of a community school, registered with the local Municipality and Ministry of Education. This school will provide a unique combination of the Nicaraguan teaching curriculum with input from PhD’s of Education and Development from leading universities in the United States. This component will establish the methodology for integrating Nicaraguan curriculum with outside ideas and theories in order to provide a better quality education product for the children of Villa el Carmen. Nicaraguan teachers will participate in the University Development Model™, be mentored by U.S. teachers and take part in the sharing of best practices between the various cultures.
  3. Health – The Master Plan provides dedicated health facilities for the village community. A government certified Primary Care Clinic will operate within the community and will be open to all who visit. The clinic will be staffed by local, government-provided physicians and will also participate in the University Development Model™ where U.S.-based physicians will play a role in the continued education of Nicaraguan physicians and the provision of quality health care. This center is designed to become a teaching hub for the region and will offer educational classes to physicians of neighboring communities so that a higher standard of health care can spread throughout Nicaragua. The opportunity for Vocational Village Health Insurance™ services will be explored in conjunction with this offering.
  4. Religion – The Master Plan provides for two community chapels, located at the either end of the community square, for a multi-denominational approach to community worship. The population of Nicaragua is predominantly Catholic and evangelical Christian, with the church community playing a vital role in the every day lives of a majority of the society.
  5. Sports

    NYBSA Logo
    Breaking ground in 2010, in a location adjacent to the Gran Pacifica Beach and Golf Resort on the Nicaragua’s Pacific Coast, IBACA will feature a dedicated facility capable of housing and training nearly 200 players at a time. In addition to multiple playing fields, batting cages, pitching mounds, practice fields, and a track and weight training gym, the complex will include player dorms, coach and staff housing, classrooms, a cafeteria, equipment storage and ultimately a Minor League–quality stadium. At the same time, IBACA will improve the quality of and access to youth baseball throughout Nicaragua by teaming with local government and the Nicaraguan Federation of Associated Baseball (FENIBA) to hold regional clinics, spearhead field improvements, broker equipment donations and encourage the organization of youth baseball programs.
    • Major League Baseball clubs will have a direct source of top new talent from a previously untapped region. By selecting prospects from the IBACA program, teams will reduce scouting and recruiting costs and be assured a high standard of training and play.
    • The community surrounding IBACA and Gran Pacifica will benefit from new educational and employment opportunities and increased tourism, which will support the growth of local commerce. IBACA’s connection to the Hope and Development Foundation will bolster this effect by focusing directly on improving the economic circumstances of the local community.
    • Finally, underserved youth in Central America will benefit from the opportunity to experience the discipline and personal growth of intensive training in baseball. Even if they do not continue in the sport, IBACA will provide them with the skills they need to improve their lives and their families’ futures.
    Read more about IBACA »
  6. Vocational Education – The Master Plan calls for an “Artisan Market” to be located in close proximity to the community entrance off of the principal road. This market will feature shops and workshops from various local artisans and will provide them with a venue from which to sell their product and to display their skill.  The Vocational programs present in the Village target the creation of the many job skills needed at Gran Pacifica Resort as well as the development of artisan skills for the production of the most common goods purchased by tourists in Nicaragua. The market will heavily rely on North American/European work teams and Gran Pacifica clients in order to provide community jobs and to reach self-sustainability. The Village is currently slated to have a restaurant/coffee shop and to contain a beautiful central courtyard through which shoppers can walk. The possibility for an online store and purchasing catalog is being considered.
  7. Garden/Agriculture –  The Master Plan allows a dedicated space for the creation of a possible community garden. Here, the community as a whole can grow crops and reach a degree of self-sustainability. This project will operate as a co-op and will allow for any surplus of crops to be sold for profit.
  8. Restaurant - The Hope and Development Foundation opened Tasca!, its first Foundation restaurant, within the Gran Pacifica Resort in November 2009. This component sits within the tourism development rather than in the Artisan Village, but will be closely linked to training programs in the village. Students will receive intensive training in cooking, baking, menu development, hygiene, cleaning, gardening, basic computing, basic English, and all other aspects of restaurant service, the students will intern at the Foundation restaurant in order to receive real-life experiences in the restaurant and hospitality industry and to help them fine-tune their skills. The experience garnered during these internships will no doubt have a major effect on the employability of these students, not only as the Gran Pacifica Resort expands to encompass other restaurants, but also throughout the fast-growing tourism and entertainment industry in Nicaragua.
  9. Access and Road Development – The Master Plan calls for the paving of 11 kilometers of dirt/gravel road, providing year round access to the community and improving transportation of goods, services and encouraging general tourism in the area.
  10. “Nicaragua Sin Basura” – The project will promote the development of a nationwide project targeted at eliminating litter and promoting generational change related to trash management and litter control throughout the community and country.