Our Partner Puente Nica e.V.

Our partner Puente Nica e.V. is a non-profit association that fosters intercultural exchange between Germany and Nicaragua. Puente Nica also initiates and supports educational and cultural projects in Nicaragua and and awards the so-called Enrique Schmidt scholarship to talented and socially committed Nicaraguans. Eponym of this scholarship was Enrique Schmidt Cuadra, a German-Nicaraguan DAAD scholarship holder who was heavily involved in the German solidarity movement during the Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua.

Puente Nica was originally founded by 14 former German volunteers of the Nicaraguan project “La Casita del Árbol” (the little tree house) who wanted to continue to support projects in Nicaragua after their volunteer social year. Meanwhile the association has grown to 43 members, many of whom are actively involved on the board and in the working groups “Scholarships”, “Book Bus”, “Exchange” and “Public Relations”. All Puente Nica members work 100% voluntarily. Most of them are former German volunteers who have contributed to projects in Nicaragua or Nicaraguans who have moved to Germany.

Puente Nica is funded by donations and is supported by private individuals as well as various public initiatives, communities and companies. These include, for example, the municipalities of Friolzheim and Mönsheim, the “Deutsche Umwelthilfe”(German environmental aid), NEPU e.V. who support sustainable development projects, the „Initiative Teilen“ (Sharing initiative) in the Cusanuswerk and now also the SBW Berlin gGmbH.

Our cooperation with Puente Nica was inspired by Abraham Delgado, one of our current scholarship holders in Berlin. He is one of the founders of the Enrique Schmidt scholarship and an active member of Puente Nica. While studying for a master’s degree in Berlin, he supports Puente Nica with the optimisation and expansion of the Enrique Schmidt scholarship.

Puente Nica and SBW Berlin both strive to enable socially committed talents from financially weak backgrounds to study at a university.

We have therefore decided to bear the costs of one Enrique Schmidt scholarship holder from 2020 onwards. From 2021 onwards another Enrique Schmidt scholarship holder will be funded by us.

We are very happy about this promising cooperation! Together we can make a small contribution to enhance education and social engagement in Nicaragua.