History of Corn Island youth organizations
The first social organization related to youth welfare in the Corn Islands was the Health Brigade Group (officially in Spanish: Brigadistas de Salud). It was founded by Nuvia Downs Zamora, a local nurse, in 1981.
The main purpose of this organization was to create awareness of common health issues. Today, this group is under the leadership of the Ethel Kandler Primary Hospital of Corn Island.
In 1997 the Ministry of Health (Minsa) founded the Community Backpack Program (officially in Spanish: Mochila Comunitaria), implementing strategies to develop leadership abilities among young people in the community.
Years later, in 2005, the Austrian non-government development corporation Horizont3000 established on the Southern Caribbean of Nicaragua the Caribbean Coast Campaign Against AIDS Association (officially in Spanish: Asociación Campaña Costeña Contra el Sida - ACCCS), which main purpose was to work with adolescents, young people, women and parents around topics related to sex education, prevention of teen pregnancy and AIDS. This association had its headquarters in Bluefields and was also operating in Corn Island.
In 2006, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) began to fund ACCCS and started to implement the Habilities for Life Program (Officially in Spanish: Programa Habilidades para la Vida) which consisted of empowering adolescents and young people on different life skills for their personal growth.
Campaña Costeña, as ACCCS was also called, capacitated young people who afterward in pairs would create their own group of adolescents with whom they would share the same topics they learned about, these were known as "promotores pares" and "clubes de adolescents", which means "pair promotor" and "adolescents club". At the end of 2009, UNICEF concluded its funding period for ACCCS, leaving the Habilidades para la Vida Program, which continued working until December 2011. Ms. Candida Fuller Downs, a local nurse, was in charge of directing the association on Corn Island.
In 2009, taking advantage of the newly elected Municipal Governments in Nicaragua, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with the support of the Association of Municipalities of Nicaragua (AMUNIC), the Regional Councils and Governments of the Caribbean Coast and the Embassy of the Netherlands, launched the Programa Voz Joven (Young Voice Program).
The Programa Voz Joven was established so that the 46 local governments in Nicaragua could begin to implement and exercise the mandate of Law 392 (Nicaragua's Youth Law) which establishes that both the national and municipal governments should promote actions to empower youth. Voz Joven also insisted that the municipalities establish a space or building where adolescents and young people could recreate and get information.
In 2010 the local Government of Corn Island founded the Municipal House for Adolescents and Youth (In Spanish: Casa Municipal de Adolescentes y Jóvenes), known as CaMAJ. This space was situated in the Culture House and was established under the administration of Mayor Cleaveland Webster. Ms. Sherilee Taylor was technique or responsible for this space.
One of the main objectives of Voz Joven, through CaMAJ, was to promote the sexual and reproductive rights of adolescents and young people through workshops, art, theater, music and other recreational activities. The funding period of Voz Joven ended in the last part of 2013. After the program ended, local governments decided to change the name of the CoMAJ to Secretariat for Young People, which subsequently became the Juventud Sandinista 19 de Julio organization (Sandinista Youth)—which nationality already existed since August 1979.
In 2013, the Foundation for Autonomy and Development of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua (FADCANIC) established in Corn Island, with funding from USAID, the Education for Success Program, which consisted of preparing young men and women to be ready for life, through its vocational courses, workshops and other strategies executed by the program. Education for Success concluded its work in the municipality of Corn Island in May 2018. Ms. Shorly Antonio was responsible for this organization on the island.
In August 2013, a group of young people organized in different social, political and religious spaces, with the support of a project funded by BICU University and Global Communities, constituted the Concejo Municipal de Adolescentes y Jóvenes or Municipal Council of Adolescents and Youth (known as CoMAJ). The constitution of this organization was based on the Nicaragua Youth Law (Law 392). The objective of the CoMAJ was to work for the welfare of children, adolescents and youth of Corn Island in conjunction with local authorities and advocate policies that directly benefit the young sector of the islands.
The CoMAJ Corn Island was a self-managed space that had the support of the Municipal Government and BICU University. The organization launched mid-2014 a process of self-sustainability which was led by Shayron Tower to continue strengthening the work with adolescents and youth. Tower was the second president of the CoMAJ Corn Island Directive Board and became one of the main figures in this space. As the leader of CoMAJ, he achieved the approval of an endorsement of recognition by the Municipal Council of Corn Island for such space, and the first Municipal and International Youth Week (2014) was held under his leadership. He also obtain an office for CoMAJ and founded the television program Juventud al Aire, which he directed between 2015 and 2017. This was the first local television program of the Corn Islands.
Lincon Quinn, representing the Juventud Sandinista 19 de Julio (August to December 2013), Shayron Tower representing the Municipal House for Adolescent and Young People (Interim President from December 2013 to February 2014, and officially elected in March of the same year until December 2015), Wendel Sjogreen, representing the Student Government of the Ebenezer Baptist High School (December 2015 to January 2017) and Stanley Guill representing the Federación de Estudiantes de Secundaria (January 2017 to August 2018) of the Alva Hookder Downs National Institute were the presidents of the Directive Board of CoMAJ. The Corn Island Municipal Council of Adolescents and Youth was dissolved on the 1st of August 2018.
In June 2013, the Murales RAAS Movement, today Murales RACCS Foundation, established its presence on Great Corn Island. Murales RACCS is a youth art movement led regionally by artist Michael Hammond. In Corn Island it was not until the end of June 2013 that it began to operate, Shayron Tower was responsible for its operations for almost two years on the island, and later when it received legal status as a foundation, it was locally run by Kyra Quinn until 2019.
On December 15, 2015, leaving his position as President of the Corn Island Adolescent and Youth Council, Shayron Tower founded the Generations of Change Youth Movement (GECAMCI), but it wasn't until January 2016 that it was officially launched. Generations of Change worked in conjunction with the Adolescent and Youth Council until its closure in August 2018 along with CoMAJ. One of the main focuses of Generations of Change was to promote the skills of adolescents and youth, education, and prevent drug use, alcohol, and discrimination of all kinds, among other important topics to address among youth.
In 2016 the Ródrigo Campbell Foundation began working on Corn Island, focusing mainly on the promotion of culture, sports, art and environmental principles. The foundation also sind3 2016 has distributed more than ten thousand toys to the children of Grear Corn Island and Little Corn Island.
The Ministry of Health (Minsa) has also been working with the youth, mainly in the area of Sexual and Reproductive Health and the prevention of teenage pregnancy. This has been through its Community Network, which works mainly with young people from different neighborhoods and schools.
For many years, the churches in Corn Island have also formed spaces where adolescents and youth participate, serve their community and learn at the same time about Christian values. The Adventist Church Scout Association is one of those groups, as well as the Youth Fellowship Group of the Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Little Corn Island has also had its own space for the empowerment of young people and to pursue community services like beach cleanups. This collective is called Little Corn Island Safe & Healthy Youth Group.
