PML's History

Project Minnesota/León (PML) was established in 1984 by a group of people who had been to Nicaragua on a Witness for Peace delegation. Having perceived a desire on the part of people in the city of León to begin a sister-state relationship with the people of Minnesota, they proposed the idea to people in Minnesota upon their return. The positive response they received to entering into such a partnership marked the beginning of Project Minnesota/León.

From the beginning, PML has been fortunate to find young adults in Minnesota who are fluent in Spanish, have a love for Latin America, and who are willing to work as volunteer coordinators in León. The León coordinators have made it possible for PML to build a long-standing, personal relationship over the years with the people of León and its local community and government leaders. Due to PML’s humanitarian, educational, and politically non-partisan nature, it has been able to continue its efforts even through changes in the government leadership of Nicaragua.

PML is a grass-roots organization. In Minnesota we have a volunteer board of directors that works with a recently hired part-time Executive Director and with many, many supporters to carry out PML's work. In León, PML has one program coordinator, an intern and various volunteers carrying out our work in Nicaragua. PML depends solely on contributions from individuals and organizations to fund its project work and to cover administrative costs of the León office.

PML has facilitated educational trips to Nicaragua for well over 500 Minnesotans and has brought over 40 Nicaraguans to Minnesota. In both cases, visitors are housed with families, a concerted effort being made to connect them with as many people and experiences as possible in both communities. Bringing people from Nicaragua and Minnesota face to face in a spirit of friendship and shared commitment to working for justice and understanding between the two countries is one of PML’s most important functions. These exchange visits between Nicaraguans and Minnesotans have reflected the effort to establish relationships of solidarity and mutual respect, which is central in our mission as a sister-state organization. PML thus provides a way for people wanting to translate their desire to affect positive social change into concrete, quantitatively substantial support.

In Minnesota PML also works with groups and individuals, connecting them in various ways with projects in Nicaragua. For example:

  • funding training workshops for community pre-school teachers and rural midwives,
  • funding a Children's Nutrition Center and a Maternal waiting house,
  • supporting a children’s art school, including the hosting of art exhibits of the children’s work in Minnesota,
  • supporting the integral community development in the rural León community, El Chague,
  • facilitating relationships between school children or other special interest groups in Minnesota, with their counterpart in León,
  • awareness-raising among North Americans through our new Advocacy program: Solidarity in Action,
  • supporting various cultural groups and youth initiatives,
  • collecting or purchasing much needed medical, educational and other supplies and equipment.

In the past, PML has supported León communities by:

  • raising funds for badly needed repairs for an elementary school, or actually building a new school,
  • building and furnishing a medical clinic in an isolated village,
  • digging wells,
  • supporting sewing cooperatives,
  • carrying out housing projects,
  • sending several buses of material aid with Pastor’s for Peace caravans,
  • providing humanitarian aid after Hurricane Mitch.

PML works closely with Project Gettysburg/León (PGL), a sistering group from Gettysburg, PA, with whom we share office space in León. Now known as PMGL (Project Minnesota-Gettysburg/León), the combined efforts of these two groups are more effective in aiding Nicaraguan communities, with whom we have a relationship, to reach self-sustainability. This shared goal results in a meaningful partnership that respects the abilities, the needs, and the dreams of all involved.

Project Minnesota/León will continue to foster building partnerships between the people of Minnesota and León, valuing the relationships that are formed, recognizing that a group of dedicated people, along with its many faithful supporters, can together make a positive contribution in our shared efforts to attain social justice.