Rafael Blandón Mairena

Type of Grant: Micro-Grant

Use of Grant: To open his own business.

Amount requested: $1675.00

Raised so far: $1675.00

Amount still needed: $0

Rafael was in the army, fighting the Contras, when he stepped on a landmine. His patrol was walking through an unfamiliar forest when they were attacked. Rafael ran into the woods where an anti tank mine exploded, sending pieces of shrapnel throughout his body. Rafael still has pain from the shrapnel. He works as a day laborer on a coffee plantation but cannot make ends meet to support himself, his wife and his three children. He would like to open a business and use the income to buy a house of his own.

Location: Jinotega, Nicaragua
In country partner: Walking Unidos
Grant ID: 222N
Profile ID: 17

A Micro-Grant was awarded to Rafael,
please donate towards another Micro-Grant.

People Affected

We've created this website to be a place where people who work in the coffee industry and coffee consumers can make a connection with the coffee farmers, workers and their families who deal with landmines on a daily basis.

Look through the profiles here and direct your money to be part of a Micro-Grant to someone trying to work, create a business or improve an existing one, or send someone in their family to school. Micro-Grants do not have to be repaid. They are one way the Trust can provide resources for people to help themselves.

Micro-Grants are handled via PayPal through the Polus Center for Social and Economic Development.

The Coffeelands Landmine Victims’ Trust works in partnership with the Polus Center, a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to supporting people with disabilities since 1979.