Our Story

My journey started back in the country where I was born, Managua, Nicaragua. My name is Sherly Waterman, I am the Founder and CEO of Bless The Children. I come from a family of business entrepreneurs; my mother was a businesswoman, and my father was a CPA for the Social Security Department.

Growing up in a developing country, it is common to see children in the street begging for food and money. My mother was a successful entrepreneurial woman who had a strong conviction about helping the poor and the needy. She specifically targeted children because she believed they are the future of a nation. Therefore, she dedicated her life to helping children at risk of hunger and extreme poverty by providing food and clothing to children in our community. I am grateful to her for instilling in me the same convictions and sense of responsibility to care for the poor and the needy.

My mother would remind me regularly that "hunger is one of the most horrific things a human being can ever experience." She knew this very well since she had experienced hunger as a young adult. In order to give back to our community, my mom would send me and my three brothers out into the poorest areas around our neighborhood to meet the physical needs of many children. We would report back to my mom and gather food and clothes to distribute them. At that time, I was just four years old. This type of experience left a vivid impression in my mind and heart about the importance of loving and helping children within my community. In 1979, Nicaragua underwent a Civil Revolution. Daniel Ortega, the leader of the FSLN or The Sandinista National Liberation Front, overthrew the dynasty of President Anastasio Somoza Debayle and introduced Communism. This regime brough about death, destruction of thousands of families, and more hunger. I remembered how the country was in chaos...I would hear bombs dropping, missiles shots, airplanes flying in the air, and the looting of private businesses. This became the norm. This civil war caused the nation's economic system to collapse, inflation went to the roof causing the currency to be devaluated, and prices to skyrocket. I began to see a rapidly declined in our lifestyle. My mother's business was confiscated it, we were robbed in our home multiple times, my mother was sexually assaulted, I was molested by a relative, and we were constantly on the run to avoid prison. Food, water, and electricity began to be rationed throughout the city. I remember drinking water mixed with sugar and eating lots of candy to satisfy the gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach. As a young girl, school's supplies were scarce, and I only had one school uniform. It was important for me to be careful not to get my uniform dirty because we could not even afford to buy laundry soap. In addition to this, Carl Marx ideology was introduced through the school system. As a child, I would recite a communist creed and allegiance to the communist red/black flag with letters FSLN. Slowly but surely, I was being brainwashed and groomed to believe that the Marxism/Communism and government control was going to save our lives, but the opposite was true. In a matter of one year, the country was destroyed and approximately 50,000 people lost their lives, 100,000 people wounded, and 150,000 Nicaraguan were in exile.

In the mid-80s, my family fled to the USA because the military service in Nicaragua was mandatory for children 15-years-old, and my mother wanted to save my three brothers' lives. However, girls were not forced to serve in the military, so I stayed in Nicaragua with my father and grandmother and lived under the communist regime for 10 years. The irony of life! I went from feeding hungry children in my community to becoming the hungry child...desperate for someone to give me something to eat.

In 1989, I had the opportunity to join my family in the USA; the great country who welcomed us with open arms and allowed us to stay by granting us political asylum. Since then, I have been blessed to attend high school and graduate with honors and attend college and graduate with a business degree. I've also had the privilege of becoming a US citizen and marry Michael P. Waterman, my soulmate/husband of sixteen years to date.

As a child I recall having a vision to return to Nicaragua one day and bring assistance to hungry children. Fast forward many years... the time is here. The time is now. And as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, a door opened up for us to start Bless The Children. With the help of one of our partners, we were able to provide food and medicine to children in Nicaragua during one of the most difficult times. The Covid-19 virus turned into a worldwide pandemic, shutting down economies across the globe. Children continue to experience the negative impact of this virus as their parents lost their low-income jobs, which added it to the devastation and scarcity of food and medicine in developing countries.

Our goal through Bless The Children is to expand our efforts to provide the most basic human needs to children living throughout Latin America. We believe children are the future of the nation and our goal is to raise the next generation of leaders. How can we do this? By consistently providing clean water, food, clothing, medicine, and education for the children. Once their basic needs are met, they will have the opportunity to grow and thrive physically, mentally, and spiritually and no longer have to suffer.