By moving families from La Chureca, the Managua city dump, to a rural section of Masaya, we are literally taking people out of one culture and transplanting them in another. The difference couldn't be much greater if we put them on the moon.
Teaching people to live in a new environment doesn't just require training, but dealing with the psychological issues that accompany such a move: self-esteem issues, acceptance by others, comfort levels, loneliness and feelings of incompetence. People can't learn to live -- actually won't learn to live in a new culture if they are uncomfortable. You need to expose them to everything you can: restaurants, stores, church, country fairs, the market (as vendors), birthday parties and community meetings. Kids have to learn how to play with toys, to share, and to resolve conflict. Language must be changed: nicknames like "flea" and "runt" must give way to children's given names or nicknames that build self-esteem. Gossip is discouraged and over time, replaced with meaningful dialogue.
The children learn that in "nice neighborhoods," you don't write graffiti on the houses, you don't bend the trees over till they break, and you respect other's property. It's rewarding to hear the children talk about a math or history lesson instead of how the local gang killed a dog or chased Maria's brother into the night.
There are other bad habits that need to be broken. Five-year-olds shouldn't be babysitting their three younger brothers or washing the family's clothes while the parents are scavenging for food. Twelve-year-olds shouldn't be yanked out of school to help support the family. And parents shouldn't slap their children in the head because they make a mistake. Learning new ways of parenting and defining family roles is imperative.
In all of these ways and more, the families have to learn a new way to relate, a new way to live.