Center for Development in Central America

Where will you send your kids to school?

2012-01-16T15:20:00.008-07:00

The Nicaraguan school year will crank up again in a few weeks, and my husband Paul and I will once again send our two daughters, Eibhlín (6) and Orla (4), back to classes with 1.5 million other Nicaraguan school children. Many foreigners visiting the country ask us where we send our kids to school and are inevitably surprised when we say they go to public school. Why are they surprised?

Because everyone – gringos and Nicaraguans alike – assume that because we have the means to do so, we will educate our kids in a private school. They assume that the educational system in Nicaragua is not good.

We’ve been very lucky in that, so far Gracias a Dios, neither of our girls has needs that can’t be met by Nicaraguan public schools. Both girls started free public preschool at the age of three and are very blessed to live in a rural area with a small, safe public school right down the road where the student-teacher ratio remains low. Orla is about to start her second year of preschool. She goes to class from 8 to 11 AM Monday through Friday with 20-25 other children ages 3-6. She has a wonderful teacher and learns things all preschoolers do: colors, shapes, letters, numbers, games, songs, concepts like bigger and smaller and inside and outside. Orla and all the children at the primary school are also fed one hot meal a day – beans and rice – for free. The Ministry of Education provides food for nearly 1 million school children and mothers take turns cooking.

Eibhlín has just graduated preschool and will start the 1^st grade in February. She’ll go from 7 AM to 12 PM Monday through Friday with 15 other kids. Just like first graders all over the world, she’ll be learning to read, starting to do sums, and her class will go outside to play kickball for P.E. Is the curriculum in Nicaraguan public schools ideal? Certainly not. But neither are the curricula at private schools. Nor, for that matter is the public school curriculum in the U.S.

Many people ask us if we send our children to school in Nicaragua because they assume that educating them elsewhere would be preferable.

I grew up in Idaho, what would I say if someone turned to me and said, “Are you going to send your kids to school in Idaho?”

When I was in high school in Northern Idaho, our state spent less money per student on education than any other state in the nation. Despite the fact that I was lucky enough to be taught by a handful of wonderful dedicated teachers, the U.S. public school education I received was most certainly inferior to my husband’s education in Ireland and most notably inferior to the education received by other public school students who were from wealthier areas. (Each student at my school had to bring a ream of paper for copies while students at New Trier High School had their own radio station.)

Like Idaho, Nicaragua has very little budget for its schools, so when Orla’s teacher wants to do coloring, she herself draws carbon copies of the picture for each student. There is no money for a janitor, so the mothers take turns cleaning the classroom. There is a watchman at the school day and night, but no budget for his vacation, so during one month of the year, the watchman goes on vacation and the children’s fathers take turns watching the school.

Come to think of it, this sounds a lot like Idaho, which still ranks 50^th in the nation for public school spending. But I’d send my kids to public school in Idaho without thinking twice about it, and for the same reasons I send my kids to public school in Nicaragua:

Their teachers care for them and put in incredible extra effort to improve the kids’ education and make their school experience a good one;
Their classmates are their neighbors and their neighbors are their friends;
They are having a common experience with most Nicaraguan school children;
I just plain believe in public education, it ought to be free and it ought to be good, and it’s hard to believe that and not put my own kids in public school, even if the system falls short in some areas.

The truth of the matter is that education is incredibly important, not just on an individual level, but for the development of an entire country. And if we really want our country to move forward in leaps and bounds, we have got to improve access and quality of public education – and I’m not just talking about Nicaragua. So, where are you going to send your kids to school? – Becca

My Week as a Migrant Coffee Picker

2011-12-21T14:02:00.007-07:00

[This post comes from our wonderful Volunteer Coordinator Liz Haight as she finishes out her year with us]

The morning cup of coffee is a mindless act – you can brew a pot in your sleep. We don't tend to give much thought to what it took to get that rich brown brew that brings us to life every morning. I recently spent a few days with our friends up at the El Porvenir Coffee Cooperative to gain a better appreciation for my favorite caffeinated concoctionby joining in the process of hand-picking the beans. I also used it as an excuse to spend some more time up there, as I usually only make short visits while herding volunteers.

For 150 years coffee has been essential to Nicaragua’s economy. In the 1980s the coffee crop accounted for 40% of Nicaragua's foreign exchange earnings but thousands of farm workers fled or refused to work in the fields for fear of Contra attacks. The Sandinista government worried that the country would lose part of this valuable crop due to the shortage of coffee pickers and so they ordered a mobilization of high school and college students to join the remaining peasants in the field to pick the coffee. Workers were often accompanied by armed soldiers to guard them as they worked. Working alongside peasants to bring in the coffee crop created a revolutionary consciousness in these young people as they learned about life as a peasant and gained respect for farm labor. In December, I set out to follow in their steps to appreciate the way of life in the countryside and my morning cup of joe.

Up at El Porvenir, everyone joins in the harvest in December and January, which even brings in migrant pickers from outside the community. The coffee beans ripen at different times so one plant will have to be picked more than once. The coffee beans start out as a juicy fruit, often called cherries in English and uvas (grapes) in Spanish. They have a thick grape-like exterior that tastes like a bell pepper. This protects the two green bean halves which are covered by another slippery membrane. All the pickers are assigned to rows of plants and are instructed that all the red berries "van de viaje" (are out of here!) and to leave the green ones on the branch to ripen until the next picking. Wearing a large basket around my waist, I learned to pluck the ripe berries off the branch and drop them into my basket.

I picked until my basket was full (or more likely until I was nervous that I would spill it on the ground for the 3rd time) and then emptied the contents of the basket into my sack. Later they measure the picked coffee in “medios” which is equivalent to 5 gallons.Those berries are then processed to separate the bean inside from the fruit, which means a medio of coffee berries yields only a fraction of that amount in green coffee beans.

I picked 1 medio and 1 quartillo (1.5 medios) each morning that I worked; an unimpressive amount, but I was a beginner! The picking itself is not particularly difficult but some plants are tall and unruly and it takes some finesse to get to the highest berries without hurting the plant. Luckily the plants are fairly flexible so I could grab a tall branch and pull it down to me.

I was shown the ropes by one of the members of the cooperative, nicknamed El Palomo (the pigeon,) who was responsible for assigning the rows to the pickers and keeping an eye on them. Several times El Palomo reviewed the plants I’d picked, pinching off the berries I missed and tossing them into my basket. I later joined a group of teenage boys and we became a picking team. We called ourselves “mara la pana” – the basket gang. They would frequently “gift” me a plant that bore a good amount of ripe fruit to help me fill my basket and break the previous day's haul.

I did not prove myself to be a very helpful farm hand but really enjoyed myself in the fields and in the community. I almost forgot I was doing manual labor and was often distracted by the tropical beauty of my surroundings, Caturra and Bourbon coffee plants growing under a canopy of banana and Guanacaste trees atop a volcano range. The best part was picking side by side members of the community, joking and singing as we worked. Everyone was so kind and encouraging to me, their gringa migrant worker. I gained not only more appreciation for those tiny beans I percolate into my favorite beverage but for the kindness of Nicaraguans I’ve met this past year like the community of El Porvenir.

For those of you still needing a 2012 calendar, our former Volunteer Coordinator Eric Gruen is selling a 2012 calendar of his photography from El Porvenir – which can also be bought with a pound of hand-picked, organically grown, fairly traded El Porvenir Coffee – all proceeds to the CDCA! http://www.peacephotography.org/ -- Liz Haight

Winter Solstice: Dreams in This Dark Night

2011-12-21T07:51:00.008-07:00

I am writing this at 4:00AM and I can’t sleep…. roosters crowing, mortars going off probably noting a death, and pondering daily chores to do and life in general.

In the dark we ponder…fears raise their heads, dreams of what could be are imagined, and we reflect on the state of our days, years, lives, and world. In the dark anything is possible.

In the Northern Hemisphere our days shorten this time of year, in fact, today is the shortest day of the year. It is a good time to reflect.

We, as a culture, worship the light…artificial lights dim our night skies. “Progressive” nations show up on the space satellites at night as bright beacons while nations like Nicaragua show a dim point of light - if any at all. In our home and at the Center we have outside lights on for the night watchmen and this time of year we don our home with Christmas light. After supper last night we lit the first Chanukah candle.

Good is light. Evil is dark. And yet…it is the light that distracts us. We move through our days and nights almost blindly. It is in the dark we open up ourselves to unspeakable dreams and hopes – and yes, fears…fears we need to acknowledge and address.

So in this dark hour on this shortest day of the year I am going to share with you my fears and then my dreams. I fear:

· that we will never reverse the damage to our world that is making it uninhabitable for us and other species;

· that we will never stop exploiting and consuming resources that keeps almost one seventh of the world’s population living in hunger (http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm);

· that we will never rise up as a global movement and scream “no more war…no more bombings…no more terror…no more big nations invading, occupying, and dictating to smaller nations…ENOUGH!”;

· that we will never look at the corporations, the top 1%, the top 10%, the wealthy and say “You are the problem not my brown brothers and sisters”…and mean it;

· that we will never understand that until we are all free we all have chains,

· that until injustice is righted we are all in danger,

· and that freedom, justice and peace come with sacrifices and I’m not talking about sending our sons and daughters to fight ridiculous wars…I’m talking about the sacrifices of giving up the greed for wealth, power, and fear.

My hopes and dreams in this dark night? That we will. That maybe in the darkness prayers will be said, conversions will happen and

· we will one-by-one firmly cry “ENOUGH”

· we will one-by-one change

· we will one-by-one heal this gorgeous world, love its beautiful life, and reach out to each other.

The sun is up. The day has started. The struggle continues.

Happy Winter Solstice from all of us.

-Kathleen

80% Turnout for Nicaragua's Elections Followed by Controversy

2011-11-16T08:27:00.006-07:00

On the 6^th of November, Nicaraguans went to the polls to choose their next President. Official election results show that between 75 and 80% of registered voters turned out, and that Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) candidate and current President Daniel Ortega won in a landslide with 62.66% of the vote. Of the five parties on the ballot, the closest opposition was the Independent Liberal Party (PLI), trailing behind with just 31.13% of the vote. More than a week later, the leaders of Europe and North America have yet to call Ortega to congratulate him.

The PLI is alleging “monstrous fraud,” saying that they should have gotten more than 50% of the vote. In the past week, their supporters have caravanned and blocked roads in protests that have mostly been confined to the wealthy neighborhoods of Managua. In northern Nicaragua there have been 3 incidences of politically-related violence, resulting in 4 deaths and dozens of injuries, including the hospitalization of 7 police officers.

While they maintain that 20% of the vote was stolen from them, 10 days later the PLI continue to speak in general terms without specifying in which precincts the fraud was carried out nor have they produced any corroboration for their claims. The European Union, with the largest observer group participating in the elections, appears to vacillate, saying that while there were many “imperfections” in last Sunday’s elections, Daniel Ortega won.

What is going on here? Last Thursday I had the opportunity to talk to Adolfo Pastran, a well-respected Nicaraguan journalist, about the elections.

According to Pastran, it’s clear that Daniel Ortega won the elections. All the polls in months, weeks and days before the elections showed very similar results to the official vote tally. “The opposition was divided,” Pastran points out. “It’s very difficult to beat an incumbent with a divided opposition.” Many people who had never voted for the FSLN before voted for Ortega in what Pastran is calling an overwhelming vote of confidence.

“This doesn’t mean that these people are no longer Liberales or Independents,” he says, “but they are saying ‘I like your programs, I’ll give you another chance.’”

Overall, says Pastran, people feel that the situation in Nicaragua has improved – just one week before the elections polls showed that 70.4% of the populace thought the country was on the right track. “Economically, things are better,” says Pastran. “There are new taxis, new buses, transport and electrical subsidies, fewer people are emigrating…things are visibly better.”

The polls support this: one week before the election, the Ortega administration had an exceptionally high approval rating of 65.2%. Additionally, 72.9% said Ortega’s government gives them hope, 70.4% said health care had improved, 71.7% said education had improved, and 45.3% said poverty was down. It’s hard to compete with those numbers.

In the past, the FSLN’s opposition has run its campaigns based on fear: in 2001 television ads showed images of Saddam Hussein, Gadhafi, Fidel Castro, Osama bin Laden and then Daniel Ortega in military uniform. The standard campaign involved threats that if Ortega were elected, the country would return to war, and impose the draft again along with property confiscations and supply shortages. “Those empty threats don’t work anymore,” says Pastran, “because everyone can see that in the past 5 years we haven’t gone back to the 1980s.” This year, says Pastran, the opposition had absolutely nothing to offer. “They basically said ‘we’re going to keep on all of the current social policies, but we’ll do it better.’”

The PLI claims that on election day, their designated party observers were not allowed into 20% of the polling places. “If that’s so,” says Pastran, “then why did they wait until after the results were known to say so? Why were their observers not clamoring at the polling stations and calling the media?”

Pastran has also called for those who did independent quick counts of the vote – including the the European Union (EU), and the Council of Private Business in Nicaragua – to make those results known so they can be compared with the official results. “If they did rapid counts, why are they not making those public?” Yesterday the Organization of American States (OAS) finally made their count public, saying it matched with official results. The National Council of Universities, which was accredited as a Nicaraguan observer group with 20,000 participants all over the country, reported early on that its quick count was within a few percentage points of the official tally for all parties.

What about the observers? Of the national and international observers present for these elections, some observers from the OAS had trouble getting into polling places but once these difficulties were reported, the situation was remedied. In its official communiqué, the OAS said “In Nicaragua yesterday democracy and peace advanced.” In its final report the OAS cited “inconveniences” which included difficulties in obtaining voter cards prior to elections and access to voting places for some official party observers. In the report the OAS made recommendations for reform of electoral law in those areas, while backing up the official results that Daniel Ortega won. The Latin American Council of Election Experts (CEELA) said the electoral process proceeded positively with “agility in the voting process and effective organization with tranquility and peace.” As to the irregularities alleged by the opposition, CEELA said that members of their group did not find evidence of them. The EU continues to seed doubt, the head of the observer mission said, “The total of irregularities shows many imperfections but as to whether or not Daniel Ortega won, he won. Beyond that I won’t say.”

After remaining quiet during the campaign and refusing to back a particular candidate for the first time since the Somoza years, the United States has now come out to say that the elections were not free and fair. Yesterday the Voice of America, the U.S. government’s official media outlet, called for the OAS to sanction Nicaragua and to annul these elections.

What’s behind all this? Pastran’s analysis of the situation is that Ortega’s policies have managed to please the people of Nicaragua as well as national and international business, and because of that, the current claims of fraud are posturing and will die down soon to avoid creating instability. “They know the elections were good, but the opposition is starting now to try to erode Ortega’s power for the 2016 elections.”

Other analysts have speculated that with the current economic climate in Europe and the United States, these countries may be looking for a pretext to discontinue aid to Nicaragua, and declaring these elections fraudulent will provide them with the excuse they need.

Pastran maintains that the Nicaraguan elections were free and fair. “Except for a few isolated incidence of violence things are generally calm here. The people know how they voted.”

Pastran cites Ortega’s social programs as the reason he won the election by such a wide margin, and tells the story of a woman in rural Nicaragua who received a sack of food from Ortega’s campaign. She told the media “Thank God that Daniel Ortega remembered me. No government has ever remembered me. I have a son who died fighting with the contra and no government ever remembered me until Daniel Ortega.” -- Becca

Nicaragua emerges from the storm clouds

2011-10-25T14:50:00.006-06:00

Although Central America finally saw the sun this weekend after nearly two weeks of rain, hurricanes in Mexico and Panama are threatening more rain on the already soaked region. The most severe storm of the rainy season to date, these recent rains have taken a huge toll on Central America leaving 105 people dead, 1 million people affected, thousands of houses destroyed and extensive crop damage. The worst hit is Guatemala where half a million people have been affected and $9.8 million lost in the agricultural sector alone. In El Salvador, 5 feet of rain fell affecting 70% of the country. In Honduras 42 bridges were destroyed. In Costa Rica, 1,000 people were evacuated from their homes.

Here in Nicaragua, there are 13 dead, and 136,000 people affected by the storms. 12,000 families have lost their homes. 185 miles of paved highways are washed out, 465 miles of rural roads are washed out and initial estimates say Nicaragua will lose 3-5% of its most important crop this year: coffee.

At the El Porvenir coffee cooperative, René reports that everyone is fine. While the nearby community of Las Casitas on the slopes of the volcano was evacuated to avoid another tragedy like that community experienced during Hurricane Mitch, once again El Porvenir’s care of its natural forest has protected it. There is no damage to houses and they don’t expect their coffee harvest to be affected. In the community, individuals plant food crops – mostly corn and beans – for their own families’ consumption and also for sale in the local market. Of the corn and beans planted, they have lost about 30%, which means that while co-op members at El Porvenir will have enough food to eat this year, they won’t have the income they were counting on from the sale of the beans and corn, and their families will be in a tough spot. Additionally, 6 horses died during the storms, meaning folks will be left without transport.

What does the damage from this storm mean for the folks we work with in Ciudad Sandino and beyond? In the immediate term, damage from the storm will drive food prices up yet again this year. Costs of other necessary items, most importantly medicines, will likely shoot up as well. Already the cost of the basic basket of goods in Nicaragua for a family of 4 is around $450 per month in a country where unemployment is at 53% and those who do have jobs on average don’t even make 30% of that cost. On a regional level, all this has a cost as well: experts say that over the next several years, 10-20% of Central America’s GDP will go to pay for damage wrought by climate change.

In short, Nicaragua and her battered people can’t afford more natural disasters.

But they’re likely to keep coming. The United Nations recently declared Central America one of the regions most affected by climate change – according to the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD), from 1960-1970, there would be 1 event like this per decade; in the 1980s 2 events; in the 1990s 4; and from 2000-2010 there were 7.

In an interview on the Telesur program Agenda Abierta last week, environmental adviser Halim Jordan noted that 80% of the population of Central America is responsible for only a negligible amount of CO2 emissions, yet this region is suffering disproportionately from storms brought about by climate change, can do nothing to control them, and finds it so hard to recover from them. Consumption in the United States (which emits more CO2 than Europe and China combined) is having a very direct and very negative impact on Central America, and here in Nicaragua people realize it…do those in the U.S. make the connection? – Becca

Java Jive

2011-10-12T15:18:00.005-06:00

It’s been a tough year in the coffee world: in April, international coffee prices topped $3 a pound for the first time in 34 years, and while prices have dropped slightly, the price hike is likely here to stay. Heavy rain falls around the world are to blame for last year’s poor harvests, but in the long term, unpredictable weather and rising temperatures due to climate change are affecting premier coffee regions in places like Colombia, where production on some farms is down 70% from just 5 years ago. Coffee plants are sensitive and changes in temperature, rainfall and spells of dryness not only affect productivity, but also the taste of the high end Arabica beans.

With conventional coffee prices staying above $2 per pound, “fair trade is in an awkward position” as Matt Earley from Just Coffee describes it in a recent article on building a better pre-financing model. For 18 years the official Fair Trade Coffee minimum price remained stagnant at $1.41, not even keeping up with inflation. Last year, the price went up to $1.51 including a social premium. Meanwhile market price for conventional coffee is currently at $2.25 per pound.

For many Nicaraguan organic coffee co-ops, this has created quite a dilemma: “In the past,” explains Matt Earley, “enthusiastic farmers turned coffee into [fair trade buyers] knowing [they] would pay more than local buyers ‘coyotes.’ As a result, farmers would tolerate buyers’ partial (or zero) payment on delivery of the coffee and wait for full payment after buyers received the coffee in the United States or Europe. However, in these years of high prices, local buyers pay a price competitive with ‘fair trade’ importers and roasters, and they pay cash on the barrelhead instead of [fair trade buyers’] two or three payments. This welcome development for cash-strapped farmers benefits them in the short-term but damages their cooperatives as they default on contracts with buyers, lose members and weaken as democratic forces in their communities.”

For small farmers, the decision to choose a higher short-term price over a better long-term relationship is a very real one. El Porvenir supports 43 families (más o menos), more than 250 people total. Although they grow their own food, the cash payment they receive for their coffee crop is the only cash they see all year long. Like farmers all over the country, by the time harvest season rolls around, last year’s cash is long gone and co-op members are desperate for money to buy medicines, clothes, shoes and school supplies for their children. Unlike other farmers, El Porvenir already had a much more equitable relationship with its buyers, making it easier for them to turn down cash in hand from the coyotes.

For years, El Porvenir has sold its crop to Their Bucks Coffee knowing that they would pay more than$2 a pound. Additionally, Their Bucks has contributed 100% of its profits from coffee sales to establish a revolving loan fund that the El Porvenir co-op can access for harvesting costs. Their Bucks pays El Porvenir in three installments: 30% in October, 30% in December, and 40% upon shipping, so that the coffee is completely paid for before it ever leaves Nicaragua. A decision to sell to coyotes last year might have benefitted the co-op in the short-term, but they had an agreement with their buyers – reneging on that agreement last year would have meant throwing away a relationship of trust they’ve spent a decade building, and putting at risk the sale of future crops. The El Porvenir co-op followed through on their deal to sell to Their Bucks at $2.25 a pound…and got ready to negotiate this year’s crop in light of higher international prices.

Last week the coffee buyers came to negotiate: Al Jenkins from Their Bucks Coffee in Mt. Pleasant, SC and Jervais Hollowell of Little River Roasting Company in Spartanburg, SC came to Nicaragua to meet with the folks at El Porvenir and brought with them their daughters, Christy and Leland. In their face-to-face negotiations, El Porvenir agreed to sell at least 20,000 lbs of their coffee to Their Bucks, and Their Bucks agreed to pay $2.70 per pound –the $2.25 international price on the day of the negotiations, plus $0.45 per pound organic premium. These successful negotiations mean that the folks at El Porvenir can count on a better price for their crop – including continuing the important upfront payments – and means that Their Bucks can guarantee its growing customer base a supply of the excellent 43 Families brand coffee it markets, a good deal for farmers, buyers and discerning coffee drinkers!

NEW! Look for El Porvenir’s coffee at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store chain – it’s their in-house brand organic coffee, Newton Farms! -- Becca

Saying "No"

2011-10-05T15:09:00.004-06:00

Last night, after learning that we have been in Nicaragua for going on 18 years, a first-time delegation member commented “Wow! You must love your work!”

In truth, if we had all the money we needed then it would be easier to love our work. The work would be more encouraging and the choices we have to make would be much, much easier choices. It’s so hard to say “No.”

Saying “No” is one of the most difficult things that we have to do. We can say “I’ll see what we can do” and we do, but it most often leads to a postponed “No.”

A clinic patient comes in and needs surgical equipment that costs a thousand dollars to get much-needed surgery and I have to say “No,” because the money the one patient needs will pay for medicines for many patients, or even pay the doctors’ salaries. It is painful for me to say “No” and it is devastating for that patient.

I often think of Jesus’ words “do unto others and you would have them do unto you.” I think of those words when I say “No,” and if I am in a good place I silently ask for forgiveness. More times than not, I just feel guilty and then angry. Angry that I cannot provide all that people need. Angry that money is always an issue. And truthfully, angry that the poor ask for what I cannot give…or at least for what I feel like I cannot give.

Over the past five years, the Center has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the Genesis Cooperative yarn spinning project, and most recently has invested in a temporary work solution for them while they continue to wait on spinning equipment: we set up a cattle feed operation to make feed using agricultural by-products like sesame and cottonseed which will give the Genesis members work half time. In June, we agreed with Genesis that they would begin work on the cattle feed once they finished their bathrooms and break room and got their city water hooked up – they’ve been working on those “finishing touches” to their factory for more than two years. The cattle feed operation is ready to go, and Genesis still hasn’t finished, so we’ve hired the seasonal cotton gin workers to make cattle feed until Genesis finishes their bathrooms. Then, today, they came and asked for bus fare to attend a marketing training. One. More. Thing.

When we ran shelters in Statesville, NC, in the 1980s, we had a friend who ran a home for the homeless in Atlanta. He would speak about the Divine No…when you just have to suck up all the good intentions and say “No,” then you say “No” with humility and with an act of forgiveness.

Again, on my good days, I can do that. On my bad days, I want to rail at the Divine and yell, “Why don’t YOU say ‘Yes’ more so I can say ‘Yes’! Help us find the money! And while I’m at it…give that man who accepted our $150,000 and didn’t deliver equipment some kind of bad rash in the most sensitive of all places!”

Saying “No” is the hardest thing we do…it is the most painful because we know that it is we who do not suffer. -- Kathleen

Revolution Day

2011-07-29T09:05:00.009-06:00

Last week Paul and I took our two daughters aged 4 and 6 to the Plaza in Managua for the 19^th of July celebrations. Here in Nicaragua the 19^th of July is Revolution Day –commemorating the day that the Sandinista soldiers marched into the capital and gathered to celebrate the overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship. It’s a day where people crowd into and on top of buses from all over Nicaragua and make their way to the Plaza in Managua. While it’s true that in recent years the event has become dominated by FSLN party politics, it’s still the largest single public event of the Nicaraguan year, a good place to take the pulse of at least one faction of Nicaragua, and a great place for people watching.

Evident at the 19^th celebrations is the juxtaposition of traditional and contemporary Nicaraguan culture: marimba music and reggaeton, chicha and Coca-Cola, embroidered aprons worn with sparkly jeans. Throughout the celebrations we continued to see traditional Gigantonas – a 10 ft tall puppet representing a Spanish aristocratic lady – dancing to drums next to the Cabezón, a short puppet with a huge head representing an indigenous Nicaraguan man. And representing modern culture, now each group of Gigantonas is also accompanied by a drag queen wearing a miniskirt with fringe and shaking her hips at the gathered crowd.

With hundreds of thousands of hungry, thirsty, hot people packed into one place, it’s also the best place to make money for thousands of Nicaragua’s street vendors. From the moment we began to get even close to the plaza, we were being offered services: a spot on the grassy verge to park our car, a shoe shine, photos taken on larger-than-life plastic horses. No Port-A-Potties for 600,000 people? No problem: a number of enterprising folks had dug holes in an empty lot, strung up black plastic and for $0.20 would offer a few squares of toilet paper and a chance to use their hole in the ground.

Then came the goods: water, juice, donuts, mangoes with salt & vinegar, ice cream, sno-cones, beer (new this year cans of Toña tallboys), rum sold in baggies (called “leche” or milk), squeaky toys, roasted corn, quesillo, fried chicken, pork rinds and cassava, pirated movies, pirated music, Roy Ban sunglasses. Then there was all manner of things Red and Black: t-shirts, bracelets, hats, umbrellas, bouncy balls, you could even get a red and black Che Guevara spray painted on your face. Any parent can imagine what it’s like walking that gauntlet with your kids – “Mama, buy me, Mama buy me, Mama buy me!” – and every vendor knows how to capitalize on that – holding out t-shirts in the right size, pressing bracelets up to little wrists.

The entire pecking order of street vendors were out in force at the Plaza on the 19^th – from those who brought their goods in their vehicles, those who brought them in hand carts, those who carried them in sacks on their backs, right down to those who just carried in a sack and spent the afternoon filling it with discarded beer cans and plastic water bottles to sell for recycling. Many vendors had spent weeks preparing – taking out loans to buy goods, screen printing t-shirts, stitching together red and black bandanas, whole families working through the night to weave hundreds of red and black bracelets. And they weren’t disappointed at the Plaza – as every year, they sold and sold and kept on selling long after the speeches and fireworks were over, while the sun set and the crowd began moving out of the Plaza looking for buses to go home. And after even the vendors have gone, the glue sniffing boys came out to dig through the piles of trash left behind for something to eat or sell so they could buy a little more glue. – Becca

Genesis co-op goes to Costa Rica!

2011-07-04T16:23:00.012-06:00

The Genesis co-op is back from another international training! Last week the entire co-op went to Costa Rica and spent the week in technical training with an industrial engineer who has 25 years of experience producing cotton yarn.

The training focused on the opening and carding process (the first part of yarn production) and went through what happens to the cotton fiber in each machine as well as getting very technical – for example, if your yarn has a defect every 10 cm, h0w do you figure out which cylinder in the machine to check first to find the problem?

During the time in Costa Rica we made a visit to the folks that knit and dye the organic cloth, and also were able to visit a working acrylic yarn factory and a closed-down cotton yarn factory. At the cotton spinning plant we were able to see and touch the machines that we’d heard about, look at all the different functions and cylinders and pinions and see the machines and ducts in their places in the factory. The factory was the same size as the Genesis building, and so it was easy for everyone to see how machinery like that would fit in their building. When the co-op went to El Salvador, the factory was so huge and so modern, that it was a little hard to imagine being able to reach for that kind of goal. On the other hand, the factory in Costa Rica helped the group to ground itself by seeing a factory that feels attainable.

Although they had to get passports and visas to travel to Costa Rica, the Genesis folks took this last trip in stride. They were relaxed during the trip and felt less anxious about leaving their families. In the training, Pablo was the first to answer the mechanical questions every time. Natalia related what she was learning with her experience working in one of Nicaragua’s yarn plants in the 1980s. Jamileth applied what she’s learning in her Sunday mechanics class, and put on her work shirt as soon as we walked in the factory so she could get into the machinery. Geovanny, who is studying accounting, was the first to come up with the solution to the mathematical equations for working out quality control. Janneth walked around the plant pointing to the machinery and explaining its function to other co-op members. Overall Genesis took advantage of the trainings, and they came back energized and ready to get to work.

Now that the Genesis co-op is back home, they are concentrating on finishing their bathrooms and break room and evicting from their building the doves that have taken up residence in the rafters with the hope of being able to get opening and carding machinery within the next few months, pending funding, of course. -- Becca

We DO own our land!

2011-06-22T11:13:00.005-06:00

This week we had some GREAT news! We received notification that Yelba Carvajal's attempt to annul our legitimate title and register her false title to our land have been denied! (Remember in February 2008 when she began trying to steal our land?)

This is one of two false titles she used to try to claim ownership of our Center (with our house, offices & volunteer dorm) and the Industrial Park (where the Genesis co-op, the cotton gin and the sewing co-op are all located). Now that her attempt to register our land as her own has failed, we are no longer in danger of getting the ground stolen out from under us!

WOO HOO!

This has been a long fight, but we've counted on important support during the process thanks to more than 1,000 emails you, our supporters, sent to the First Lady Rosario Murillo in a matter of days! Thank you so much for all your support!

We are still waiting notification about her attempt to register her false title on the Industrial Park. Stay tuned to start celebrating when we finally receive that notice! -- Becca

A Clinic Organized...

2011-06-16T07:53:00.005-06:00

Organizational skills elude me…almost completely! In the 90’s I read a book on housekeeping entitled Sidetracked Home Executives…and I bought the index cards and the file holder…then wrote all the tasks and how long it took to complete them…and that was it. I was perpetually sidetracked! But…

My friend, Nora…she is an organizational whiz and a retired physician’s assistant. She and Becky, a pediatrician, came and gave three weeks to our bodega (our large clinic storage room)! They sorted and sifted and cleaned and blustered about what we had! They kindly taught me what all we had since I have no medical background.

Volunteers put on masks and moved instruments we would never use to an unused room. And we gave it all away! Some of it was golden for hospitals and some, not so much…but it went to the government clinic and hospital to be shared and used.

Nora and Becky labeled the medicines and supplies so we could restock easily. Becky pointed out the medicines we would never use, so there was no need to keep them. We decided what date was too dated and weeded out those medicines as well. What remained was the World’s 8^th Wonder to my eyes! AND…

A shot in the arm to do some more organizing…

Danelia organized the pharmacy and labeled it all! It looks great and so, so easy to pull those random, not-used-much medicines.

With the help of the delegation from Lopez Island we went through the second building and separated out equipment we could realistically use in the clinic. We saved potty chairs, Depends, walkers and wheelchairs for the infirm to give to our elderly patients. We kept a reasonable amount of crutches and “pieces parts” to fix machinery that we do use in the clinic…THEN…

We gave stuff away again!

The clinic staff…our Nicaraguan staff…are *Just. Like. Us*….in that we are all terrible pack rats. So, Danelia would say, “What about this thing? We might use it in the future?”

“If we need it THEN we will ask for it again, until then someone else can use it.”

It is wonderful. I feel energized instead of heavy about needing to go through stuff. We could – would – never have done it on our own. We needed volunteers with skills none of us had. -- Kathleen

"Anyone" can learn...does that mean me?

2011-05-25T10:53:00.009-06:00

From a purely egotistical standpoint, it’s been good for me. Since I spend most of my time fretting about the next step for the Genesis co-op and writing grant proposals that are never accepted, I’ve found the last few weeks entirely refreshing. Together with Pat and our volunteer coordinator Liz, I’ve been working with a wonderful Cuban ophthalmologist to learn to do eye checks and hand out glasses to patients.For several years we’ve been working to get an eye correction program up and running at the Nueva Vida Clinic. We received bits and pieces of donated medicines and glasses, and then a year ago we received a grant to purchase a hand-held autorefractor which would allow us to do fast eye checks and give us the flexibility of doing them not only in our clinic, but in places like El Porvenir where people have such need and no access to eye correction.

Through the Cuban doctor, we set up a program last year where optometry students spent one morning a week doing their practicum in our clinic. That worked pretty well, considering that students the world over – and here I’ll insert the Southern phrase bless their hearts – are not known for excelling at follow-through. Although we had hoped to continue with a new group of students this spring, that just hasn’t materialized, and in order to keep the program going, we decided to take the ophthalmologist up on his suggestion that “anyone” could be taught to do this.

So far, Pat, Liz and I have managed to grasp the concept of myopic vs. hyperoptic, spherical vs. cylindrical and have learned that presbyopia is a condition that sets in after the age of 40 that has nothing to do with an irrational fear of Presbyterians. More importantly, we get to play with fun stuff: we can now use a lensometer to check the prescription on glasses, a retinoscope to check eyes for cataracts, the autorefractor to get a starting place on a prescription, and a phoropter to fine tune the prescription. I think I speak for us all when I say we’re feeling pretty good about our ability to catch on to new things.

Of course it’s totally another matter when you’ve got living breathing patients in front of you! (I think that must be why they call it “practicing” medicine!) Last week we went live: in the first 2 days we saw 15 patients all from the Genesis co-op (better to practice on folks you already know) and since then we’ve seen another 15 “real” patients. One of my first was an older man who insisted that every new lens I tried out on the phoropter was better than the last. For about ten minutes I’d say “Which is better, one or two?” And he would say “Two” every time, even while I moved from -3.75 right up to +4.00. I’ll admit I was sweating it…what do you do in that case? Since we are working with donated glasses and can’t find anyone’s exact prescription anyway, I started trying on glasses. And with those he was absolutely unequivocal – he left with the thickest pair of specs I’ve ever seen, and thrilled right down to his toes!

We’ve managed to work out a system of who does what, and Pat is doing a noble job of organizing our donated glasses so we cut the searching time down. We’ve found a table that is the right size for Liz to prop her arm on to get a good reading with the autorefractor without having to physically hold her patients still. We’ve found a picture chart that works better for folks who can’t read, and once we get the phoropter oiled so that the lenses don’t stick and the swing arm doesn’t whap patients across the head anymore, I think we’ll be in business!

Of course our prescriptions aren’t exact – and I’m relieved that the ophthalmologist tells us that much of the eye correction process is purely subjective– but it is very satisfying to take a break from fretting one morning a week and go to the clinic where I am told a problem, can do some tests, and can hand someone a pair of glasses that will help them. -- Becca

Unplug

2011-05-09T14:03:00.004-06:00

We live in an era of unprecedented technological advancements. When we moved here in 1994 we didn’t have any kind of phone for four years. Now almost everyone we know here has cell phones, which is good…families can communicate, work places can call when a staff member doesn’t show up, and family members in other countries can call their loved ones.*

I am a little intimated by all the technology around but I do not yearn for the “good old” days when everyone just had a land line and there were no microchips. I love being in touch with my family anytime I want through email and the “magic” phone that operates through internet. I do not want to return to air letters that take a month to get back to family and friends. But….

There are many times that I feel that instead of technology enhancing our humanity, it is becoming our god.

We work more hours to have what we feel we MUST have in the newest, the fastest, the most memory. We stay plugged in…or text non-stop with our “friends” on Facebook, My Space or just the phone. We seem obsessed as a Developed World society.

But are we losing ourselves? Do we avoid the pain through typing insignificant froo frah constantly and never look up from the screen to see the people around you? Technology has given us a way to block the people around us on the subways, the sidewalks, and even our home. We do not have to see the homeless if we are texting. We do not have to hear the cries of sadness of the broken hearted when we have constant music in our ears. We do not have to interact with our loved ones if we just text a phrase every two minutes. We do not have to see the poor.

We need to stop…unplug…become that person that was created to interact with others, help others, and love others. After all, can you see Moses facing Yahweh with an iPod plugged in, or Jesus texting “brb” to his followers before going to the wilderness, or even Thoreau taking a walk through the woods on a Wii? -- Kathleen

*Cell phones here can receive calls even if there is no time on it. You can put as little as $1 on your phone.

**Note: In the photo volunteer Tyson is just pretending to talk on his cell phone while picking coffee up at El Porvenir, although his phone did have coverage up there!

Genesis co-op field trip to El Salvador!

2011-04-27T10:48:00.008-06:00

When I arrived at the Genesis chilamate tree at 2 AM, all 18 co-op members were already gathered under its branches, holding hands to form a circle, heads bent in prayer.

“Dear God, please look after our families while we’re gone…Dear God, please look after the driver of our bus, help him drive well so we all arrive safely…Dear God, thank you for this opportunity, may we learn much from it.”

And then we were off to El Salvador to see a real working spinning plant! We had managed to convince the Interamerican Development Bank to finance a trip for all members of the Genesis co-op to visit the factory in San Salvador that purchased all our organic cotton this past year. The owners of the plant had agreed to show us around so that we could all see how a spinning operation works, an important precursor to training in spinning production, and something that we could do while we wait for results from the lawsuit against Coker International and equipment.

But more importantly, the trip was meant to boost the low morale of the Genesis members, give them something to focus on and look forward to, and – if they were thrifty with the per diem they were given for the trip – a little extra income.

During their preparations for the trip co-op members voted to spend some of their per diem to purchase polo shirts with the monogrammed Genesis logo and each member’s name embroidered on the sleeve. To you or me, the shirt-buying might seem like waste of precious resources, but it was symbolic for co-op members. When Jamileth showed up at her extended family’s home and showed them her two Genesis shirts, their response was, “Wow, so you really do have a business.” And the monogrammed uniform shirt proved it.

For others, the fact that we were finally able to arrange the trip to El Salvador was in itself significant – former co-op members had gotten wind that a trip was planned and said, “That trip is never going to happen, that’s just the gringos telling more lies to manipulate you.” When we bought the bus tickets for the 12 hour journey north, Genesis members practically blew raspberries in the faces of the naysayers – it felt good to be doing something concrete and big after so long waiting around! Sara overheard her mother – who has been worried about Sara wasting her time at the co-op when she’s sure equipment will never arrive – bragging about her on the telephone. “Sara has a trip to El Salvador now, her business is up and running and this is just the first trip of many, nothing can stop them now!”

It was the first time out of Nicaragua for most co-op members, and many who had never even seen the north of Nicaragua watched out the windows in fascination as we headed up to El Salvador. I think everyone was scared – of leaving their families, of going so far away, of being in an unfamiliar place. I know they missed home, I know many cried themselves to sleep at night. But they shared food, drink and cell phone minutes with one another, and in the morning everyone was in the lobby of our hotel at 6 AM, showered and dressed in their monogrammed Genesis shirts, ready to head to the factory.

The plant manager himself met us and not only showed us all the different sections of their (97,000 sq ft!!!) spinning factory, but gave us extensive information specific to the spinning process as well as general business advice (“It’s easier to prevent a problem than fix one.” “Time is golden.”). Everyone was awed, practically tripping over themselves as they walked around open-mouthed filming the factory with their cell phone cameras.

Our host was kind enough to answer our endless questions and when the Genesis folks began to say, “It looks like we’ve got to go expand our building,” he kindly replied, “It’s all about scale. Everyone has to start somewhere.” He then told us the story of how their factory was started 30 years ago in a space the size of the Genesis factory, and how over the years it has grown to include a whole complex of several city blocks employing 1,230 people. The Genesis co-op was much encouraged by that story. And when we met a 98 year old woman who started work there 30 years ago and is still employed (as a greeter at the knitting factory), the older women of the Genesis group rejoiced, hugged her within an inch of her life, and all had their pictures taken with her.

One of the most helpful parts of our trip was gaining an understanding for the entire textile process. The Genesis folks had already met some of the technicians from the Salvadoran plant when they came to Nicaragua to teach them how to inspect the cotton for polypropylene contamination, but while in El Salvador they were able to see why that inspection was important. We were also able to see our wobbly, loose-packed bales of Nicaraguan organic cotton next to the neat, tightly packed bales of cotton imported from the U.S. and see firsthand why that causes problems in the spinning plant (the Salvadorans have offered to help check our baler to see how we can increase its packing pressure). Seeing the spinning process allowed us to put a mental picture and process to the machine names we’ve heard for so long. On our last day there we were able to see the knitting and dying factory, which allowed us to understand why determining color and characteristics of the cotton to keep different lots of yarn separate is important to the end product.

We were able to squeeze in a morning of sightseeing around San Salvador (learning about Archbishop Romero, first trip to a real art museum) and an afternoon at the beach eating shrimp cocktails, which made it seem like a real vacation for the Genesis folks. Still, when we crossed the border into Nicaragua, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. “Even if I get lost now, I can still find my way home!” Geovanny told me.

There were many wonderful moments during our trip to El Salvador, but one of the best came at the end, when the Genesis members all began calculating what they could do with money they had left from their per diems.

Jamileth waved her leftover cash at me and said, “With this, I’m going to buy a washing machine. I’ve already found a deal on new ones at the market.” Imagine what Jamileth and her daughter can do with all the time they’ll save once they don’t have to wash the family’s clothes by hand all weekend long.

Ramona’s mother celebrated her 95^th birthday the day we got back to Nicaragua. “I’m going to buy a toilet and have it installed in the house,” Ramona told me. “That way my poor mother won’t have to go out to the latrine in the mud during the rains.”

So, was the trip to El Salvador a success? Absolutely. – Becca

Battling asthma in Nueva Vida

2011-04-08T16:53:00.007-06:00

Breathing in and out easily is not over-rated! As an asthmatic, I can attest to such. And…

Many of the poor have trouble getting a good breath. Asthma plagues the poor. Women suffer from chronic asthma because they have stood over poorly ventilated wood stoves for most of their lives cooking meals for their families. Older women who have never smoked a cigarette in their lives have emphysema.

Children really suffer. In the dry season (six months of no rain) wind blows dust and dirt into their tiny little homes. As cars and horse carts drive by – or even children playing ball in the street – dust billows. Like women, smoke from the wood stoves in their houses puts impurities into their tiny lungs, but not only from the stoves… smoke from burning trash (like used toilet paper and leaves) also makes it hard to breathe. Now add smoke from burning trash in the Ciudad Sandino dump – located right behind Nueva Vida – and you have tiny lungs in crisis.

Our pediatrician does a great job caring for the children. Last year 76% of his patients were under the age of five and 20% were treated for asthma! With our renewed commitment to community health, word is spreading that the Nueva Vida clinic is filling a need with asthmatic children by giving comprehensive care.

In the clinic we have nebulizers going almost non-stop. Children are given expensive cortisone inhalers for long-term treatment when they need them (this is a rarity in clinics that serve the poor). Toilet paper rolls serve as spacers. Disposable plastic cups with an “X” cut in the bottom to push the inhaler through serves as masks for little ones to breathe in the medication.

Our general practitioner also treats adults with asthma. All patients are given follow-up visits to see how they are doing.

Now we are reaching out into the community. We have put nebulizers in the community in homes of health promoters who are willing to open their homes for asthmatic people to access the machines at night and on week-ends when the clinic is closed. We are working on ways to convince people to burn trash away from homes and ventilate their wood stoves better, but much of this takes funding as well as education.

Most of us take breathing for granted…oxygen is the element we need most consistently…like every few minutes! Helping children, women, and men breathe is helping to guarantee a basic human right, don’t you think? – Kathleen

Flying through a hurricane: being elderly and poor in Nueva Vida

2011-03-30T11:47:00.006-06:00

“The elderly need special help,” our projects director César told us in a meeting last year.

To be seen by doctors and treated at our clinic in Nueva Vida, a patient must contribute to the community…they can either work (filling in mud puddles that are breeding mosquitos, cleaning trash off the streets, cleaning the yards of the schools, etc.) or they can contribute 30 córdobas (the equivalent of about $1.35), but frequently the elderly cannot work nor do they have family who can work on their behalf. The elderly tend to be destitute as well.

We were slow in finding the elderly patients who needed our help. Who has no family…who is destitute?

When our new health promoter, Jessenia, was settled into the Nueva Vida community and had the health promoters from each area reorganized and renewed, she took the challenge to the community to find 15 elderly patients we would see at no charge. It was easy and FAST…the community knew who needed our help.

Jessenia did an initial health and needs evaluation of all the patients, and then our volunteer nurse, Kim, went with Jessenia to see them. Seven of the 15 patients could not walk and so they needed rides the few blocks to the clinic.

We got all the patients to the clinic and evaluated by our doctor. Many have to take medications needed for chronic conditions. A few had acute problems but all, ALL, need to be evaluated on a regular basis and need to have access to a doctor. As soon as they all got to the clinic there were another five wanting to be in the program!

Kim makes rounds seeing each patient every-other-week and the 20 patients love her. One of the patients is 103 years old! 103 YEARS!

Now we are looking for funding to hire a nurse because, come August, Kim will leave to go on with her life. We feel that we are serving a population left out of the system as it currently exists.

Golda Meir (Israeli Founder and Prime Minister) said, “Old Age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you’re aboard, there’s nothing you can do.”

For the poor it is like flying in a hurricane, but if someone can help you get to the eye of the hurricane, then maybe you can rest some. -- Kathleen

Towards a Healthy Nueva Vida

2011-03-23T11:01:00.006-06:00

Jessenia is our new health promoter! We were able to hire her with two designated gifts and she has been a true gift to the clinic!

She has used her artistic hand in putting up informational signs all up in the clinic and giving the clinic a brighter look.

Mostly she has being organizing health promoters. She has two promoters for each section of Nueva Vida. In the future she will help organize the “green” sections of Nueva Vida, areas where squatter homes have popped up, so that those who are very poor can have access to information and to the clinic.

We have given out emergency first aid kits to the health promoters so that they can clean and bind wounds, give rehydration fluids, and reduce fevers and allergic reactions. We are anxious to see how the community receives this aid and how it all goes.

We have a held a few trainings on diabetes and are looking at doing more. In the future, funding permitting, we hope to have comprehensive education on diabetes…a campaign to reduce sugar intake of children and adults, exercise to reduce weight, and how to use inexpensive food wisely for diabetics.

For the poor sugar is a cheap source of calories…but lots of sugar with no protein wreaks havoc on the pancreas and sets the body up for Type 2 diabetes. Plus the main food for the poor is carbohydrates…white rice, beans, corn, and white bread. Meats are expensive and many vegetables are also expensive. Culturally most fruits are drunk as watered juices with sugar added for flavor. Food in any culture is hard to change (look at the U.S.) and it is even more difficult if money is scarce…but we are looking at ways and we are looking for funding to try.

Our dentist, Inya, is going into schools for oral hygiene awareness raising classes that Jessenia set up. She is giving out toothbrushes and tooth paste and encouraging children to come in for sealants. Obviously with the above mentioned sugar intake, diabetes is not the only resulting health problem!

Then there are HIV/AIDS, family planning, hypertension, asthma, dengue, and malaria…all public health concerns! The list is endless…we are so grateful to have Jessenia on our staff. She has given us all a boost in our spirits. It is exciting, no? -- Kathleen

Nicaragua mourns withJapan

2011-03-18T14:31:00.006-06:00

In light of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Nicaragua watches and mourns with the Japanese. In the 20^th Century, Nicaragua experienced one major natural disaster every two years.

One such disaster was the 1972 earthquake which killed 10,000 people and left another 250,000 homeless, many of whom were relocated to Ciudad Sandino as refugees. Another, Hurricane Mitch, left 11,000 dead in Honduras and Nicaragua and another 2.7 million homeless – many of those were again moved to Ciudad Sandino and the huge barrio of Nueva Vida was started with those 1,200 families. Nicaraguans feel the Japanese pain.

We watch as Japanese pick through the rubble that represented much of their lives. Whenever Nicaragua gets too much rain (at least every two years) we see people here picking through the remains of the little they had.

We watch and as a nation pray that Japan’s nuclear reactors will not fail more – because as a nation that has been knocked down over and over again – Nicaraguans understand one blow after another after another.

We feared the tsunami would hit the Nicaraguan Pacific coast hard, which would be devastating – even a small one would wash away poorly built houses on stilts or shacks made from plastic and flattened metal barrels. Luckily, the tsunami had lost strength by the time it reached our coast, and did no damage.

The horror in Japan is – well, terrifying, completely overwhelming, and heart-rending. But I think if it had happened to a Third World nation – with buildings not built for earthquakes, no warning systems, and no real capability for rescue and then relief – then how much more horrific would it be?

Nicaraguans care because they understand. We can learn much from our brothers and sisters who know natural disasters. – Kathleen

Spring 2011 Speaking Tour - Who, What, When, Where, and Why?

2011-02-14T11:05:00.011-07:00

It's that time of year again... Sarah's planning her spring speaking tour, and this year she'll be roaming in a big driving loop from North Carolina to Florida and back. She'll also be hopping out to the San Francisco, CA, area with a stopover near Dallas, TX, on her return. So...

Who: Sarah Junkin Woodard (Sarah@jhc-cdca.org)
What: Speaking on the work & ministry of the JHC-CDCA in Nicaragua.
When: March 25 - May 25, 2011
Where: the southeast mostly, speaking in churches, college classes, livingrooms, civic groups, preschools, or anywhere else she gets an invitation! No gathering is too small. Contact her directly via email, please.
Why: for two reasons... to share updated information about the work with those already involved and with new folk who might become interested (i.e. education) and for fund-raising.

But here's the thing... many many folk are signed up on our database with only their email addresses, which means we have no way to know if you are along the speaking tour route, and we don't know to write you to ask if you'd like to host Sarah, or to let you know she'll be speaking near you. So we need you to write us/her about speaking possibilities, and if you know someone else en route, connect us to them... you see how this is a chance for you to really help.

Also, this link... http://tinyurl.com/4f4rmgx will get you to Sarah's online calendar. You can see where she will be on what dates, and what dates are still open. She will double-book, so grab her for a day time something even if she already has an evening something scheduled, and vice versa! She'll keep updating this calendar, so as the time gets closer, times of presentations and contact information will also be available if you can come to something already scheduled.

If you are interested in Sarah coming to your area, here's the bare bones info to share around regarding the presentation information and available crafts (where appropriate):

Sarah Junkin Woodard comes to us from the Center for Development in Central America (CDCA), the Nicaraguan project of the non-profit, faith-based organization, the Jubilee House Community (JHC). Before moving to Nicaragua in 1994, the JHC operated shelters for the homeless and battered women in Statesville, NC. Ministering in Nicaragua since then, the CDCA seeks to respond to human needs created by poverty in a nation where 45% of the population lives on less than $1.00/day, the second poorest in the western hemisphere. The CDCA is working towards freedom from poverty, helping communities become self-sufficient, sustainable, democratic entities, focusing its work in the areas of sustainable economic development, organic agriculture, appropriate technology, education, and health care. Sarah says, “The CDCA has been called to work with, and speak on behalf of, the poor in our area of Nicaragua, and to share their lives and stories with folks in the U.S., to bridge the gap between us and our neighbors.” Proceeds from craft sales go to the operating expenses of the project.

The Poor ≠ Market Opportunity

2011-02-02T12:09:00.011-07:00

I spent much of last week writhing in agony in a ballroom at a Managua hotel. I was at an annual encounter of project executors for a large international development agency. I spent my days squirming in my chair trying to keep myself from running screaming from the room. What was so hard for me to hear? I’ll share with you a few snippets:

“When the private sector decides it wants to do something, it happens. Without the private sector we are nothing.”

“The middle man must exist, and we have to help the middle man so that the poor can be involved in the economy because they can’t do it themselves.”

“The poor are an unexploited market worth $6 billion dollars a year in Central America alone.”

Needless to say, there were no “poor” in that room. Just a roomful of smug, back-patting consultants with knowing smiles and obscene annual salaries. In most cases, these consultants are a perfect example of what Mike refers to as those who “started out to do good and ended up doing well.” They are the ones who think up and carry out “development” projects in Nicaragua, in many cases with the goal of what one mentioned as the need to “maintain our relevance” (read: salaries).

Are these consultants bad people? Not inherently, but they are servants of a system that does not work...in fact it does more harm than good. Yet they believe that they are doing good, which makes many of them self righteous and arrogant and dangerous. Sitting there, I can’t help but calculate that just one year of the combined salaries of the consultants in that room would build three Genesis spinning plants and equip them with machinery, creating jobs for 180 people. I, for one, would happily trade all of them for that.

And what are the projects these consultants are patting themselves on the backs for?

“We just approved a new project with the Free Trade Zone Commission to teach 600 young Nicaraguans English, with the goal that 400 of those will find work in Call Centers.”

“We have a successful project with a financing company to provide factoring to pulperías – the small corner stores in Nicaragua, which they will be able to pay using their cell phones.”

“We are working with large businesses to get them to use small farmers as suppliers, to include the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ in successful companies.”

Are these projects 100% evil? No. There are good aspects to most of the projects, and a few of them are even pretty good in general. What has to be evaluated is who is really benefiting here and who is just being used?

Do the 400 call center jobs really represent – as the development agency continually saying – any new “innovation”? No. It’s the same low-paid unstable jobs for young Nicaraguans that are offered in the textile sweat shops, disguising itself with a polo shirt and air conditioning.

I am not against pulperías having access to credit – I certainly spend a good share of time talking about how important it is to finance small businesses. But let’s ask ourselves why a factoring agency wants to give credit to pulperías? Because nobody else is doing so yet and they are an untapped market. The factoring agency wants to make money, so what kind of interest will they charge the tiny pulperías? This agency received a grant – that they will never have to pay back – and they will make money off of this hand over fist. That ain’t development…That ain’t right.

What about the “inclusive” companies benefiting the “bottom of the pyramid’? Those large companies are benefiting much more than the small farmers who aren’t granted exclusive contracts and are themselves responsible for financing the improvements needed on their farms in order to meet the standards of the large company. What drives these large companies to the project? More money, as the presenter himself admitted.

During my week in that hotel ballroom, I heard little mention of the project “beneficiaries,” as the development agencies call them. This word generally refers to the poor people whose poverty is purportedly alleviated through development projects. I loathe the word “beneficiaries.” It calls up an image people who sit back and receive while doing nothing. The women of Genesis are NOT beneficiaries. They are people, owners of their own business, who have made their project work and have made extraordinary sacrifices to do so. They are anything but passive receivers.

All of what I heard was from middle men and about middle men. The JHC-CDCA has spent the last 17 years in Nicaragua getting rid of the middle man – in agriculture and industry – and you know what? It works. I believe there is a place for someone who can connect those who have – money, skills, time – with those who have needs – financing, advice, markets…as long as that connector does not do at the expense of the poor. If we focus development on helping the middle man, you will never reduce poverty because it’s the middle man – and his executive cousin the consultant – who keep people poor by seeking to make money off of them.

We cannot achieve “development” through yet another project that sees the poor as only a market. It is only through projects that stop viewing the poor as passive beneficiaries but the owners of the projects that we have a chance to bring about the systemic change these folks in “development” claim they want.

But we have to take risks. You can’t have systemic change without risking yourself. And we have to share those risks with the poor…the poor as owners, agents of their own destinies. No middle man required. – Becca

The Fabric of Humanity

2011-01-19T08:56:00.011-07:00

Sometimes with the constant setbacks, broken vehicles, and missing machinery, it's hard for us to focus on the multitude of things that have actually gone right!

One of the most impressive things that is going right this year is the organic and fair labor cotton production. And it's going right in a big way. In July of 2010, 42 farmers planted 345 acres of organic and fair labor cotton. This is 4 times the number of farmers we had last year and 7 times the amount of cotton produced last year...what a jump! We extended farmers nearly $80,000 in credits for planting and harvest costs. Included in the group of cotton farmers this year are two women's cooperatives!
In December, farmers began to harvest their cotton, and are continuing that harvest now. We estimate that they will harvest a total of 600,000 lbs of seed cotton! The market for organic cotton is supreme this year, and for the first time ever, all that fiber has already been pre-sold!

That seed cotton is being ginned at the cotton gin which this year is being managed by the processing and marketing co-op, COPROEXNIC, rather than CDCA staff, the first step toward the gin's independence. Rather than requiring CDCA to finance the operation of the gin this year, the gin is operating on upfront payments for that cotton...this is a HUGE help to us!

The cotton gin (a 1964 Lummus that has been around the block a few times) has recently had all of its blades replaced, resulting in a per-day production capacity that is 6 times what it was previously! The gin is now consistently ginning and baling 6 bales for a total of nearly 2,550 pounds of processed fiber per day! The gin is operating two shifts for the first time ever and employing a total of 14 people. We expect the gin to run for about 6 months this year, twice as long as its run in past years! With this increase in cotton production, our gin is at capacity, and we're hoping to expand the gin to accommodate next year's expected production.

The Genesis Co-op, is stuck without spinning machinery, thanks to that whole debacle, but meanwhile we are not only giving them basic grains to help feed their families (thanks to generous donations!), but they are also working, getting paid to inspect the cotton for polypropylene contamination before it goes to the gin. Their big beautiful 15,000 square foot building is FULL of organic cotton right now!

Meanwhile, the market for organic and fair labor cotton clothing continues to grow...We are the first organic cotton chain in the world to be certified in fair labor practices from crop to closet, a distinction that we feel merits some positive attention. Maggie's Organics, the maker and distributor of our organic cotton clothing, has made a video about the cotton chain...a beautiful video that highlights the Maggie's Organics connection in Nicaragua and the CDCA's role in the chain. You can now watch this wonderful video, called The Fabric of Humanity by clicking here and scrolling down.

With so many things going right...who's to say we can't overcome those things that haven't gone right quite yet? -- Becca

Best Christmas Gift of All

2011-01-10T10:42:00.003-07:00

In our December newsletter we wrote about our financial situation and asked people to consider giving a little more. We also sent a letter out to people who had given $500 or more over the last five years also asking if they could give more….wow! You all came through! In December donations totaled c lose to $100,000!!! Again…Wow!

It is hard for us to ask for money. We sort of missed the Oral Roberts’ gene of having the chutzpah to ask outright, but the work needed us to ask…so for the first time in 13 years and the third time in our 32-year history we sent a special letter.

And with the gifts came; lovely…heartwarming…notes of encouragement and surprisingly, validations of our asking for money.

One woman wrote about the newsletter “Good for you for telling us you need money…you need to do that when you get low.”

We received an email from a dear friend who had been unemployed for many months of this year and when working she tithes to this work…she said that she didn’t think she could give any more but then looked at what she had bought for others for Christmas and sat down and wrote the CDCA a check.

I talked to Mama on Christmas Day. She is the one who receives your gifts in South Carolina and deposits them for us. “How has your day been, Mama?”

“Good.” Then lots of family news exchanged and thanks for presents, etc…you know…Christmas Day stuff.

Mama then says, “Do you know what my favorite Christmas present has been? Opening all those envelopes and pulling out all those checks for y’all. It has been just wonderful…absolutely wonderful.”

We agree. Thank you one and all.

And yet again Wow!

Next week we’ll write about our budget needs for 2011…stay tuned! -- Kathleen

Christmas: Called to Make the Poor a Priority

2010-12-22T08:19:00.008-07:00

Almost 30 years to the day, Tiff (age 4), Jessica (age 2), and I were talking about the Christmas story…the birth of Jesus. I remember telling them it was important to remember that Jesus was born poor and homeless (we were running homeless shelters at that time). “Why?”

“Because then we can realize that we need to take care of the poor,” I answered.

Tiff thought and said, “We do more for poor people than anybody I know.”

I replied, “That may be true, but we can still do more…lots more.”

“But, Been…We. Do. More. For. Poor. People. Than. Anybody. I. Know.”

Sometimes I agree with Tiff, especially when I am weary. Not that I seriously think we do more, but sometimes it FEELS like that we have done enough and we can stop. Especially at Christmas…

We see the people who have so much in the world trickling down their generosity to the poor and if I have had a bad day, I think we do actually do more for poor people than anybody I know.

THEN I open my eyes and see anew the poverty staring me in the face and think of the stable and manger… I imagine what an improvement a stable is to the home that many babies are born into here… there is much still to be done.

Let me quickly say that I have no illusion that I am ridding the world of poverty or even enabling people to rise above poverty. The people we work with work so hard to make their lives tolerable. Mostly I hope beyond hope that the little we do might give some a chance to right a few of the wrongs that the powerful have dealt them.

BUT on bad days I think there is no more energy or imagination to keep pushing…to find money, to fight Coker International, to look at new clinic services, and, I think, we have done enough over the many years.

The Christmas story tells us that the embodiment of hope was born poor and homeless. There was no Santa Claus. No Christmas trees, stockings, and no roast beast…but poverty and hope. We who are Christians need to remember our profession of faith is rooted in the poor…and we need to remember that no politics, no economic system should divert us from those roots. We were called to make the poor priority…and we can never…never do enough. Not until all bellies are fed, all have a roof over their heads, feet with shoes, bodies with clothes, not rags…in other words not until shalom…salaam…justice prevails.

The Jubilee House Community sends you all the hopes of the angels this coming new year:

Peace on earth and good will towards all.

-Kathleen

The First Purisima

2010-12-07T11:13:00.008-07:00

This evening is the celebration of the conception of Mary without sin...Purisima. Nicaragua celebrates this Catholic Holy Day for than any other country in the world, I do believe.

I always think of it as a cross between China New Year with the fireworks exploding for hours, Christmas caroling with people going door-to-door singing songs about María and praying prayers to María, and Halloween with gifts handed out to the people who come to your house or shrine.

In 1994, our first year living here, we being the true newbies, were told by César, our Director of Projects, we should set up a Purísma shrine. Well, not being Catholic or Nicaraguan, we had no idea what to do.

“You put up a Mary down by the gate. You need to give some little food, and a little gift, like a toy,” he told us.

We had so little money. “For how many?” we asked.

“Oh, everyone will come expecting the gringos to do something…so 500.”

500! But we were up to the challenge! We popped and filled 500 little bags of popcorn. We went to the market and bought 500 little noisemakers…the toys were little the noise was LOUD! Henry and others from my English class came to help us set up our shrine.

The Purísma Marys are all very white skinned, dressed in blue, and have a halo. We didn’t know that then, so we pulled out our last Advent banner which has mother and child…Haitian mother and child on it.

“Whoa! You can’t use that!”

“Why not?”

“Well….hmmm…well…hmmm…she has a baby. Mary is a virgin.”

“But this is the only Mary we have.”

Then we could just see their resignation and the realization just how ignorant we really are…and like you say to a child who dressed herself for a party completely inappropriately but so proud… “This is great!” ….uh yeah.

So our banner went up, Henry et al, decorated our altar so, so prettily with flowers and palms and we got all set up. We stood with the Coury, age 5, and Daniel, age 2, at our gate in the middle of the countryside…the city then had not moved out to us…and we waited with great anticipation.

And we waited.

About 20 plus kids came from the cooperative next door. That was it.

The next morning….“Cé-é-é-é-sar. No. One. Came.”

“Well, of course not. You didn’t shoot up fireworks…they didn’t know you had an altar.”

Sigh. We too did not know.

We ate the 480 bags of popcorn. And since that time, we have just enjoyed OTHERS’ celebrations of Purísma. -- Kathleen