Center for Development in Central America: May 2022

Friday, May 27, 2022

A Day Sexing Fish

It all began with a rural community's need for water. Really?

Well, actually, yes.

You see, many years ago, the communities of Cuajachillo and Trinidad were spending their meager resources and their days hauling water. Could we help?

hauling oxcarts of water daily

A Rotary Club, Santa Barbara Sunrise, agreed to partner with us and our local Ciudad Sandino Rotary Club, and many years and a lot of effort later, funding came through.

The water department and the city joined in, and with thousands of volunteer hours and 13+ miles of tubing laid by hand, 576 homes now proudly own one ½" water faucet each. Can you imagine 3,000 people being able to finally wash their hands at home? Scrub their laundry? Cook and clean?

Wonderful!

Water!

Ah, you say, but what has that got to do with sexing fish?

Well, access to water led to the possibility of developing the economic and nutritional benefits of aquaponic systems. Huh?

Yep. Back to the fundraising drawing board, and again through Rotary, a pilot test project was funded, and now stage two, with 40 backyard systems, is happening.

So Saturday, I drove a vehicle up through bouncing ruts pretending to be called roads, gathering participants to join the agrarian engineer for one of his training days.

participating in aquaponics training session

We visited six sites. Most were tucked beside tiny homes.

aquaponics system beside tiny rural home

One was a larger one from the pilot project located at a school. Children attending that school had already enjoyed a nutritious fish and vegetable meal from that site, augmenting their free school lunches.

Proud home participants showed off their floating plant beds with thriving insulin, oregano, mint, and other medicinal herbs. Root systems were inspected.

proud system owner demonstrating root health

The maturing fish were retrieved, counted, weighed, measured, and yes, sexed… to be able to keep the population male/female ratio thriving and healthy.

carefully retrieving fish for weighing and measuring

These 8-ounce fish will continue to grow until they reach a pound, when they will be harvested and eaten and sold, making room for the smaller ones that are following. And by understanding the reproductive cycle, including the color changes in the male attracting the female, the fertilization process, the role of the female in protecting the eggs for 12 days in her mouth!!!... 12 whole days!!!... before the eggs are ready to hatch into itsy bitsy fish, the participating families learned how to maintain the growth cycle.

female telapia with tiny eggs in her mouth

Proud? Hot? Excited? Tired? Happy? Yes. The women showing off their systems asked tough questions and problem-solved with the agrarian engineer, chatting over lunch, sharing fish stories and information, heads held high.

lunch and story sharing

And I? I learned to sex fish right along with them.

- Sarah Junkin Woodard

Please join us and also share on your social media.

Donate here to the ongoing work of the CDCA with the poor in Nicaragua:

https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/jhc-cdca

Monday, May 16, 2022

Learning Opportunities This Week! Women in Nicaragua & Ben Linder's Legacy

COURSE LAUNCH THIS SATURDAY, MAY 21!

Women in Nicaragua: Power and Protagonism

Our Casa Ben Linder educational project has partnered with Alliance for Global Justice to sponsor a hybrid delegation: a virtual course with an optional in-person visit to the country. If you're interested in learning about Women in Nicaragua and connecting with folks across borders, this is a wonderful opportunity!

This study delegation includes the options of participation in a virtual course only, or combining the virtual course with an in-person visit to Nicaragua. The course will hold six sessions, with the optional in-person delegation in the middle. The delegation dates are August 6-15, 2022, and the virtual classes will be held on six Saturdays between May 21 and October 8.

Register here for the course launch this Saturday, May 21!

The first class will begin with an overview of the Nicaraguan government’s plan to give women more rights, with Yolanda Areas Blas of the Women’s Secretariat of the ATC—Rural Women’s Movement as keynote speaker. Becca will be speaking after Yolanda on the current state of women's issues in Nicaragua. Participants will be encouraged to ask questions and classmates to get to know each other, building bridges towards future collaboration.

For more information and an application for for the August 6-15 delegation please write casabenjaminlinder@gmail.com. Delegation activities will include:

Meetings with women Parliamentarians
The Ministry of Women
Ministry of the Family, Community, and Cooperative Economy
Visit to a hospital, a maternity home, and speak to health workers
Meet with trade union members,
Visit a women’s police station, and talk to women police officers.
Visits to women’s communities learning about their cooperatives and efforts to end violence against women.

The virtual course is free of charge, but those who can afford it are encouraged to contribute to our scholarship fund to help low-income women attend the August delegation. Find more information and register for the virtual classes here (please note the DONATE button). Once you register, you will have access to the course reading materials.

For more information and to apply to the in-person August 6-15 delegation, click here.

Light & Legacy:

Ben Linder's Work Continues

Sunday, May 22, 2022

12 noon Pacific / 1 PM Nicaragua / 3 PM Eastern /

8 PM Greenwich UK

Clowning & puppets, geothermal energy & vaccination campaigns, community-run hydro electricity & 99% electrical coverage...we just finished the amazing Light & Legacy Brigade commemorating the 35th Anniversary of the assassination of Ben Linder, Pablo Rosales & Sergio Hernandez. Join our delegates this Sunday as they talk about what they saw, what they learned and how Ben Linder's legacy is being carried out in Nicaragua:

LANZAMIENTO DEL CURSO ESTE SÁBADO 21 DE MAYO

Mujeres en Nicaragua: Poder y Protagonismo

Nuestro proyecto educativo Casa Benjamin Linder se ha asociado con Alianza para la Justicia Global para patrocinar una delegación híbrida: un curso virtual con una visita opcional en persona al país. Si estás interesad@ en aprender sobre las mujeres en Nicaragua y conectarte con gente más allá de las fronteras, ¡esta es una maravillosa oportunidad!

Esta delegación incluye las opciones de participar en un curso virtual solamente, o combinar el curso virtual con una visita en persona a Nicaragua. El curso tendrá seis sesiones, con la delegación opcional en persona en el medio. Las fechas de la delegación son del 6 al 15 de agosto de 2022, y las clases virtuales se impartirán en seis sábados entre el 21 de mayo y el 8 de octubre.

¡Inscríbete aquí para el lanzamiento del curso este sábado 21 de mayo!

La primera clase comenzará con una visión general del plan del gobierno nicaragüense para restaurar los derechos a las mujeres, con Yolanda Áreas Blas, de la Secretaría de la Mujer de la ATC-Movimiento de Mujeres Rurales, como oradora principal. Becca hablará después de Yolanda sobre el estado actual de los asuntos de la mujer en Nicaragua. Se animará a las participantes a hacer preguntas y conocerse, construyendo puentes hacia una futura colaboración.

Para más información y una solicitud para la delegación del 6 al 15 de agosto, escribe a casabenjaminlinder@gmail.com. Las actividades de la delegación incluirán

Reuniones con mujeres parlamentarias
El Ministerio de la Mujer
Ministerio de Familia, Comunidad y Economía Cooperativa
Visita a un hospital, a una maternidad y hablar con trabajadores de la salud
Reunirse con miembros de los sindicatos,
Visita a una comisaría de policía de mujeres, y hablar con mujeres policías
Visita a comunidades de mujeres para conocer sus cooperativas y sus esfuerzos por acabar con la violencia contra las mujeres.

El curso virtual es gratuito, pero se anima a quienes puedan pagarlo a que contribuyan a nuestro fondo de becas para ayudar a mujeres de bajos ingresos a asistir a la delegación de agosto. Encuentre más información y regístrese en las clases virtuales aquí (tenga en cuenta el botón DONATE). Una vez que se inscriba, tendrá acceso a los materiales de lectura del curso.

Para más información y para solicitar la participación en la delegación presencial del 6 al 15 de agosto, haga clic aquí.

Luz y Legado:

La obra de Benjamin Linder Continúa

Domingo, 22 de mayo de 2022

12 mediodia Pacifico / 1 PM Nicaragua / 3 PM Este /

8 PM Greenwich UK

Payasos y marionetas, energía geotérmica y jornadas de vacunación, electricidad hidroeléctrica gestionada por la comunidad y cobertura eléctrica del 99%... acabamos de concluir la increíble Brigada de Luz y Legado para conmemorar el 35º aniversario del asesinato de Benjamin Linder, Pablo Rosales y Sergio Hernandez. Únase a nuestros delegados este domingo mientras hablan de lo que vieron, lo que aprendieron y cómo el legado de Ben Linder se está llevando a cabo en Nicaragua:

Regístrese aquí: https://afgj.org/nicaragua-webinar-announcement-light-legacy-ben-linders-work-continues

NOTE: If you are reading this blog using the mobile version, click on "web version" to see the full blog with all the features including "subscribe to blog by email".