Powering Health Care with Solar Energy

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Donate for Giving Tuesday here: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/jhc-cdca

Today is Black Friday in the States when so much stuff is put on sale to entice people to come in and spend for the beginning of the Giving Season.  People have died in the crowds trying to get to that one particular thing or just getting in the store.  It’s nuts.

On Tuesday, social media outlets have an event call Giving Tuesday.  Some will match gifts and some will not, but it is their attempt at encouraging people to give to non-profits.  This year it falls on what would have been Mama’s 92^nd birthday, the 30^th of November.

When Mama died last summer, our family decided to offer people a chance to make a donation in her memory, to put solar panels on the Nueva Vida Health Clinic.  She would pray nightly and ask frequently if we had received enough to put the solar power system in yet.  “Not yet” I’d say.  “I’ll keep praying,” she would answer. (More on our Giving Tuesday goal here: https://www.jhc-cdca.org/giving-tuesday )

Mama was here when we had two hurricanes within two weeks of each other last year as the rains were slowing down. She was here with hot, hot temperatures.  She understood climate change.

According to the German Watch global climate risk index, Nicaragua is the fourth country in the world most affected by climate change. 

As a result, the government is actively trying to address the problem.  More than 80% of the energy Nicaragua generates is renewable: hydro, solar, geothermal and wind.  If the government had enough money to invest, they could provide all of Central America with geothermal energy with seven active volcanoes.

We want to do our part for renewables as well as cut expenses in running the health clinic.  We use a great deal of energy at the clinic:

•         Air-conditioning nine rooms (two dental rooms, lab, office with computers, clean room, intake room, pharmacy, ultrasound room, and the big room that stores medicines)
•         Refrigerating reagents, running the machines and microscope in the lab
•         Running dental machinery, x-ray, lights, etc. in our dental rooms
•         Running the ultrasound machine
•         Sterilizing all the equipment with autoclaves and water distiller
•         Refrigerators for medicines
•         Lights
•         Fans
•         Otoscopes
•         Computers
•         Microwave
• ·       And last but not least, a water pump

We need $6,200 to finish this project because costs have gone up.  This is our goal for Giving Tuesday.

I think Mama will rest easier knowing that we have enough money to put “those solar panels on the clinic,” I know I will at least. 

– Kathleen

[English above] 

Para donar a Giving Tuesday, haga click aquí: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/jhc-cdca  

Hoy es Viernes Negro en los Estados Unidos, el día cuando se ponen a la venta tantas cosas para atraer a la gente a que venga y gaste para el comienzo de las fiestas de diciembre. Hay personas que han muerto en la multitud de gente por tratar de conseguir cosas en particular o simplemente por entrar en la tienda. Es una locura.

El martes, las redes sociales tienen un evento llamado Giving Tuesday, Martes de Donaciones. Algunas empresas donan por igual lo que donan sus seguidores y otros no, pero es su intento de alentar a las personas a donar a organizaciones sin fines de lucro. Este año cae en lo que habría sido el 92 cumpleaños de mi mamá, el 30 de noviembre.

Cuando mamá falleció hace unos meses, nuestra familia decidió ofrecer la oportunidad de hacer una donación en su memoria para colocar paneles solares en la Clínica Nueva Vida. Ella rezaba todas las noches y preguntaba con frecuencia si ya teníamos suficiente para instalar el sistema de energía solar. "Todavía no," le decía yo. "Seguiré rezando," contestaba ella.

Mamá estaba aquí cuando pasamos dos huracanes con dos semanas de diferencia el año pasado, cuando las lluvias disminuían. Ella estaba aquí con temperaturas cálidas y calientes. Ella entendió el cambio climático.

Según el índice de riesgo climático global de German Watch, Nicaragua es el cuarto país del mundo más afectado por el cambio climático.

Como resultado, el gobierno está activamente abordando el problema. Actualmente, más del 80% de la energía que genera Nicaragua es renovable: hidroeléctrica, solar, geotérmica y eólica. Si el gobierno tuviera suficiente dinero para invertir, podría proporcionar energía geotérmica a toda Centroamérica con los siete volcanes activos.

Queremos hacer nuestra parte por las energías renovables, así como reducir los gastos en el funcionamiento de la clínica de salud. Usamos mucha energía en la clínica:

•         Aire acondicionado en nueve salas (dos salas de odontología, laboratorio, oficina con computadoras, cirugía, clasificación, farmacia, sala de ultrasonido y la bodega de medicamentos)
•         Refrigeración de reactivos, funcionamiento de las máquinas y microscopio en el laboratorio.
•         Manejo de maquinaria dental, rayos X, luces, etc. en nuestras salas dentales
•         Operación de la máquina de ultrasonido
•         Esterilización de con autoclaves y destilador de agua
•         Refrigeradores para medicamentos
•         Luces
•         Abanicos
•         Otoscopios
•        Computadoras
•         Microonda         
•      Ypor último, pero no menos importante, una bomba de agua.

Necesitamos $6.200 dólares para terminar este proyecto porque los costos han aumentado. Este es nuestro objetivo para Giving Tuesday: https://www.jhc-cdca.org/giving-tuesday 

Creo que mamá descansará más tranquila sabiendo que tenemos suficiente dinero para poner “esos paneles solares en la clínica,” sé que al menos yo voy a estar más tranquila. 

- Kathleen

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".  

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 

Future Fridays: Are Nations Not Responsible For Their Actions?

If your neighbor had a tree twith a branch that hung over into your yard and over your house, and though you had asked for them to trim the branch, they had not. And if that branch cracked and fell on your roof caving in part of it, should your neighbor have to pay for the damages?

If your neighbor, avoiding garbage pick-up fees, burns their trash and during a dry spell a spark flies over to your house and catches it on fire, should your neighbor have to pay for the damage to your home?

If your neighbor keeps having huge barbecues with billowing smoke even though you have asked and asked that they be mindful of your child with asthma. And then if your child has an asthma attack breathing in said smoke, should your neighbor be responsible for the hospital bill?

Negligence and plain selfishness are easy to see on an individual level and holding people responsible on an individual level is usually a cut-and-dried solution.

But what about nations?

When nations do not limit green house gases, then are they responsible to pay for the damages of climate change to nations suffering from the changes in climate (like hurricanes, droughts, flooding, or fires) but who are not polluting nearly to the degree that wealthier nations are? 

2020 hrricane damage Caribbean coast communities, Nicaragua

Last month Nicaragua lived through two category 4 hurricanes within two weeks. TWO within TWO WEEKS!

The Nicaraguan government is committed to reducing green house gases even though Nicaraguans per capita have a low carbon footprint. The president of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, Dante Mossi said that as of October 2020, the Nicaraguan National Program for Sustainable Electrification and Renewable Energy (PNESER) has achieved for Nicaragua a 98.33% in electricity coverage throughout the nation and 74.39% of the electricity was generated from renewable sources. Mossi went on to say…

  “Nicaragua will be the second country in Latin America to achieve 100% national coverage, which is a historic accomplishment that demonstrates the commitment of the Government to guarantee this basic right for the population…we must acknowledge and congratulate Nicaragua for obtaining approval of US $ 115 million-dollar funding from the United Nations Green Climate Fund to manage the effects of climate change. Approval of funds at this scale by the Green Climate Fund is unprecedented for the region and a clear recognition of Nicaragua's work on environmental protection, as well as
adaptation and mitigation of the effects of climate change. We have a lot to learn from the Nicaragua experience.” 

So, with Nicaragua working to do its part, should not neighbors who are having so much impact on climate change help pay for the damages created by climate change? 

And this is the rub…an individual may be held responsible, but a nation?

Why not?

Climate justice calls for action, and being held responsible when negligence and selfishness happens is a good way to ensure the action.  Being held responsible calls for atonement and funds to repair damage or reparations.  Only when climate change hits us in the pocket.. that seems to be the only effect that moves many.

-Kathleen

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".  

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 

Future Fridays: Two Hurricanes in Two Weeks

Rescue workers search for survivors in mudslide in Peñas Blancas where 9 were killed.
Photo: Radio la Primerisima 

Nicaragua has been battered by two hurricanes in two weeks. On November 3rd, Hurricane Eta hit as a Category 4, then on November 16^th Hurricane Iota, the strongest storm ever to hit Nicaragua, made landfall as a Category 5 just a few miles from where Eta had made landfall. While Eta was a strong storm with lots of wind and rain, it moved westward across the country more slowly, dropping its rain over several days before heading northward through Honduras and Guatemala, then east to Cuba and Florida. In Nicaragua, two miners were killed in a landslide just before Eta hit, but there were more than 20 deaths in Honduras and more than 150 in Guatemala.

Hurricane Iota came much faster, sustaining 160 mph winds well into Nicaraguan territory and dropping 12 inches of rain over 24 hours in some areas. It quickly headed northwest over Honduras and El Salvador before continuing out over the Pacific Ocean. Although it lasted a shorter time, Iota caused much more damage and caused it all over the country – its winds were stronger, and more rain fell in a shorter time, but also rivers that had not yet gone back down in level flooded quickly, already saturated ground caused many deadly landslides and caused trees to fall in every community in the country. Our own Center and Clinic had several trees fall – just behind our office a large tree fell and damaged a big portion of our security fence.

Lucas analyzing downed tree - just missed the office building!

This tiny country has been dealt a catastrophic blow with these hurricanes: Iota caused 18 deaths, many of them babies and children. Eta damaged 10,000 homes, and we don’t yet have the count of homes damaged from Iota. Eighty-one health centers have been damaged, three bridges have been completely destroyed and there are hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to infrastructure. Devastatingly, not only cash crops but also food crops have been lost around the country, threatening Nicaragua’s hard-won food security.

Authorities evacuated 71,000 people in anticipation of Hurricane Iota.         Photo: JP+

There is good news, too: the Nicaraguan government has responded swiftly to these storms to save lives. Throughout the country 103,200 first-responders were mobilized and worked well before the hurricanes even made landfall to evacuate people in vulnerable areas. In total, 160,000 people were evacuated to 3,700 emergency shelters where they were fed and given medical care. As many of these people begin to return home, there is a huge ongoing need for food, clothing, hygiene supplies, and household supplies. Although the will of the government is to help victims as quickly as they can – they had already sent roofing materials for 14,000 homes to affected areas before Iota hit – the rebuilding task ahead of the county is monumental, and the government’s small budget won’t stretch to accommodate all the urgent needs.

A call for climate justice: on November 15^th as the region was preparing for Hurricane Iota, the Central American Presidents met virtually, demanding that developed countries not only drastically reduce their emissions but also pay reparations to countries who are suffering the consequences of the climate crisis for which they are the least responsible. Nicaragua’s carbon emissions are just 0.02% of the world total, yet this small country is bearing the brunt of the climate crisis right now. It is clear that these storms are a result of climate change – warming oceans create conditions for more storms forming, Iota was the record-breaking 30^th such storm this year, and there are two more possible storms forming right now. For more than a decade Nicaragua – which now produces 74% of its electricity renewably – has been advocating for climate justice, emphasizing that climate financing must take into account not only funding  for mitigation and adaptation but also reparations.

How are folks we work with faring? All our staff and their families are fine. Nueva Vida Clinic operations have continued as usual.  Trees down and roof leaks are the norm. Paul and Becca had to hike into their home because of trees down on the only entrance "road".  All of your emails and messages of concern are greatly appreciated.  Please share this update with others, as we may not manage to reply to everyone individually.

Organic farming families with COPROEXNIC are fine; so far their sesame in the fields is fine. Rogelio reports that some of the co-op’s 140 acres of sesame near our Center is leaning over, but not bent or broken – phew! It should recover just fine.  Peanut farmers are still worried about their crop molding, because too much rain can be very bad for peanuts.

The El Porvenir coffee cooperative reports that everyone is okay. Many of the 56 families’ houses lost their roofs with Iota, but they are able to repair with materials they have. The roof came off the coffee processing building, which will have to be repaired quickly before the machinery is damaged. All of their bean crop for food has been lost, as has their small organic sesame cash crop. Their organic coffee, nearly ready for harvest, has been partially damaged but so far the harvest is still looking okay. For those with fond memories of it, Inés also reports that the latrine that our groups always use when we visit the co-op was blown over.

What are we doing? In the immediate term, we are sending donated clothing to folks in emergency shelters – Monday we are tying sacks of it onto the roof of a bus going to the Caribbean coast - 18 hours overland to Bilwi, crossing the River Wawa in dugout canoes. Our local Rotary Club is raising funds for farmers to re-plant beans in areas where it's possible to still harvest a 90 day crop. We are working with other folks to see not only what is most urgently needed, but what support will be needed in the coming months and years, and will channel hurricane relief donations into those areas.

Please keep Nicaragua in your hearts. If you can help, send your donations here, designating as you wish: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/jhc-cdca

- Becca

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".  

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