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Service Learning in Nicaragua
January 23rd, 2008
January 17, 2008
Waving goodbye to El Tisey and backtracking toward Esteli, our group arrived at our final destination: El Limón.
Our plan was to stay in El Limón for six days and help build a road that would sustain the heavy downpours during the rainy season. The first person of El Limón that we were introduced to was Ismael, the community leader. We congregated into their community center and began to learn all about this new place. El Limón is a small community made up of only 150 people located six kilometers from Esteli. Of those 150, fifty-one are composed of students. The people of this quaint community firmly believe in supporting an educated society and have made sure that everyone under twenty years old is studying. The community of El Limón has even done campaigns to support education as well as raise funds for school supplies. This past year, they were actually able to provide backpacks and school supplies for all the students for free.
Although education is very important among these people, it is not the easiest thing to maintain. Most of the people stay within the community and work on their own farms. They only make about 30-50 cordobas each day, which is about $2-3 US per day. Also, most of the students have to walk back and forth a minimum of three miles each way to Esteli everyday in order to attend schools and universities. The people have tried to push for a 1st-6th grade school that would actually be located in El Limón; however, there are so few students in each grade that it would not be worth while to build. To attend a university, the cost is about $20-$50 US a month. However, that does not include transportation, food or books. In addition, most people have more than one child that is school age, which can become extremely costly and yet education is still tremendously important to these people.
Once we finished conversing with Ismael, our homestay families arrived to meet us. We each had been paired up within the group and then introduced ourselves. We then collected our things and went our separate ways for the first time during the entire trip. Due to our language barriers, speaking with our families was not the easiest thing, and was actually rather awkward and confusing. Some of the students speak Spanish better than others, so that was helpful. Jo Anna and I stayed with a family that did not actually own the house, but were the caretakers. The land was owned by a very rich family that lived in Esteli for part of the week, which meant our house was slightly fancier than most. Our kitchen was still a dirt floor and there was no electricity anywhere; but we did have the only flush toilet in all of El Limón as well as lake access, and tons of animals on the property like horses, cows, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and many more.
The rest of the day we relaxed a little bit by going to the river. Most of us had not showered in about 3 days, so bucket showers also took place. We then spent the rest of the night with our families. Because the sun went down around 6:30, by 8:00 most people were ready for bed. The next day we would wake around 6 to start our first day on the road.
-Katie Plemons
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January 23rd, 2008
Postcard 1 of 8 in this set.
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January 22nd, 2008
Monday, January 14
We awoke today in the beautiful Esteli, the hometown of Chico, the Nicaraguan engineering student that is accompanying us throughout our trip. Esteli is a clean and progressive city and is one of the largest cities in the country. Like most of the people we have met on our trip, the people of Estelli have been very hospitable and gracious hosts.
We accomplished and most importantly learned many things today; we visited the public library (where Chico works), saw breath-taking origami, toured a youth-managed radio station and even had time to do a little shopping. The public library was extremely fascinating; it was inspiring to see how much the people that worked there desired change and growth in the young people of their community. There is an entire floor devoted to renewable energy and environmental protection.
After we visited the library we went to Aldo’s house, he is one of the most talented artists I have ever seen. Aldo is considered an origami wizard, he does things with paper I have never thought possible. Even though origami is not a traditional Nicaraguan art Aldo continues to enjoy and produce amazing things with his paper. He does not sell any of his artwork simply because he doesn’t do it for the money, what he makes comes from the soul.
Perhaps the most moving and exciting thing we did today was tour and talk to the people of radio Cumiche, a youth-run radio station. This is a radio station run for the youth by the youth, “fyby” if you will. The people here mainly discussed important youth issues like sexual awareness, non-violence, and gender equality. They addressed the things that schools and even parents were scared to talk about. Skits were performed live on the air to increase awareness of these issues.
It was amazing to me that a group of teenagers are able to organize and manage a radio station and have the courage to talk about the things that rarely get addressed. Throughout our travels in Nicaragua it has been apparent that the people here are very ambitious and eager to better themselves and their communities, Esteli is no exception. Whether it is the men at the library who reach out and strengthen their neighborhood, Chico working to pay for his education, Aldo the origami wizard making an art that is underappreciated in this country, or the teenagers at the radio station promoting safe sex and other difficult issues to talk about, the people of Esteli desire and demand improvement. I have seen a quote on a billboard that is an appropriate end to this blog, “You can’t just want change, you have to work for it” to me that has been the theme of the day.
- Matt Loftis
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January 22nd, 2008
January 9, 2008
Hola,
The last full day in Managua was exceptionally busy. We listened to talks from three different speakers concerning the economic situation of Nicaragua. In addition, those of us who did not visit La Churecha (the city dump) the previous day had a chance to do so. Annie did such a good job blogging about the dump though I will not add words, only pictures.
The economic situation on Nicaragua, as you must be aware by now, is desperate. The country is the second poorest in the Western Hemisphere and poverty is rampant. Gladys Manzanares, a co-op, and Philip Montalban are all trying to change this for the better in their own unique ways. Philip Montalban tries to change the system with his music, which I highly recommend. The co-op operates making t-shirts in a free trade and fair trade model. It is the only such model in the world and provides workers a living wage while still producing cheap shirts. The most interesting talk for me personally though was that of Gladys Manzanares.
Gladys is a union organizer and a grandmother who shares her small house with five of her children and their families. She talked before us with her grandson Oliver on her knee. Gladys believes that worker organized unions are an important step on the path to fair wages and safe working conditions. According to her only one company in the entire city currently complies with all of the hygiene and safety policies, which leaves much of Managua’s work force at considerable risk.
How can companies get away with this? The answer is simple; there are so many unemployed and so many people desperate to work that the companies can do whatever they want. If an employee demands better treatment they are easily replaced. Sometimes an employee is simply sick and returns the next day to find their job gone. In theory a union would make these abuses impossible. Together the workers could demand better conditions, conditions we take for granted in the United States, such as a lunch breaks. The companies would be unable to refuse these requests for fear of losing the entire union.
I have to be honest I was skeptical at first; how strong could these unions be? Gladys, however, was adamant that these unions are indeed strong enough to change the working conditions. In fact one of the nine she has recently helped form successfully demanded, and received, better treatment at their company. These successes, however, have come at a great personal cost. Gladys has been blacklisted by nearly every company in Managua, and as I stated before lives in a very small house with literally tens of people. Once a company even offered her 300,000 cordobas to drop her cause, but Gladys staunchly refused. It was amazing to listen to this woman who believed so deeply in the importance of an idea. If there are more people like her in Nicaragua, there is definitely hope for the country.
Ariel Lewis
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January 22nd, 2008
A morning at the galleries
January 15th 2008
The cultural center was our first stop this morning. As we walked up to the center, we saw a mural which had first been painted in the 1980s and then was repainted recently because it had been damaged by time. The building that the cultural center was in had once belonged to a rich family and was confiscated after the revolution in 1979 for community use. The downstairs portion was a gallery that displayed work of the young people from the community that are instructed in the center. It was a gorgeous display of work. There were some paintings with great usage of texture, others that had relief in it, and others with traditional brushwork and texture. The paintings were very advanced for a display of youth work. On display were beautiful depictions of people, ancient symbols, landscapes, and some non-representational abstractions, as well as representational abstract ideals on display. There was one painting of a person with his head thrown back, arms tied behind his back, and a plastic translucent bag which suffocated this tortured figure. It was incredibly well crafted and well thought out conceptually. When we went upstairs we saw some artists working and the teacher who teaches the painting classes as well as some other classes to the youth for a minimal fee paid by the month. These youth artworks were very inspirational to look at, I could only imagine what kind of heroic youths rose up to make these artworks which depict the struggles of their society instead of contributing to the societal issues. Well established ideas and well crafted images filled the center with hope and beauty.
After the cultural center we arrived at the gallery of heroes and martyrs, where photographs and personal items of Nicaraguan men and women killed during the revolution and during the war were on display. Information and paintings about them were on display as well. Esteli had been bombed three times in 1978 and every time they were bombed more people rose against the Somoza regime. The courage of the people who fought amazes me because they fought for their rights, their cause, and their lives. They fought for each other. They dropped everything to fight for their families, fellow Nicaraguans. This type of conviction and courageousness is something to be learned from, as many of us North Americans complain without action, or simply become apathetic because it is too difficult to try to effect change. The history of Esteli is heroism. This is present in their small paintings, attitudes, actions, murals, personas, and words.
In our discussion tonight, we discussed non-violence versus violence in the context of a revolution and out of that context as well. Lillian quoted JFK “When you make peaceful revolution impossible, you make violent revolution inevitable.” I think this quote sums up our discussion on the revolution in Nicaragua. Many of us agreed that non-violence is preferable, but in the context of having to defend your life and the lives of your fellow community members, counter-violence may be necessary for survival. The people of Esteli, as well as the people of the rest of the country, tried to work non-violently but they had little choice but to become violent to the National Guard under Somoza’s reign as well as the Contras in the post-revolutionary.
Jo Anna Zelano
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January 15th, 2008
Postcard 1 of 6 in this set.
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January 14th, 2008
Saturday, January 12
In the mountains of northern Nicaragua, up rocky and bumpy roads and just beyond the reach of electricity lies the community of Lagartillo. The people are so warm and inviting, and if for some odd reason one were to randomly pass through the little town of twenty houses, it would be impossible to know their terrifying yet fantastic history. On the morning of New Years Eve in 1984, U.S. backed Contras approached the hamlet in hopes of an unopposed ambush. The vast majority of the community was part of a cooperative, and when they realized they were being attacked, thirteen of them decided to defend the town from the 250+ Contras.
As women and children ran from the attack, the members of the cooperative dug in. Many women simply grabbed children and ran as bullets screamed by their heads. The opposition from the cooperative was so great that the contras thought they were up against a force far greater than thirteen, and they withdrew from the area. Out of the defenders, six were killed so their families and friends could live. Those who fled took a path through the mountains to Achuapa, a small town about 6 kilometers from Lagartillo. They fled with their arms full of children and in bare-feet.
Today we had the opportunity to learn about the story of Lagartillo. Several survivors gave us their stories, including several who fought and several who lost loved ones. For them to share this experience with us was very touching. On a couple of occasions, the speaker would be too choked-up to continue, so another picked up where they had left off. We were taken to a couple of spots where several cooperative members were killed. In one, they have a memorial dedicated to those who fought and died that day, as well as to two other people who played a large role in shaping Lagartillo into the town it was at that time.
After hearing these stories, we were led by two survivors on the path that so many took through the mountains when fleeing to Achuapa that day. For us, we could enjoy the beautiful scenery of Nicaragua. We could breathe the fresh air and walk as fast or slow as we wanted. As we walked, I thought about how those who were fleeing had no time to stop and see the scenery. They were worried about their lives and nothing else. We were worried about getting back before dark, or about not getting caught on the barb wire when were crossed fences. It was really humbling to think about what they achieved on the same path we were walking on.
I was very touched by what we learned today. I am grateful to those who spoke to us about the tragedy from 23 years ago, and I know it must have been extremely difficult for them to tell thirteen strangers such a personal story. I felt anger towards those who backed the meaningless killing of so many defenseless, innocent people. I felt sadness for those who lost loved ones. I know the martyrs of December 31, 1984 would be proud of the heroes of Lagartillo for the way they have carried on. I know that their story will be with me for as long as I go on.
Andy Lykens
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January 14th, 2008
Friday, Jan 11
Today was our first real day in Achuapa. It was hard to judge what this place would be like due to the fact that we arrived when it was dark out. We slept on rickety beds and were awoken very early by the resident cows and roosters. Personally, I actually enjoyed this, because I like rural farm settings more than I do the city. I awoke feeling gladdened that we were in a more natural setting and that I might be able to see some native wildlife. So far, I have seen a yellow-headed gecko and several new birds. As for the cultural aspect, this town is very interesting. So far, the people we have talked to, have been friendly and hospitable. Also, it is fun to see more horses than vehicles.
After eating breakfast, which was wonderful we proceeded to check out the town’s cooperative. This aspect was great to see. We toured the oil press facility that produces organic sesame seed oil and an acupuncture clinic. It was really amazing that the workers could produce up to 75 tons of oil a year using only one press. This infused a lot of respect in me for the people who make it. We learned a lot about the cooperative’s history and how they continue to operate.
Our group was fascinated by the acupuncture and homeopathic clinic. Everyone had a consultation where Flora checked each patient’s energy of specific organs to diagnose certain ailments. I had a clean bill of health, with the exception of having slight pancreas inflammation that was the result of eating too many eggs. Flora prescribed many homeopathic, plant based medicines.
It had already been a long day so after lunch we bathed in the river, which was extremely refreshing. The afternoon consisted of meeting the town mayor, and listening to a presentation about the cooperative and social aspects of the town. I was happy to learn about certain things that set Achuapa apart from other communities. The deputy mayor told us about the fair in town that we later attended. Everything from the food to the fair has been great, so I am looking forward to the next day and half in Achuapa.
Trey
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January 12th, 2008
Postcard 1 of 5 in this set.
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January 11th, 2008
Postcard 1 of 6 in this set.
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