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Nicaragua
Report - Daniel Foxvog
Nicaragua trip pictures
I recently had the wonderful experience of
traveling
to Nicaragua to learn from and serve the people there. In March
2004 I went on a Compas de Nicaragua delegation to Managua that was arranged by
the New Hampshire American Service
Committee . I had
been invited by my cousin Liana, who had helped to organize the
trip. The delegation was from Sunday the 14th to Monday the
22nd. It has been overwhelming for me to process everything I
learned and saw in the few days I was there. I met so many
wonderful people, attended fascinating meetings on local issues, and
saw for myself many of the hardships and hopes that Nicas are
facing. The trip really broadened my awareness and has deepened
my interest in Latin America and service
work. The work went well; we accomplished a lot, though we spent
less
time on the project than I expected.
Compas is a US/Nicaragua
solidarity organization which was formed in 1990. They have supported
several community projects in the impoverished neighborhood of La
Primavera, organized several brigades each year from New Hampshire, and
worked with Mujers en Acción
(Women in Action -- WIA) ever since they formed in 2000. WIA is a
group of around 25 women living in the poorest settlement in La
Primavera,
who have organized to form health, education, and economic development
programs. They have several nutrition programs -- raising
chickens, growing vegetable gardens and using soy to supplement the
local diet. Some of the women have learned how to make
traditional gourd art and have started a cooperative. Compas and
WIA created the Madrina
sponsorship program several years ago. Through the program, 85
local children are sponsored by people in North
America and Europe, and 10 of the women have been sponsored so they can
return to school or get job training.
I arrived in Managua on Sunday afternoon on the
14th. There were twelve of us on the delegation, most of us spoke
some Spanish, but only three were fluent. The
delegation consisted of Amanda Hardy, Gandy Terrero, Natalia
Plotnikova, Rachelle Butler, Randy Kezar, Mike Franklin, Rebecca
Blaine, Becca Harned, Judy Elliott, Arnie Alpert, Liana Foxvog, and
myself.
It was a
wonderful and fairly diverse group, many of them were college
students or recently graduated but there were several in their 50’s and
60’s; Natalia was from Ukraine and Gandy was from the Dominican
Republic.
Michael Boudreau, Compas’s Field Supervisor and his wife Ana Narvaez
acted
as guides, hosts, organizers, and translators.
Liana and I stayed with Ana’s sister, Tina, her
husband Orlando and their children Nadeska, 8 and Junior, 1 1/2.
They were
a great family and I had fun trying to converse with them.
Orlando
had worked at a refrigerator factory until it went out of business a
couple
years ago, and the only income the family has comes from occasional odd
jobs,
hosting delegation members and Tina’s cooking. Their house is
fairly
small (~25ft/side), with cinderblock walls, a tin roof, and a dirt
floor. They have two bedrooms with curtains for doors, a kitchen
with a camp stove and refrigerator, a living room with a TV and
telephone. They share a tiny backyard and a bathroom with
Orlando’s mother, Doña Melba
who lives in another house on the same property.
Most of the houses where we lived had locks and
walls around the house with broken glass or barbed wire on the
top. Dogs
and chickens were everywhere. We saw many of the residents
sitting
along the street, listening to music and chatting. Unemployment
is
about 60 percent in La Primavera. Unlike where we lived, the
settlement
where we worked had dirt roads, trash everywhere, metal sheet houses
and
livestock wandering around.
Our work project was taking down the WIA’s old
building so they could utilize its materials, and starting work on the
new one. The old property was rented from a squatter in the
settlement, and the building was not very permanent, it was a small tin
shack (20 ft/side) and a larger open shelter with benches in it and
large concrete blocks embedded along
the outside to keep water from flowing in. It had a sink that
usually
worked and like most homes in the settlement, it had electricity
through
an unauthorized connection. The WIA recently bought an larger but
incomplete building, only four concrete walls with openings for doors
and windows after
receiving a large donation. We spent two afternoons working with
the
WIA, their husbands and children; lifting out the benches and concrete
blocks,
taking apart the tin roof, taking apart the boards that made the
framework,
pulling out the posts that supported the roof, painting dozens of
boards
for the new building, and doing childcare. I spent my time on
razing
project since I loathe paint fumes, and I wanted to do more than
childcare. We dismantled all of the building, except for the
shed, which belongs to
the landlord. The new building will have three rooms; a
children’s
center for before and after school programs, an activity center for
their
programs and workshops, and a community cooperative store that will
supply
essentials goods a low prices. As a final note on the project,
the
donations to WIA that came from our delegation’s trip fees were enough
to
buy all the materials needed to complete the new building!
We spent most of our mornings going to meetings and
tours. Monday started with a tour and history of Managua, then we
met with some protesting banana workers who are suffering from the now
banned pesticide, Nemagon. Over 20,000 Nicaraguans have suffered
cancer, respiratory problems, neurological disorders, sterility, birth
defects, liver damage
and physical deformities from exposure to Nemagon, and around 850
Nicaraguans have died from it. There were over 6,000 workers and
families who
had been exposed to Nemagon in the 70’s and 80’s, camped in a city
park,
demanding that President Bolaños meet with and support
them.
These workers had sued Dow Chemical and Shell Oil, who produced Nemagon
and Dole Food for medical damages and a Nicaraguan court ruled that the
companies had to pay $490 million. However, the three
corporations
have counter sued the farmers for $17 billion, claiming fraud on the
part
of the suffering farmers. We talked with a spokesman, and some of
the people showed us the damage it had inflected on their faces, hands,
and feet. I was horrified by what I saw but I took a few photos
at
their request.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, we had several meetings on
water privatization, Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), and
the general situation in Nicaragua. We heard about the political
situation, the economic situation and the poverty. We heard about
how small farmers are affected by CAFTA and water privatization.
It was fascinating,
although long and complex.
On Wednesday we had several meetings about
sweatshops. We spoke with union leaders about the general
situation, spoke with local sweatshop workers about their experiences,
and we visited a sweatshop ourselves. We visited the Mil Colores
maquila, where 950 people make 8,000 jeans and shorts per day.
Mil Colores is in a Free Trade Zone (FTZ), so they
export their products to North America tariff-free. The local
union had
forced the management several years ago to allow outsiders to visit the
factory, however we were only allowed 15 minutes inside the production
area, and
no cameras were permitted. The conditions weren’t as harsh as I
expected, but the decibel level was 85 and someplaces the air was thick
with particles. Some of the workers had aprons, masks, and
earplugs, which were apparently sold to them. Officially, the
employees work 9.5 hours/day and 5 days/week, but they’re often “asked”
to work longer days or weekends. The workers’ salaries are by
production. Mil Colores has a minimum wage of 1175
cordobas ($75)/month, however 30% earn less than that, according to the
union
leaders. They have high quotas, and workers who don’t make the
daily
personal quota are yelled at, denied their salary, or fired. The
workers
have only one hour off total for lunch and breaks, there are not enough
bathrooms,
and there are no lockers for the employees. I hope the union will
be able to force more improvements in the coming years.
Thursday morning we toured the CIPRES experimental farm.
CIPRES
has several agricultural initiatives to provide farmers with
livestock
and encourage sustainable farming. The farm was less than 2 acres
but
it was fascinating. They had various livestock, fish ponds,
iguanas,
bananas, papayas, cashews, and squash. They had an efficient
system
to collect the biogas from the animal waste so they could use the
methane
for fuel, and also an earthworm project to process the manure to
compost.
Later that day we visited the local health
clinic. They serve 200 patients per day and have 20 doctors, 40
nurses, several
social workers and a psychiatrist. Their work includes health
education,
consultations, public testing, vaccinations, diagnosing patients, some
treatment,
but no surgery. This is a public clinic, so the care is
free.
They have many cases of dengue, STDs, dog bites, diarrhea, parasites,
and
conjunctivitis. They have some cases of TB, malaria, AIDS, and
drug
abuse. The clinic has plenty of medicine, but they are
understaffed
and could use more equipment.
Friday morning we visited the nearby elementary
school. The school was divided into several buildings, each with
beautiful murals. They have 1600 students, half attend from 7 am
to 12 pm, half from 1 pm to 5 pm. They have 33 teachers, making a
student/teacher ratio of 45:1. The school is under funded, so the
parents must pay for the student’s uniform, books, school
trips, and tests; around $20/month and many parents cannot afford the
cost. The teachers are paid between $60/month and
$100/month. While we were speaking with the principal, a teacher
came into her office and gave her
a letter declaring that the teachers were going on strike that morning
because the government had not raised their salaries as it promised.
Later on Friday we went to the
Center for Development in Central America (CDCA) and visited a
worker-owned sewing cooperative there. The CDCA
works with organic and sustainable agriculture, supports several worker
owned
cooperatives, runs several low-cost health clinics, runs a free
pharmacy,
and gives training and grants to small businesses. 35 people,
mostly
women are worker-owners of the sewing cooperative, there are also some
non-owner workers. They make 500 shirts, camisoles, and shorts
each day.
They earn an average of $3.50/day plus profits, 40% more than the
average
FTZ worker. They work 40 hours/week and have 1 hour lunch
break.
Most importantly, they make their own decisions, set their own wages
and
hours, and there is no hierarchy. Quite a contrast to the maquilas.
This year they hope to become the world’s first worker-owned FTZ.
We also had our share of recreation and
fellowship. We visited the active Masaya Volcano outside of
Managua, it was beautiful. We spent lots of time sharing and
interacting with our families, the WIA, and their children. They
showed us several of their folk dances, which were very colorful and
lively. We went with some of our host
families to hear the famous revolutionary folksinger Carlos Mejia Godoy
perform
at a café. On Sunday, our group spent the afternoon at
Lake
Nicaragua with our host families, the WIA, and all their niños.
I want to thank everyone who helped make the trip
possible by donating financiallly, helping me prepare for the trip, and
praying for me. I am grateful to the people at The Closet who
donated an enormous suitcase of shoes, bath goods and other supplies
for the people of La Primavera; they will be much appreciated. I
am very grateful to everyone here
at Plow Creek for all their help. Last of all, muchas gracias to Mike
and Ana for their wonderful leadership, Liana for inviting me, the
other
brigade members for everything we shared together, Orlando and Tina for
their hospitality, y todos la gente
asombroso de La Primavera.
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