Around Nicaragua in 19 days

by Jennifer Tee

On January 5, 2005 twelve students arrived in Nicaragua from Eckerd College, neighbor to ProNica, in St. Petersburg, Florida. As a ProNica volunteer based in Nicaragua, I had the good fortune to accompany the group on their journey along with Lillian Hall, the ProNica Program Coordinator for Nicaragua, and Brett Leghorn another volunteer. As I reflect on my last five months here, there are many highlights and experiences that I will carry with me when I leave. Working with the Eckerd group is definitely one of them.

Eckerd College is a private liberal arts school with a student population of about 1,500. The college offers several short-term study abroad programs during the winter semester and this was their first program traveling to Nicaragua. Accompanying the students was Olivier Debure, a member of the Eckerd College Faculty. “Oli” or “Debure” as he was referred to by his students, was up for anything and open to each experience Nicaragua had in store for him. Oli set the tone for the group through his example and the group followed suit. They jumped into the experience, feet first, ready to support and challenge one another to get the most out of their time here.

The group stayed in Managua for six days which was enough time for them to ease into their experience as most of them were traveling in Central America for the first time. In addition to visiting ProNica’s project partners, the group received talks on CAFTA, union organizing and sweatshop labor. They attended a concert and later a talk on revolution and music from one of Nicaragua most renowned musicians, Luis Enrique Mejia Godoy. as well as a historical and cultural talk about the Atlantic Coast from Reggae Musician, Philip Montalban. In addition, they visited the first worker owned free trade zone in the world, which is supported by the Jubilee House Community, and heard from some of the workers who have made it successful after several years of very hard work.

Acahualinca Library painting project group

The students also completed two painting projects in Managua at the Acahualinca library and the Martin Luther King School. The students worked side by side with staff and community members from each neighborhood and were able to see the results of their work in one day. The students who worked with the library project maximized the paint by squeezing the rollers as they rolled to get the most out of the paint that was available. As a result, Maria Elena, the coordinator of the library project, was thrilled to discover a full bucket of paint still remained at the end of the day. This meant that the pre-school building next door could also be painted before the start of school. Maria Elena was planning to surprise the pre-school students with a newly painted library and now all of the school buildings would be freshly painted and ready for a new year.

Aldo Velasquez with orchid

After five days in Managua, the students were excited and a little nervous to be heading into the countryside. The first stop after Managua was Esteli where the students spent a couple of days visiting projects and maximizing their internet time. Some of the projects they visited included two women’s paper making cooperatives, FUNARTE, a mural project for youth as well as the culture center and gallery of heroes and martyrs of the revolution. The highlight, however, was visiting a young origami artist by the name of AldoVelasquez, who is also one of the most respected orchid experts in Nicaragua. Aldo is completely self taught and is considered by many people to be a genius. He is also one of the most kind, gentle and humble people I have ever met. Unemployed, Aldo is one of many young, extremely bright Nicaraguan young people struggling to find opportunity in a country that suffers from 80% unemployment.

Origami

Aldo showed the students hundreds of different origami pieces he had created, most without diagrams or directions, simply his own vision. This included an ear of corn, one of the most important agricultural crops in Nicaragua and a symbol of Nicaraguan culture, which he completely conceived of and created on his own. He prepared a special ear of corn for the group and presented it to them along with an explanation of the importance of corn in Nicaraguan as a memory of their visit.

We spent our final night in Esteli celebrating Oli’s birthday with a cake the student’s had purchased for him. In true Oli style, he pulled out his machete, which he had purchased earlier that day for use in the countryside, to cut his birthday cake.

Oli with birthday cake and machete

He had the whole group laughing, including the staff of the hotel Nicarao, where we were staying. I think this did much to ease some of the worry the students had about leaving for the countryside. After sharing the cake with everyone working and staying in the hotel, we all returned to our rooms to prepare for out 5:30 a.m. departure the next day.

We arrived in Miraflor at about 8:00 the following morning to muddy roads and cool, misty air, a big departure from the hot dry climate of Managua and Esteli. We hiked about twenty minutes to the village of La Fortuna where we would be helping the community with a tourism project. The students would be helping with trail maintenance, plant identification, reforestation, cooking, marking new trails as well as carving and painting directional signs. In addition, the students would be staying with host families most of whom were opening up their homes for the first time.

After arriving in La Fortuna, sharing some refreshments and learning a little more about the community, the students enthusiastically departed for their home stays bearing sacks of food and supplies to share with their families. When we reconvened after lunch, several students talked about playing with the children in their homes, others about how kind their families were and others found that their families were quite shy. Each of them seemed to be doing their best to communicate and interact regardless of their level of Spanish.

The next two days were spent working and getting to know the community. This included playing Frisbee with the kids, attending a presentation by the community musical group and dancing the night away both nights with men, women and children from the community. We had a great time and after all was said and done we still managed to get to bed at 8:00 p.m. each night.

Don Ciriaco touring his land in Miraflor

One of the students commented that one of the highlights of the trip for her was “walking around with Don Ciriaco.” A man in his 70s, Ciriaco guided us around his land, which is also a nature reserve and slated to become part of a walking tour for the tourism project. His knowledge of the different plant species, the trees, and literally every leaf on the ground was unbelievable. The same student went on to say, “It is so beautiful here and it is hard to find a place like this that is still undeveloped.” It was a gift to be able to see the whole area as yet untouched and had a few of us wondering what it would be like after a few years of tourism.

Many of the students commented that they did not want to leave the community and except for missing some of their creature comforts really enjoyed their time in Miraflor. They made their rounds saying goodbye to their families and new friends, tossed the Frisbee a few more times and prepared to return to Esteli. Before leaving the students donated materials and toys to the teacher of the community school as well as the tools and materials they had purchased for the project.

The next and last major destination was Achuapa and a small community just outside called La Perla. While in Achuapa, the students toured the Tienda Campesina and the cooperative where the natural clinic is located and famous Sesame Oil is produced for the body shop. Juan Bravo, the manager of the cooperative, talked with the students about the successes and challenges the cooperative has faced and continues to face within the fair trade context. The students also had the unique opportunity to meet with about thirty local farmers who are current members of the cooperative.

At one point, Brigido Sosa, our coordinator and guide while in Achuapa, asked the farmers if they had any questions of the students. After a few general questions such as why the students chose to come to Nicaragua, one of the farmers asked what impact the student’s visit to Nicaragua would have on them (the farmers). After some thought one student suggested that it was important to return to the U.S. and educate their family and friends about the reality they had experienced. Another student suggested that they also needed to find ways to bring more people to Nicaragua to meet and talk with communities and organizations and to learn first hand about the economic realities Nicaraguans are facing. The question was very powerful since it came from a Nicaraguan farmer who is living the struggle and challenged the students to think about the importance of concrete actions that could come from their experiences here.

After a day touring around Achuapa the students prepared to move on to La Perla, a small community about 30 minutes by foot outside of Achuapa. The group stayed in La Perla for three days and helped to build a center where the community could gather for social occasions. Though the community members did most of the work the group pitched in to cut bamboo, lay the foundation for the walls, lay bricks (harder than it looks….) and frame the space with the cut bamboo. Oli and the students also donated $500 to this project as well as more educational materials and toys for the school.

The second night of the visit the community gathered in the new space, which was about half finished, for an inauguration of the center and to welcome and thank the group. The students presented the materials they had collected for the school and also thanked the community for welcoming them into their homes and giving them the opportunity to work on the project. After a wonderful dinner prepared by the community and several songs by Brigido and Lillian the dancing began. Brett managed to get one of the senior members of the community up to dance and the whole community was cheering them on. It was clear from the number of people present that this center would become an important gathering space and will be enjoyed by all just as it was that night.

The final two days were spent touring around Leon and relaxing by a volcanic lake located just outside of Managua in Masaya. The group had their final meeting the night before leaving to determine how they would share their experience with the Eckerd community as well family and friends back home. They decided to publish a newsletter, excerpts of which, we hope will appear in the ProNica newsletter in the near future.

Before coming to Nicaragua the students participated in a fund raising effort that yielded over $2,000. Some of those funds were donated to the different projects they worked on while here. The remaining amount was divided between the Quinchos, the library in Achuapa, the library in Achualinca and ProNica.

I have heard from several of the students since they arrived home as well as from Oli. They all express the changes they see in themselves and in each other as a result of the time they spent here in Nicaragua. Some have said the experience has left them with many questions about the United States and their own personal roles and responsibilities in global issues. Still others are hoping to come back, learn the language and deliver on some of the actions they suggested to the farmers in Achuapa. Whatever path they choose, I am hopeful that Nicaragua has gained twelve more allies in it´s struggle for economic justice.

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