The Nicaragua Sister Partnership

A special visit strengthens the Partnership

2011-05-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

It took months of planning, fundraising, and frantic Skype conversations, but the Nicaragua Sister Partnership accomplished something wonnderful this Spring. We had the honor of bringing Francis Ubeda and Noel Canales of San Juan de Limay to Oberlin College for a week-long visit in late March.

Francis and Noel are two very important people both to Limay and the relationship with Oberlin. Noel is the local UNAG president in the region, and represents his community's concerns to the regional board at the municipal level in Esteli. He also has hosted many Oberlin students on the Nicaragua Sister Partnership delegation, and is himself an amazing example of the effectiveness of our loan fund. Both he and his wife started taking out small loans, and now they have their own land, a little general store, and a healthy boy just starting school.

Nora with Noél's family in front of their home

Francis is an inspiring woman. A Catholic Sister, she has dedicated her life to bringing hope and healing to Latin American women, from incarcerated women in Mexico to young girls who are victims of violence in her own community of San Nicolas. She once told me her mother went off the mountains to fight against the Somoza dictatorship when she was a baby, and her family gave her coffee instead of breast milk during that time. Well, she still radiates energy today. Even though we had them tramping through the Oberlin snow from early morning till late at night, she was always ready for more.

Francis, Nora and Alice on an adventure outside of Estelí

You can read about our time with Francis at the end of the 2010 delegation, and about current coordinator Nora's time living with Noel. Noel was also a main character in my Wilder Voice piece about gender in Nicaragua.

I can only hope the visit was as wonderful for them as it was for us having them, but I'm certain it was just as disorienting to have such a complete role reversal. On the delegations, we were on their territory, where they were confident, known and respected by all, and in control. We were the outsiders, struggling to understand, following their directions, looking like idiots at basic tasks like tortilla making. In Oberlin, everything was turned around. We escorted them from place to place, translated everything for them, introduced them to students and professors, and answered their questions about everything from co-op kitchen duties to snow.

Ah, yes, the snow. It was their first experience with the stuff. They both agreed it was beautiful, and couldn't get enough of picking up handfuls. They even suggested putting some maple syrup on it and having a snack. But the cold did get to Noel, who was constantly blowing his nose on the scarf I lent him. But don't get me wrong--they weren't completely out of their element. They spoke with great authority on reproductive rights, the importance of unions, and climate change--both in their formal talk in Wilder and in more casual conversations at co-op meals. Noel has a third-grade education, but he can explain climate change more clearly, concretely and emotionally than most college grads.

I was also happy that they both expressed admiration for the co-ops, and not just for the tasty and plentiful food and welcoming atmosphere, but for the ideology behind them. "It's so great to see you guys all working together and helping each other," Noel said, after we visited Old B. "And it's important that you guys support small farmers like me." He also mentioned the shared values of OSCA and the UNAG, and how we both worked to oppose unjust systems.

Both leading up to their visit and during it, I was stressed that we would not be able to host them nearly as well as they hosted us on our trip. How could we match their hospitality, their inclusiveness, their generosity? When we were there, entire towns organized meetings with us. Could we even muster enough busy, distracted Obies to fill a room? Though their talks didn't draw enormous crowds, the students who came were engaged and appreciative. And we tried to tell them over and over that we were so happy to have them.

Another worry of mine touched on the difference in privilege between us and them. As much as we talk about solidarity and partnership, we can't ignore that we (for the most part) have enjoyed a financially stable home and access to education, while they have fought to survive in a climate of poverty and isolation. What would they think of Oberlin's stately buildings? The students on their laptops and iPhones? My first reaction was embarrassment. I almost didn't want them to see all our wealth and privilege because it threw into stark relief the unfairness of our global economy. But I knew they should see the most accurate picture of Oberlin possible. If they recognize all the resources we have, they can demand (and should demand) more from us. Not just more money per year for the loan fund, but more support in a number of new and creative ways.

Francis and Alice at Westside Market in Cleveland

But their visit wasn't all business either. We sipped coffee in the Slow Train Cafe, viewed priceless art on display in Mudd Library, and tasted food from around the world at Cleveland's Westside Market. A highlight for me was taking them to a Contra Dance, which offered a beautiful view of Americana music and dance, as well as a special glimpse of Obie culture (men in skirts, women dancing with women, etc.) Also, they got to see 3 generations of Nicaragua Sister Partnership coordinators (Paia, Alice and Nora) all dancing the same dance.

As we face the challenges ahead, including making some big organizational changes on campus, we know that the personal bond we share with them will continue to motivate us in our work to keep the Partnership strong.

Nicaragua Sister Partnership Semester in Review

2011-01-04T14:03:00.000-08:00

Here is a brief update from the Nicaragua Sister Partnership, to let you know this group hasn't fallen on the face of the Earth. The majority of these blog posts were written during the January 2010 delegation trip to Nicaragua. This trip happens every other year, giving students a chance to experience what life is like for our partners in Nicaragua's National Union of Farmers and Ranchers, and to forge strong personal connections that are essential to this work, and hear firsthand about the ideas and priorities of those participating in the loan fund.

This January there is no delegation to Nicaragua. However, the Nicaragua Sister Partnership Committee continues to be active in both semesters. Our objectives on non-trip years are to educate Oberlin Student Cooperative Association members and the Oberlin community at large about the partnership, and issues relevant to Nicaragua and Latin America in general. We also work to raise funds in order to make these educational activities and the delegation trips possible.

Now for a brief listing of our activities this semester:
We cooked the traditional Nicaraguan rice and bean dish gallo pinto for Oberlin's Culture Festival. We put on a movie screening and discussion event on the topic of international trade and immigration for International Trade Action Day. We showed the Witness for Peace mini-documentary Roots of Migration , and talked about how free trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA destroy livelihoods of farming communities in Latin America and force migration. We facilitated the annual all-OSCA vote to donate to the loan fund. OSCA members approved a donation of $5,000, which is the $3,000 allocated as a donation in OSCA's annual budget, plus $2,000 made up of donations from each member's end-of-year refund check. We put up an installation in Mudd Library on the weekend of November 21st, the same weekend as the protest at the site of the School of the Americas in Georgia. Our installation included information about this U.S. taxpayer-funded training school for Latin American military officials and the human rights abuses the graduates have committed, as well as petitions and information on how to call representatives. A couple of members of the committee worked on posters describing fair trade bananas, to post in the Oberlin dining halls. As of this fall, Oberlin Dining Services has switched to buying only fair trade bananas, thanks to discussions the Nicaragua Sister Partnership had with dining managers last year. The Nicaragua Sister Partnership has also been involved in planning meetings for Food Week, an event bringing together many campus and community groups working on food issues to present events. The Nicaragua Sister Partnership hopes to collaborate with the Immigrant Workers' Project to put together an event about issues of farm worker rights, food justice and the many facets of local food production. Toward the end of fall semester, the committee also organized a fundraiser dance night featuring live music from Oberlin's salsa band Son de Oberlin, as well as a fundraiser selling photos from past delegations at a table of Oberlin's annual Alternative Gift Fair.

By far our most exciting plan is still slightly up in the air. We have invited Francis and Noel to come from Nicaragua to visit Oberlin in the spring. We are waiting to hear whether they can get visas, but we sincerely hope they are able to make the trip. They are both amazing people who work with the UNAG, and their visit would be a great opportunity to teach Oberlin more about Nicaragua and the partnership between OSCA and the UNAG. Also, a trip like this would be important in making the Nicaragua Sister Partnership a truly reciprocal exchange of ideas and experiences.

I feel privileged to be able to be part of this unique and important partnership. If schoolwork ever begins to feel overwhelming or pointless, I can think of this partnership as a way that I can affect real people and connect with others, even though they are far away. My experience last January affected me deeply and continues to motivate me in this work. Best wishes for a great new year.

Nora
Nicaragua Sister Partnership Coordinator 2010-2011

The Importance of Narratives

2010-07-27T11:31:00.000-07:00

I know we've all found since returning from our trip that it's incredibly difficult to share what we saw and felt during our time in Limay. Facts about poverty and historical atrocities start to bore even the most sympathetic listener, and many throw up shields of defensiveness when you try to explain how we are all responsible for the suffering of our Nicaraguan sisters. The best way I've found to reach people, to impart a small fraction of what we learned, is storytelling. More than anything I want people to "meet" those who were so important to me on the trip. I want people to see both the light and dark sides of our stay. It's also a bizarre but true contradiction that it's often easier to publish an extremely personal story than tell it to someone.

You can find a story about my experience in the most recent issue of Wilder Voice Magazine.

Abrazos,
Alice

Getting the Word Out

2010-03-13T10:13:00.001-08:00

We sure have been busy here on campus: meeting with the committee, organizing events, etc. We're also getting a lot of great publicity. Check out the article recently published in the Oberlin Review about our trip and our work! We'll also have pieces later in the semester in two campus magazines: Headwaters and Wilder Voice.
A few weeks ago, the four of us presented to a packed crowd at Spanish House. The event merited a write-up in OSCA's publication, written by Alice and Nora:

On Monday, March 8, four OSCA members presented in Spanish House about their recent Winter Term delegation to San Juan de Limay, Nicaragua, where OSCA maintains a micro-loan fund for unionized female farmers.

Senior Alice Ollstein, sophomores Marlee Fischer and Michelle Jahnke and first-year Nora Berson planned and fundraised all fall semester for their month-long trip. Students, the majority of them OSCAns, packed into Spanish House's salon to hear the talk. Michelle also made pinol for the attendees—a traditional Nicaraguan cornmeal

The presentation included:

-An overview of the hardships that face our sisters in Nicaragua, including lack of access to education and health care, a chauvinistic society, the precariousness of farming life compounded with climate-change induced droughts, and trauma from the US-backed Contra War in the 1980s.

-An explanation of the relationship that began in 1993 between OSCA and the National Union of Farmers and Ranchers (UNAG)

-A description of how the UNAG empowers women with training and how the loan fund allows them much-needed access to credit

-Some reasons why the problems of Nicaragua concern us, including the exploitative history of U.S. relations with Nicaragua, the way our resource use affects small farmers dependent on the global climate, and our ability to use our privilege for positive change

-A few things we can do about the problems that exist, including being conscious voters and consumers, and responsible travelers The Nicaragua Committee wants every member of OSCA to feel like a part of this partnership. The delegates were happy to be able to share with the campus some of the things they learned, and were glad so many people could attend and hear our stories.

Needed Knowledge

2010-03-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

Since we believe that it's crucial to educate yourself before taking action on an issue, here are some links to good information about the topics we'd like to tackle this semester.

On bananas:

http://www.envio.org.ni/articulo/1850
http://thefastertimes.com/centralamerica/2009/06/09/9/
http://www.impre.com/laopinion/noticias/2009/8/8/camaras-platanos-y-la-verdad-e-140331-1.html (in Spanish)
http://watch.ctv.ca/news/top-picks/food-imports/#clip272275 (video on pesticide contamination of food imported from Nicaragua)

On CAFTA:

http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=4017

On drought and climate change:

http://www.nicatimes.net/nicaarchive/2010_02/0205101.htm

On the ethics of service work:

http://www.swaraj.org/illich_hell.htm

Statement of Values, drafted today

2010-02-23T20:53:00.001-08:00

The Nicaragua Sister Partnership Committee, dedicated to working in solidarity with the women of San Juan de Limay, Nicaragua, professes the following values and beliefs:

1. That all people, regardless of national origin, gender and economic situation have the right to:
a. Healthy and plentiful food
b. Clean water
c. Accessible and free education
d. A dignified home

2. That the aforementioned are rights, not commodities.

3. That everyone has the right and the responsibility to know where their food comes from and the conditions under which it was produced.

4. The most ethical and effective solidarity work involves:
a. Long-standing and meaningful personal relationships
b. Both organizations being aware of one another's structure, culture and goals
c. Allowing and trusting a community to articulate their own needs

5. Gender discrimination continues to be a real and severe force around the globe. To combat it, we must insure that women have:
a. A equal voice and vote in any organization
b. The right and means to own land and control their own income
c. Freedom from violence, be it verbal, emotional or physical
d. Access to the resources they need to provide for themselves and their children

Giving Thanks

2010-02-03T23:06:00.000-08:00

This will be completely inadequate, but I wanted to write a brief thank-you to all those who made this trip what it is. Ladies, please let me know if I've forgotten anyone!

To Roxanne at Witness for Peace: for giving us a safe and insightful day in Managua and for giving the framework with which to analyze the rest of our experiences.

To Becca at Jubilee House: for taking the time to talk to us when we showed up (sort of) unannounced, and for your patience and dedication in helping the coops of the area be the agents of their own advancement.

To José at Finca Magdalena: for sharing with us your pride in and love of your cooperative, for your stories and for the delicious coffee you grow.

To Michael Judd at Finca Bona Fide: for teaching us that change comes slowly, that one has to think many years down the road, and that listening to a community is the only way to truly help. Your commitment to ensure the people of Ometepe's right to healthy food is inspiring.

To Rachel in León: for giving us an incredible tour and insight into what you've learned during your Fullbright year, and for taking us dancing at the hippest bar in town. The close connections you've formed are clearly a product of your commitment, curiosity and excellent Spanish.

To all of our host families: for caring for us like children but asking for our thoughts like adults, for your heart-breaking generosity and hospitality, for sharing your home and your stories with us.

To Ligia Briones Valenzuela: for everything you've done for us and for the campesin@s of Nicaragua, for always being frank and direct, and for your struggle against everything from breast cancer to an oppressive patriarchy. Generations of women will follow in your footsteps and their path to leadership will be easier because of what you've accomplished.

And finally, to our families back home: for trusting us, for believing in us, for supporting us financially and emotionally and for reading this blog. It's good to be home.

Fillin' in some gaps

2010-01-31T14:44:00.000-08:00

Last week was so overwhelming that we hardly had time to write about everything we've seen and done, so as Alice's and my last day (Nora and Marlee are already on their way home) winds down I will attempt to catch us up a bit.

On Thursday we had a golden opportunity: a whole day exploring the outskirts of Esteli with Fracis, the "fairy godmother" Alice mentioned before, who is also a close friend of Ligia's. Francis is a sister (basically a nun who can go out and do stuff) and a psychologist, and is one of the warmest, most lighthearted people I've ever met. Her nephew Josue also came along.
First we visited a family cooperative called the Tunoza, a small space where 20 women gather to make beautiful paper products from the normally undesirable parts of plants they grow themselves or receive from surrounding farms. They also use leftover office paper donated from nearby businesses--the UNAG now wants to be one of them. In addition, they teach workshops on papermaking to anyone who is interested. The cooperative was initiated by FIDER, an NGO that concerns itself with rural development, as a project to help unemployed women in the area. The women are proud of what they do now and asked us to bring more visitors (especially people who will buy as much as we did from them!) This visit showed me yet again just how important cooperatives are. Though they needed help to get started, these women are now empowered to make their own decisions and run the business however they want. To borrow OSCA's motto, "They own it."
We then hiked up a hillside with gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains and comunidades. Francis told us that she once brought a group of troubled teenagers there to have sessions on drug abuse.
She has also done a lot of work with women in prisons, as well as campesinas with the UNAG. As Nora mentioned, one of the projects she and Ligia would like to work on is opening a clinic for women in the campo, but they have no funding at all. Francis asked us if we would be able to direct the loan fund in a different direction, since it is revolving and theoritcally should be able to support itself. It seems like our fund is in a time of transition. We will continue the relationship with the UNAG Limay office at least until 2011, but if the office and the loan are stable enough, after that it would be great to be able to help with other projects. Either way the real decision lies with all the women of the UNAG, because the fund belongs to them.
Another thing that we discussed is the possibility of bringing young people we meet in the campo to visit Oberlin. They have shared so much of their lives with us but it has been harder for us to share ours with them. It would strengthen our relationship and understanding if they could eat in the co-ops and sleep in the dorms. Maybe one day it would even be possible for them to study in the US, maybe we could start to work something out while they were there. Right now this seems very difficult for a variety of reasons, but it is something we will work towards.

The last activity of the day was a visit to Sr. Alberto Gutierrez, a man who has dedicated the past thirty years of his life to, in his own words, "creating culture and agriculture in the mountains." A tall, white-haired man with an ever-present smile, he lives in a humble house with his wife, who greeted us as though she'd known us for years. He was happy to take us on a tour of his work, showing us the thousands of figures he has carved into the mountainside since 1977.
All kinds of animals and people--everyone from Jesus to Sandino--populate those mountains. He just as eagerly showed us all the coffee, orchids, and fruit trees he has planted over the years, and even sent Francis home with seeds of her own.
His robust love for life was inspiring and his happiness was infectious. Going back to Oberlin, I know that soon I will be worrying about petty things like grades again. Even from the dark and snowy world of Ohio, thinking of this joyful man in the mountains will remind me of the alegría de la vida.

We have fallen in love with this place and all the lovely people we have met along the way. In almost each city we've visited, we have made true friends who taught us important lessons and who we will miss very much. Ligia, Sayda, Francis, our host families, and many others: knowing that these people are counting on us to sustain and develop our end of the partnership will inspire us to keep fighting, in our own way, back at Oberlin.

The Meaning of Partnership

2010-01-30T15:40:00.000-08:00

I wanted to reflect a little on our relationship with the UNAG, which is evolving and hard to define. For one, it is so much based on mutual trust. We trust them absolutely. We put our lives in their hands for the time we´re with them. Every time plans changed last minute on this trip, or there was a miscommunication, or something went awry, we weren´t scared because we knew that we were in the best hands possible, people who truly care about our well-being. They also trust us, sharing with us intimate information about their lives, asking our opinions about big decisions regarding the loan fund, letting us in on some of the sordid drama that plagues all unions including the UNAG. What they did for us on this trip went way above and beyond simply keeping us happy so we would continue giving money in the future. They showered us with gifts and attention and love that we desperately tried to reciprocate.

When we were having a final discussion last night in the courtyard of the Quaker House in Managua (a hostel only for activists working to better Nicaragua), we mentioned feeling an enormous amount of responsibility considering how young we are. We four and how we behave on this trip are essential to the survival of the loan fund and the relationship with the UNAG, both of which have touched and improved many women´s lives. This is professional solidarity/aid work, but I think it´s our age that makes us (though inexperienced) better than most professionals for this work. Because we´re on the cusp of adulthood, on this trip we were able to be welcomed like daughters into the families in the campo, but asked difficult questions and treated like equals by the UNAG leaders. At our final meeting with the Junta Directiva, or governing board of Limay, I really understood why we call our relationship the Nicaragua Sister Partnership. As we sat in my host mom Jacinta´s kitchen eating yucca and cabbage salad and discussing ideas for improving the loan fund in the future, I felt like a true partner, fighting alongside the UNAG because we want the same things for the same people, people we now know intimately. It´s one thing to vaguely believe that Nicaraguan women should have access to food, water, a good house and education, and another thing to make sure that Ilia, my 12-year-old buddy from Parsila always goes to school with a full stomach. I believe it´s the personal relationships that drive our work, something many other international organizations cannot claim.

This was really clear for me at the Asamblea Departmental, which Nora already wrote about a little. Though the event was above all to honor Ligia´s 12 years as UNAG-Esteli´s president, I felt that our group was honored as well, formally and informally. We were presented with a certificate recognizing our solidarity, and I had the privilege of giving a speech to the 400 or so assembled campesinos explaining our connection and expressing our dedication, and also thanking Ligia for everything she is to us and to the women of Nicaragua. Here is the speech, captured on video by Michelle.

We were not seated with the other international groups, of which there were a handful. We were seated right up front with Sayda Flores, an UNAG leader who we became very close with on the trip, and we spent much time before and after the ceremony hugging and visiting with our host families from the campo and others we had met along our journey. We also got constant winks and smiles from the Master of Ceremonies, Francis, who we started referring to as our Fairy Godmother because of how sweetly she took care of us this past week. More than one of us shed tears, both during the ceremony and saying our goodbyes.

More wrap ups and reflections to come.

Ligia the Leader

2010-01-29T13:07:00.000-08:00

I definitely can´t do justice to this topic, but here´s a start. Someone our group has been thinking a lot about recently is Ligia Briones. As our principal contact with the UNAG, I had heard a little about her from the beginning of the committee´s meetings this year. However, I think it took me until to day to realize how amazing this woman is. Today was the Assembly of the UNAG- Esteli to turn over the presidency of the Esteli branch from Ligia to Pastor, formerly the vice-president. Although Ligia was only three years into her second five year term as UNAG Esteli president, she decided to step down due to her health. However, this doesn´t mean she´s leaving the UNAG. Previously, she was working two full time jobs, as president of the UNAG in Esteli in addition to president of the Women´s Sector of the UNAG nationally. She will continue her leadership in the Women´s sector.

At today´s assembly, I gained a much greater understanding of all Ligia has done. In her twelve years of leadership, the UNAG has consolidated its oraganizational structures, strengthened its financial resources, provided loans that enabled thousands of campesinos to buy livestock, invest in land, or make technological improvements to their farms and homes. The financial auditor said that a thorough investigation of the UNAG-Esteli´s funds uncovered nothing that raised concerns or jeopardized the organization´s future. Even more impressive that this, however, were the personal connections I saw displayed in the meeting. Groups of women sang songs in honor of Ligia, and gave impassioned testimonies about how she had inspired them personally and helped promote the rights of women farmers across the department of Esteli. We were one of many many groups to present Ligia with reconocimientos, or gifts of thanks, at the ceremony. Here's Ligia hugging Michelle as we give her a framed photo of her with the previous delegation.

Everyone we´ve encountered has the utmost trust in Ligia. They feel she is one of them, understands the struggles of campesinos, and always champions the rights of women. We´ve heard various concerns that with the presidency in the hands of a man, the promotion of women´s rights might fall by the wayside. Pastor, in his first address as president, tried to assuage these worries. However, only time will tell how the new president will be. Pastor will be president for the next two years to finish Ligia´s term, after which elections will be held to elect the next president.

I feel extremely priviledged to have gotten the chance to work with Ligia. In the interactions our group has had with her, she has proved honest to the point of being blunt, a force to be reckoned with, and most of all, inspiring.

She recognizes past successes, but always strives for more. She likes to propose "crazy ideas" as she calls them. I would call them visionary. Building a health clinic, founding a center for abused women, starting a program to prevent addiction and engender respect for the environment in at-risk youth, funding the best educated people in each community so they could teach students locally. Of course, as a realist, Ligia recognizes that there´s not enough money to start any of these projects now. But she hasn´t stopped dreaming or soliciting opinions from the communities about their needs and priorities. Her constant fight to give everyone the things they deserve as human beings has accomplished much, gained her universal respect, and should serve as an example for our committee in our future work.

Esteli

2010-01-29T06:37:00.000-08:00

Although there is much more I would like to share about my homestay experience, we´ve almost passed a whole week without updating you about our recent activities in Esteli. The closest city to the campo where we spent time with families, Esteli is a relatively small and charming city, and we`ve all enjoyed spending so much time here. The UNAG planned some great days for us to see other nearby principalities with communities struggling just like those in Limay. We visited a cooperative in Condega and affiliates of the UNAG in Pueblo Nuevo. Both were extremely eye-opening experiences. It really made me realize that poverty is very relative. After spending a week in Limay where they have so little water and nothing can grow, parts of Condega appeared well-off simply because they had the ability to grow plantains. In Pueblo Nuevo, the community we visited had their own pila to supply water, which the people in Limay would die for.

This is a pila

After visiting a house in Condega with tiled floors and a real dining room table, it seemed to me that family must be rich. However, we all know that every community here in the campo is struggling to live day to day and they all still lack many necessities. Compared to the comfortable lifestyle many of us enjoy in the United States, all the communities we`ve visited are extremely impoverished.

There are several departments in Nicaragua, one of which is Esteli. Within Esteli, there are several principalities, such as Condega, Pueblo Nuevo, and of course Limay. And within each principality, there are countless communities. It has been overwhelming to visit other places and look out over the rolling mountains that seem to extend forever. Throughout each mountain that make up the majority of the country, there are communities similar to the ones we have seen. Each one does not have enough water, and in each one many women are constrained to domestic work and serving the men. I`ve been thinking of all the people that could benefit from the loan fund, yet we can only help one little principality. And even then the way in which we can help is very limited. I know it`s better to focus our efforts on a specific place rather than spread ourselves too thin, but I can`t help but feel like we`re not doing enough.

Recently we`ve been questioning our purpose as a delegation. It is unrealistic to believe that our donations can bring people out of poverty. As the president of the UNAG in Limay said, we are helping move people from extreme poverty to poverty. The loan fund can be sustainable even if people are still poor. The only way to truly know the biggest problems in the communities and what the people want in order to improve their lives is to talk directly to them. That is why we will never be the ones to mandate where they spend our money. It is completely up to the discretion of the UNAG, who surveys the campesinos in the community to find out what they want most. In addition, it is clear how much the people we lived with value our solidarity and really want us to come back and maintain contact. Although it feels unsettling to wind down our trip without completely a concrete goal, that is the point. We are supposed to feel unfinished because our work is never finished. We have much to do in order to continue the relationship and help as much as possible from Oberlin.

Compartiendo en el Campo

2010-01-28T07:37:00.000-08:00

It is so difficult to summarize my time in the campo; there's just too much to talk about. But here I will try to cover the bare bones of my experience sharing in the lives of the most generous people I've ever met.

For 10 days I lived in the community of San Antonio, with the motherly doña Maribel and her family. When we got to the house after the winding, rocky trek from the main road, it was already getting dark. She apologized for the lack of electricity in the community, and then said simply, "This is my house." My host mother is not the most talkative of people, but in that one sentence she communicated a lot: this is my house, it's not much, but I've worked hard for it, and you're welcome here.
Eight of us lived in that little house: Maribel's husband Juan, her daughter Ligia, two young teenaged sons Luis and Julio, 10-year-old Mayra, and baby Belén.
Because there wasn´t enough room, most of the kids and some of their cousins slept at the house of their soltera aunt Altagracia. That's also where we watched novelas every night, because Altagracia was one of a few people in the community who received electricity from a tiny personal solar panel, which are expensive but can be bought with loans. (As an environmental studies major I was really excited about this!)

In the life of the Espinoza family, electricity from the solar panel was one of a few small physical comforts (that we in the US see as necessary). Another of these was the water piped from a well through a system of gravity-fed tubes. It was then stored in a large tank right next to the house, which meant that we did not have to trek to the well every day to draw water. We stil bathed using buckets or in the nearby stream, but it made a huge difference in their lives to have a semi-reliable source of water. Even so, things are drying up due to drought. As this especially harsh dry season progresses, no water will get to their house, and there's simply nothing they can do to change that.
San Antonio was different than other communities because instead of houses placed nearly on top of one another, most were located several kilometers apart; from our house I couldn't even see Altagracia's right next door. Because of this I didn't feel the same sense of community that the others have talked about, though I am sure the people who live there do. But this did mean I became very close to the family. I spent almost all my time with the women of the house, since the boys worked in the fields all day with their father. Every day we woke up with the sun and began the day's chores, including turning corn into tortillas, cooking, sweeping, gathering firewood, doing laundry, taking care of the baby, and constant dishwashing. Mayra was still young, but Maribel and Ligia hardly took a break all day. And since her mother was often looking after baby Belén, 16-year-old Ligia practically ran the household. Every morning she was the first one up, and she hardly sat down the rest of the day. Even if I insisted on taking over whatever job she was doing, Ligia would always find something else to take care of. She has a work ethic like I've never seen before.
She is in her last year of high school, and she is the only muchach@ from her community to have made it that far. It makes sense, because there are so many obstacles to studying. The tiny public primary school in San Antonio (which could only be reached by trekking steep, rocky hills) only went up to fourth grade; after that education became an expensive hassle that most families couldn't even afford to think about.
Ligia finished primary school by living with a family friend in the relatively nearby city of Limay, because it would have been too difficult to go back and forth every day. The high school she attends is also in Limay, but since she is needed at home and since the trip is too long and expensive to make every day, she can only bus there on Saturdays. The other days of the week she teaches preschool, and this school year she will also take on 5th and 6th grade (for very little pay). That way her sister Mayra will at least be able to finish primary school. After that the fight for education will be up to her.

Ligia wants to be a nurse, but she's worried about all the costs that come with higher education. Without a scholarship there is no way she can go. I've got a full scholarship to Oberlin, and before meeting her I felt like I had really earned it. But I've never had to fight as hard to do anything as Ligia is fighting to continue her studies. I gave her a Paolo Coehlo novel and a Spanish English dictionary, but I am determined to give more somehow. This week we've spoken with the other Ligia, my sister's namesake and an equally determined woman, about different projects centering on the access to education in the campo. Right now it's only talk, but I hope that someday we are able to turn words into actions.There is still so much more to say about my time compartiendo, and I could go on and on about education. But this post is already long overdue and a lot has been happening this week, so next time I will write about something else. I promise that the next post will come more quickly than this one!

Love and Loans in Parsila

2010-01-28T07:33:00.001-08:00

It´ll be impossible to do justice to my week in the campo during these few minutes in an Internet cafe, but I will attempt at least an overview. Because I came on the last delegation, I was able to choose which community to live in, and I though I was tempted to seek a new experience I opted to return to Parsila, the comunidad that was my home for a week two years ago. The night I arrived I knew I had made the right decision. Not only did everyone remember me (visitors from abroad are extremely rare) I got the warmest welcome imaginable--big hugs, offers of food, invitations to sit and chat on every porch in town. Last time I stayed with Doña Juana, a widow of the Contra War and longtime UNAG member, but this time I was placed with Doña Jacinta Torres and her husband Ernesto, both active UNAG leaders. Here they are underneath their jícaro tree.

Parsila is one of the poorest, driest communities in Limay, and conditions have worsened since my last visit. The river, where everyone washes their clothes and themselves, has shrunk to a fourth of its former size, due to the terrible drought caused by El Niño. Everyone in Parsila was worried it would disappear completely by Easter, as the rains don't come until May.

The crops were also hurt this past year, leaving people with barely enough to eat, and virtually none to sell. Many were selling off or slaughtering their animals to get by. Despite this grim situation, I could see how much our loan fund has done. Women proudly showed me the animals, land, seeds and structures (like henhouses) their loans had brought them, and though they told of their struggles to pay them back they emphasized that our loans were the only ones they could ever get, as no bank or other organization would take a risk on them. Also, the UNAG loans have a 12% annual interest rate, whereas banks can charge over 30%. Something that affected me a lot was when I was talking about our loans with Municipal UNAG President Don Noel (Nora's host), and he said that they are so necessary, but they really can only raise someone up from extreme poverty to poverty, but can't lift someone out of poverty because of the national-global-structural forces keeping them down.

I spent a lot of time with Doña Jacinta, remembering the daily schedule of a campesina. Up at dawn, grind the corn (Parsila has electricity, unlike many communities, so we could luckily grind it in a machine instead of by hand) make tortillas for the whole day, cook and serve breakfast to the men and ourselves, clean the house, buy the food we lacked from neighbors, feed the pigs and chickens, make lunch, head to the river with the dirty laundry to wash it and bathe ourselves, make and serve dinner, prepare the corn for the next morning´s tortillas. Here's a video of Jacinta palmeando a tortilla, explaining that it's been her morning chore since age nine.

With this schedule, it was obvious why the women had difficulty finding time to have meetings. Jacinta said that in order to travel to an UNAG workshop in a neighboring community, she either had to wake up at 3 am to get all her chores done and leave food for her husband, or had to get a neighbor to cover for her. We arranged a meeting in Parsila for all the affiliated women, so I could explain the OSCA-UNAG relationship and answer questions, and although about 10 women showed up and we had a productive meeting, many more couldn´t make it. Some were matriculating their kids in school, some were too burdened with housework, and some weren´t even in the country, but harvesting coffee in Costa Rica.

As for education, which many see as the only hope that their children will rise above poverty, the situation is grim. Parsila only has elementary school, with one teacher teaching several grades at once, in the same room. If a child makes it to middle school-high school, he or she has to make the long journey to Limay, either by bus (which is costly for the families) or bicycle. The roads are unpaved and in terrible condition, and are often completely impassible during the rainy season. Families struggle to buy notebooks and uniforms, and to send their child to school with something in their stomach. My dear friend Elia, who is exactly my age, is the only one to make it to university. Several young girls I befriended, though they were studying, were clearly suffering from a lack of a culture of reading and writing. When they wrote me very sweet notes, many words were spelled phonetically--b´s instead of v´s, k´s instead of c´s. I gathered a small group of local kids together for an English class one day, where we sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and played Simon Says with body parts. Here we are in the one-room schoolhouse (donated by gringos). The girl hugging me is Ilia, my across-the-street neighbor, river-bath buddy and constant companion.

I promise to post more soon, both about the campo and our incredible week in Esteli.

Learning by living

2010-01-26T15:24:00.000-08:00

There is so much to say about my experience in the campo that I hardly know where to begin. I was in the community of El Zapote (named after a fruit). I was generously hosted by the family of don Noel (the president of the UNAG in San Juan de Limay), his wife Arelys and five-year-old son Kendal.

When I first arrived, I felt out of place: it felt so sudden to be with the whole group one night, and dropped off on my own the next. I had trouble understanding everyone's Spanish with the Nicaraguan accent, I knew nobody in the community, and had no way to communicate with the outside world. I struggled a lot at first about what my role was in the community. Thinking about my previous experience with a host family in Nicaragua and how much I felt like a guest. As nice as that was, I didn't want to be so pampered and catered to on this trip, and wanted to find a way to integrate more into family life. However, I was not too useful at any of the things that needed doing. I participated in grinding corn and making tortillas, and washed my own laundry on a rock in front of the house. However, I had no practice with these skills and often felt more foolish than useful, especially at first.

In fact, my role in the community was something I struggled with my entire time. I wanted to find out as much as I could from the people of El Zapote, but sometimes I wondered what right I had to ask them about their horrific experiences during the Contra War, or the hardships they had paying back loans. How could I, a nineteen-year-old who has never lacked anything, hope to empathize with the difficulties of these campesinos? However, through talking to my host family and many neighbors, I came to see how important solidarity was. Even though I felt like our loan fund was only a drop in the bucket, the visit itself was at least as important as the money. Even though I often felt powerless to improve the situation, I could at least offer to listen and learn as much as I could. Not only did this hopefully show the people I met how much I cared about them, but it also gave me so many stories to share with people back in the U.S. and ideas of how we can be doing more.

I met so many courageous, hardworking and honorable individuals. I met a woman widowed when the Guardia Nacional killed her husband on their march from Esteli to Honduras. She had taken out a loan from the UNAG for a cow, but times got tough. She worked at paying back the loan over ten years, and eventually had to sell the same cow back to get enough money. Now she is out of debt, has turkeys, pidgeons, hens and a pig, and raising four children.

I met a man who is seventy-five, and still works everyday on his farm to feed himself. He lives alone, and often visits his neighbor for meals, but is also proud that he can cook for himself. He said when he was growing up, men thought cooking was women´s work and didn´t learn, but that times have changed. He showed off his farm, which had fruit trees, coffee plants, corn and a variety of vegetables.

Thanks to support from the UNAG, he was able to install wells and cisterns in order to keep his crops irrigated. As poor as he was, every time I went to visit him, he would send me back with gifts: three malangas he just harvested, or a bag full of baby corn.

The welcome I recieved in El Zapote was incredible and heartwarming and, at times, difficult. It was hard for me to accept that people always wanted to give up their chairs so I could sit, or carry things for me, or give me the best food. I felt like I was giving so little, and taking so much. Maybe, though, solidarity is more powerful than I realized. One of the most heartwarming things someone in the community said to me, near the end of the trip, was this: "Nos hacemos hermanos." We´ve become siblings.

My Life in the Campo

2010-01-26T14:22:00.000-08:00

I made it 10 days through life in the campo. It was a huge challenge and every day was tiring, but I also learned so incredibly much from my family and the many people I got to talk to. It´s overwhelming to try to portray my experience in a blogpost, so I will try to pick out some relevant anecdotes that I want to share. However, know that this is only a small glimpse into my past week and that there is so much I cannot even put into words.

I lived with a family of 5 in Pedernal, one of the smaller and poorer communities in Limay. Bertha and Antonio, the two parents, were so kind and welcoming to me. Their three teenage daughters, Haydi, Carla, and Yerling, were also very accepting and social, constantly playing with my hair or taking me around to meet their friends.

Of course the first thing that hit me was the extreme poverty they live in. Although I have done a homestay in the campo before, last year in El Salvador, this community was much poorer, which was initially shocking. They had electricity, but the only accessible water was by well. Bathing and washing clothes took place in the river, where I shared water with cows, spiders, and other animals. The floors and some walls of the house were made of dirt. Despite lacking many material things that we think of as necessities, Pedernal was very rich in community. All the houses were only a few feet apart and people were visiting constantly. If people aren´t actually related (they were shocked I only have one brother and 4 cousins in the US) it is still as if everyone in the community is one big family. The community was constantly bustling, if not with people than with animals. One morning a hen woke me up by jumping on my bed, and two other mornings it went the extra mile and layed an egg on my pillow. I then ate those eggs. Very local. People also owned horses, which I got the opportunity to ride. They were very impressed that a white girl knew how to ride a horse. I found that if people had anything, land, animals, gardens, it was because they took out loans from the UNAG. They would have nothing without our donations and the existence of the loan funds. It made me realize that we really affect these people's lives, and its important to come here and see how our donations are being used.

A very hard thing for me this week was sharing a room with Bertha's sister, Darling, a 24 year old with cerebral palsy. For the past 24 years, she has been lying in a bed all day every day, crying constantly and being fed liquified tortillas and beans. It was very disturbing to live so close to her and imagine her life being like this every day. In many cases, if someone was so handicapped in the US, they would have the capability to still have a decent life. But here it is not an option.

Another issue that was constantly mentioned was the drought and lack of water in the community. Here is a photo of where the river usually runs in the wet season.

Even if the people are able to buy animals or seeds with loans, they can't succeed because they don't have water. The river is so low right now during the dry season and the farmers are so frustrated because they can't sustain their families. Furthermore, they have very little food access. Whereas in the past they could grow various fruit trees and vegetables, now they are only able to eat rice, beans, eggs, tortillas, and occassionally cheese. I definitely got tired of the food monotony this week, but they eat this food all the time for their entire lives. They simply don't have the water to grow varieties of foods.

I learned a lot this week about the daily lives of people living in the campo. Every morning they wake up before the sun. The women make tortillas for hours while the men go off to work in the fields. I helped make the tortillas every morning this week, but even after I thought I finally accomplished the perfect tortilla, they would take it and fix it. The women are also responsible for cleaning the house, getting water from the well, cooking, and looking after the kids. Nevertheless, in Pedernal I felt that socially the men and women were perceived equally. Bertha, my host mother, was a community leader and was incredibly confident. She registers kids for school and during the school year babysits the little kids in the community, which is completely voluntary on her part. She is also vice president of the women's sector of the UNAG in Limay. She could really do it all. By the end of the week, I felt really close to her and amazed that she shared so much of her experiences with me. It's so generous of them to let me into their lives, this privileged student from the United States who they know has much more than they do. I often felt uncomfortable with how much more I had than they do and at times even found myself downplaying my luxuries in the US. But alas, the point of this experience was to feel uncomfortable and be pushed out of my comfort zone.

There is so much more I want to write and share with you all. The last thing I'll say for now is that the person I will miss the most from Pedernal is my friend Rudi, the 5 year old boy from across the path.

He was my best friend in the community. We spent time every day together and really enjoyed each other's company. He told his grandmother he wants to come to Boston to see me. He is the one man from the community whose request for that I would grant. Hope to write more about my experience soon.

We´re Alive!

2010-01-25T16:41:00.000-08:00

We´re all far too overwhelmed and exhausted to blog about our emotional, challenging week in the campo with the host families, but wanted to post quickly that we´re all safe and sound back in Esteli. We´ll try our best to post tomorrow, but the UNAG keeps us busy and constantly changes the plan so we never know! Keep checking!

Don't Worry 'bout Us

2010-01-15T09:13:00.001-08:00

Hello friends and family! This is a message to let you all know that for the next week or so we will be away from the internet, out in the campo with our host families. We will check back on the 24th to share our many stories. We are doing great and very excited for the challenges ahead!
Love,
The Four Intrepid Delegates

Myths and Legends

2010-01-14T11:42:00.001-08:00

León is known for its variety of museums, from religious art to local artesians. We didn´t have time to visit most of them, but the one we did see is probably the most colorful one of all.
The Museum of Myths and Legends, or the XXI (21) as it is known, is a strange contrast; it tells the story of León´s many popular legendary figures in what used to be a prison. Life-size papier mache figurines illustrate the traditional myths of León, and graphic murals on the walls behind them depict torture methods used on prisoners who lived (and may have died) in the very room you stand in. Definitely a jarring juxtaposition. Our enthusiastic guide would abruptly switch from showing us a figurine of the woman who turns into a pig and attacks men to talking about how the friend of Somoza who ran the place for a while, a "doctor," used to kill prisoners using "medicine." There were many more disturbing stories, many learned from former prisoners who came to visit the museum where they were once held and who volunteered their stories.
This is such a striking way of reclaiming a place of tragedy and terror, without forgetting about the horrible things that happened there. Every week the guides pray for the souls of all those who died in the former prison and who are now buried in unmarked graves beneath its foundation. Since prisión XXI closed its doors, the people of León have never built another prison within their city.

León

2010-01-14T09:19:00.000-08:00

I think it´s safe to say that León has been our favorite city so far, but that might be because we´ve been shown around by Rachel, a woman whose brother goes to Oberlin who is doing a Fullbright here on sustainable agriculture. She´s been here for over 10 months and has befriended a ton of locals and knows all the hot spots.

León is a colonial city, with enormous, gorgeous churches every few blocks, cobblestone streets and a breezy central park. It´s rougher around the edges than many other spots, and not so picturesque that you forget that people actually live here. It´s extremely walkable and in the few moments we haven´t been visiting organizations or having meetings, we´ve had a great time checking out the little restaurants and bars hidden around the city.

Yesterday after our thought-provoking meeting with CEPRODEL we were taken to another organization, Del Campo, a cooperative of cooperatives. We were delighted to learn that our beloved Finca Magdalena on Ometepe was a member, but we were mostly shown examples of their sesame coops (ajonjolí in Spanish). We were taken out to a sesame seed processing plant and learned more than I ever needed to know about cleaning and marketing sesame seeds.

It was inspiring to see a coop take control of the whole production process, ensure good working conditions for their members and achieve success on the market, but upon later reflection it bothered us that this was one more example of Nicaraguan farmers being pushed to fill a niche market instead of growing their own food staples. It´s fine and dandy that McDonald´s pays a high price for their sesame seeds, but what if they decide that no one really cares about the sesame seeds on the burger bun anyways and nix them? Without that income, Nicaraguans can´t buy the basic rice and beans (sold for less than the cost of production by subsidized US companies) they need to survive.

We also heard some really fascinating things about coops in Nicaragua in general. Basically, the U.S. embargo in the 80s allowed the coop movement to flourish, because the big multinationals stayed out, and went to exploit Guatemala and Costa Rica instead, both of which had governments much friendlier to the U.S. However, Nicaragua is now the second poorest country in the hemisphere after Haiti (who is in our thoughts right now), so it begs the question if the embargo was a good or bad thing for Nicaragua, or if it´s a matter of interpretation.

With much on our minds we left the sesame plant, had a delicious lunch, and strolled over to the Museum of Myths and Legends, which one of the other girls will post about. Later in the evening, we met Rachel at a wonderful bar/café, where she treated us to quesadillas and we danced to live music. We only know a handful of people in León, but every single one was at this spot (La Olla Quemada)...from the Costa Ricans from our hostel to the hostel owner to people we met at Del Campo to a fellow traveler we befriended on the bus. All in all, León has been fun, friendly and fascinating. We almost don´t want to leave, knowing how much more there is to see here, but we´re excited for Estelí.

2010-01-14T07:37:00.000-08:00

Ack, just realized I forgot to link to Bona Fide´s website. Here you can learn more about what permaculture is and read about their projects.

Bona Fide

2010-01-14T07:16:00.000-08:00

OK so this post is long overdue but blogspot has been giving me trouble lately. Hopefully this will finally work!

After recuperating from our long journey from Ometepe to León and finding a spare moment to take advantage of the free internet in our lovely hostal here, I´m ready to blog about our short but enlightening visit to the permaculture community project Bona Fide.

Located a short walk away from the Finca Magdalena , where we stayed on Ometepe,
Bona Fide is a lush farm started by a really cool guy from the US named Michael. Before he started the project seven years ago, the overused land looked more like a desert than the tropical paradise it was meant to be; constant cattle grazing and monoculture banana cultivation had leached all the nutrients from the soil. Since he bought the land in 2003 Michael has been working with employees from the surrounding community and volunteers from all over the world to bring this place back to life. This has not been an easy process. The first crop they had to plant was an inedible bean that would put some nutrients back into the soil, which meant that they didn't see any of their crops give fruit for their first year of work.

This kind of patience and dedication was apparent in all of Bona Fide's work. Seeing this project gave me hope for the future of Nicaraguan farmers. Michael has a few overarching goals for the finca. One is to provide a model of sustainability for farmers in Nicaragua and worldwide. He is certified in permaculture, a farming technique that follows patterns in nature rather than exhausting the land by cultivating huge plots of just one crop--I definitely can´t explain what it´s all about here but if you´re interested then check out this website. Another goal is working to take the power of food from the hands of huge monopolizing corporations and give it back to small farmers. But the main idea is to help increase the food security of Nicaraguans in a sustainable way.
Bona Fide is an amazing mix of crops that have been present in the country for a long time and ones that he has brought from other places. But don´t worry, no invasive species here. Michael showed us a leafy green from Australia that is high in iron and other nutrients that a typical campesino diet of rice and beans lack. He also pointed out the mango and avocado trees from Asia that produce fruit in every month of the year. These plants would not only fill a nutritional void in the Nicaraguan diet, they would also give farmers who grow them a very valuable market niche—imagine how much more a mango farmer would make if she could sell mangoes all year instead of just in the rainy season.

At first this idea might seem problematic; trying to change a people´s traditional diet seems little short of a cultural attack. But Michael and the people at Bona Fide are taking a holistic approach to food security. Even after seven years, the farm is still in its test stages; they want to see how the slow-growing perennial crops grow before introducing them to Nicaraguans. In the meantime they are not just sitting around. They consistently employ at least 12 workers from nearby towns, so in addition to a steady job (something very hard to find in Nicaragua) they learn about the holistic approach of farming and viewing the world that is permaculture. There´s even a scholarship fund for Nicaraguan farmers or foreigners who plan to stick around to become certified in permaculture right there on the farm. They also help raise funds for community projects in Balgue, like the children´s nutrition program and the community center.
These projects were ideas that came from the community and are run by people living there. Bona Fide provides support and money (and if any of you want to help out an awesome cause, they´re looking for donors to help start a day care!) And one day, when the fruit is ripe, the children will be able to eat mangoes and leafy greens in addition to rice and beans and learn how to grow all these crops sustainably.

One of the things that struck me most was how invested the people at Bona Fide are in their work and in the community. Like a very good definition of food justice recommends, their work touches hands, hearts, and pockets. Just asking for directions everyone was saying, "Oh, you mean Michael´s farm." Adelita, who runs the children´s nutrition program out of her own home, lit up when she talked about her friend Michael and how much he has helped.
And talking to the famous Michael, you can easily tell how he´s earned a special place the hearts of these people. When I mentioned that I would love to come back and volunteer someday, he said "We´ll be here." For some that may not mean much, but to people who live day to day expecting nothing but poverty, this promise is a small seed of hope.

Microcredit and more

2010-01-14T06:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, our first of several destinations in Leon was CEPRODEL. This means Center for Local Development, and it´s a microcredit lender. When we walked in, it looked like a bank. In our meeting with the men who work there, we learned that this is to have a professional face for the borrowers, so they take the responsibility of their loans seriously. However, CEPRODEL is very different from your typical bank, even your typical microcredit lender. They give out microloans for business and agriculture, but they do much more than that. Their stated goal is to "be part of the structural transformation of the problems that affect our society: gaps between rich and poor, rural and urban, generations, and genders." They take a holistic view of microcredit, seeing it as a means, rather than an end in itself. They try to help their clients in as many ways as posssible. They employ not only financial managers, but also specialists in architecture and agriculture, who can better relate to the challenges faced by clients working on construction and farming projects. CEPRODEL also sponsors various trainings and technical assistence in sustainable methodology. They have recently started a reforestation project. They also manage to foster cooperation between their clients. For example, one farmer recieved loans to produce an organic pesticide. Another client who was planting trees was able to buy this spray, as well as learn to make it himself. CEPRODEL was able to connect these people so they both benefited, as well as increasing the likelihood of repayment.

CEPRODEL´s payback statistics are indeed impressive. They told us 95% of the money they lend comes back on time. I believe Alice said that the UNAG loan fund we support has a return rate around 50%. We wondered what made CEPRODEL so successful. One thing that we were told, that I hadn´t really heard before, was about the handout mentality. If people think they are getting money that has been donated, they do not feel the need to return it. With all the natural disasters and daily poverty Nicaragua faces, this is quite understandable. If a rich country give them money, and they struggle to feed their families, why should they return the money? CEPRODEL avoids this issue by keeping the loans strictly loans. They are as helpful to borrowers as they can be, and are willing to renegotiate the terms if the client is unable to pay back on time. Ultimately, though, everyone knows they money is in the form of a loan that must be repayed. Clients know that if they don´t repay CEPRODEL, they can´t take out another loan. CEPRODEL and other microfinance institutions are also finally beginning to communhicate with each other. They are starting to keep records so they know which lenders have a history of not paying back their loans. This system, similar to a credit score in the U.S., holds borrowers more accountable, so they can´t just switch to another lender to get more money. CEPRODEL also has it´s own system of incentives. It rates its borrowers on an A through E scale, and rewards the best lenders with prizes, like fruit trees for farmers, or backpacks (which they were nice enough to give us as gifts! They´re pretty awesome.) Also, they only lend to those with at least a year of experience in their field. And to avoid the interest overwhelming the borrowers, loans are given out in installments, so they pay interest only on the money they need at the moment.

It´s easy to see why microcredit is needed. Farmers struggle with drought, cattle ranchers saw their prices fall 50%. CEPRODEL has 14,000, 60% of whom are women. Their typical borrower is a woman between 30 and 35, who hasn´t completed primary school and has 3 to 4 dependents. Many women support their families, since so many men have migrated to Costa Rica, El Salvador, Spain and the United States. One poignant thing Rachel (the American who is in Leon on a Fullbright) told us: In the U.S., people are always talking about their future plans and aspirations, but if you ask Nicaraguan farmers about their plans for the next five, ten, or fifteen years, they will fall silent. Microcredit can be a way to give Nicaraguans more opportunites, and a reason to have hope for the future.

I am eager to see how all that we learned about microcredit will apply when we meet with the UNAG. I also look forward to finding out more about SosteNica (the American organization that coordinates investment into CEPRODEL) when I return home.

Fellow Travelers

2010-01-13T04:48:00.000-08:00

As is to be expected, we´ve been meeting some colorful characters on this trip in the various hostels and on the road--everyone from hippy gringo backpackers living in hammocks to wealthy teens coming to "volcano-board" (yes, this is actually a thing) to Nicaraguans taking in the sights of their own country. It´s been fascinating to talk to different travelers and learn from them. From some, you learn nothing but how NOT to behave in another country. There was one dude at Finca Magdalena who just drank and smoked cigarrettes constantly, and bragged to other travelers about partying with locals. "I was hanging out with a bunch of caballeros last night," we heard him tell some Germans. "That means cowboys, by the way." Actually, it means "gentlemen," but vocabulary was the least of this guy´s issues. I definitely feel more hostile towards smokers after learning about the atrocities caused by tobacco companies in Nicaragua.

But we´ve also made some good connections. Also at Finca Magdalena, we made friends with Travis, a college student from UMass who was paying his way through school by being in the coast guard reserve. We invited him to walk with us from Magdalena over to Zopilote, a supercrunchy finca up the road that has foreign hippies learn how to make bread and yoghurt and tropical jams (which we ate for dinner!). It´s not that it was unsafe for us girls to walk there alone, but having a man along (even a skinny gringo) can´t hurt. Over our whole wheat bread, passionfruit jam and natural yoghurt, we talked to him a bunch about his travels, the good moments and the scary close calls. His tales of struggles to communicate made us really glad we all speak Spanish with some degree of fluency!

Spanish also helped me bond with some really nice Costa Ricans last night, here at our hostel in Leon. Even though I was ready to conk out early after our crazy day of travel, it was great to chill in a hammock and discuss politics, Free Trade, the media, religion, Obama, etc. for a couple hours. I love being challenged to articulate my views in Spanish. I know very little about Costa Rica and I hope to get to ask them more today. We also might go dancing with them tonight if we aren´t too exhausted (we´ve been going to bed around 9 or 10 every night!) Hey, no one said this was a party trip.

Community Organization, Cafeteria Infantil

2010-01-12T19:01:00.000-08:00

Before touring Finca Bona Fide, which Michelle will reflect on soon, being the Environmental studies food expert, we visited a children´s nutrition center in Balgue, the community near the hsotel we were staying at on Ometepe. As we looked for the sign to the building, we guessed it was in this brightly colored school house. However, we instead found the program running out of a woman´s house, and had to walk through a sleeping man´s room to find her. She cooks for 35 children every morning in her own kitchen, buying food and using the excess produce from the Bona Fide farm. An addition, 35 kids are fed down the road and the families don´t have to pay to eat at either branch of the program. On Saturday, the local women, one of whom is a nurse, give classes on food nutrition and sanitation to the kids as well--brushing teeth, washing hands, etc. We also got a tour of the brightly colored community center that we passed, called Proyecto Mano Amiga, where they hope to build a bigger kitchen and already have a library for the kids.

This morning meal is extremely important for them, as their parents can´t afford to feed them and the only other meal most of them can rely on is lunch at school. The woman who runs the program makes no profit and developed the program completely on her own. Its amazing how organized and innovative she is, but unfortunately does not have the resources to fulfill her goals. The day we visited, the kids were only getting a glass of milk and an orange each. Michael, the owner and founder of Bona Fide, financially supports her project, but he stressed to us that it was community developed. He told us that it is important to listen to what the people think they need most and support their efforts rather than imposing our own wishes on them. Overall, it struck me how driven and passionate people are about improving their communities, even without resources, and working together to make slow progress, which requires great patience. It was really something to admire.

On another shorter note, I completed one of my goals of taking a nap on a hammock.

The Importance of Food

2010-01-12T16:39:00.000-08:00

Yes, I certainly think food is important in that it´s tasty and I want some for dinner soon. But this post is about food´s importance from a more philosophical perspective. Yesterday, we gathered upstairs at Finca Magdalena on a breezy porch with views of the volcano. Our purpose: to discuss our purpose. We ended up mostly talking about food, and making some really interesting points. We talked about how food was a major connecting thread in the partnership between OSCA and the UNAG. OSCA is so much about providing its members with nutritious and tasty meals. The loan fund in the UNAG helps women buy what they need to farm, so they can produce enough to feed themselves. Food is something that connects to everything in life. As we saw a Finca Bona Fide, a permaculture farm, food is about the environment. Bona Fide used a lot of methods I thought were really innovative, in combining plants that promoted each other´s growth. However, as the farm´s founder pointed out, it was not really innovative, but intuitive. On the farm, they were relearning to grow food according to the methods nature has always used.

Another facet of food is community and dignity. We see over and over how important food sovereignty is to people´s quality of life. The co-op members at Finca Magdalena have the opportunity to improve their lives by growing their own food, in addition to the coffee they sell. The Finca Bona Fide hopes to reach out more and more to the surrounding community, with programs such as seed exchanges and community gardens. The more people can be in control of producing their own food, the more secure and consistent their access to nutrition will be.

Additionally, we thought a lot about food as a human right, rather than as a commodity. So many U.S. policies are making food into something to be sold for the highest possible profit to the companies. Things like CAFTA undermine the idea that everyone has the right to be nourished. Instead of getting discouraged about this, we looked to exciting ideas like urban gardening and cooperatives as ways for people to get closer to their food, and regain the control that seems to be slipping away.

Happy eating and thinking!

Whewwwwwwwwwwww

2010-01-12T15:42:00.000-08:00

So after over 9 straight hours of travel, we´re finally at the Hostal Colibri in Leon, where we´re showering, napping in the hammocks and generally recuperating from an exhausting day. We woke up a little after 6 a.m. to catch the 7 a.m. bus to Altagracia (the port where some boats leave for the mainland). On the way, we were told we had better transfer to another bus to Moyogalpa (another port). On THAT bus, were were told some disturbing news: the coast guard wasn´t letting the ferries leave the island because of the intense wind. We believed it because every night at Finca Magdalena we´d shiver in our poorly insulated room while the trees shook outside. When we got to Moyogalpa, it was true. The morning ferries hadn´t been allowed to leave. Luckily, at 11 a.m. the coast guard gave the clearance and we were off! We could have been stuck there all day. The ferry ride was only a little rocky, and we got into San Jorge just fine.

From there, we taxied to Rivas, then caught an "express" bus to Managua that made several stops and took a longggggggg time. We arrived at the bus station, and barely had time to pee and buy snacks before we were forcefully herded onto a smaller, nicer, air-conditioned bus to Leon. Unfortunatly, THAT bus station was not centrally located, and we had to take ANOTHER taxi to our hostel. But now we are here, excited for our day tomorrow with Rachel, a woman doing a Fullbright fellowship on sustainable agriculture. She´s set up a lot of interesting meetings for us with different local organizations and I expect we´ll learn a lot!

The other girls will post soon to catch you all up on the rest of our Ometepe adventures. Paz!
-Alice

We found paradise

2010-01-10T16:50:00.000-08:00

The finca tour, which Nora explained in more detail, was really amazing. Jose, our lively and youthful tour guide who is 76 years old without a gray hair on his full head of hair, was really inspiring. My immediate desire was to adopt him as my grandpa. He was so passionate about his work and so connected to the land and the nature here. By being the cooperative, he had this expertise of practically the entire coffee production process, whereas Nicaraguans that work in places like sweatshops are members of an assembly line and are expendable. He instead has pride for his work and has a great understanding of the process.

It seems that in general here people are very passionate, even in the way they speak, and have a great sense of community. Cooperatives facilitate that, but so does their value of family. Whereas in the US we strive for independence from our families, the people here generally stay close to their entire extended family, fostering a stronger sense of community. It makes me want to have that for my kids, since I feel like it is something I lack in my own life, and live close to my family in the future.

After the tour, we grabbed lunch, where you can get a plate of local sweet white pineapple, oranges, and other fruits for 2 dollars. Then we began what turned into an hour and a half walk to the beach. Although I did not expect the walk to be that extensive, I would definitely say it was worth it. Upon arriving to the beach, where the sand looked black because it was mixed with volcanic ash, I immediately put on my bathing suit and frolicked into the water. It was a perfect temperature. Luckily, we didnt have to walk all the way back to Finca Magdalena. We hitchhiked on two separate trucks (parents, avert your eyes) and made it back in a fraction of the time. Hitch hiking here has a very different connotation...it feels natural and simply easier. People are really friendly, including the teenage boys we met on one truck who also walked part of the way back with us. They were very willing to talk, and pretty giggly. When we got off the second truck, we stopped by this party where there were people riding horses and bulls. There was also an extremely drunk man who said "mujer" (woman), stepped toward me, then faceplanted in the dirt. I think he fell asleep because I did not see him get up. So then we left. When we got back to the finca, we walked up to our room where there was the most picture perfect postcard-esque view of the volcano with the sun setting and a pink sky. It made me feel like everything was perfect and calm in the world.

Overall, a great relaxing day. Tomorrow should be really interesting too, so keep checking in!

Touring the finca

2010-01-10T16:34:00.001-08:00

This morning, we took a tour of the Finca Magdalena, the coffee cooperative that runs the hostel we´re staying in. Our tour was lead by the knowledgeable Jose, who I thought looked younger than his 76 years. He first showed us the coffee processing building. He talked to us about the finca´s history, when it was in control of some buddies of Somoza. Later, it was inherited by the owner´s daughter and her American husband, but the husband´s gambling and drinking habits had drained the inheritance and the farm was in ruins. Another man saw the land, fell in love, and bought it. It was later turned into a cooperative in the time of the Sandinistas.

Now it is a cooperative of 25 members, and has recently switched to producing only organic coffee. In the past, the finca produced ¨cafe tradicional,¨ which used chemicals and was sold locally. Now that they´re growing organically, they sell to international markets, largely in the U.S. and Canada. As great as it is that the coffee is now chemical free, it´s sad to think that Nicaraguans like the farmers themselves cannot drink it, because it´s too expensive. When we asked Jose about why they were growing organically, we expected to hear that it was for the better prices they could get, or because it was better for the land. Instead, he surprised us, exolling the health benefits of drinking coffee grown without pesticides.

Jose was great to listen to. Whenever we asked a question expecting a short, factual answer, he would go off into long, illustrative stories or reflections on life in general. Some of his interesting musings were about the importance of cooperatives. He said how necessary it was to be organized, and how the cooperative was a support network for all its workers. Also, he talked about how much better the conditions were as a worker in the cooperative rather than a plantation. In a plantation, workers had no voice, and if they complained, the owner would only say they could leave if they didn´t like it. Now, the workers meet weekly, to discuss problems that have arisen, and decide everything together. The sense of empowerment and pride that came from the cooperative system were very evident. The values of hard work, honesty, trustworthiness and love of the land were evident in everything Jose said. I hope to bring back some of this appreciation for the value of cooperatives to OSCA when I return to school.

Water Water Everywhere

2010-01-10T16:22:00.000-08:00

As Michelle briefly mentioned, water has already emerged as a central theme on this trip. Though the country is called the "land of lakes and volcanoes" and has two enormous lakes and several smaller ones, all Nicaragua is suffering a terrible drought caused in part by the weather phenomenon El Niño, in part because of years of bad farming practices by big agrobusiness (especially tobacco companies) and in part because of global warming in general. As we have already learned, the average Nicaraguan farmer (who has only a few years of formal education) understands climate change and its causes far better than the average upperclass American, and has no problem telling us that our consumption is part of the problem.

As I was taking my freezing cold shower in the Finca Magdalena, I thought about how I have always been able to use all the water I want, for any purpose. I have lived a life of cold drinks, long and luxurious showers and flush toilets. I was not raised to think of water as a finite and precious resource. But living in the villages on the last trip, carrying buckets of water from the well and hearing of drought ruining crops, I began to realize that my personal habits need to change. I wonder if our committee, upon return, could start a sort of campaign in which we get OSCAns to sign a pledge saying they would reduce their water use in solidarity with our compañeras in Limay.

More on water and other issues coming soon!
Alice

Ligia

2010-01-10T15:50:00.000-08:00

Hello from the island paradise of Ometepe! The past few days have been great, with a few surprises along the way. One of these was a surprise visit with Ligia Briones, our main contact with the UNAG, who happened to be on Ometepe at the same time as us. She is the president of the women's sector and soon to be ex-president of the UNAG chapter in the city of Esteli.

Ligia is not a tall woman, but as soon as she began to talk I felt like I was in the presence of a giant. She does not beat around the bush. Over dinner she elaborated on some of the problems facing the UNAG and the women's sector. A drought is plaguing the nation and causing a lot of damage in the already dry Northern region (where we will be spending most of our time on this trip), and she was on the island to talk to women about irrigating effectively when it's so dry.

The farmers face hardships like this all the time, and usually the UNAG is there to help them, whether or not the government will be. However, she said that lately even though the FSLN is not what it used to be and is becoming more corrupt, the leaders of the union have not been speaking up so as not to cause disturbances within the party. Listening to her talk I could see how passionate she is about her work; she is stepping down from the presidency in part because, in her words, she's "been a sandinista her whole life, but she's a producer, a campesina, first." Also with only one job to do she can focus more attention on working with the campesinas of the UNAG, organizing workshops and helping them be more autonomous in a male-dominated campo.

There's a lot more I could say about this amazing woman, but it's time to go. We'll be blogging again soon.

Granada

2010-01-09T05:46:00.000-08:00

Although arriving in beautiful, colonial Granada and being able to stroll around, eat well, see the lake, etc. was enjoyable, we´ve decided to recommend to the next delegation that they skip the city altogether and head straight to Ometepe. Here is what my friends in Mexico would call ¨gringolandia¨: English spoken everywhere, terrible American music playing, pricey international restaurants, lots of hippy types in the streets... Though it´s been a good time to bond and plan ahead, we´ve gotten very little out of our day here, and absolutely no Spanish practice. Also, things are expensive here! I´m glad we´re going out to the island today, though getting there will be a long and sweaty experience. First we have to bus to Rivas, then taxi to the port San Jorge to catch a ferry to the island, then take a bus to the city nearest our hostel, then hike a few kilometers to arrive.

We´ve been using our time together also to reflect on what we´ve learned to far, including sharing our ¨lightbulb moments¨: what really made a lightbulb go on over our heads. These ranged from religion as a powerful motivator for activism to a country being in debt as analagous to a sharecropper who is always in debt and never can own his own land. A couple overarching questions came out of our talk, questions that we´ll have in the back of our minds for the rest of the trip: How do you get people to care? How does change happen?

We´ll post again soon from the beautiful volcanic island!
-Alice

Bumps in the Road

2010-01-08T07:50:00.000-08:00

Hello, readers! Alice here writing to you that although we´ve had some annoyances, we´re all fine and dandy and ready to get out of big, stressful Managua.

Our first challenge was finding each other and finding our hostel the night we got in. We had written out very detailed directions to give to the taxi drivers, but because the hostel is just a woman´s house with no signage outside and because Managua (and all Nicaraguan cities) has no street names or numbers, Nora, Michelle and Marlee all got taken to another, nearby place with an almost identical name. So, instead of our nice, cozy, quiet house they were dropped at a slightly sketchy, pay-by-the-hour motel. When I got in several hours later to the correct place and found they weren´t there, I immediately realized what had happened, and the very nice hostel owner Maria Cecilia took me in her car to rescue the others.

Things took a turn for the way better once we were all together in the correct place and could relax and enjoy the comforts we soon will miss (a toilet seat, a shower with good pressure, a nice big bed...) Though Maria Cecelia thought that, as Americans, we´d prefer to eat at the local mall food court, we opted to walk around the corner to a restaurant called Bongo Tropical, where we had an alright, if bizarre dinner. Two of us enjoyed the gustatory delights of spaghetti with jalapeño sauce and two ordered the ¨spring salad,¨ which came covered in strips of ham and American cheese with a ring of crackers around the rim of the plate. I guess nothing says spring like ham and crackers...

We had a very full and rewarding first day, which the others will post about momentarily. The only other rough patches were Marlee´s bag being lost by the airline and sent all the way to the Caribbean and back. But after many calls the bag should be arriving at our hostel any minute now. We´ve been sharing clothes and toiletries in the meantime.

Like our guidebook said, Managua has a reputation for being dangerous, but it really isn´t any different than any other big city. We´ve been wearing our moneybelts UNDER our clothes, sticking together, not walking far at night, negotiating taxi prices BEFORE climbing in and staying in the safer areas, like the Bolonia neighborhood where our hostel is. Last night we had dinner and drinks with Cyndi, an Oberlin student who spent the whole semester studying here on an SIT program, and she gave us a really interesting perspective on everything from the tastes of middle class Managuans (pizza and Lady Gaga) to her independent investigation of pulperias, or general stores, and crazy anecdotes about political marches here in the capital. We also would have never found such a chill, funky restaurant with good vegetarian food without her recommendation.

We´ll be boarding a bus to Granada in a couple hours and will post again from there!

Coops in Nicaragua

2010-01-08T07:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday as part of our full first day we went to a community called Nueva Vida, ¨new life¨ in Spanish but also one of the poorest neighborhoods in the area. It was originally established as a refugee camp for survivors of the Contra War and the various natural disasters (earthquakes, hurricanes, etc) that have devastated the country. They were bussed into the camp with no shelter, very few belongings, and without the community that they had had in their previous residences. The area continues to be very poor with lots of parentless children and full of gang violence. However, amidst this desolate community, we were very inspired by an organization called the CDCA. They came here in the ´90s to help develop the area. Currently, they help organize and run several coops, such as one for organic cotton farmers and a sewing cooperative. They showed us their cotton gin, followed by a building independently built by 18 women with no construction experience that will be used to spin the yarn.

The ultimate goal is to have the whole production line (from cotton seed to t-shirt) in Nicaragua and locally controlled by the people that work there. They also showed us other very impressive projects, like this outhouse that turns human waste into compost without smelling (I was really impressed and wanted to use it, but held back) and also a machine that converts vegetable oil into biodiesel fuel for their cars.

They have given many people in the community an opportunity to become self sufficient without dependence on others and hope to bring those people out of poverty. After learning about the faults of a neoliberal economy, the coops showed us a realistic alternative to globalization and a way for the people to escape the economic patterns into which our world has fallen. The CDCA also mentioned a health care system they developed where the people in Nueva Vida can pay for their health services by working a half day giving back to the community in an approved service project. They are really doing an excellent job in rebuilding the community, stressing the importance of caring about the value of their town, and becoming self sufficient people.

The whole experience of learning about the importance of coops in the real world made me realize that I take the coops in Oberlin for granted. If all the coopers at Oberlin had an economic lesson in neoliberalism and then saw coops that actually improve peoples lives, they would respect the organization more and have a better understanding of why the structure of the coops is so important. Hopefully, that is something we can bring back to Oberlin.

A whirlwind tour of Managua

2010-01-08T07:44:00.000-08:00

Our first full day in Nicaragua was jam-packed. Bright and early we embarked on a tour with Roxanne from Witness for Peace. Two amazing taxi drivers, Michael and his brother Norman, took us to some of the most politically and historically important sites in the city.

Our first stop was the Salvador Allende port on the polluted Lake Managua. There we saw pictures of the old Managua, a very different place from the crumbling, often dangerous city it is today. Lacking money (since foreign aid was embezzled by the Somoza dictatorship), the capital never really recovered from a terrible earthquake that struck in 1972.

A gaggle of children asking for money surrounded us at our next stop in a small park, distracting us from the improptu talk given by a tour guide who seemed like he didn't get many visitors. We´d all been asked for money before but their persistent way of asking for migas (crumbs) was heartbreaking. Roxanne had warned us and given us each a córdoba to give away, but we couldn´t give money to all of them. And really, how much was that going to do for them? It might buy them a snack but it won´t put them in school or keep them healthy.

For me, another very striking part of the tour took place in the Parque de la Paz (peace park), which ironically is very dangerous (we left all our stuff in the taxis and were accompanied by our taxi driver for safety). After the Revolution the government asked all the people of Nicaragua to turn in their weapons and then they buried them in cement in this park, as a sign that the period of violence had ended. Tons of rusty old guns seemed to be spilling out of the hillside, and a tank covered in cement stood as a stark reminder of the past.

As we were leaving the park, the security guard walked up and asked us where we were from. When he heard we were from the US he immediately asked our opinions on US-Nicaragua relations, Obama, and global warming, and we got into a compelling conversation. He talked about how all these wars we´re fighting today stem from greed and our consumer culture is extravagant, unnecessary, and devastating to people and the earth. In my opinion this man was much more in tune with the way things are than most random people you´d meet on the street in the US. Here in Nicaragua of course people believe in climate change--they´re living it with the erratic weather patterns and storms. Many people have seen poverty explode around them or suddenly become dirt poor themselves and they understand how it happens. But we privileged few in the United States have the political influence to change these things, if only we were not so ignorant and could bear to envision a less consumeristic life. Our bananas are grown in Nicaraguan jungles, our clothes are made in Nicaraguan maquilas (often referred to as sweatshops); our lives are connected to the people of Nicaragua. We might not know it yet, but they sure do.

Whew. So that´s my rant for today. Anyway, we´re heading to Granada today and we´re all excited to get to a city where we can walk instead of taxi.

Talking with Witness for Peace

2010-01-08T07:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we spent a good part of the day with Roxanne, the Communications Director of Witness for Peace. This is a really cool organization dedicated to leading delegations that show how U.S. policy affects Latin America, and promoting activism to improve this situation. We met her for breakfast at an excellent vegetarian restaurant called Ananda that had pictures of Hindu Swamis on the wall, and a giant painting of a mandala with an orange in the middle. Also, they had the most delicious fresh fruit juice (we had orange and watermelon). After introducing ourselves, Roxanne jumped right in reviewing Nicaragua´s history from colonization to the present with us. She had us try to place events on a timeline, which despite all the reading I had done on Nicaraguan history before I came, I still found tricky. We talked about colonization as the beginning of a cycle of violence and political unrest, which continued through Nicaraguan history. It was interesting to hear about all the fluctuations between parties, and especially about the U.S. relationship to Nicaraguan politics. The U.S. government, especially beginning with the anti-communist Reagan were desperate to keep the Sandanistas out of power, and spent huge amounts of money funding their electoral opponents. The trend of the U.S. having such a big hand in foreign elections was quite disturbing to me, and really contradicts the United State´s spoken ideals of promoting democracy and self-determination worldwide.

After this history recap, we went on a tour of some Managuan sights, which Michelle will describe in her post. Then, tired from the sun and a bit overwhelmed from all the information we´d been taking in, we headed to the Witness for Peace house for lunch. It was delicious and full of vegetables, and we all appreciated the variety of food since gallo pinto (rice and beans) will no doubt be our staple soon. Roxanne brought out some informative posters and proceeded to give us a whirlwind summary of Neoliberal economic philosophy and how it was failing poor countries like Nicaragua. I was really struck by how the assumption that ¨a rising tide will lift all boats,¨ and ¨wealth will trickle down¨ proved so wrong by the example of Nicaragua. According to Neoliberalism, countries should privatize utilities for cheaper prices and better service, but after Nicaragua sold their national electricity to Union FENOSA, electricity service became both less reliable and vastly more expensive. Nicas call the company ¨union mafiosa.¨ Neoliberalism advocates finding niche products, and specializing in producing these for export. However, when Nicaraguan farmers began growing coffee instead of staple foods, they become vulnerable to international market fluctuation, and end up earning less money from selling coffee than it costs to produce it. And unlike subsistence farmers, they can´t eat coffee and starve if their crops don´t sell. Furthermore, by focusing on cash crops, Nicaragua is dependent on countries like the U.S. for imports of basic foods. Nicaragua´s dependence on foreign economies was a disturbing theme of the economic talk. About 30% of the Nicaraguan budget comes from foreign loans or donations. Loans from the International Monetary fund come with strings attached: Nicaragua must cut social services, and prioritize exports and debt payments. In fact, in 2008, over 50% of the Nicaraguan budget was spent servicing debt. Talking with my group members, we felt that this oppressive system must be the intentional method to let the interests of rich countries win out. I was surprised and disturbed to learn that the U.S. has enough votes to veto any policy of the IMF that it doesn´t like. Even all of Latin America combined doesn´t have this many votes.

We also talked about DR-CAFTA, and its impact on Nicaragua. CAFTA created ¨free trade zones,¨zonas francas en español, and maquilas have sprung up. These are factories where cheap Nicaraguan labor is used to assemble products that are then shipped out. Our taxi driver told us that products assembled there are labeled ¨made in USA." I can´t be sure whether this is true, but it underscores the point that the free trade zones are not really Nicaraguan. Nicaraguan laws don´t apply, and the only benefit Nicaragua gleans are the meager salaries of th workers. However, if the Nicaraguan government tries to create more stringent laws for workers´rights or environmental protection, the companies can sue them for lost profit or just pick up and leave for a country with fewer regulations.

After we had discussed how many ways Neoliberalism was destroying the Nicaraguan economy, I had gotten quite depressed about the whole matter. The system was so oppressive, and yet so entrenched. Roxanne ended the presentation by reminding us that Neoliberalism is not a force like gravity, but a human construct. People made it, so people can change it. We talked about alternative models of development and later went to the Jubilee House (see Marlee´s post), which was really what gave me a more hopeful outlook.

I have to remember that as hard as change may seem, apathy and despair are both bad options. Rather than feeling resigned to the way things are now, we have to have hope that things can change in order to start taking small steps in the right direction. And once we start taking those steps and see that we can in fact make progress, we will be empowered to continue.

Best wishes to all of you.
-Nora

Keeping Safe

2010-01-03T18:28:00.000-08:00

I don't want to be too negative or too much of a mom about our trip, but being robbed in Mexico this past week made me think a lot about preventative measures for safety and also what to do in a (very unlikely) emergency.

To begin with, I'm fine. I was camping on the beach with some friends and in the night a bunch of our stuff was stolen, including my wallet, phone and camera. It was scary, but everything worked out alright and we'll have money for the trip.

Also, on the trip, we have all our hostels and hosts arranged ahead of time, and we'll never be sleeping in a unsecured environment. Most of the hostels even have a safe where we can store our passports and money. During the day, we'll be carrying these things in money belts under our clothes to prevent pickpocketing. No one was robbed on the last delegation, unless you count the rat that munched most of Danielle's granola on Ometepe.

Safety also has a lot to do with how you look and behave. No flashy clothes or jewelry. No talking loudly in English on the bus or wandering around wide-eyed with big ol' digital cameras around our necks. Basically, we will try our best to never send the message that we are a bunch of naive, privileged Americans. We will look like we know where we're going, stick together and keep a low profile. And, especially as women, we will not dress inappropriately or accept drinks (although we will surely be offered some by some locals who think we're the bee's knees).

We will not be carrying an international phone, but we will all buy international calling cards that we can use from any house phone or payphone. That way we can always call if anything goes wrong, both to our main contact Ligia in Nicaragua and to our dears back home. Also, we will post here and e-mail home as often as possible. There are Internet cafés almost everywhere except out in the villages where we will spend a week. There's even one on the island although the Internet is DMV-slow.

Also, I thought we could put everyone's parents' numbers on this blog, so we can access it at any time for communication. My emergency contact is:

Meredith Louria: 310-339-1415 (cell) and 310-581-9033 (home)

Post yours in the comments section!

Alright, that's all for now. Please let me know if anyone has any question. The next time I post we'll be SAFE and sound in Managua!

Thoughts on the FSLN

2010-01-02T10:26:00.000-08:00

Happy new year, everybody! I can't believe 2010 is already here and the trip is so near. I still have a few last-minute things to finish up before we go, but mostly I'm resting up to get over the surprise cold that attacked me earlier this week. I'm determined to get better by Tuesday at the very latest.

In addition to watching unhealthy amounts of TV, I've been using my spare time to read up on Nicaraguan history and politics. So far this has consisted of Wikipedia and Google searches on topics that were brought up in Alice's assigned readings. This admittedly non-scholarly approach to things has helped me gain a very basic understanding of the FSLN's rise to power and their position today. Since Daniel Ortega of the FSLN is president of Nicaragua today, it seems important to know at least a bit of this party's history before going there.

According to the FSLN webiste, it was started in 1961 as a student foundation at the University of Nicaragua in Manauga. The group voiced their stance against the repressive Somoza regime of the 1970's through various means, including lobbying and hostage-taking. In 1977, a group of Nicaraguan professionals, business leaders, and clergymen came together in Costa Rica. Known as "The Group of Twelve," they aimed to create a provisional government to replace the Somoza dictatorship.

They were not the only ones feeling this at the time. After the assassination of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, editor of the newspaper La Prensa, in 1978, the business community organized a strike that called for Somoza's resignation. This began a period of revolt across the nation. By June 1979 Managua was the only urban area that still remained outside of FSLN control, and in July Somoza finally resigned.

The new government promised to organize an effective democratic regime, promote political pluralism and universal suffrage, and ban ideological discrimination, except for those promoting a return to Somoza's rule. The FSLN promoted four main principles of government: political pluralism, mixed economy, popular participation and mobilization, and international non-alignment.

During their rule from 1979-1990 they made progress on a number of social issues with programs such as the highly successful literacy campaign and the more contested poetry workshops. They also created mass organizations that served different functions in society, including the Luisa Amanda Espinoza Nicaraguan Women's Association, the Sandinista Defense Committees, and the National Union of Farmers and Ranchers (UNAG, the group that is hosting most of our stay in Nicaragua!) However, various obstacles prevented them from achieving the truly democratic society they envisioned. Naural disasters coupled with US-backed Contra wars kept inflation rates high and led the FSLN to declare a state of emergency from 1982-1988, during which numerous civil rights were suspended and publications with diverging views, including La Prensa, were censored.

Though they lost a few elections, Daniel Ortega was reelected in 2005. However, I am curious to find out more about the FSLN's current policies because from what I can tell it seems like they have strayed from their original democratic ideals. For instance, Nicaragua's Supreme Court (most likely under influence of Daniel Ortega) recently overturned the 20-year prison sentence of Arnolodo Aleman, former president of Nicaragua and Transparency International's ninth most corrupt leader in recent history. In addition, The FSLN still tends to get a bad rap in the US. When I explained to a (conservative) family friend that we would be working with a union in Nicaragua, she disapprovingly asked if I would be working with socialists.

Rather than political affiliations, I am more curious to learn about what the current government in doing to help the people of Nicaragua. In particular I'm interested in how the "Zero Hunger" program is going (a Google search will explain this better than I could, and you can check out this article that assesses its progress) and other efforts to increase food sovereignty in Central America's poorest nation. It would also be helpful to hear about Ortega's plan for the aftermath of "Hurricane CAFTA," if he has one yet. I'm sure that our meeting with Witness for Peace will help me gain some insights into these topics, in addition to talking to Ligia and our rural host families in Esteli.

OK I think I've rambled long enough now. I hope this is helpful!

A few more thoughts

2009-12-28T09:44:00.000-08:00

Here are my latest musings, conveniently divided into three sections.

DR-CAFTA: Free Trade from a Nicaraguan Perspective
Alice assigned us this reading on the Dominican Republic and Central American Free Trade Agreement. Although the article used a lot of fairly complex economic reasoning, I still managed to understand several disturbing outcomes CAFTA causes. One particularly perverse result is "dumping." The United States can now sell its agricultural products to Nicaragua at such low prices the Nicaraguan products can’t compete. As a result, Nicaragua ends up buying staple foods like rice. Even though Nicaragua can produce its rice more cheaply than the United States, the U.S. rice is subsidized so it can sell it cheaper than the Nicaragua rice producers. This puts already struggling Nicaraguan farmers out of work, and makes Nicaragua dependent on the U.S. for food. At the same time, CAFTA encourages Central American countries to switch from producing staple foods for their own people to growing cash crops like coffee and sugar for export. This puts the economies in Central America vulnerable, if the cash crops do not produce well one year, or if the foreign demand drops. There is something very sinister about this transformation; although Nicaragua has plenty of fertile land and experienced farmers to feed its citizens, CAFTA forces it to import staples and become dependent on the United States.

Micro-loans for Christmas

My brother got me a wonderful Christmas gift this year, especially in light of the upcoming Nicaragua trip. He hung on our tree a piece of paper reading “To Nora and the world.” I unfolded it to find a picture of “El Grupo Renacer,” a group of women in Bolivia working in such jobs as selling groceries, cosmetics or providing cleaning services, who need to be able to take out loans to fund their enterprises. (When I read the description aloud in Spanish, my brother asked, to my amusement, “Can you actually understand that?”) The money my brother donated will go to fund loans to this group. Unlike the OSCA-funded micro-loans, the loan money gets repaid to the donors, but my brother told me he will just continue to reinvest it. I was very pleased to receive this gift instead of some object that would collect dust in my house. It seemed like the perfect way to celebrate the “Christmas spirit” of generosity.

The Challenge of Host Gifts

Also on the topic of gifts, I’ve been facing the challenge of what gifts to bring to my host family, and other people I meet. I spent a lot of time brainstorming with my mom. We would think of a gift, and then debate its usefulness and/or cultural appropriateness for rural Nicaragua. In the end, I decided on getting a bunch of different gifts, since I don’t know exactly who I’ll be giving them to. The gifts I chose have a few common characteristics: useful but attractive, and small enough to easily pack. Here's what I'm bringing: two decks of cards, two nice soaps in reusable boxes, a pair of nice cotton pillowcases, two solar-powered calculators, and a package of colored permanent markers. I hope I made good guesses. I think the OSCA and Oberlin gear the group is bringing will be great for gifts, too.

Yesterday and today I enjoyed the winter weather by going ice skating, and I’m appreciating eating salads and drinking tap water. I’m also trying to go to as many contra dances as possible before I leave. With any luck, I will make it to three this week. I’ve really enjoyed being at home, which is comfortable and relaxing, and I think I am about ready to venture out.

Breaking Rules

2009-12-25T11:13:00.000-08:00

Alice asked us to read an article written by an Oberlin student in one of the college magazines called "Making Peace." The author talks about her experience traveling abroad in Honduras and reflects on the rules and restrictions for Peace Corps volunteers. In both instances, she struggles with balancing safety and the freedom to interact with people. Many delegations and abroad programs enact rules to ensure the safety of their members, and often times more expectations are discovered in the foreign community. For example, a program might tell students not to eat food from street vendors while a community might discourage girls from walking around alone or from interacting with men. It is hard to discern which rules are necessary to follow and which ones can be adjusted in certain situations. On my last trip to El Salvador, one of my issues with the leadership was all the rules they threw at us before even arriving in the village: no eating anything uncooked, no walking around alone, no wearing certain clothes. It bothered me that they were restricting my experience before I even arrived and could evaluate the situation for myself. It made me feel uptight and cautious immediately upon arriving to our destination, as if my primary goal was to protect myself from the hazards of a foreign place. I know they were doing this for our safety and so that we could be perceived in a positive light, but I wanted to happily accept any food they offered us rather than create this boundary that implied I was fragile and different from them. After the trip, one of our leaders told us that when she lived in the village for several months, she did not observe any of the same rules that were imposed on our delegation and that honestly she thought the rules were a little overbearing.

Of course there are rules that are necessary and important to uphold. While the author of the article was living in Honduras, she ignored many of the program's rules because they were limiting her from relating to people. When her host mother prohibited her from walking alone or talking to men, she rebelled and did it anyway. This decision had horrible ramifications, however. By the end of her visit, the community looked down upon her and judged her for being a promiscuous American. When one is so restricted by so many rules, it seems easier to neglect them all and discover the way for oneself. However, there are many cultural differences that we, especially as females, must be aware of when we travel. In many Latin American countries, women work at home and men have professions. The women cook all the meals and serve their husbands first. They are expected to maintain the house without any help and should not walk around alone. This seems odd and is frustrating to us, especially coming from Oberlin where we don't even like limiting people by defining gender (that's why our bathrooms are "gender neutral" and our big dance of the year is Drag Ball). However, I think it is important to be aware of these cultural differences and respect them while we are in Nicaragua. I'm excited that this trip does not have many rules already in place and that I will be able to make those decisions on my own. However, I plan to be very observant when I arrive in the country and want to fulfill the expectations that the community has of me, even if they limit me in some ways.

A Meaty Discussion

2009-12-24T12:40:00.000-08:00

One aspect of the trip we've all had to grapple with is whether or not to eat meat. All four of us keep a vegetarian diet at Oberlin (something easy to do in the mostly-vegetarian co-ops) but I know from the last trip that we will be offered meat by our hosts in San Juan de Limay, and it could be seen as rude or hurtful to refuse it. I had all of us read this article I found about trying to stay vegetarian while abroad, and all the uncomfortable situations it could bring about. I don't agree with everything the piece says (especially the part about travelers pushing locals to incorporate more vegetarian dishes in their usual diet) but it does raise some good issues and make some good suggestions.

After a lot of reflecting, both on the previous trip and since, I've decided that while I'm a dedicated vegetarian, and will keep vegetarian while we're traveling on our own, I'm going to eat meat in Limay when it's served to me by my hosts. It's more important to me to be a good, gracious guest and connect with my hosts, who usually have a diet of rice and beans but serve meat on special occasions (like our visit!) Out with the families I remember only having meat maybe two or three times. It's mostly rice and beans (and tortillas and cheese). But even though they're almost entirely vegetarian by default, they view actually BEING vegetarian by choice as crazy.

I believe we will have enough barriers to overcome already in connecting with people we meet (language, culture, economic class, education, etc.) that I don't want food to become another barrier, another thing that separates me from others. Instead, I want to look at food as what brings me closer to my hosts and helps me connect with them, which is what food should always be--something that brings people together.

Also, my main reason for vegetarianism is concern for the environment (factory farming contributes to climate change more than all transportation combined) and concern for the quality of life of animals raised for meat. These concerns are basically eliminated in the Nicaraguan campo, as everything is done in the most natural, sustainable way possible, and animals live a visibly free and happy life before they become food.

On this trip we represent not just OSCA, but Oberlin and even the U.S. in general. Many of these families have never met someone from the U.S. before, so we want to make sure to leave the best impression possible. I believe that eating meat, like using an outhouse or cooking with firewood, is a hardship we must cheerfully endure in order to bond with our hosts. I even ate pork on the last trip even though that doubly violates my Jewish-vegetarian beliefs.

Also, I'm lucky that I have a strong stomach and wasn't bothered by eating meat after years of vegetarianism. I know that's a big concern for some.

Anyways, those are my rambling thoughts on the issue. I'm glad we're all being forced to think about what we eat and why, which everyone should always meditate on but few do.

2009-12-23T11:35:00.001-08:00

Hi, I'm Marlee. I'm a sophomore at Oberlin and the fourth member of the Nicaragua 2010 delegation. Slightly embarrassed by being the last person to introduce themselves on the blog, which I have no excuse for since all I've been doing since I got home is sitting on my couch and eating ethnic food, I'm excited to begin this blogging experience and share it with whoever is reading. Besides being a waste of life in front of my tv, I've also developed a cold recently, and by being lazy am really just attempting to restore my health and save my energy for Nicaragua. This past semester was rough for me illness-wise (I got both swine and seasonal flu a week apart bridged by a solid case of bronchitis) and I'm hoping I've paid my sick dues and will therefore be healthy for the month of January.

After getting over my illnesses, I spent a lot of time at the end of the semester planning and partaking in fundraisers for our trip. My main event was a concert at our dance club, the Sco', featuring a rock band and live salsa band (killer combination). I was pretty disappointed when I showed up to the Sco' the Saturday night before finals, the only available time slot for our fundraiser, to see about 20 people standing in a line bouncing to the rock band. By midnight and the debut of the salsa band, however, many more people had showed up. And anyways, by that time I was so enveloped in my own dancing that I didn't notice anyone else around me, resulting in some accidental booty bumps. In the end, I had a lot of fun, we made a good amount of money, and it made me really excited to go dancing in Nicaragua. I also learned how to book bands and coordinate a concert, a skill I will probably never need again but is nonetheless useful. I am more than ready to be done with the planning process and actually get to Nicaragua where we can enjoy all our hard work.

Like the other girls, I am excited for the weather (I check weather.com on the daily just to admire the 90 degrees awaiting our arrival) and of course for the fruit. And the monkeys on the volcano-filled island of Ometepe, who will distract us from the possibility of volcanic eruptions under our hostel. I've traveled Latin America a little bit; last January I went to El Salvador with an Oberlin delegation, where we spent about a month living with host families in a small, liberal village called Santa Marta. I think that experience has prepared me for this upcoming trip, the most that one can be prepared going into a situation like this. Living without everyday amenities that I take for granted, such as running water, flushing toilets, warm showers, and food variety, takes getting used to. However, my biggest challenge in El Salvador and my biggest fear about Nicaragua is a) knowing enough Spanish and then b) being confident enough to communicate and develop relationships with the local people. Hopefully my practice from last year will help me adapt more quickly this year and let me be shameless in butchering their language. Besides, I can always just dance with them if I'm at a loss for words (dance is a universal language).

Since getting home from school, I've also been looking into Study Abroad programs and subsequently planned my future. I found this really cool SIT program in Chile called Global Health, Traditional Medicine, and Community Empowerment. And then I looked up the requirements for Oberlin's Latin American Studies major, which is looking more and more appealing. So it's all fitting together: I'll travel Latin America, be premed and major in Latin American Studies at Oberlin, apply my interests by going abroad in Chile, and then become Paul Farmer (the most amazing doctor of all time, if you don't know him look him up!) Now that I've worked out the next 50 years of my life, I can relax in Nicaragua, salsa dance to my heart's content, eat fruit til it's coming out my ears, sleep on hammocks, and of course learn about the history and politics of the country and meet the people that we microfinance through the OSCA Nicaragua Sister Partnership. Hopefully this experience will confirm the interests that I'm developing in medicine in a Latin American context. I also can't wait to connect with the Nicaraguan people that will so graciously let me into their lives, as well as with the three great new Obies that I've just met and will spend lots of quality time with in the next month. Until then, I'll be picking up some anti-malarial medication, reading some required texts for the trip, going skiing, and watching telenovelas in preparation.

Preparations

2009-12-22T09:41:00.000-08:00

Hello! Alice here. Besides getting my shots and anti-malaria medicine, packing, e-mailing like crazy with our various contacts in Nicaragua and assigning more required reading, I've been preparing for this trip by going back through my diary from the last delegation two years ago.

Here are my co-delegates on the 2008 delegation (minus one, Paia, who we met up with a few days into the trip)

I wrote extensively on that trip, chronicling what we did, what I learned, my ideas for the future and anything I wanted to make sure to remember. Going back through the many pages I scribbled has been extremely helpful, and alternately depressing and entertaining. Here are some notes I pulled out:

First, some very specific vocabulary that came in handy on the trip. Nicaraguan Spanish, besides having a different accent and pronunciation, also has different vocabulary.

socio= co-op or union member
cascada= waterfall
varon= man
hembra= woman
atrasado= backward, like a region without industry
ordeñar= to milk (a cow)
maní= peanut
cosechar= to harvest
chiwín= child
tortillar= to make tortillas
hortaliza= vegetables
pulpería= general store
El Señor= Jesus Christ

Then some "good-to-know" notes on culture and custom:

At meals, the men are served first. But we as guests are served even before them. Men also interrupt/speak for their wives. It's uncomfortable sometimes!

People are very proud of their hospitality. One woman said: "Así somos. Recibimos a cada persona que está lejos de su casa." ("That's how we are. We receive anyone who is far from home.")

People will ask you for your phone number. It's good to give it at least as a gesture of connection. They will call you maybe once, if at all.

"Visits" are formal and important. You're expected to dress up a little even to visit a neighbor.

Then there were anecdotes in my diary that, while probably not practically useful for this trip, made me laugh and remember some of the best moments of that trip.

One favorite was when I asked my host mother, Doña Juana, if the people in the village thought it was important that I was there. I was anxious about my usefulness and my place in their society, and felt like a burden. "Of course!" she replied. "Everyone thinks it's very important that you're here." She paused. "Except the neo-liberals. They don't care about anything."

Here I am with Juana and her sister Reina. I promise Juana smiled a lot, despite the difficult life she's lead, but never in a photograph.

Basically, as wonderful as the last trip was, I've resolved to use what I learned then to make this year's delegation even better.

Why I'm SO EXCITED for this trip

2009-12-21T17:27:00.000-08:00

Hi! Like Nora, I've never been much of a blogger, but I'll do my best to convey some of who I am and the things I've been thinking about related to our trip.

Winter is sunny in Texas, though nowhere near as warm as Nicaragua will be. It's been nice to be able to do nothing here at home, especially before this trip. I'm just beginning to realize how intense this is going to be!

We're planning to do so much in such a short amount of time, and we will be in a drastically different environment than I've ever been in. I've spent significant time in Latin America, but that was mostly in Peru where my family lives, and in my experience traveling to visit family is drastically different than planning your own itinerary. Although I love Lima, whenever I travel there I always feel sort of like I'm in a bubble; most of my time in Peru is divided between hanging out with relatives in their extra-barricaded homes and visiting the exclusive Regattas Club with its private beaches, swimming pools, hair salons, sport fields, and restaurants. Even when we go downtown, I feel unnecessarily sheltered. I love my family and I am extremely grateful to them, but I want to be able to chat on a beach with people who didn't have to pay a fortune to get there. I guess I'm excited for the more genuine travel experience that I think Nicaragua will be. I definitely don't expect to "understand" Nicaragua after one month there, but I hope to have met and, hopefully, befriended some of the country's people from all walks of life.

Reading The Jaguar's Smile before embarking on the trip is a really great step to doing this. (Props to Alice for the required reading!) Although by no means a complete history of Nicaragua, the book is really insightful and makes me curious to learn even more. I'm also looking forward to the tour with Witness For Peace.

It's also good to know that every step of the way we will be reflecting on our actions and making at least a small difference to a few women in San Juan de Limay. These are the reasons I'm so excited to be part of this delegation.

I'm also looking forward to the more obvious things, like the beautiful countryside and the FRUIT!! While I was picking up my malaria pills today, and the pharmacist pulled me aside and engaged me in a 10 minute conversation about how his teenage years living in Central America, where his dad was a pharmacist, were some of the best in his life. The descriptions of a slower pace of life, lush greenery, and kind people, and most of all his genuine excitement at being able to share these memories with another person, warmed my soul.

Thinking about the people, the history, the landscape, the good and bad surprises, the food, and a million other things, I can already tell this is going to be a trip I will never forget.

Looking ahead

2009-12-20T21:18:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone. Nora here. I am not a blogger by nature; I am intimidated by the prospect of publishing anything to the World Wide Web, but I'll post something in anticipation of the fast-approaching Nicaragua trip. First, a little about me and what I've been up to lately. I'm an Oberlin first-year student. I'm studying a bit of everything this year: fiction writing, relativity and quantum mechanics (for non-physics majors), Gandhi, language pedagogy (and teaching a first grade class Spanish). Next semester I'm planning to delve into some Latin American history and literature, environmental studies and West African dance. I'm undecided about a major, but Latin American Studies certainly looks appealing.

More about my Oberlin life: I was fortunate enough to get into my first choice dining co-op, so I'm eating in Old B this year. I have been working as Old B's Nicaragua Committee Representative all semester, as one of my co-op "hours." Our committee meetings are always thought provoking and industrious. We've gotten a remarkable amount done, for a small group of over-committed students. I have to give a lot of credit to Alice, our fearless, well-organized leader. We put up a photo and fact gallery in the science center about our partnership. We gave presentations about our partnership (in English and Spanish) to several Oberlin classes. We showed a documentary made on the past delegation in the All-OSCA Film Festival. We wrote a statement on the political and environmental issues with banana production to be read at co-op food policy discussions. We brought a speaker to campus to discuss the School of the Americas and the annual protest against it. And, of course, we did lots of fund raising. After all the planning, the trip is finally within sight.

Monday was a big snowstorm in Massachusetts, and by the time I woke up, we had about 8 inches on the ground. The shoveling was made much more fun by my brainstorm: I should take pictures to bring to Nicaragua!

I documented all of my family members clearing our driveway, as well as sitting in front of our newly-decorated Christmas tree, wanting to have some distinctly New Englandy pictures to bring with me. I've been imagining taking with my Nicaraguan host about my life here, negotiating the challenges of the Spanish language as well as the cultural differences. How easy will it be for me to ask them about their lives, and the struggles they face as rural farmers? I've been thinking a lot this holiday season about all the privileges I have, and what that means in light of my upcoming trip to Nicaragua.

I can already tell how different my life will be while I'm traveling in Nicaragua than it is at the moment. The temperature in Estelí is in the 80s, compared to the 20s here. I will have to rise with the sun to help my hosts with farm chores, instead of sleeping in as I have been since I got home.

As the trip nears, it's becoming more real to me. I have already gotten annoyed at myself for leaving an excellent pair of traveling shorts in my Oberlin dorm room. Fortunately, I have the most essential things: my indispensable red backpacking pack, and my passport. I'm sure everything else will fall into place. I'm getting my vaccinations, and thinking of gifts to bring for the people who will generously host us.

On the plane ride home from Oberlin, I read the Nicaragua guidebook, and was glad that so much sounded familiar. The trip I took to Nicaragua last summer with a group from my high school was one of the main reasons I immediately sought out the Nicaragua Sister Partnership Committee when I joined OSCA. I was thrilled to get the chance to return this January, to get to know the country better and make all the issues we talk about at our weekly committee meetings real.

Judging from my experience on my last visit to Nicaragua, as well as everything Alice tells me, this trip will certainly have its ups and downs. As someone who likes everything to go as planned, I will have to adapt to the unpredictability of travel. My stomach will inevitably have some adjusting to do to the Nicaraguan diet. I may become disillusioned and feel like I am unable to do anything helpful. However, I know that this trip will let me make connections with people and learn things that I simply could not do from a classroom in the United States. I can't wait to see how it unfolds.

Who we are, why we are

2009-12-15T11:37:00.000-08:00

Saludos! My name is Alice Ollstein, and I'm the coordinator this year of the Nicaragua Sister Partnership Committee of the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association, or OSCA. Our committee facilitates the relationship between OSCA and the National Union of Farmers and Ranchers, or UNAG, in San Juan de Limay, Nicaragua. Specifically, we've maintained a micro-loan fund for unionized female farmers in that area. Members can take out small loans to buy livestock, seed or other necessary items like school supplies for their children. When the loans are repaid, the money can be taken out by other women.

The relationship started with a cooperative in Vermont, which had set up a revolving micro-loan fund. The Vermont co-op dropped out of the relationship in 2002, leaving OSCA as the sole supporter of the project.

Every year the entire membership of OSCA — 620 members this year — must vote on whether or not to donate money to this loan fund and how much. Just last week, the students voted to give $5,000, and $2,000 of that will come from donations from each student's refund check. Because mail is so unreliable, the Winter Term delegations hand-deliver the checks to the women.

San Juan de Limay

San Juan de Limay is a small, rural town to the northwest of Estelí. It is the hottest, driest municipality in the region and has the highest poverty rates. Due to the scarcity of rain, farmers struggle to grow enough on the land to support their families and any livestock they own. The effects of global climate change are taking their toll here, with droughts making the land increasingly difficult to farm. Hurricane Mitch devastated the region in 1998 and many homes still show signs of destruction.

The U.S.-backed Contra Wars also hit San Juan de Limay especially hard because of its proximity to the Honduran boarder. Many have traumatic memories of the violence they witnessed.

Since it is so hard to make a living in San Juan de Limay, many of the men and women emigrate to Costa Rica or the United States. As a result, San Juan de Limay has almost no local industry. The people of San Juan de Limay make their living mostly through agricultural work, cultivating corn and raising cattle. Communication and travel is difficult. Few buses go to San Juan de Limay, so most travel by hitch-hiking. Some UNAG members in San Juan de Limay have told the Nicaragua Sister Partnership that UNAG is the only organization to have helped them.

Our Trip

Every other January Winter Term, OSCA sends a small group (4-5 students) down to Nicaragua to deliver our funds by hand and to strengthen and improve our relationship with the UNAG. The trip, planned by the delegates themselves, usually involves one week traveling and learning about the history of Nicaragua and two or more weeks with the UNAG, living with host families and learning how we can improve our partnership and the Loan Fund. Before the trip, the delegates fundraise to make the trip accessible to anyone.

The trip is not a service trip. We aren't going to impose any project on a community or tell them what we think is best for them. We are going to learn, to strengthen a long-standing relationship and to facilitate mutual understanding. On the trip two years ago, the delegates realized how poorly we understood the UNAG and how it functions, and how little the UNAG members knew about OSCA. The trip is important for fixing that, and for making sure they don't just see OSCA as this faceless organization that sends them money. We want to practice solidarity, not charity.

Please check back often as myself and the other delegates chronicle our trip!