NEWTON/SAN JUAN DEL SUR

SISTER CITY PROJECT

NEWSLETTER FALL 2004

SHIPMENT TO SAN JUAN LEAVES OCTOBER 9^TH

This year, because we were unable to send our annual shipment in June, we want to send enough material in the container leaving Worcester on October 9 for three communities of SanJuaneños: the two who built their schools in 2004 and those in Cebadilla, who will be building (after a delay) in 2005. So be particularly generous this September. All donations should be delivered to 68 Pembroke St. Newton Corner by Oct 1.

As usual we focus on SHOES, SUMMER-WEIGHT CLOTHES (especially clothes and shoes for men & babies and maternity clothes); SCHOOL SUPPLIES (and small toys). Donations should be packed in sturdy cardboard boxes as densely as possible, labeled but not sealed. We also want to send as many SEWING MACHINES as we can collect.

Ernesto Contreras, right, a professor in the Free High School for Adults, has been chosen by the Ministry of Education to help prepare a new nationwide math curriculum. Prof. Maria Dolores Silva (left) and Judith Markley (center). Story page 2.

BOOKMOBILE A SMASHING SUCCESS; NEW COMMUNITIES ADDED

Just back from an extended stay in San Juan, SCP Executive Committee member Meaghan Fields reports terrific progress in extending the reach of the Biblioteca Móvil or BookMobile, one of the independent projects in San Juan we support by sending books. “Since I arrived, the Mobile Project as expanded to include 5 additional communities, including the Rodney & Betsy Barker School in Nuevo Amanecer (La Rejega). That’s over 350 new participants (library cardholders). The Project has grown from serving just 6 communities to 18, and from 600 participants to 1350.” The following quote from Melania Bardes Vanegas, one of the supervisors of a cluster of rural schools in the San Juan district, explains why the BookMobile director, Jane Mirandette, decided to incorporate additional communities:

“I would like to have the rest of the schools that I supervise incorporated into your Mobile project as well. The teachers at the Las Pampas school have told me about the change in their students, which began after the BookMobile’s first visit. Now, their students are more interested in all their studies and their education. They wait excitedly for the Project’s next visit so they can exchange their books and take out news ones. Before the Project, there were some children who could not read. Now, they are reading. They are fascinated by books. Their imaginations are growing as is their desire to learn.”

HABITAT/SAN JUAN del SUR:

14 Houses finished, 10 to go

Thanks to the tireless work of Richard Krushnic of the Sister City Project, a Habitat for Humanity committee has been formed in San Juan, and 14 new homes were completed by the end of the summer. Richard and his wife Susan Markowitz took a group of 17 young and midlife people from Newton, Boston, the Cape, and Connecticut to work on the houses in July. Richard writes:

“The home design picked to match the pocket books of the first 14 selected families in San Juan del Sur is about 350 square feet plus a 30 square foot porch. Two bedrooms and a tiny bathroom make up a little over half of the house, and the rest is a single living-dining-kitchen room. The bath has a toilet, sink and shower. Wastes go into a septic tank that drains into the environment without the benefit of a leach field. The houses are set up to cook on a bottled gas burner, but the bottle, line and burner are not provided. No additional kitchen sink is provided. Construction is of poured concrete (with rebar), corner posts and beams, and brick walls. The roof rafters are steel and the roof is corrugated zinc-plated iron.

“The average cost of each of these 14 homes is about $4,400, or $11+ per square foot: a$3,800 mortgage plus roughly $560 of out-of-pocket and/or sweat-equity labor, plus the roughly $40 per house in materials and labor provided by the Newton delegation.

“Habitat National Nicaragua will finance all of an initial project for a new affiliate, but requires that the local affiliate finance at least 10% of the cost to of subsequent groups of homes. Early in 2004, the Rivas

director, Isabel Medrano, communicated to Richard that the minimal affiliate share for a second group of 10 homes would be $3,200. Several Boston area families raised the $3,200 and placed in on deposit in the Rivas Habitat account by mid-June, 2004. While the summer 2004 delegation was in SJDS the last 4 of the 10 families were qualified and had their land titles cleared, and construction began on 10 new homes. The same design will be used for this second group.”

“Every one of the families was absolutely thrilled with their home, and acknowledged that they would have no chance of getting a decent home if it weren’t for Habitat. Some of them are very frightened regarding the monthly mortgage payments. They are all resigned to their mortgage fates.”

The summer delegation also included Mary Haaland and her brother John O’Connor, as well as Newton North HS teacher Fiona Blythe. The work crews included Lizzie Krushnic, Nat Royer, Mike Katz, Aaron Kaplan, Drew Vello, Julie Caplow, Abby Fischer, Becky Fogel, and Eliza Royer. Lizzie, Abby, and Julie joined Jerry Crosby to work with Fidel Pavon on the construction of a number of “Eco-Stoves” (see below).

Richard also traveled to Brookline’s Sister City, Quezalguaque and to nearby Leon’s regional Habitat office. On his return he reported to the folks in Brookline, who are ready to support a Habitat affiliate in Quezalguaque.

The Free High School for Adults: Good News!

Prize-winning student, nationally-recognized teacher

A rural student, Jairo Martinez, won first place in the Latin-American Math Olympics at the municipal level (competing with students from Mongalo and Stella Maris in SJdS and from high schools in Cardenas and Sapoa) and then went on to win second place at the department level. Jairo is an eighteen-year-old from Pueblo Nuevo, near the Costa Rican border. His teacher there is one of the High School’s own 2002 graduates, Rigoberto Flores. Jairo’s success shows that, although students do not go full time, and rural students do not receive classes directly from in-town professors, the instruction is of the highest quality, and even students who have been out of school for many years can excel.

Two in-town professors, Maria Dolores Silva and Ernesto Contreras (Math, Chemistry, Biology), were chosen to participate in national workshops in the teaching of Spanish and Math, taught by faculty from Oklahoma. Judith Markley, of the Global Education Fund, an advisor to the Minister of Education, organized the workshops. Ernesto Contreras was then chosen to replicate the workshop for math teachers all over the country, developing workbooks that will become the new norm for secondary schools.

Successful Party Raises $12,695

After the Nicaraguan revolution, Valerie Miller was the only American trusted enough to be invited to work with the world-famous literacy crusade of 1980. Miller spoke compellingly at a June solidarity party and fund-raiser at the home of Margaret Morganroth Gullette and David Gullette. In her book about her experiences, Between Struggle and Hope, Miller writes that the literacy program was the first national program undertaken by the Sandinistas, the first step toward the creation of new citizens.

In SJdS in 2001, it was new graduates of “Empowering Women Through Literacy” who asked for further education. Of the school’s 346 current students, the majority–211--are women. Many have children.Half–170--are rural. The Free High School reaches the forgotten.

For this cause, people made extraordinary efforts. Lauren Peck, a junior at Newton South, sent a fundraising letter to 50 people, and raised $1500, matched dollar-for-dollar by the Zussman Charitable Foundation. Newton North’s graduating class, under the leadership of Will McLaughlin, donated $2000 of their class gift to the free High School and another $2000 to the Sister City Project. The Agostino Foundation, a long-term friend, made a gift of $2000. Kristen Sullivan, a nursing student who went with a Simmons group in January, raised $300 from her church, saying, of director Rosa Elena Bello, "It was amazing to work with her and see all the wonderful opportunities that she has made happen for the people of San Juan with your help.” Individual donations came from as far away as Florida,Wisconsin, and California.

Sponsors and hosts included Roz and Ross Feldberg, Ralph Fine, Valerie Miller, Susan Markowitz, Lauren Peck, Andrea Petersen, Freda Rebelsky, Maxine Shaw (Brookline/ Quezalguaque Sister City), and Nancy Zollers (Union Church).

The budget for 2005, which also includes Computer and English Language Schools and a day-care center, will be over $27,000, so fund-raising continues. If you can help find new donors, call Margaret at 617-965-2164.

UNION CHURCH PUTS THE AGUA IN NICARAGUA AGAIN!

57 FAMILIES GET PURIFIED MUNICIPAL WATER

Once again a delegation from The Union Church in Waban has made a splash in San Juan del Sur. The Feb 16-20 Delegation of 11 people had raised $2600 to repeat their 2003 effort in Barrio Holman; this year however, the folks from Barrio Waban and Barrio Las Delicias worked side by side until 57 families were hooked up to the municipal system of potable water. Group leader Nancy Zollers praises the year’s worth of advance work done by Fidel Pavón, who organized the community to get the trenches mostly dug before the Newtonians arrived. Rafael Ruiz scouted out the best prices for PVC tubing and fixtures, and arranged for permits and the purchase of water meters (they’re not free!) At the end of the week had a big celebratory party!

“ECO-STOVES” PROJECT MOVES FORWARD

The “Ecofogon” or “Eco-Stove” project mentioned in earlier Newsletters has leapt ahead. Assisted by Lizzie Krushnic, Abby Fischer, and Julie Caplow, the indefatigable Fidel Pavón built a mould for the mass production of these concrete boxes with legs & chimneys; they use half the wood of open-fire cooking, and both women and children avoid breathing smoke all day. Fidel recently sent a list of the 10 most recent recipients of these Newton-financed low-tech wonders.

NEWTON NORTH AND BOSTON COLLEGE MAKE THEIR FIRST SJ TRIPS

Newton North High School now joins Newton South in sending delegations of students to San Juan del Sur during February break. Led by Fiona Blythe, the NNHS group worked with teachers and students in a number of schools. Michael Malec of the Boston College Department of Sociology led his first-ever group of students down in March. Among other things, they worked with kids in the large primary school in town to paint a lively mural on the wall of the new library in the schoolyard. To see a delightful online slideshow of the BC activities, go to www2. edu/~malec and follow the links.

MEDICAL ISSUES LIST-SERVE BEGUN; MISSIONS PLANNED FOR 2005

We have begun a list-serve for sharing ideas about medical issues of concern to the people of San Juan del Sur. If you’d like to be added to the list (and receive earlier exchanges) write david.gullette@simmons.edu. Once again Nursing and Physical Therapy students from Simmons College will work with optometrists from Volunteers in Optometric Service to Humanity (January) and the dentists of Project Stretch will go down in late February. Our first Harvard Medical Student, Moses Graubard, spent two months in San Juan this summer working on Peer Group AIDS education.

VISIT SAN JUAN/ STUDY SPANISH

If you’d like to visit San Juan del Sur but don’t speak Spanish, contact the Playas del Sur Spanish Language School: they’ll pick you up at the airport, arrange a homestay with a family, and give you one-on-one tutoring in Spanish, leaving plenty of time for volunteer work or just lazing about.