Mis Queridas (My Loved Ones),
Yesterday I had my first lesson via Skype with mi querida maestra (my dear teacher) at Colibrí School in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. If you’re like me you are wondering what in the world is really going on there?! Between my lesson with Diana and emails with the school’s founder Noelia Corrales, I am understanding more. I am sad in the depths of me. Add to this a slightly increased political understanding of “caudillos” (Franco, Somoza, Ortega, Trump, etc.) from my Barcelonian Spanish professor. It is easy to despair.
So I was glad to receive the opportunity to donate to Feeding Innovation in Nica Crisis. Noelia vouches for this intermediary – thank you and may God bless you, Sara Clark – and that is good enough for me. I have been assured that contributing in this way (as well as signing up for Skype lessons at $12US per hour through Colibrí ‘s secure site) is the best way to support our friends at this time. Through lessons you too can add to your Spanish vocabulary with words like “tranque.”
This brick dam is a form of peaceful, smart resistance. It was built in our beloved Matagalpa by the people to slow traffic and therefore the economy. This is one way to alert the president and vice president (his wife) and encourage them to step down. For recent background as I understand it, unrest exploded this spring when the government refused assistance from Costa Rica and other Central American countries to quell the forest fire in Indio Maíz Reserve. This is a protected area where business collided with the environment in the quest for African palm oil production that led to deforestation. Next, social security was rescinded. The elderly in León protested first and were beated back. Since then – April 18 is a key date – many around the country have responded in protest. Benefits were restored but not trust, beleaguered though it was.
That said, my concern is for mi familia nicarangüense (my Nicaraguan family) and indigenous women in Matagalpa. As you can imagine, the arrival of tourists has fallen off completely. Tourism is the livelihood of many and one way we have been able to share our wealth with largesse in the past. Now it’s gofundme. After all, I want to make sure our friends have enough to eat.
You can help meet Feeding Innovation’s stretch goal of $14K. As you will see at the site, no gift is too large or too small.
For me, here is the true advantage of social media. No más fronteras (no more borders), people! Let’s make this happen.
Con mucho amor,
Penny
Always Bridging 