Author: alwaysbridging

This has been quite an odd summer electronically from my perspective. First, I audited SPANISH 201 at our nearby university which required registering and then regularly using three new-to-me internet sites in no time flat. Even though I was asked to turn in the district’s Lenovo computer before my sabbatical, I successfully pleaded for an extra month of use because the course was, after all, “work-related.” Thank God! Our flunky five-year-old HP machine was definitely not up to that task! After I finally relinquished it, I managed to hobble through the necessary emails on my iPhone while we were on vacation. I didn’t really give stronger devices a second thought until we returned from Michigan in early August. That’s when I had two robust tasks at hand: continuing and extending the gofundme bridge to Nicaragua and helping build a cancer caring bridge.

Fortunately for me the Nicaragua connection is a joint one. Someone I’ve never laid eyes on—Sara Clark—has become one of my favorite heroes of all time. With a team of Nicaraguan women, she started https://www.gofundme.com/colibrielchile. During the liminal airspace and time between Lenovo and vacation, I was able to write an update for the site using my phone. Sara intercepted those few flimsy paragraphs then corrected my errors three times before the piece was acceptable. She kindly explained I was easy to deal with compared to the bankers and politicians involved in international transfers. Regardless of any challenging gyrations the donations increased and are continuing toward our stretch goal of $15,315. More importantly the first payment is now safely in the hands of Marlene, my host Mom, aka sister-in-laughter, and the other teachers, hosts and traditional weavers in Matagalpa. It’s easy to forget any bumps on the passageway, given the sweet success at this halfway mark.

Meanwhile I tried to update the HP to Windows 8.1 and lost Office. Argh!

THEN my brother-in-law Monte learned he has pancreatic cancer. Finally the sleeplessness and pain that has been wracking him for the past ten months sadly makes sense. Who gives a rat’s ass about computers any more or anything I might have to say about my electronic ineptitude and frustration? Monte is one great guy—husband to my sister Melissa, father to my nieces and nephew and grandfather to Sage, Lily, Nate and Ben. Besides he’s fun, makes a great breakfast and tells wonderful stories. Regardless if cancer kills him or he recovers, there’s no denying the unknown turbulent stretches he’s got ahead of him. The poor guy’s never really enjoyed marijuana either so doesn’t even have that going for him (yet!) And then there’s Melissa, don’t get me started…blubber, boohoo, blubber, blubber.

The good news for me in this sorrowful time is I got off my bum, took the HP to the Microsoft store and convinced them to reinstall Office (and download the 145 fixes while they’re at it) for free. In the time before that could actually happen, I borrowed Rob’s iPad and Carolina’s MAC for the afternoon and shuffled through what it took to start a Caring Bridge website for my sis and her beloved: https://caringbridge.org/visit/montepittz.

It’s hard to be so far away from my loved ones in these dark times, both my friends in another country and my family on the other side of the state. With this in mind, I’m not about to bad-mouth social-media-type sites. Sure, Facebook and Instagram can have light-weight, fair weather, voyeuristic characteristics. But when the going gets rough similar electric waves can even create food and lifelines. We simply have to take the steps, regardless of how rutted and gnarled they may seem, construct the bridges with whatever tools we have, ask for help widely and accept it when it comes. As a result, my Nicaraguan friends are now feeding their families and, less than a week later, the fantastic M & M team are turning their strong web of friendships into a visual net of prayers, photos and good will. I visit these sites daily myself where I find welcome encouragement.

(English translation follows the Spanish.)

No puedo imaginar que haya una disrupción más grave en la vida de un niño que cuando se lo separa de su mamá o su papá en la frontera. Según John Bowlby en su teoría de apego, la niñez temprana es el más importante tiempo para desarrollo de bienestar socialemotional de niños. Se necesitan los abrazos y cuidado de adultos como padres, abuelos, tíos, tías, etc. Una investigación reciente que se llama Estudio de ACES – en español, Experiencias Adversos de Niñez – probaban que eventos como separación hacen heridas profundas como heridas fisicas. Posiblemente algunos niños sean elásticos pero creo que la majoría de estos niños crecerán con problemas psicológicos y de comportamiento.

Entonces, no debemos solo mirar los eventos porque nosotros somos los privilegiados. Creo que debemos protestarlos. También, conozco las personas nicaragüenses que se enfrentan a dificultades en su país. Aunque se quieran quedar en Nicaragua en sus propias casas con sus familias, necesitan viajar a Costa Rica o los Estados Unidos para trabajo. Ahora por mis amigos, entiendo esta gran migración presente. Probablemente evolucionemos de una mezcla de los pobres y los ricos. Claro, ya está sucediendo.

Hasta que la mezcla sea justa y completa, creo que debemos compartir nuestra riqueza tanto como entendimientos simpáticos. Si quieres donar dinero para apoyar personas quedarse en sus casas, puedes visitar  http://www.gofundme.com/colibrielchile.

Muchísimas gracias.

We Share

I can not imagine there is a more serious disruption in a child’s life than when he/she is separated from his/her mother or father at the border. According to John Bowlby in his theory of attachment, early childhood is the most important time for the development of the social emotional well-being of children. Hugs and adult care are needed from parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc. A recent investigation called the ACES study – Adverse Childhood Experiences – proved that events like separation cause deep wounds similar to physical wounds. Possibly some children are resilient but I suspect many of these children will grow up with psychological and behavioral problems.

So, since we are the privileged ones we should not simply watch these events. I think we should protest them. Also, I know Nicaraguan people who face difficulties in their country. Although they want to stay in Nicaragua in their own homes with their families, they need to travel to Costa Rica or the United States for work. Now because of my friends, I understand this great present migration. We probably are evolving into a mixture of the poor and the rich anyway. Surely, it’s already happening.

Until the mixture is fair and complete, I think we should share our wealth as well as sympathetic understandings. If you want to donate money to support people staying in their homes, you can visit http://www.gofundme.com/colibrielchile.

Many thanks.

La semana pasada almorcé con mi amigo quien trabaja en la universidad. Pronto él se retirará de su empleo en finanzas y comenzará la escuela de cocina. Me dijo de su ministerio voluntario a la Catedral de San Marcos con comida y discusiones pasadas sobre un café allí. Mi mente empezó a girar. Si conseguimos un contrato con la catedral para un café en el espacio a lado de su libreria, los empleados y miembros tendrán servicios de un café cercano. También, cualquier persona de la comunidad sería bienvenida para disfrutarla.

Al principio de nuestra propuesta a la Junta Directiva de la iglesia explicaremos – “Con el café comercio justo y música del mundo en vivo, centraremos nuestros esfuerzos que contribuyan a destacar las culturas que nos rodean.”

Para esta empresa, uno necesita un capellán, un jefe y un curador de la música. Yo conozco un capellán posible. Él sueña con ser un sacerdote y habla español e inglés con fluidez. Además mis hijos, una cocinera y un músico, podrían ser voluntarios en un café. Si trabajamos con un comité de consejo que incluye líderes de negocios comunitarios, encontraremos buenas personas para estos trabajos. Quizás mi amigo jubilado ofrecerá su consejo financiero (y sus productos de panadería hechos en casa también).

Por supuesto, se necesita dinero para invertir en este negocio. Si mi esposo y/o mis amigos tienen intéres en este proyecto, tendremos inversiones para comenzar. Tal vez, un café puede donar algunas de las ganacias a otros proyectos relacionados como la iglesia bilingüe en Renton que se llama Our Lady of Guadalupe Episcopal e El Fundo de San Marcos en Nicaragua. Con esta idea, una jefa talentosa, voluntarios dedicados, alimento delicioso y música divertida e inversionistas, un café podría tener éxíto. ¡Ojalá!

SPAN 201 – Composición 3, 9/7/2018

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

Estudio español en la Universidad de Washington este verano. Hay seis estudiantes en mi clase y mi profesora fue la profesora de mi hijo hace diez años. Ayer, recibí la cuenta de la matrícula. Era solamente $24.02 porque soy una vieja y puedo auditar las clases por una tarífa baja. ¡Qué buena suerte! La composición segunda para esta clase se supone contar que pasó en mis años de instituto como lo recuerdo.

Desde instituto he ido un hilo fuerte de todas cosas de conexión con otras personas en mi vida personal y profesional. Tenía suerte porque era suficiente inteligente y las tareas de instituto fueron fáciles para mí. Asi que no estudiaba mucho sino que hablaba con mis amigos. Al tiempo, jugaba tenis o hockey cada tarde con otras en los equipos deportes. No era muy atlética sino que era suficiente coordenada y activa. También los deportes me dababan las oportunidades de juntarme con mis amigas.

No aprendía español en escuela sino que estudiaba francés. Esta materia no era muy interesante pero el verano después de instituto, viajé con un grupo de mi iglesia a México. Enseguida mi interés en otras lenguas se cambió porque había escuchado a hispanohablantes quienes estaban hablando su idioma nativo. Me di cuenta que saber otras lenguas es una manera de más conexión. Ahora, al cabo de décadas, lo estoy estudiando por fin.

Influencias afueras de instituto me afectaban tanto como mis amigos y las materias académicas. Por ejemplo, mi prima nació con discapacidades. Entonces eso y mi personalidad social hacían una combinación de psicología y educación una carrera buena para mi. En mis cincuenta, añadía español a la mezcla. En realidad, cuando terminé cuarto años de instituto, ya había empezado la trayectoria de mi vida.

Penny Reid, SPAN 201 Composición 2, 29/6/2018