REPORTS FROM THE PROJECTS - NICARAGUA
Staff Encuentro - May 29 to June 2, 2005
Encuentro (Spanish term meaning gathering or meeting.): CFCA gathering of staff in a region where CFCA serves. Participants share stories, methods, ideas and hopes for the future of CFCA in the region.
I write as usual while going down the road in some sort of vehicle. This time we travel with our friend Don Santos Perez through the verdant Guatemalan highlands among spectacular views from on high of our special Lake Atitlan. Thanks be to God, we have been spared major damage from Hurricane Adrian. On the contrary, in our part of the country, we have been blessed with gentle rains. Most fields are adorned with a hopeful sembrador (scattering of seeds), planting the sacred corn. I share my orange with a shoeshine entrepreneur at the Texaco station in Godinez.
Cristina and I are en route to the airport in Guatemala City and from there to Managua. After a pleasant flight of about one hour, we land in a humid and warm Managua. We are kindly met by Carmen Gonzalez, coordinator of Project Managua, which now serves over 8,000 children, teens and aging in Nicaragua. Rafael Villalobos, regional director for Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica, arrived by Greyhound Service from San Jose. Lolia Lozano and Ana Martinez, arriving on the evening flight from Kansas City, completed our itinerant team. On this, the first night of our gira (visit) through Nicaragua, we celebrated Rafael’s 43rd birthday. Lots of good conversation over tortilla soup, burritos and live guitar music at the rustic Maria Bonita Restaurant.
After a short night and a sauna-like workout, we head in our rented 4WD Hyundai northeast out of Managua toward Muy Muy. We travel through this long-suffering country of lakes, volcanoes, invasions and dictators, Sandinistas, Contras, constant poverty and so much more. One measure of the poverty could be the thousands of street vendors we see working almost every crossroad and the myriad of half-starved horses pulling overloaded wagons.
Muy Muy
We have 2,639 sponsored in the three municipalities of Matiguas, Esquipulas and San Dionisio and the 25 smaller communities surrounding them.
With the road conditions and rain, it takes the better part of three hours to reach Muy Muy. We greet project staff, and Carmen, a CFCA university scholar who helps in the office in gratitude for her scholarship. Carmen is studying banking and finance.
We celebrate an inspiring rural gathering with sponsored families in the province of Balsamo. We stop to enjoy the religious music of the four-member group who need no microphone to be heard on the other side of the mountain. Don Luis, a parish catechist “Delegado de la Palabra” (Delagate of the Word) for 25 years, explains what it was like in these hills during the war. He teaches catechism to 60 sponsored children, and he could really use a guitar to help with that challenge. We visit several families up on the ridge. This is my kind of place, where horses and feet are the only way to travel, poor in every way except the breathtaking view into forever. We visit two admirable, struggling mothers, Rosita and Angelina, who are barely scratching out an existence for their children. With each passing day, these strong mothers are able to think less and less about feeding themselves. Happy Mother’s Day, dear Rosita and Angelina; you are in our prayers.
Matagalpa
We currently have sponsored 370 children and 10 aging in the dilapidated urban areas of Matagalpa.
I read that the area of Matagalpa is an off-centered agricultural-based economy, where the cow pies seem to signify the misguided desires of avaricious cattle barons. When the bottom fell out of the coffee economy, thousands of campesina (rural) families were forced to emigrate to the peripheral slums of Matagalpa. Spending this day among dulce (sweet) children, headed up by valiant abandoned mothers, causes me to breathe a prayer, “Thank you, Lord, for the CFCA program in these neighborhoods.” In subproject staff members Ana Julieta and Marta, CFCA has found good, solid local leadership for the project of Matagalpa. They even support an impressive database with information on each child.
In Matagalpa, we enjoy a very special gathering during most of the morning of May 25 with about 60 mothers and three fathers. This barrio sits precariously on the steep side of a mountain overlooking Matagalpa. With no bathrooms, no running water, no plumbing, and one line of borrowed electricity, the challenges are many in this area. Here 16 families living in extreme poverty now have reason to hope through the presence of the CFCA project. Several parents are dynamic leaders in their respective communities: Blanca , Blanca Jeannette, Enoelia, Dora.
A natural leader, Dora describes herself as thin and agile, so as to be able to handle the rough terrain of the well-named Barrio El Calvario (translated best as Calvary, or a metaphorical cross to bear). At age 48, Dora is raising two granddaughters whose mother died of insecticide poisoning. Dora herself is now studying fourth-grade elementary. I’m no orthodontist, but I observe that a simple set of dentures would help Dora and probably keep her healthy. Recently, she has ably headed up 125 families in pressuring the municipal government to allot them a piece of property where landslides will not be such an imminent danger. Our meeting with the families in El Calvario includes songs, prayers, personal interventions and conversations with the mothers. The great majority of these women are heading up their households alone. According to Dora, some men hook up with the single mothers with intentions fixed on their daughters; “First the trunk, then the branches.” They explain that one of their biggest problems is a lack of opportunity for work. They also express deep gratitude for the fact that they had all been personally visited in their homes by local CFCA staff.
We spend the afternoon and evening in two neighborhoods of extreme need: Barrio El Calvario and Barrio Lucidia Mantilla. Unforgettable is a young mother with a 15-day-old baby, standing shyly in the door of her leaky shack, abandoned by her “live-in” with no food, no medicine and little hope. Into this picture, by the grace of God, CFCA offers a welcoming community of compassion. Through personal outreach, we have the opportunity to literally save lives and, if we remain open to God’s grace, perhaps be converted ourselves.
Quebrado Honda, Department of Madriz near the Honduran border
At the present time, we have 119 outgoing and affectionate children sponsored here.
A total of 87 families form a total of 400 people in the community. The children have the chance to go to school in a loving atmosphere. They also receive a hot meal each day, special training in arts, crafts, music, religious and values formation. We enjoy lunch with the children in the comedor (cafeteria) which doubles as a major gathering place for students and parents. Four elementary school children perform folkloric dances, followed by a chorus of young men, a pre-school singer and the adventures of “Pancho Lopez” by Bob. During the show, we receive a heavy downpour. We were a bit concerned about the possibility of flash flooding on the rivers we had to cross on the way to El Sauce, where we will spend this night.
El Sauce
486 children and 17 aging currently make up this subproject.
El Sauce is known as one of the warm spots of Nicaragua. I’m hopeful that the good rains we are having will help cool things down. It is considerably after sunset when we reach El Sauce. Franciscan Sisters Maria Elena and Yadira, coordinator of this subproject, come over to our little Hotel Blanco to visit about the project in general and to plan a little for tomorrow’s program. Lots of laughs as we tell them about our adventures on the road.
We enjoy a couple of hours with mothers, children and teens. Rafael leads the parents in meaningful community dynamics. Mothers share openly and emotionally about their reality, about abandonment, and lack of opportunities for work.
After this gathering, we visit the home of 11 year old Juanita. Since her mother died two years ago, she has been raised by her elderly and infirm grandmother. The grandmother also cares for the brother of Juanita, who has been severely affected by meningitis. He is 16, but looks about 6 years old.
Leon-La Salle
For me it’s exciting to experience the CFCA program in action, helping the Christian Brothers to offer very poor children a first-class education. Lots of creativity here and enormous amounts of energy initiated by Brother Daniel Garcia and distributed by a dynamic staff. We spend the night in the Brothers’ community. With the tremendous heat, I was grateful for the window air conditioner.
Planes de Arenal
This is an attractive community near Masaya. Poor, yes, but beautiful in the community spirit one breathes here. A caravan of berlinas (horse-drawn carts) navigates us through the fields to the shade of the huge mango tree, where we have a great sharing session. We listen to the excitement of two sponsored families who recently received from CFCA a new simple home to live in. In this rural setting, we hear from a young mother, Josefa whose own mother died three years ago and father died less than one month ago. Her husband has gone off with a younger girl, completely abandoning Josefa and the five children. The oldest, a boy of 14, is now suffering with a high fever. The CFCA team has purchased medicine for him, though all of her children are quite thin and sickly. Mother works six days a week from 6:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. in a textile sweatshop in Masays earning 35 Cordobas per day ($2 USD). She expresses a remarkably positive attitude about helping her needy neighbors and rejoices in the progress of those families who have received housing.
Managua, Subproject EMA Maria Auxiliadora
Bethlemite Sister Ana Lilian, enjoys her work with the sponsored families in the area called Maria Auxiliadora. She visits them in their homes and knows the names of the children and their siblings. Their folkloric presentation is calidad (of high quality) as usual. Rafa gives an excellent reflection on CFCA values to parents and sponsored. Bob’s song “Vamonos Patria,” with its Nicaraguan flavor, helps to set the tone for a good sharing after the show.
Monday, May 30 - Mother's Day in Nicaragua
This is the first day since arriving in Nicaragua eight days ago that I’ve had a chance to check e-mails, much less answer them. For those of you who write, I beg your understanding. I’ll get back to you soon.
We meet early to prepare for presentations by Rafa, Lolia, Cristina and Ana. This is followed by a meeting with the Managua project central staff then we’re off to pick up a load of supplies for the Encounter. People are starting to arrive.
The delegation from CFCA Bluefields informs us that one of our sponsored boys, Peter, was brutally killed by a gang yesterday in Bluefields. May he rest in God’s loving arms. They are sending details to Kansas City so as to inform sponsors.
The Encuentro is being held at a retreat center operated by the Christian Brothers. We are 66 CFCA Co-workers from Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras. We feel very fortunate to have Lolia Lozano and Ana Martinez from CFCA-Kansas as a part of the Encuentro team. We start things off with an excellent musical performance from sponsored children and teens. It’s good to have the focus on the children from the very beginning of the Encuentro.
Tuesday, May 31 - Gathering in the name of the children
We have been dealing with high temperatures both during the day and night. After breakfast, Cristina and I give the keynote themes of this day: “Living History of CFCA” and “Principles, Values, Spirituality and Mission of CFCA.” We enjoy keen interest, excellent community participation and lively dialogue in groups.
As an outline for presentations throughout the CFCA world, I make constant use of our CFCA Core Values and Ends Statements. In the afternoon, discussion groups meet by country to make a summary of topics they would like us to cover during the Encuentro. After supper, we enjoy quality Powerpoint presentations about each of the CFCA projects represented at the Encuentro.
Wednesday, June 1 - Granada
On Wednesday, there is an enjoyable break with a trip to the Mombacho Volcano, a visit to the colonial city of Granada and the handicrafts market in Masaya.
Thursday, June 2 - Encuentro Presentations
Thursday we have a very full day to cover all the topics and areas indicated earlier by participants, plus a cultural presentation by participants. Ana and Lolia, representing the International Department of CFCA-Kansas, enthusiastically covered a great range of practical topics suggested by participants the day before. Ana’s presentation is titled “Reaching the Desired Potential of the Sponsored.” Lolia’s presentation is “Family Records and Correspondence.” Rafael presents on the theme of “The Banquet of the Kingdom: Four pillars in the construction of communities of compassion.”
On Friday morning, June 3, Cristina, Bob, Ana and Lolia will head to Kansas City for the Presenters’ Conference, CFCA Gathering and Board Meeting.
Heartfelt thanks for your solidarity and prayers.
Bob Hentzen
Managua, Nicaragua
June 2, 2005
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