When I heard about University of Pennsylvania bringing “Technology-Based Learning to Nicaraguan Community School for Children of Coffee-Farm Workers”, I couldn’t help but cringe and feel sympathy for the small community that is about to be a subject in a research project.

There is a misguided, well-intentioned belief in the Western world that whatever is good for us must also be good for the rest of the world. In recent years this has manifested itself in the form of cheap, inexpensive computers and laptops for developing nations.

While I do understand the value of such technology, it shouldn’t be seen as the solution for the world’s ills. Some communities have so many needs and problems - the last thing they need are teaching aids that have questionable application, unsustainable support, and no obvious benefit to the community or the children they are supposed to help.

Many rural communities in poor nations, not just in Nicaragua, have priorities:

• Clean water to cook and drink from.
• A sewage system so stop the spread of diseases like Dengue and Malaria.
• Good teachers to empower and support the children and their families.
• Easy access to life-saving medicine like antibiotics.
• … on and on …

The more sinister and untold story behind “blessing” poor communities with technology is that some communities become dependent or think they need it, while they can’t even sustain it nor should they even require it.

I have been to a community in Nicaragua where there was a dusty school room full of broken computers that were donated and the principal was asking for replacement machines. New computers isn’t what they needed, but the school believes that this is something they should have - despite the fact that their school does not even have a decent book collection or gym equipment for kids.

In doing your part to help the world’s poor and suffering, you really need to understand the context and issues of the people you are trying to help. Laptops and other technology can work, as long as it fits with the people you are helping - otherwise you may end up doing more harm than good.

It is my hope that University of Pennsylvania approaches this research as proper research and reports honestly on the affects of technology on a rural community. The impact on cultural and educational values is going to be significant, and I hope what the University has planned is worth it.

Read the press release on University of Pennsylvania’s website.

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In March 2007 my church team organized an eye glasses clinic at Verbo church in Bluefields, Nicaragua. On the days I helped with the clinic, I chatted with locals as I adjusted their new glasses to fit them. I remember meeting a man who was needing glasses and sunglasses because he spent a lot of time out on the water fishing.

He told me how he fished lobsters and how he would dive down with nothing more than a tube to breath air. He said how dangerous it was and how it was harder to find lobsters now. I wish I remembered more specifics about his story because it made an impression on me, even after all these years.

This is why I was amazed when I heard about a film being made about the lobster fishermen on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua. The film is called Mi Aldea, Mi Langosta (”My Village, My Lobster“) and brings to light a very important issue to the people of Miskito coast, which has been largely unseen and unheard by the rest of the world.

I suspect the lobsters that have been overfished and harder to find is just part of a larger story in this documentary. The Atlantic coast receives very little support from the national government located in the West - there is very little money for infrastructure, education, and social programs. Combine this with a dying fishery, skyrocketing unemployment, and injured fishermen in desperate need of help and you have the foundation for a moving human story.

Mi Aldea, Mi Lagosta appears to be filmed around Sandy Bay (a 3 hour panga boat ride north of Bluefields) and Puerto Cabezas in the RAAN. The documentary is directed by Joshua Wolff, and produced by Bil Yoelin, Chris Vitale, and Brad Allgood.

I hope to report more on the progress of this film in the future as I see this as a very important story that needs to be told to the world.

You can find out more about this film by visiting the production company’s website or by visiting their Facbook group:

• Mi Aldea, Mi Langosta group on Facebook
• Nomading Films
• Trailer for Mi Aldea, Mi Lagosta

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Children at Verbo school plant seeds in
the green house during Cornerstone’s
mission to Bluefields in March 2008.

Children’s education is a major focus on Nicaragua Hope. Given our relationship with Verbo in Bluefields, we are constantly looking for ways to help them so kids and their families can break out of the cycle of generational poverty.

Another major focus on Nicaragua Hope is sustainable and renewable agriculture.

So when these two aspects meet for a conference, how can I not be a big supporter?

Sustainable Harvest International, long time friends of Nicaragua Hope, is hosting a conference in Panama that helps educators learn practical skills in sustainable agriculture and conservation, and to help them incorporate the lessons into their curriculum.

An interesting aspect of this conference is that the teachers are all locals to Latin America, so the practices and experiences being shared are applicable and relevant to schools in the Americas.

Based on their tentative curriculum, topics include:

• Creating an organic learning garden.
• Establishing a tree nursery, school reforestation projects.
• Nutrition, community-based restoration projects.

Seeing how Verbo in Bluefields has a school located on a large plot of forested land, this kind of education can benefit everyone. The teachers gain valuable teachables, Verbo maintains and conserves their land, the community gains an appreciation for preserving natural forests, and the children learn life-long values in being environmentally conscious.

The conference is being held on August 2 - 11, 2009 in Panama City.

More information can be found here:
http://sustainableharvest.org/panamaeducatorworkshop.cfm

All the children and helpers all had a great time. We hope to provide more of these lessons in the future!

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The big day is finally here! The Spirit of Hope photo exhibit is opening 2pm today (June 6).

For the past 2 days, Kathy Adams of Empowerment International and I have been madly preparing and setting up the displays at the Faith and Family Books. The staff there are extremely helpful and we’re really appreciative of their support as Kathy and I fuss over our photos.

While we have been setting up, many people have been curious and asking us questions about the photos and the work we have been doing. I think this is a good sign for the impact the exhibit will have on people.

I personally don’t know what to expect when the exhibit officially opens at 2pm - I’m just glad this day is finally here.

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The aid agency Adventist Development and Relief Agency (or ADRA) has blessed the rural municipality of Mozonte with a new sanitation and latrine system. This new facility will benefit nine communities in the region totaling almost 2,000 people.

In rural Nicaragua, well water is remote with many people having to walk a long way to get it. Even when they get there, there is no way to tell if the water is clean to use or if there is even water in the well to begin with.

Under ADRA’s project, not only are these communities gaining a water system, but they will also be trained in building and maintaining latrines, and personal hygiene. For long term sustainability, community leaders have been appointed to upkeep the system once implemented.

The project is financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the mayor’s office of Mozonte, for a total of $104,254.

Access to clean water is a major issue for rural Nicaragua, as it is in many developing nations. Agencies like ADRA, and Living Water International are making a big difference in a simple yet tangible way. Life needs water, and sometimes it seems we can even take that for granted.

Related links:

• Reuter’s AlertNet - In Nicaragua, Toilets Save Lives
• Living Water International, Canada

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Not for the lack of trying, it appears that news is slow coming out of Nicaragua these days. While there are plenty stories on scandals, and political banter, there seems to be little that is worthy to report here.

So is the lack of news from Nicaragua a good sign?

I suppose I shouldn’t complain about the lack of news. I’ve been busy working on the photo exhibit, so this gives me a little breathing space to concentrate on that.

Just a friendly reminder that the photo exhibit starts June 6 and runs until June 19. Please see this page for more information.

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The other day I continued by quest for charitable donations from local businesses. Today I made a visit to a large office supply retailer to ask for a donation of printing for our flyers, and poster prints for our displays. The store manager was very nice but pointed out that the charities that Spirit of Hope is supporting not local community organizations. She said that their store supports local community events and charities like a street fair, and a local school.

She recommended that I go to the store’s head office and they may be able to help.

But I really needed to get flyers printed, so went ahead without waiting for a donation of printing. So far my record in getting a charitable donation is 0 for 2. I still have a few more leads, so there is still hope.

This morning I sent a request for donation to the head office of this company and hope to get a reply in the next few days.

I think at this point I need to prioritize the things that need to get done: displays and printing. Without those there would be no exhibit, right?

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Jewelery is not something you’d immediately associate with compassionate aid, but at Sarah’s Hope their business model is as much about making beautiful necklaces as it is providing a livelihood for people in need.

Sarah’s Hope is a jewelery line that was established as a way to help fund microfinance loans through the organization named MEDA (The Mennonite Economic Development Association). MEDA provides these loans to entrepreneurs in poor areas all over the world, including Nicaragua.

View Larger Map

Each item in Sarah’s Hope’s catalog is named after a woman who has received a microloan through MEDA and has their life transformed. For example, one beautiful pendant is called Eusebia named after a woman from Tuestepe in Nicaragua. According to the Sarah’s Hope website:

Teustepe, Nicaragua is an entrepreneur and mother of 12.

In 1999, after Hurricane Mitch, she received a $100 microloan to sow one acre of red beans. Between 2000 and 2006, thanks to her prompt payment history, she was approved for six additional loans.

This hard-working, community minded woman now owns 100 acres and her business includes a hog farm, a dairy farm and cheese production.

Microfinancing and microloans is an excellent and proven way of helping small business owners get the lift up they desperately need. Eusebia’s story quoted above is just one of the many examples of how this financial model has helped people around the world.

If jewelery is not your preferred way of helping people in need, you can directly loan money through Kiva.org - a hub connecting lenders directly to entrepreneurs in needy regions around the world.

Related Links:

• MEDA
• Kiva
• Sarah’s Hope Jewelry
• Learn more about microfinancing at Wikipedia

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At the Spirit of Hope photo exhibit, Kathy and I will be selling our photos to help raise funds for both Empowerment International and Samaritan’s Purse Canada. In order to maximize the amount of money we can raise for these charities, we need to keep our expenses VERY low. So this afternoon I made a trip out to local businesses to seek a donation of either monetary or materials / products for the event.

The first store I went to was a major arts and crafts supply store who operates 1,018 stores throughout North America. Without any prior contact with my local store, I went in armed with two example framed photos and a poster of the event. Quickly I was connected with the store manager who regrettably informed me that the headquarters in Texas deals with all charitable donations and that they already dealt with donations nationwide — so basically nothing left for charitable endeavors like ours.

Somewhat sympathetically, the manager gave me an in-store coupon for 25% off a purchase which was part of their chain-wide marketing for that week. I thanked her and she wished me luck.

After this meeting I dropped into two other major retailers and received phone numbers for their store managers and marketing managers. I will be drafting a letter and making a visit to these stores again this week - I hope my luck is better with them.

Currently our needs for the event are:

• Photo printing for 100 8×10″ photos.
• 100 black 11×14″ frames with white mattes.
• Bottled water and cookies for guests (not a necessity, but would help encourage a charitable mood)

Kathy and I have accepted the fact that Spirit of Hope will be largely an awareness and outreach event, but it helps to be able to generate some donations to help the poor in Nicaragua.

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Today it was announced that Nicaragua has made the list of finalists for the prestigious Global Green Awards given by Ashden Awards. Ashden Awards is an organization dedicated to recognizing leaders in sustainable energy, sharing knowledge, and promoting better practices to energy generation.

According to this article on oneworld.net Nicaragua is being recognized for its commitment to solar power.

“2,000 solar home systems and 560 larger solar energy systems have been sold and installed in rural areas by a 25-year-old family-run business, for uses including light and communications for schools and police stations; vaccine and blood refrigeration for clinics; pumps for village water supplies; and power for mobile phone masts. ”

No doubt groups like Sustainable Harvest International and Grupo Fenix have been instrumental in encouraging the adoption of solar power. Sustainable Harvest has helped implement solar cookers, and even solar latrines. Grupo Fenix is currently looking to install a solar water purifier in a rural area.

A Solar Latrine installed
by Sustainable Harvest.

But it should noted that it isn’t just solar power that is prevalent in Nicaragua. There are immense geothermal projects on the Pacific Coast like the San Jacinto power station being developed by Canadian company Polaris Geothermal. Also Blue Energy has been responsible for key wind turbines along the Atlantic coast in Nicaragua.

In comparison, Canada and the USA have the technology and resources for such national projects, but lack the political will. Ironically, this massive drive for renwable and cheap energy is florishing in Nicaragua under one of the most unlikely political climates.

Other resources:

• Polaris Geothermal
• Blue Energy Group
• Sustainable Harvest
• Grupo Fenix
• Ashden Awards

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