This article on CNN.com reports on a phenomenon that I’ve heard about before, but never read or seen a real account of it until now. Due to bad social and economic conditions, families are “forced” to send children to orphanages because the family can not provide the basic necessities of life.

This is a very difficult idea to fathom… the sad desperation of these families as they have to choose between their own survival and the inclusion of one of their own.

With the world economy in turmoil due to increasing food and fuel prices, more children are finding themselves as orphans. According to the article, Indonesia has had a 30% increase in orphans in the month of May 2008.

Though CNN.com is reporting this story, another story that goes unreported is the fact that many more children are orphaned by abandonment.

Luckily, organizations like [tag]Empowerment International[tag] (see their website here) are working one-on-one with children and their families bringing new hope. This story in particular highlights the importance of grassroots involvement in repairing a family fabric that has been tattered.

Technorati Tags: orphan, fuel prices, children

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Could it be a coincidence that on the week when the Masaya volcano erupts, we learn that Nicaragua is seeking suitors for a potential geothermal electricity generation site at the San Cristobal volcano.

The San Cristobal volcano is one of Nicaragua’s most active volcanoes and often expels steam. This also means that San Cristobal, though active, appears relatively stable thanks to the frequent release of pressure. However, heavy rainfalls in 1996 caused seismic disturbances in the region.

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As part of an ambitious plan, Nicaragua hopes to eliminate its dependence on fuel burning power plants in 5 years and to run completely on alternative sources. Currently Nicaragua generates 80% of its energy from oil and much of it subsidized by Venezuela.

The San Cristobal volcano is expected to generate 225 megawatts of electricity. In contrast, the geothermal project in San Jacinto generates 34 megawatts.

Technorati Tags: Nicaragua, geothermal electricity generation, volcano, San Cristobal, fuel, energy, oil

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Two days ago, the famous volcano at Masaya in Nicaragua erupted in the afternoon spewing gas and ash into the air. Fortunately it appears that the eruption did not harm anyone, and it didn’t even appear on the radar of the international press. No news is good new, right?

Masaya is a major town halfway between the Nicaragua capital Managua and the colonial town of Granada.

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Thanks to my friend Kathy for sending this tip to me. If you have any news about Nicaragua or of the region, please feel free to send it to me.

Technorati Tags: volcano, Masaya, Nicaragua, eruption

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I have added a new feature to Nicaragua Hope. You can now subscribe to comments and be notified via email when someone has replied to the same article.

This will work as long as you provide a valid email address when making a comment.

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This blog post does not contain spoilers for the Sex and the City movie. This post is not a review, but an Opinion / Editorial piece.

This week my wife and I are celebrating our 6th anniversary, so yesterday we decided to catch a movie. Originally we were planning on catching the Indiana Jones movie, but our babysitter showed up late and we arrived 5 minutes after the show had started. So we opted for the Sex and the City movie that had just opened.

I had watched bits and pieces of the original TV series with my wife and found it amusing and fairly well written, so I wasn’t against watching the movie spin-off.

Continue Reading »

Technorati Tags: review, Opinion, Sex and the City, movie

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Canadian energy company, Polaris Geothermal, has won a significant contract with the Nicaraguan government to increase its output of a geothermal project near Managua from 10 Megawatts to 34 Megawatts.

This increase in output will help produce 600 jobs in Nicaragua in addition to provide much needed inexpensive electricity for the people. Nicaragua imports majority of its energy in the form of crude oil, and with crude hitting record highs (over $130 USD / barrel) it is affecting everything from transportation to food prices.

The San Jacinto power station. source: Polaris Geothermal.

About geothermal power generation
Below the Earth’s surface are hot spots that can be used to transform water into steam. By tapping into these hot spots using large wells, water can be injected into the ground and steam is created from vaporization of water… which is used to turn turbines which generate electricity.

For more information about Polaris Geothermal, please visit their website here. For more information on the geothermal project in San Jacinto, see here.

Technorati Tags: energy, Polaris Geothermal, Nicaragua, geothermal, jobs, imports, energy, crude oil, San Jacinto

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On May 29 (yesterday), hurricane Alma battered the west coast of Nicaragua causing flooding in the streets of the capital Managua.

At least one man was killed when a powerline snapped and electrocuted him. I can not find any other reports of casualties from public media sources right now.

Apparently the storm grew very quickly and caught many observers and residents by surprise.

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I came across this encouraging and hopeful article.

I admit, I do not know Fernando Botero’s work, but he is a world-famous artist who has been quietly been donating his work and money to Colombia, Venezuela and the United States. Amoung Mr. Botero’s philanthropic work was using his money to help build a retirement home for 300 people in Columbia.

“I should say I’m publicizing this [philanthropy] because if you don’t tell the story, nobody will tell it. Otherwise, it’s easy to be generous. People think being generous is difficult. But it’s not. It’s about making decisions and making a phone call. You can do so much just by making a decision and picking up the phone. Two phone calls can accomplish a lot of good if I really want to help.”

His sentiments ring true for me as well. Philanthropy need not be flashy like the work done by the Gates Foundation, but at the same time philanthropy should be visible to encourage others to make a difference in this world.

Technorati Tags: Fernando Botero, artist, Colombia, Venezuela, United States, Philanthropy

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In an interesting and symbolic article on Tico Times shows that a majority of Nicaraguans would leave their home country in favour of the USA, Costa Rica, and Spain.

66.3% of respondents stated they would leave, and 88% of those respondents expressed the economy as the reason for emigrating.

In 2006, a similar survey discovered that 55.5% of people would consider leaving their country.

As the conditions deteriorate in Nicaragua and around the world, due to economy and natural influences, it’s no surprise to see Nicas wishing for a better life. The painful part of the story is that emigration from Nicaragua is difficult and finding a better life in another country may be difficult due to a higher cost of living, job-market competition, and other factors.

Technorati Tags: Nicaragua, economy, emigration

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In this Financial Times article, the UN is expected to make public a report stating that inflated food prices will persist for the next 10 years thanks to higher demand of commodities especially in emerging economies like China.

It seems that the new reality is that higher food prices will be the norm. Alexander Müller, of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation states that “prices are unlikely to return to the low levels of previous years.”

However the silver lining, if there is one, is that food prices is predicted to be lower than the records we have been experiencing so far this year.

Perhaps the most sobering statement in the article is this:

“As the global food import bill has entered the trillion dollar territory, the food import bill of the poorest countries which faces a food-deficit, is likely to climb to $169bn, 40 percent more than in 2007.“

For better or worse, hopefully the trade group of Latin American countries (called ALBA), can offset the inflation by increasing domestic production for their own markets.

Technorati Tags: food price, commodities, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, Latin America

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