EnglishGuest post
Managua, 1988.
We didn’t quite know what to expect. We flew in on the now defunct Aero Nica, known to Nicaraguans as Aero Nunca. Many NGOs had started development projects to help the people in one of the poorest countries in the world. The overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship by the Sandinistas in 1979 had created a world of possibilities and opportunities. NGO workers and volunteers were warmly welcomed and they poured in from all over the world.
Projects included housing, education, infrastructure, health care, agricultural development etc. Many were successful but some were over-ambitious or under-funded. Conditions were bearable in the larger cities but rough in the rural areas, which by this time were under constant threat of attack by the Contra rebels, funded illegally by the USA through the sale of arms to Iran. Added to that, the US trade blockade meant severe shortages of vehicles, medical supplies, machinery and just about everything else.
My future wife and I headed to Nueva Guinea, a small town near the Costa Rica border whose population was swollen by thousands of refugees from Contra attacks on their farms in the surrounding countryside. There was a small clinic but no parts for the sole incubator due to the trade blockade, and only basic medications. A severe lack of housing, no paved roads, no trash collection, unsafe water. The 6-room hotel at $1 per night was vastly overpriced! But amidst the impoverished conditions many improvements flourished. A group from Spain were building houses. A group from Germany set up a mechanic shop to repair old vehicles. A group from Wales were setting up a trash collection. American volunteers had begun sustainable farming practices at a finca (property) outside the town. Medics from Cuba and Canada tended to the sick.
It was a similar story throughout the country. But in 1989 the Sandinistas lost the election and a new government favored by the USA took control. It became more difficult for NGOs to work in Nicaragua and many of the volunteers found themselves at ideological odds with the new regime. Government departments were abolished, local mayors and officials replaced and many volunteers abandoned the county.
Nicaragua remains one of the poorest countries on earth, but there are still opportunities to help. After moving from the UK and living in Japan, I eventually moved to California and discovered that only 30 minutes from my home is a small NGO called Paso Pacífico, working since 2005 on conservation and education projects in Nicaragua and El Salvador. I jumped back in and now volunteer for them.
Nicaragua is an area which gets under your skin. The warmth of the people. The beauty of the countryside, the fragility of the eco-systems.
And if you were wondering where all those idealistic young volunteers went, well, they got older—but I’m sure they are still around and waiting for a chance to help!