Apoyo

I use the phrase "Apoyo Nicaragua" in the URL of this blog for a few reasons. First, another blog uses SOSNicaragua, and the # character cannot appear in an address.

I also checked for "ayuda" meaning help; it was not available and I am glad for it, because this pushed me to consider "apoyo" instead. This means "support" and I am glad I settled on it. I endeavor to help my friends, of course, but that implies a certain passivity on their part -- and nothing could be further from the truth.

Rather, with this blog I intend to support Nicaraguans as they cope with profound political, economic, and public-health crises. I hope that by sharing their stories, I can provide encouragement to them and opportunities to others who might want to offer support of their own.

Displaying the national flag in Nicaragua can
now get a person jailed, attacked, or killed.
And yet many fly them proudly.

NGOs Expelled

On August 26, NPR's Noel King spoke with Simon Ticehurst of Oxfam about the Non-governmental Organizations that have been expelled from Nicaragua. This is among a growing number of ways in which the Ortega-Murillo regime is limiting not only dissent but discourse of any kind as the election approaches.

Throughout the past half-century, outside observers have been key to combating repression in the region. The removal of Oxfam is a very grave matter.

Agualí

The young learners and future leaders of Agualí

The problems Nicaraguans now face are complicated and varied, and a variety of responses make sense. Some people have left the country for reasons of safety or finances or both. Some people have been able to rely on remittances from relatives abroad or charitable donations. Others have been able to continue with their previous businesses or employment.

For some Nicaraguans, the crisis has led to a complete re-imagining of their work. This is certainly the story of my friends at the Estación Biológica Agualí (the Agualí Biological Research Station). 

The protection of migratory birds like the
 Baltimore oriole is a source of
pride in Central America.

Even before the crisis, the folks at Matagalpa Tours decided to dedicate their skills -- and a percentage of their profits -- to social development through environmental education. Specifically, they noticed that many of the youth in their area -- particularly those who had been displaced from coffee farms -- were quickly becoming disconnected from their land and their culture. The skills that these folks developed in ecotourism for visitors (including my students and me) could be directed toward the challenges these young people faced. I was pleased to participate in a small way in some of those early efforts at environmental education.

When it became clear that the political crisis was going to persist, to the detriment not only of their tourism business but also to the well-being of an entire generation of young people, they redoubled their efforts, establishing a formal, long-term curriculum. Youth and young adults who are accepted into the program learn English, environmental science, and leadership skills. An entire generation of environmental educators is being developed in this way. Sponsoring a student in this program is an excellent way to support an entire community both through its short-term (we hope) crisis and toward its long-term well-being.

#SOSNicaragua -- origins of this blog

I have been taking students to Nicaragua regularly since 2006 on study tours that we now call Coffee Journey. Over 120 people have visited Matagalpa, Jinotega, and other parts of the country. Most of them have been Bridgewater State University undergraduates, but my own family members and other professors have made the journey, along with others who have a strong interest in coffee.

The experience has been profound, changing how we see ourselves and the world, and certainly changing how we think about coffee and so many other things for which we depend upon far-away farmers and other workers.

It has also been a process of community building; several of the students have returned either with me or on their own; many maintain regular contact with at least a few friends in Nicaragua. This has been true both of those who speak Spanish well and those who speak it very little. Having visited 12 times, I consider many Nicaraguans not only my friends but also part of my chosen family.

My most recent visit to Nicaragua was in January 2018. In April of that year, I was shocked when I began to hear reports from friends and acquaintances there. Many were messaging me and then deleting their messages or changing their names. The police and shadowing paramilitaries were attacking and disappearing protestors and they were blocking medical aid. U.S. media outlets were not covering the violence.

As I shared the news, many of my friends -- especially former students and other academics  -- wanted to help. We used the #SOSNicaragua hashtag to organize some quick relief efforts and to encourage people to follow the news and to get English-language journalists to cover it.

Some of my friends subsequently left Nicaragua while others have been able to remain. Some who have stayed are continuing with their previous employments, though often in a reduced way. Others have had to completely reinvent their work, in some cases creating some very interesting community development projects. These rely mainly on local efforts, but they do benefit from outside financial support -- because a few dollars buys a lot of cordobas, it makes a lot of sense to support these programs.

Sadly, others among my friends continue to be in exile or seeking asylum -- a very risky prospect.

Nicaragua is returning to the news just a bit, mainly because an election for president is coming, and every viable opponent of the sitting president has been detained. This includes some of his closest allies over the past half century. The situation is becoming dire and the plight of Nicaragua is returning to the news. 

All of this is a long way of saying that I am creating the blog with the #SOSNicaragua tag because our friends there still need support. And support is the word I use in the address of this blog -- ApoyoNicaragua.blogspot.com. After posting links to some materials from early in this crisis, I will be posting more information about current events and actions we all can take to support some very lovely people through some very difficult times, while they continue to offer support to one another.

And please note: most of the posts will be a lot shorter than this introduction!

#SOSNicaragua
#ThankTheFarmers
#ApoyoNicaragua 

Lagniappe 

The photo of coffee cherries that I use in the banner for this blog has special meaning to me. I took it during my last (for a while) visit to Nicaragua, in my home-away-from-home in La Corona. It is of the repela -- a very specific part of the coffee harvest. Throughout the season, expert pickers select only fully ripe fruit. At the end of the season, they pick all the fruit, and spread it out on tables to be divided by hand. This is a time for conversation and community as this tedious work passes more quickly when done together. It is a constant reminder of my love for Nicaragua.