#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.