Nicaragua has the largest fresh water island in the world.

One of our first cooperatives to receive organic certifica-

tion to grow sesame lives on that island and has now been

denied certification. Why? This cooperative of 33 growers, headed

by a woman, now has tobacco fields abutting their land. Correctly, the

organic certifiers are concerned about the chemical run-offs from the to-

bacco affecting the surrounding sesame plants. We have worked with

this cooperative for 20 years!

This cooperative, which has always grown

organically, cannot up and move, nor should they.

They did nothing wrong, but even though they continue to grow organically, now they

can only sell their sesame at non-organic prices, which are much lower.

The actions of others affect the poor.

COPROEXNIC, the organic agriculture cooperative, combines the re-

sources of about 3,000 small growers to enable small farmers to obtain

organic certification and financing. As a combined unit, they can process,

market, and ship their crops to buyers throughout the world. COPROEXNIC continues

to take steps to operate independently apart from the Center for Development in Central

America.

Currently COPROEXNIC has contracts with all the farmers and has gotten $1.1 million in finances for

harvesting, but that still falls short of their funding needs. The sesame and peanut crops are expected to be

good this year, because thankfully Nicaragua so far has had good rains. Unfortunately for peanuts, it might

end up being too much rain! Recently there have been downpours

resulting in up to 2 inches of rain in a few hours.

The peanuts are still being processed at a plant in León

with the future hope of COPROEXNIC having their own plant;

while the sesame continues to be processed at the COPROEX-

NIC plant which hires 30 people seasonally.

As its machinery ages, it needs more and more repairs and

replacements. As I write, the water pump and electrical system are

being repaired poco a poco, but the systems need more extensive

repairs that will cost in the tens of thousands of dollars. Normally

the plant should be processing 2-3 containers of sesame a week but instead it can only process one.

Just getting by is how the poor live.

The coffee harvest of El Porvenir, a cooperative of 52 fami-

lies, is expected to be lower this year because high winds knocked

trees down that shaded the plants. Thankfully they also plant sesame,

which will bring in cash for the 223 people who live in this remote area of

Nicaragua. Besides helping the cooperative with their livelihood in the ag-

riculture area, we also help with medical care.

_______________________________________________________________December 2017

Ometepe co-op members in their sesame field

sesame processing plant

organic peanut crop

El Porvenir coffee co-op

Photo - Jen Aist

Two veterinarians and an aide from Texas and Alaska went to El Porvenir

for a week to help with the health of their animals. The last two days of that week,

an Alaskan delegation went to treat patients, including providing medications.

Our health brigades are the only doctors who go to the top of the mountain to treat

the people at the remote cooperative. Otherwise they have to make the arduous

trek to get to a public health clinic.

Access to health care for the poor is not a given.

In July, unbeknownst to us, Orphan

Network (ON) sponsored a survey in Nueva Vida to see

which clinic the people in Nueva Vida preferred to attend.

80% of those surveyed said our clinic! Why?

Because of the space, the various specialties, the lab, the

counseling, and the care they receive. ON took this sur-

vey because they were seeing fewer people in their own

health clinic. As a result of the survey, they closed their

clinic and offered to lend support to us. This is a unique approach for non-profits.

What do we offer that other health clinics do not? Here are a

few examples:

Our New Mothers’ groups and our ob/gyn offer comprehensive care to

pregnant mothers. One of our hypertensive patients who is a member of

our Chronic Care program forgot to take her birth control pills. She became

pregnant with her third child. Her hypertension scared her and rightly so.

Not only is our ob/gyn monitoring her closely, but our health promoters and

nurse make home visits to even more closely monitor her to prevent

preeclampsia.

Another pregnant mom had pain in her wisdom teeth. She had waited a month-and-a-half for the pub-

lic health clinic to remove the teeth. She shared this information with

the leader of the mothers’ group and got an appointment right away in

our dental clinic to remove the wisdom teeth, not only to ease her pain

but to prevent infection.

Through our New Mothers’ groups, we are able to identify

problems that might go unchecked. The key element for success in

these groups and in many of our programs are our lay health pro-

moters. On many occasions

they participate in the clinic’s

programs themselves and are

the clinic’s best PR. They are

closely connected with their

neighborhoods and spread the news. An example:

A health promoter had been waiting a long time for a tubal

ligation from the government. She fit all the criteria…she was over

30 years old and had 4 children. She came to the clinic for a birth

control implant and she was convinced! She began gathering women

who had also gotten implants from our clinic; then she organized

meetings so these women could tell others how freeing the implants are! Not having to worry about feeding a

child you’re not ready to have reduces stress and helps parents be better parents to the children they have or

allows them to become parents when they are ready.

survey in Nueva Vida

volunteer vets at El Porvenir

health promoters on home visit

implant insertion at the clinic

volunteers on home visit

Photo - Jen Aist

Our clinic has various programs that range from the support

groups and classes to seeing specialists like a pediatrician, orthope-

dist, ob/gyn, and radiologist. We have a dental clinic, a laboratory, a

family counselor, and a vision clinic. All in one spot… this is

unique.

The poor often

wait and wait and wait

to be seen by a special-

ist.

The other as-

pect that the survey

showed is that our

patients recognize

that our staff does care. Our dentist,

Inya, took her own money, when the CDCA had none, to pay for a partial denture

for a 12-year-old who fell and broke her front permanent tooth in half.

A health promoter, Cristina, learned to use our auto-refractor to measure peo-

ple’s eyes to provide vision correction through eye glasses. She works in our clinic

three mornings a week. She cuts lenses for new frames so that people can have nicer

looking eye glasses. A two-year-old could not see well. Her mother had taken her

to the public health program, but the prescription they gave her didn’t help. Cristina

measured her eyes. She took donated glasses, popped the lenses out, cut new lenses,

and put those lenses in the frames. The two-year-old can see now! Mama and child

are thrilled!

The poor often have to just make do with what they are given.

Our general doctor, Elizabeth, goes into the homes of TB patients to

make sure they are doing well. We now give support to 10 TB pa-

tients and 6 HIV positive patients.

Two of our TB patients are a couple who both have hypertension

as well as diabetes and need frequent monitoring and good nutrition.

Two of our current HIV positive patients are children. Two more chil-

dren have been identified but their parents are afraid the neighbors will

learn they are HIV positive, so most of their care comes in the form of

home visits. Our paid health promoter, Jessenia, and our nurse, Martha,

help to get these

families what

they need.

Our

chronic care program is mostly adults but we do

have some children. One 7-year-old has heart and

kidney issues and is bed-bound. Her mother washes

and irons clothes to make a living. For a while, they

went to the public health clinic for her care but the

clinic is a long walk and the wait is long. The mother

has to work to feed the family, leaving a daughter, not

very old herself, to care for her bed-bound sister. Our

pediatrician now cares for the girl and does follow-up

in the home.

Pediatrician Victorian - proper inhaler use demo

2-year-old with new glasses

Another chronic care patient who is a teenager has epilepsy

and muscular atrophy. His costs in our clinic are exonerated along

with those patients who are too poor to contribute the $2.00 symbol-

ic fee. That $2.00 fee includes a consult with the doctor, lab tests,

and medicines, but falls far short of the actual cost of treating our

patients. This family of 12 people live in a thrown-together tiny

home on a piece of land to which they do not have title. We are get-

ting him a wheelchair as well as give him medication to control his

epilepsy. The mother is extremely happy that we are there for them.

The children of the poor suffer the most.

How do we hear of these people who cannot come to

the clinic? Through our health promotion program. Over 30 women and men volunteer their time to

serve their communities. We give them a very small token of appreciation each

month. These wonderful volunteers not only identify people like the epileptic

teen, but also do home visits and receive people with health needs into their own

homes while they also struggle to feed their own families.

They help us locate pregnant moms for our New Mothers’ programs, dia-

betics for the Chronic Care program, and young people for the Boys’ group and

Teen Girls’ group.

The Boys’ group, Los Leones, has about 20 boys attending. They par-

ticipate in cooking activities, arts and crafts, power brain yoga and tai chi and - of

course -they play soccer. They go on outings to the beach, zip line at Paul and

Becca’s house, play at the Managua water park, etc., to learn about the environ-

ment and to celebrate their birthdays. Many have never had an “outing” before.

The poor seldom celebrate birthdays.

The teen girls’ group, Las Lobas, make jewelry, do arts and

crafts, and some do karate! Educating girls is a top priority for ending

poverty. Of these 12 girls: one quietly attended Saturday school and fin-

ished the 6th grade while another went back to school and finished the year

at the top of her class! This girl also has her 2nd level orange belt in kara-

te! Four of the girls went to a Rotarian leadership camp. Education, ac-

tivities, camp… all of these instill self-esteem and empowerment. They

have hard lives, these boys and girls.

To give you an example: two girls of the Las Lobas are sisters.

They live

with their mom who is seldom home because

she is caring for their hospitalized grandma who

has had her leg amputated. These teenagers – in

turn - care for their younger siblings as well as

their nieces and nephews, because their older

siblings work in the Free Trade Zones As a re-

sult of all these hardships, one had to drop out

of school. Being able to be a part of the Las

Lobas giving them joy in the rather dismal reali-

ty of their lives is crucial.

Going to the movies for the poor is

almost as hard as going to the moon.

health promoter working with families

Las Lobas making jewelry

Las Lobas with other participants at Youth Leadership Camp - photo Go Care, Inc.

Photo - Go Care, Inc.

Los Leones - Boys’ group

Photo - Rebecca Wheaton

In the Nueva Vida Health Clinic, we are happy to have

three new volunteers: Carolin from Germany who is an administra-

tor intern, Endrina from Belgium who is a pharmaceutical intern, and

Julia from Canada who is a dental hygienist. Besides their help, we’ve

recently had a United Method-

ist group from central PA who

built on the third clinic build-

ing… poco a poco going up…

and a medical brigade from

Alaska.

An Alaskan doctor, Owen,

came on his 13th trip in October. This

year the group had four doctors, one

nurse practitioner, one midwife, one

lactation consultant, and a nurse, as

well as a high school student who all

worked in the clinic. The group also included the

vets mentioned earlier.

The delegation went and treated many

people in their homes. Jen, the lactation consult-

ant, with the help of others took videos of women

talking about pregnancy, birth, and breast feeding

to create a teaching video for the New Mothers’ group. Jen is also a fine pho-

tographer and graciously used her photos to make a lovely 2018 calendar as

a fund-raiser for the CDCA. See below.

Another fund-raiser for the

CDCA is a wooden puzzle made by the little

carpentry workshop that Paul runs (see be-

low). Three men from the small rural village that

is Paul and Becca’s home work in the shop.

One of them had an earlier job working

for someone who grew organic vegetables. He

lost his thumb when his employer demanded that

he stick a piece of wood in a running motor. The employer not only didn’t

pay his medical bills but also skipped the country owing him months of back

pay. This man is grateful to have employment. He is a hard worker and does

his job well.

And we come full-circle; the actions of others affect the poor.

Your actions affect the poor: your gifts make all of these programs possible. While designated gifts are

wonderful, your gifts to the general budget allow all of our work to continue, even paying the behind-the-

scenes “unsexy” bills that make all of our life-saving, life-changing “sexy” programs possible.

Center for Development in Central America

Jubilee House Community, Inc. U.S. Phone VOIP: 1-828-202-6869 Jubilee House Community, Inc.

Legal Address: 1019 Troy Medlin Rd Nicaragua Office Phone: 011-505-2269-8001 de Km.11 Carr. Nueva a León, 1.6 Km abajo

Monroe, NC 28112-9449 Email: jhc@jhc-cdca.org Web: www.jhc-cdca.org Ciudad Sandino, MGA

USA Nicaragua

volunteers Endrina & Carolin in the pharmacy

United Methodist volunteers laying block for radiology area

Dr. Owen with patient at El Porvenir Dr. Owen with patient at El Porvenir

Alaska medical volunteers in home visit

Photo - Jen Aist

Good Nicaraguan news:

Nicaragua is now 6th in the world in gender equality in the representation of

women in its government, economy, and health. They moved up from 10th

place. FYI the United States is 49th out of 144 nations.

Nicaragua signed the 2017 Paris Accords on climate change…they had not

signed in 2015 because they felt those Paris Accords did not go far enough to

halt climate change.

Managua is now the 3rd best city in the world in which invest, according to Fi-

nancial Times.

Neutral news:

Nicaraguan municipality elections were held 5th of November. The Sandinistas won 135 municipali-

ties out of 153. They won 68.2% of all the votes casted.

The Organization of American States observed the elections but has not released their final report.

Not-so good news:

11 Nicaraguans died and 10,000 were affected by Hurricane

Nate. Thankfully, the government has given food and other

resources to 1,600 families.

The NICA Act passed the United States House of Represent-

atives, trying to block all international loans to Nicaragua.

JHCommunity:

Becca and Sarah are both home from speaking in the U.S. Becca had 31 talks in

three of the Northwestern states to 551 people while Sarah

spoke in Texas at 27 events. We are glad to have them home.

Daniel has opened his own restaurant in Managua, a long-time dream. Con-

struction is still underway, so they serve clientele under tarps outside. Daniel still fights

the good fight working during the day with the CDCA, as well as running a restaurant

at night.

Becca and Paul rent their little guesthouse on Airbnb. So far, this year they have

had 22 bookings. Becca keeps trying to get support for the CDCA by talking and show-

ing the guests our projects. Their daughter, Eibhlín, is graduating from 6th grade and

will enter secondary school next year.

Mike and Kathleen went to California and to Massachusetts to visit children and

grandchildren. It had been too long since they’d seen the children living in the States.

Kathleen’s mother, Peggy, is with us again in Nicaragua. Friends Nora and Becky ac-

companied her flying down. We are all happy she is here with us.

Padre Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann died in June. He was the first advisory member of our Board of

Directors and the one who invited us through his foundation, FUNDECI, to

come to Nicaragua and work. Padre Miguel was an amazing priest in the

Maryknoll Order; Foreign Minister of Nicaragua in the 1980s; a non-violent ac-

tivist who led a march through the war zone of Nicaragua and a hunger strike to

call global attention to the U.S. aggression against Nicaragua; and President of

the United Nations in 2008-09. He was also funny, well-read, a gourmet chef,

and a full person. We dedicate this newsletter to his memory and in gratitude

for his guidance and invitation to work among so many amazing people. He will

be missed by us, by Nicaragua, and by the world.

Photo - Oswaldo Rivas - Reuters

Father Miguel d’Escoto

Photo - Jairo Cajina

Photo - Paul Susman

REFLECTION:

I am afraid, in a way that I have not been in ages.

Not for me personally…I’m old. I will die soon,

but not most of the people with whom we work and

serve… not our children nor grandchildren… and hope-

fully not the human race as a whole.

What do I see that scares me to my soul?

As rich nations become more like many Third

World nations - meaning the rich are increasingly getting

richer, the middle class is dying out, and the poor are getting poorer – these powerful nations grow more para-

noid and this is what we are seeing more of:

Racism against anyone brown or black is winning powerful seats in govern-

ments. Neo-Nazism and white supremacy are gaining in popularity.

Immigrants are being denied kindness, let alone civility.

Enemies are being created from the disenfranchised.

There is more out-in-the-open acceptance of brutality and murder by the law

itself.

Nuclear war is being threatened.

Mass shootings are a common place occurrence.

All the while, Mother Nature is also rebelling against our greed, consump-

tion, and pollution… hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, floods, and fires are more common place and poor na-

tions suffer the most.

“Be not afraid, for behold, I bring you great news of a great joy which

will come to all people…” Angels said this to common shepherds. Great news

of a great joy for everyone… every people. A chosen one was born in a common

place.

This chosen one then later said, at the start of his ministry:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach

good news to the poor…to proclaim the release of the captives and recovering of

sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the ac-

ceptable year of the Lord [the year of the Jubilee, when debts are forgiven, land

is returned to its original owner, and slaves are released].”

Many of us who claim to follow the path of this Chosen One do not fol-

low his words or actions.

We do not live good news to the poor, but instead blame the poor for their poverty.

We do not release the captives, but instead pass laws to keep people in

prisons and refugee camps.

We do not give sight to the blind, but are more blinded by our own

biases and fears.

We do not set at liberty those who are oppressed, but keep them in

their oppressive states that our national and local policies have created.

We are afraid of things being set right as in the year of the Jubilee…

terribly afraid.

And if we, who proclaim to be Christian, act this way, where is the hope in

this world, that seems to be getting meaner and uglier?

For me, I find hope when Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, atheists, ag-

nostics…all people…live the good news to the poor, struggle for liberty, open eyes

to injustice, and relieve oppression. I find…

Hope in the two-year-old getting a pair of glasses.

Hope in the teen getting a front tooth.

Hope in an epileptic getting a wheelchair.

Hope in a teen girl finishing primary school.

Hope in Nicaraguan mothers having healthy ba-

bies.

Hope in women getting to choose motherhood or not.

Hope in football players calling for the end of po-

lice shootings.

Hope in people marching to end white supremacy.

Hope in action.

Hope in generosity.

Hope in goodness.

This is where I find hope. -Kathleen

Yes! I want to help support the work of the Center for Development in Central America.

Enclosed please find my tax-deductible contribution of $_________ for ______________________________

(designation if desired)

Please note: you can also give online via https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/jhc-cdca

Alternative Giving - Give a Gift that keeps on giving. Donate in honor of a loved one!

Your gift will be acknowledged with a beautiful card to the receiver. Mark your donation as an Alternative Gift and include the

person’s name, address, email, and the giver’s name (please print clearly or type). Cards may be mailed or emailed.

For faster delivery, please email all orders to: Sarah@jhc-cdca.org.

►For a minimum gift of $50.00, you may request a 12-month 2018 wall

calendar of gorgeous Nicaragua photos compiled by volunteers.

►For a minimum gift of $100.00, you may request one beautiful wooden

CORNERed puzzle, NEW from the Nicaragua-Naturally workshop, hand-

crafted from responsibly managed Nicaraguan forests.*

Mail to CDCA, c/o Donita Miller, 420 Longhorn Dr., Rock Hill, SC 29732-8886.

Please include your correct name / address from the paper newsletter to avoid duplications.

*Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery