HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-01-30-LWSSC-rpt.pdf Dear People of the Committee.
I was in Nicaragua in January to visit a language "revitalization"
project at Karawala on the Rio Grande between the northern and southern
Autonomous Region of the Atlantic Coast, far from Waspam (as far as you can
get in actual travel terms) I had no idea that I would be able to do
anything in relation to Waspam.
By chance however, I met Dennis Mairena. an advisor working with Dr
Mirna Cunningham, Delegate Minister of the Presidency for the Autonomous
Region of the North Atlantic (Ministro Delegado de la Presidencia, Region
Autonoma, Atlantico Norte) , the region where Waspam is located Mairena was
able to arrange for me to have dinner with Dr Cunningham and Galio Gurdian,
of CIDCA, the research organization which act as my sponsor in Nicaragua.
Mairena also arranged to have certain basic questions I put to him answered --
i e. who could we use as contacts and what would make the most sense for us
to try to do.
1 Trip to Waspam.
I met with Dr Cunningham, and she gave me the enclosed document by way
of answer to my questions -- the suggested projects are on p 3, and the
contacts they recommend are on p 4 She also urged me to go to Waspam if I
could arrange it after going to Karawala She was going to be having a series
of meetings with community leaders n the Waspam/Tronquera region and it
would be -a perfect opportunity to tell people persona: ly about the
Le) ington/Waspam Sister City relationship which she took very seriously So
I thought I would try to do that Luckily, I only had minor set-backs getting
to Karawala (one wrecked out-board motor) and I was able to go to Waspam with
Danilo Salamanca, director of CIDCA. Puerto Cabezas, whom you've met
I gave the story of Waspam 'Le) ington three times -- once in La Tronquera
and twice in Waspam (January 19-20) -- to somewh-' different audiences all
local The impression I got about what they felt we might try to do agreed
more or less with what is said the document given to me by Dr Cunningham.
That mentions two things (p 7 of document)
(1) Human Resources.
"We need to have the use of an urban planner with experience in the rural
setting to design the basic plan for the reconstruction of Waspam.
"The design must use policies of uban planning which take into
consideration the particular characteristics of the population It will be
necessary to effect an integration of the available means and resources of all
sectors or participants, and to determine the policies and resources which
will be reouired in the process of reconstruction during the coming years
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47 o Mass Pt-VC
until the population is settled
(2) -Material Resources. — -
"The most immediate requirement by way of material resources would be one
or two portable sawmills, with gasol ne engine, which would make it possible
to use our timber resources abundant in the zone for the construction of
dwellings and other needs "
When I spoke to the most representative Group of Waspam (and local area)
leaders, they put the sawmill first My impression however is that people
concerned with a more global notion of Waspam-area needs regarded the urban
planner as most important
There are some immediate needs for which the sawmill is very important,
however and if we could figure out how to do it, it would be terrific They
are trying to rebuild their Instituto Tecnologico so that they can start a 7th
grade class in February They will be able to get the lumber they need to
open up a few class rooms using the chain saws they have available But that
is very difficult Eventually they will have substantial lumber needs, far
beyond what can be satisfied with chainsaws. The need for one or two portable
sawmills is very real
2. Letter of thanks.
In the course the final meeting, presided over by Dr Cunningham and
Minerva Wilson Mayor of Tronquera-Waspam, I was given the enclosed letter of
thanks for the visit and materials brought by Marcia Putman and Ellen
McDonald, signed by a number of community leaders and officials present (My
name is spelled Kent Gelloge which makes sense phonetically, strange as it
may seem)
I mentioned the fact that we had collected a lot of baseball equipment
and they were e; cited about that
3 Same possibilities
You keep meeting relevant people in Nicaragua. In relation to sawmills
and planners, of course, there is APSNICA (Architects and Planners in Support
of Nicaragua) I met Stephen Kerpen APSNICA F 0 Bo; 1151 Topanga, CA
90290 (217-455-1340)- who was in Pearl Lagoon to visit a portable sawmill
cooperative project they had started there. I asked him the prices of
sawmills, and the cheapest .s $12 000 (LT 40• Woodmizer Woodmill, Portland,
Atlanta, Indianapolis a 24 foot trailer not collapsible ) I also asked
him about planners He said that if we could find out what the planner would
do. they could help us find the right one
I also met Tony Hakansson, E/ternal Adk'isor Interforest/Swedforest
CorFop (Managua 50494 5020; office :1597; home 75255) He deals with
forests and said I could talk to him any time about the Waspam prosect I
tried when I got back to Managua, but he was out I gave his number to Bonny
Jones. who said she would try to talk tc him about it before she came back
I think we might work with organizations like this to do the things that
make sense in view of what people -said in Waspam and n the relevant regional
structures. I don t think for e: ample that -we can- just go off arid--hire a -
planner ourselves, if a planner is what we decided we should try adopt as a
project We need the advise of those organizations that know about planning
in rural Nicaragua. Instead we could support a planner selected in
collaboration with APSNICA, say The same with the sawmill (sr They are
pretty e:.pensive and the struggle of getting them there maybe too much of
us. But maybe Swedforest or even APSNICA, would be interested in cooperating
with us on a project like that
4 A suggestion for the immediate future
My feeling was that another visit is in order Two people might go down
with all the baseball equipment, say The purpose would not be the baseball
equipment alone, however, but rather to get some information that will be
needed for whatever project we decide to do Suppose we decided to do the
planner We need to know what the planner would do. I felt overwhelmed by
this question and felt that only an actual planner or someone like a planner,
could properly formulate the job in a way which would give APSNICA the
information needed to tell us (1) how long the job would take (they reckoned
as little as three months, but I think they are dreaming) (2) how much it
would cost (3) exactly what kind of person can do the job best and so on
The same is true of the sawmill As soon as Waspam people started to gi •e me
a glimpse of sawmill politics (we have taken on a lot of communities, Waspam
is just the sociopolitical and cultural center) my head began to ache,
particularly since I had just come from Karawala where I got a real taste of
this kind of situation by bringing a simple chainsaw for the language
committee to build a house with -- it is the eye of a compl cated political
hurricane involving first the language committee then Karawala, then the Rio
Grande Basin and then CIDCA in Bluefields My head just swims So I think a
planner or person with relevant experience different from mine mrst get
involved right from the start before we actually do whatever proiect(s) we
decide to take on
If such a tr'p is planned t should probably not in"ol 'e more than two
people Logistics are difficult, though I think we can could on CIDCA Puerto
Cabe:as for help But more than two people might mdhe the trip harder to
manage CIDCA people are interested in Le; ingtonfWaspam end would like to
help in various ways
I think someone should go who has the relevant e; perience in one or
another of the areas in which we might chose to develop a project I could go
again if it were in March (week. starting March 27) but it might be better for
two other people to go since I don t have relevant knowledge, apart from
having been there At least one of the people who go should speak Spanish --
I guess English is not as widely spoken there as in the south I think it
would be possible to take all the baseball equipment if we hired a small plane
to fly from Managua to P C. From there it could go by truck -- CIDCA has a
truck now that could carry it easily, but the office in Managua is thinking of
taking that truck away and replacing it with a smaller one
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If things worked out all right the trip could be done n a weep March
is dry You no lancer need a permit to go to the Atlantic Coast and it. is
easy enough to get permit to visitcommunitiesif -sponsored by some local
outfit -- that will be no problem, I think So, if we hired a small plane out
of Managua, we could get to P C. quickly The trick is to get gas to get to
Waspam (120 k from F C not far but gas is really hard to get sometimes)
But if we plan it ahead, we can probably get gas for CIDCA and split it with
them letting them figure how to actually get it there It could all work
without a hitch If we did this it would be very concrete evidence of the
seriousness with which we take our relationship Moreover t would but us on
solid footing with respect to whatever pro=ect we decide to do.
I did not promise anything. In fact I said I could not promise anything
without talking to you I made it clear that we are not Burlington Vermont
and I tried to e: plain the difference between our situation and Burlington s
Danilo Salamanca and I tried to take some pictures with a borrowed
camera, but I have no idea whether they will come out If they do we can
have a little slide-show.
All
the best,
Ken Hale
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