HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-12-LWSSC-rpt.pdf Lexington-Waspam Sister City Committee
SAWMILL PROJECT PROPOSAL
December 1990
I Background
Waspam is a Miskitu town on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua on the Coco River,
on the border with Honduras Waspam is a center for other villages on the
Coco River, and before 1981 had restaurants, hotels, a major technical
institute, a large baseball stadium and a movie theater
During the fighting on the Atlantic Coast, Waspam was abandoned by the
population who left for other parts of Nicaragua and Honduras When peace
returned in 1983, people began to return to Waspam. When they arrived they
found that their town had been totally destroyed by shelling and jungle
growth. Waspam needed to be entirely rebuilt
Lexington adopted Waspam as a sister city in May 1988 when the Lexington Town
Meeting accepted the report of a selectmen-appointed committee which had been
meeting for a year in order that they might recommend a city in Central
America as a sister city for the town. The Lexington-Waspam Sister City
Committee (LWSCC) has been in active existence since May 1988.
In January 1989, Ken Hale, Professor of Linguistics at MIT and LWSCC member,
visited Waspam and talked with officials there about the needs of the town.
(trip report attached) Top on their list was the necessity of a portable
sawmill to help the town rebuild more quickly Since May 1989, the LWSCC has
been fundraising so that it might purchase and ship a sawmill to Waspam.
This summer we contacted the new Mayor of Waspam. We wanted to make certain
that the sawmill would be installed such that it would benefit all the people
of Waspam. We asked him to establish a community board to oversee the
operation of the mill In September we received a return letter, laying out
the membership of the community sawmill board. (attached)
We plan to ship the sawmill as soon as we have the money to do so Matthew
Foti, a certified arborist, contacted our group after reading an article in
the local newspaper, and recommended a 'Mobil Dimension sawmill particularly
suited to the Waspam environment He also volunteered to go to Waspam with
the sawmill and train people in its use Because of his business, Matt can
only travel in January and February We hope to send him and the mill in
February 1991
To insure that Waspam is ready for the arrival of the sawmill we are
considering contracting with Architects and Planners in Support of Nicaragua
(APSNICA) to make an initial visit in December to assess the situation and
talk with the Community Sawmill Committee. They would report back to us with
any potential problems that might arise with the running of the sawmill. If
this first collaboration with APSNICA works well, we may contract with them to
return to Waspam with Matthew Foti, and to follow-up on the functioning and
maintenance of the sawmill in the future APSNICA has extensive experience
with sawmills in Nicaragua as they have sawmill projects in Pearl Lagoon and
Matiguas
II Proposal
The Lexington-Waspam Sister City Committee requests assistance from Oxfam in
completing the sawmill project. To date we have raised $15,452.97 If the
preparatory trip by APSNICA is accepted (we ask Oxfam's estimation of this
proposal), the sum of the entire project is $20,747 00 The budgetary
shortfall for which we request financial support amounts to $5,294.00 In
addition, we ask that Oxfam (in cooperation with CEPAD) help in coordinating
transport of the sawmill from Managua to Puerto Cabezas
Supporting materials for this proposal are attached
a) project budget
b) LWSCC bank statements
c) sawmill invoice
d) APSNICA proposal
e) Waspam Community Sawmill Council organizational letter
f) trip report of LWSCC member Ken Hale
g) LWSCC as cited in Lexington Town Annual Reports