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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-12-07-LWSCC-rpt.pdf LEXINGTON-WASPAM SISTER CITY COMMITTEE P.O. Box 283,Lexington,MA 02420 USA 7 December 1998 Dear Friends, We are writing to tell you about the activities of the Lexington-Waspam Sister City Committee during the past year and to ask for your continued support for these projects in the coming year. These Waspam area activities include our support of an elementary school teacher and our tuition fund that supports secondary and university students. Also this year we hope you can be especially generous so that we can contribute to relief efforts for Hurricane Mitch. lo" 'fY" The Lexington-Waspam Sister City a Committee has undertaken to pay the salary of an elementary school teacher, Ms. Lucrecia Pedro Patron, in the Mayangna r11 (Sumu)town of Awastingni, in the municipality of Waspam in the Northern Autonomous Atlantic Region(RAAN) of Nicaragua. Lucrecia is concluding her fifth year as a teacher with her salary provided by the LWSCC. The Nicaraguan Ministry of Education(MED)has made six positions C_ucreciar,Pedrp Parqui.4&nd'daugtrer available for teachers in the RAAN, and Lucrecia is eligible for one of them. We and the Awastingni community believe it is important for us to continue providing her salary until MED funding is resolved. When this does happen we will consult with community representatives concerning the most beneficial way to use the amount remaining, including the possibility of funding another teacher, something they have mentioned often in our meetings with them. We have budgeted$1,000 for the continuation of this activity In January of 1995, we added another project at the request of the people of Awastingni. This project provides tuition support for the young people of the village to attend secondary school and universities in Bilwi (formerly Puerto Cabezas), the administrative center of the RAAN. While the tuition varies from school to school, all supported students receive the tuition required. This aspect of our project is taken very seriously by Awastingni, and representatives from the town take upon themselves the responsibility of ensuring that the funding is distributed properly and on time. Last year$800 provided the tuition for 20 students. Among these,two have graduated from secondary school and three are taking university-level courses. In this project a little goes a very long way and we would like to increase the tuition fund to $1,000 As you are aware, Central America has been severely affected by Hurricane Mitch. While the brunt of the storm was felt in Honduras and the adjacent Pacific Coast of Nicaragua, the major rivers of the Nicaraguan Atlantic Coast(including most prominently, the Coco River,the Rio Grande de Matagalpa, and the Prinzapolka) flooded with disastrous results for the communities located on them. Most of the flood victims are Mayangna(Sumu)and Miskitu peoples living on LEXINGTON-WASPAM SISTER CITY COMMITTEE P.O. Box 283,Lexington,MA 02420 USA the rivers of the RAAN. In the 46 settlements of the Upper Rio Coco, 18,061 people are in the category of"damnificados" (severely affected by the flooding--including displacement, loss of livelihood and property, and loss of crops), and 2,360 houses were destroyed. On the Lower Rio Coco, 6,150 people were severely affected, and 836 houses were destroyed. Some 5,016 hectares of crops are known to have been destroyed--this is a very serious matter considering the nature of land use in the region where subsistence consists primarily of small family plots. Data is still coming in and it will be some time before the full extent of the damage is known. CIDCA,the organization that manages our funds for the education projects,has established a means to deliver disaster aid efficiently to the relevant support depots. We feel this effort is especially important in view of the difficulties of distributing aid to the Atlantic Coast region as compared to the communities on the Pacific Coast directly impacted by Mitch. While the number of deaths on the Nicaraguan Atlantic coast attributed to Mitch is mercifully low, the displacement, economic stress, and health problems resulting from the flooding will be a serious concern for many years to come. Ken Hale(from LWSCC) will meet with representatives from the Waspam region in January 1999 to assess first hand the current situation when he travels to the region. We need your help again in raising money for the LWSCC projects. The combined total for the teaching position and the school tuition fund is $2,000 Although the total amount involved for these projects is not great, it is not insignificant, and it must be obtained if the projects are to continue in 1999 Given the special situation which now exists in Nicaragua, we hope that you can be especially generous this year so that we can also contribute to support efforts being undertaken on behalf of the flood victims on the Atlantic Coast. So please help us again with your tax deductible donation. School Childr n of Awdstingni "-, ,•, 't For whatever you can give,we thank you again according to the Mayangna "° custom employed by Pastor Netario r ' McClean of Awastingni when the initial discussions of the arrangement regarding Lucrecia's salary were , I •l �r I'M I< A h. concluded: Tingki arungka kalanin ki. tingki, tingki, tingki, tingki. That is to say "One must give thanks four times: thanks,thanks,thanks,thanks." Sincerely, Wally Leutz Chairperson, LWSCC F