Season’s Greetings and a wish for a Merry Christmas
and a Hopeful New Year
The San Juan del Sur Biblioteca hosted their annual event for the Manos Unidas group of differently-abled young adults who work at the library from 8 a.m. to -12 noon each week day where they interact with the library staff and create artisan gifts for sale. They join us in our best wishes of the season!
URGENT: Less than 48 hours to participate in the Matching Grant! For Real! Thank you!
The final days of our BP Matching Grant are here! We have been able to extend to the 18thof December and also still take pledges for year-end until the 18th. The response has been good but we have not yet reached our Goal for a minimum match of $5000! To offer a pledge for year-end giving simply send an e-mail to HJH Program at [email protected] or [email protected] with your name, and the amount of your donation which should be provided by the end of December.
Please consider making a donation that can be matched through our BP Matching Grant now through December 18th and double your impact.
Click the Donate button or
Mail a check to:
HJH Libraries for All Program
1716 Del Norte Ave.
Loveland, CO 80538
I was asked to fly back this week, to help a friend who had been ill return to Nicaragua and get settled. So! I am able to give a first-hand report!
Our plane was full and half Nica and the other half an assortment of North Americans. I saw several obviously “Mission-donation” duffle bags in the baggage claim area as I retrieved our suitcases. These were always so evident in the past and it was good to see some groups are returning. The United planes are coming but only mid-day and not staying overnight with crews but things do seem more functional. The Government seems to be making a huge effort to show things as “normal”.
I spent Thursday in Managua and it really was business as usual; there had been a lot of new construction around the Galleria area of Managua over the past 6 months. Christmas shopping seemed at a high. There was one mall where the center plaza had a big sale called “Black Week”! I guess Black Friday wasn’t long enough here! I felt very safe. There was no evidence of police or trouble!
Unfortunately news from Managua is not as good as what I saw. On Thursday and Friday several NGO’s – only those tied to protest and environmental issues regarding the Rio San Juan – were raided, their offices upturned and files and computers confiscated and also bank accounts in a few cases. Worse hit was the Nicaraguan Human Rights group who also lost their permission to operate in Nicaragua. Many thought this was coming when the International Human rights people issued a condemnation months ago.
There is still no recourse if there is trouble but it seems like there are fewer troubling events. Many people, and stores in Managua especially, have not decorated for the holidays as a subtle protest that this is not a season of celebration. However, the local Alcaldias (Mayor’s offices) are going out of their way to make things normal and our park in San Juan is decorated with activities most evenings. San Juan is still lacking tourists but its economy is coming back somewhat. There is little activity at night in any of the bigger cities and few to none of the usual parties of the season. Many people are still being targeted as protesters and that has now been labeled a crime retroactively.
Edwin Vasquez who is our library administrator commented, “Todo mundo tiene miedo” “Everyone is afraid.” I would give things a yellow light and proceed but with caution, and keeping a low profile is still best! The US State Department has not lifted it’s Level 3 travel warning here but things seem disconcertedly back to normal throughout the areas I’ve traveled between Managua and San Juan del Sur.
–View from my patio.
I will be back in Colorado on Monday the 17thand hope to submit the Matching Grant by the 20th.
Thank you for your support, encouragement, and friendship as we continue forward. Our positive work here in Nicaragua is more important now than ever as recovery begins.
Jane
Jane Mirandette
President HJH Program
Director, San Juan del Sur Biblioteca Y Movil
[email protected]
I will be back in Colorado on Monday the 17thand hope to submit the Matching Grant by the 20th.
Thank you for your support, encouragement, and friendship as we continue forward. Our positive work here in Nicaragua is more important now than ever as recovery begins.