GLOBAL FUND

In addition to the material and economic donations we give to organizations for each intern hosted, we also have a GLOBAL FUND that we donate on an anual basis. The GLOBAL FUND for 2010 will be used for the following:
- Six months partial salary for the doctor at the San Blas clinic
- Uniforms for the Solidaridad Youth Soccer Team
- Material for the El Fortin Sewing Cooperative project
- Art supplies to maintain the Solidaridad Kid's Club throughout the year
- Brochures for a small, socially minded, Spanish school

INTERN SPOTLIGHT

Morea D. Steinhauer
PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP COORDINATOR

Morea graduated Summa Cum Laude from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2006 with a BA in American Studies and a BS in Individualized Studies in Photography Arts in Business. In 2009 at the UN Mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica, Morea obtained a masters degree of arts in Gender and Peace Building.

Morea uses her passions in photojournalism, mentorship, and social activism to teach individuals how to express their stories. She has extensive experience as a photojournalist, providing support for students within university settings, assisting individuals with disabilities, and mentoring individuals through personal and professional growth and transformation (such as nonviolent communication, conflict transformation, etc). Currently she is an intern for Viva Nicaragua! (www.nicaraguainternships.org/). Contact her at: morea.steinhauer@gmail.com

PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

Abstract
The goal of this project was to analyze the impact of photojournalism as a research method to understand how photojournalism can be an effective means of empowerment, self-expression, and form of communication. The project was sponsored by Viva Nicaragua! (www.nicaraguainternships.org/). Twenty-five community members (mostly women) of the barrio community named Solidaridad in Granada, Nicaragua participated in a 6-week photo workshop.

Solidaridad, a social housing project located on the edges of Lake Cocibolca, is home to over 200 families who have worked and struggled to build their community. Over five years ago, several homeless families from Granada moved onto the land that is now Solidaridad and constructed makeshift shacks out of plastic, tin, and whatever scrap material they could find. Together they faced many hardships including police evictions and flooding. Their need for dignified housing outweighed their difficulties and their desires for better lives kept them together.

Organized and with the assistance of The Casa de la Mujer Granada (AMNLAE), the local government, and Spanish and French organizations, they received economic support to build their community. Today 250 families have received title to their land and have constructed their own homes. Currently, families now have homes that are safe to reside in and people no longer fear the rains in addition to living in more sanitary conditions.

Solidaridad is a community of hardworking and proud people that demonstrates the power of organization and working together to achieve a goal that you believe in and that is bigger than yourself. Today it is a well-established neighborhood that as a community have been through and achieved a great deal. Additionally, these individuals continue to work diligently for a better future.

The participants within this project were taught basic concepts and principles of design of photography. They were lent digital cameras and were instructed to take photos of whatever they like as long as it is through the perspective of the following three questions and detailed within their reflections:

• What is your life in Nicaragua like?
• What is good about your life? (What are the positive aspects?)
• What should change? (What are the challenges?)

Every session the participants would reflect on their photos and expand on how they answered the above questions. These reflections were later used as part of the description to the photos selected and that are presented here within this exhibit. The community-based participatory research approach allowed for the participants themselves to tell their own stories of the significance behind their lived experiences. They had the opportunity to express themselves and were give a voice to shed light on their daily realities as they saw them – not by what others projected onto them.

The results are two products, one being this exhibit of images and reflections that were self-selected by the participants to be shared with the Granada Nicaraguan community at Tres Mundos (August 17 – 28, 2009) and within the barrio Solidaridad (August 29 – September 12, 2009), in addition to the production of postcards to be sold as a means of sustainable fundraising for youth programming within the barrio Solidaridad.

YOUTH GROUP IN SOLIDARIDAD

Volunteer Kary Brennan got together a group of children from the former squatters community la Solidaridad. Her purpose was to combine her two passions: art and the environment in order to teach kids to protect their local environment. At the end of her time here, she took a group for a short boat tour of the isletas to show them the diversity of flora and fauna that exists in Lake Colcibolca (literally right in their backyard!) For many of these children this was their first time visiting the isletas. A good time was had by all!


And the youth project has been so successful that community leaders have decided to keep it going. They meet with the kids 3 mornings per week. Viva Nicaragua! volunteers have helped with Taekwando, dance, theater, and art projects!

TAEKWANDO CLASSES FOR KIDS

VOLUNTEER JUSTIN HARE TEACHING TAEKWANDO TO CHILDREN IN THE COMMUNITY OF SOLIDARIDAD.

STUDENT INTERNSHIPS SPRING 2009 UNM Semester Program in Nicaragua

A semester long program coordinated by Dr. Christine Rack from the University of New Mexico, Casa Xalteva Spanish school, with internships and most lectures and site visits arranged by Viva Nicaragua!


My 1st week: Clínica Forense (Forensic Clinic) Granada, Nicaragua

I am sitting in the office of Dr. Hernandez when a young man walks in. He is here for a physical exam,
evidence collection and then is on his way to prison. The doctor is to check his height, weight, blood
pressure and pulse. After this he will collect blood and DNA swabs of the mouth and urethra to send to
the lab for analyzing. Interestingly, this young male is a probable sex offender but he appears happy,
friendly and attempts to speak to me when the doctor steps out. He is a little guy and has a warm,
welcoming face. It makes me realize you can’t judge someone on the way they look or portray
themselves externally.
This is the process I observe all week. They conduct physicals, approving people’s health for prison,
conduct evidence collection on domestic violence, sexual abuse and victims of lesiones (injuries) from
fighting. Lesiones are reported to be the most common case that walks in to this office on a weekly
basis. The second and third most common cases are that of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

My 2nd week: La Oficina de Medicina Legal (The Office of Legal Medicine) in Managua, Nicaragua

My first day I find myself suited up like I am headed to the moon. I am given scrubs, shoe covers, arm guards, gloves, an apron, mask and a face shield. I enter a
small room that is freezing cold in comparison to the 94°F weather that
awaits me outside. I notice a counter with fixed specimens, one with a biohazard
waste bucket and two more kept clear for evidence collection and the recording of
personal belongings. There are two metal tables in the middle of the room, one of
which has the body of a deceased person on it. He was found in a water tank and anautopsy will be done to clarify the cause of death is drowning.
First we remove and record all clothing and personal effects. The pockets are
checked for any form of identification that could lead us to discover who this man is
so the family may be notified. Afterward the doctor approaches the
table and the external examination begins. The body is examined from head to toe for evidence of foul play. The Doctor takes photos of the face, scars and tattoos in hopes of someone recognizing something that will put a name to this lifeless face.
Afterward the body is thoroughly cleaned and specimens are collected of femoral blood, vitreous fluid, urine and subclavian blood. At this point the body has been prepped for autopsy to begin. The autopsy starts with the head, the skull cap is removed and the brain is taken out and examined. After the head, the long incision is made from the chin to the pelvis. The neck to the heart and lungs are removed in
block. Meaning rather than the removal of organs individually, they are all removed in situ, as is. Afterward the stomach is opened and I am told that it is impossible to have stomach contents in both the duodenum and stomach unless it is that of a drowning. These organs are examined and the cause of death has been found, ahogado (drowning). The body is cleaned and sewn with a fine stitch. During these two weeks I learned so much about the system of Nicaragua and how their justice and
health system operate hand in hand. Many of the doctors have studied in other countries such as the United States, Spain and Germany but tell me they come back because they feel they need to serve their people. During these two weeks I was among truly talented, successful, intelligent, humble doctors. They allowed me to observe, participate and took interest in my want to learn about their system here in Nicaragua. An experience I will truly never forget I was permitted to take part in!

STUDENT INTERNSHIPS
SPRING 2009 UNM Semester Program in Nicaragua

Zoe Kolon

I did my internship in San Blas, a small rural village about 20 minutes by bus outside of Granada,Nicaragua. The village was very different from anything I had experienced or seen in Nicaragua. The community was very poor; most of the houses (or shacks) were constructed with pieces of metal and wood. The living conditions were very simple, but the people and my host family were incredibly warm,
generous and caring. I wanted to focus on the education in Nicaragua so I worked in a preschool in the mornings and a public high school in the afternoons. The preschool had been started by a NGO from Spain called Hijos Del Maiz. The organization started with only a soup kitchen to feed the children in the
community once a day. Many families don’t have the money or resources to give their children the proper nutrition they need or to give them enough to eat. It eventually expanded into a preschool, computer classes for the community and also a clinic and a pharmacy. Hijos del Maiz is a great organization which has helped the community of San Blas in many positive ways. In the afternoons I would go to the public high school and help the English teacher with her classes. The condition of the school was terrible, there were barely enough desks for all the students, the school was old and rundown. There were overwhelming differences between the
education in Nicaragua and in the U.S.
My internship was fascinating
and it taught me not only about Nicaragua´s education system, but also about the government and politics, Nicaraguan culture, traditions, people and their way of life. I could not have picked a better internship, I was able to practice
Spanish much more than I previously had, I was able to focus on my interests and I learned much more about Nicaragua.