Cultural Event: Talk on ALBA

Every week we have a group cultural event, usually consisting of outside speakers coming in to talk about a particular subject.

This summer's events have included:

• group trip to Coyotepe, a prison formerly used by Somoza and then the Sandinistas, the Verbena, a cultural event in Masaya
• Elvis, a local economist, historian, and storyteller talking about the insurrection and revolution
• Francisco, a local businessman to talk about ALBA
• Clave de Sol, a local band playing Nicaraguan folk songs with explanations and discussion led by Elvis
• group trip to Managua
• group discussions

Here are some photos we took during the talk on ALBA given by Francisco.

Poetry Festival

"I read to my children."

This weeks is the poetry festival in Granada and there are all kinds of performances and vendors in the city center. Today we stopped by a tent that had a reading corner set up. It was so great to see kids curled up reading when most families don't even own books! It inspired us to start collecting books for our mobile library, which will be put into action this summer. We hope our interns and volunteers can help encourage kids to read in barrios all over Granada!

Physical Therapy Course

This January Viva Nicaragua worked in coordination with Physical Therapists from the University of Colorado and Nicaragua's National University (UNAN) to exchange new techniques and information with Nicaraguan professors, students, and practicing physical therapists.

One of the topics covered in the course was how to make simple and low-cost physical therapy equipment for children using basic materials including PVC pipe and tri-wall. This will be very useful for parents and therapists who cannot afford more expensive equipment to assist with the daily activities and therapy for their children.

Viva Nicaragua! hopes to continue working with UNAN and international physical therapy students to teach community members how to make this affordable and useful equipment.

Nuestros Suenos Sewing Coop

In August of 2010, with the support of our intern Aga, eight women, most single mothers, joined together to learn how to sew and create their own micro-business. In an old community center without electricity, using five manual powered machines, the women have quickly learned a new skill. They are currently making different styles of handbags, to sell on the national and tourist market. Their determination, creativity, and skills are keeping them going and contributing to their success.

CHAVALO GROUP

VALLE DE GRANADA'S YOUTH GROUP WATCHES THE PREMIER OF THEIR DOCUMENTARY "LA ESPERANZA". THE SHORT VIDEO WAS WRITTEN AND DIRECTED AND STARS YOUTH FROM THE COMMUNITY.

Sewing Cooperative

We are now supporting a new micro-business in Granada: Corte y Confecciones Nuestros Suenos. This sewing cooperative, provides new economic opportunities for eight women from the community Valle de Granada in Granada, Nicaragua. Women are learning the basics in order to make clothing for their families, neighbors, and the local market. We are also marketing handicrafts for tourists and bed and bath products for local hotels.

THANKS TO OUR INTERNS!

THIS SUMMER WE HAD AN INCREDIBLE GROUP OF INTERNS WHO DID SOME AMAZING PROJECTS.

ASHLEY WORKED IN COMMUNITY ORGANIZING - RAJ WORKED AT PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HEALTH CLINICS - EMILY WORKED AT A WOMEN'S HEALTH CENTER - ALLISON ORGANIZED A YOUTH GROUP - SARAH AND SHAUN STARTED A MICRO-BUSINESS FOR WOMEN ...JUST TO NAME A FEW.

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR ANOTHER GREAT SUMMER AND FOR ALL OF YOUR WORK!!!!! OUR INTERNS MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE! THANK YOU!

FAMILY STAYS

OUR FAMILY STAYS ARE IMPORTANT TO THE OVERALL INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE. BY LIVING WITH A FAMILY, YOU FULLY INTEGRATE YOURSELF INTO THE CULTURE AND LANGUAGE.

ALL OF OUR FAMILIES ARE CAREFULLY SCREENED AND EXPERIENCED. IN GRANADA, ALL INTERNS LIVE IN THE CENTER OF TOWN, MANY IN THE SAME NEIGHBORHOOD, AND ARE CLOSE TO SERVICES INCLUDING INTERNET CAFES AND TRANSPORTATION.

INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S DAY

IN CELEBRATION OF INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S DAY, PROGRAM COORDINATOR CARRIE MCCRACKEN HANDS OUT PRESENTS AT A CHILDREN'S NUTRITION CENTER.

Tree Planting Project

Interns work with community members from the Pantanal squatter's community to plant trees.

Micro Lending Project

Two interns help a small group of women start up their own pinata business as part of a new Viva Nicaragua! micro-lending project.

Just a Trim

Viva Nicaragua! volunteer Micayla Clough teaches a group of women from the community Valle de Granada to cut hair as part of a project to increase economic opportunities. We will continue the training and provide the women with basic accounting and small business management workshops to help them learn to run their own home businesses.

Youth Soccer Team

Viva Nicaragua! donates soccer uniforms to the Solidaridad community youth soccer team.

Group Lectures

Domingo Salazar shares his personal experiences about living under the Somoza dictatorship and his participation in the Revolution and Contra War.

Lectures, cultural events, community visits, and other activities are included in the internship program.

CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

Interns relax after work learning to Salsa, Merengue, and more!

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.