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Submission: Joseph Luther
How does one measure the passing of the years? Anyone who has stood at the brink of a milestone event has probably realized that this question isn't as simple as it may first appear. Those of us who are lucky enough to be able to retrospectively consider a decade of time have realized that it can't be measured with a metronome or a stopwatch or even an atomic clock - they don't consider the daily trials. It can't be measured with a spreadsheet, a pie chart, or a surveyor's tool - they don't consider the heartache. It can't be measured with a radar gun, an electron microscope, or an intelligence satellite - they don't consider the personal growth. To measure a life in terms of any of these instruments doesn't seem sufficient. The answer to the question of how to measure a span of time is hard to get the head and the heart around. It is something that sometimes brings a smile to the corners of a mouth and sometimes racks the bones with melancholy.
So, how does an organization like W/NP measure the passing of the years? A milestone event in the life of such an organization similarly forces us to look back upon that which came before. Possibly, one could measure a decade in the life of W/NP through the number of tons of health, medical, educational, and building materials that have changed hands between Wisconsin and Nicaragua during that time; possibly through the myriad of awards that the administrators, employees, and volunteers of W/NP have conferred during that time; possibly through the results of the unending stream of programs begun and completed; possibly through the additional healthy and productive days afforded to those living in dire and economically disadvantaged situations during that time; possibly through the countless new friendships, strengthened relationships, and indelible memories cultivated in ten years; or possibly through the number of volunteer hours and donor dollars that have been received over the course of that time.
Somehow, statistics seem as ineffectual when attempting to measure the life of an organization as technological gadgets seem when attempting to measure the life of an individual. Somehow, I'm more comfortable with an old hourglass.
Like an hourglass, whose individual grains of sand form a thin cohesive chain when acted upon by gravity, a chain of souls is created within and between Wisconsin and Nicaragua when acted upon by commitment and dedication. Like an hourglass, whose sands can flow from one chamber to the other depending on which is empty, goodwill, friendships, and cultural enrichment can flow from Wisconsin to Nicaragua or vice versa depending on which is willing to accept. Like an hourglass, whose artful design and function depend on the passage of that single grain of sand through that narrow void to add itself to the thousands of others resulting in the measurement of an hour, W/NP measures personal and community growth through individual contributions which when added, produce a result that is both beautiful and functional.
Of course, sometimes words, analogues, and allegory all fail when attempting to measure the passing of time for an individual or for an organization because sometimes, those things are one and the same. Such is the case here today, but let's give it a try.
Sherin Bowen came on as Executive Director for W/NP in the winter of 1992. She came in at a time of great change for the organization before the Executive Director had a desk to sit at. Over the course of the ten years that followed, Sherin and W/NP became inextricably woven together and the resulting tapestry that grew out of this relationship was both colorful and broad. Through repeated times of financial hardship and many changes of face for the organization, Sherin played a pivotal role, supported by the strength and dedication of volunteers and donors, in nurturing the growth and vigor of W/NP. Some of the more influential programs and missions during those years follow.
Health Related Programs
In the late 1990s, infant mortality in Nicaragua stood at 53/1000 live-births - the highest in Central America and among the top five in the hemisphere. Also, Nicaragua ranked first in adolescent pregnancies. Jinotega women and families faced exceptionally high reproductive risk as a consequence of high fertility and minimal birth spacing for women under nineteen years of age. The fertility rate of 7.8 was nearly double the national rate of 4.5. The excessive rate of maternal and perinatal deaths ranked as the first priority among major health concerns in Jinotega.
Diarrhea was the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children zero to five years in the department of Jinotega, making up 85% of all the cases. Acute Respiratory Infection represented 22% of the total deaths of those less than five years in the department of Jinotega. Twenty-three percent of child mortality in Nicaragua is attributable to the associated effects of mild to moderate malnutrition, contrary to the common misconception that only severe malnutrition causes death.
Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners of the Americas, Inc. excitedly received notification on September 18, 1998 that a USAID award had been given for a program in child survival and reproductive health (to be known as the JinoHealth Maternal and Child Survival Project) which was to work with 156 communities surrounding the city of Jinotega, department of Jinotega, Nicaragua to reduce morbidity and mortality in women and children by working at the grass roots level.
Over four years, participants in the project saw increases in knowledge of signs and causes of Acute Diarrheal Disorder, Acute Respiratory Disorder, and malnutrition. Increases were also seen in the practices of child immunization, breastfeeding (typically improving nutrition and hydration in infants), and prenatal and postnatal health care. Additionally, word was received from USAID just before Christmas of 2001 that there had been fewer infant and maternal deaths recorded in the department of Jinotega. Although most goals were met, improvements still needed to be made in some areas, which was the impetus behind JinoHealth II, implemented in the fall of 1999.
An important concept in W/NP's philosophy of project planning is the concept of satellite projects supporting a large funded project, otherwise known as the "multiplier effect." Spawned from JinoHealth I and II were a whole series of projects involving gardening, composting, sewing centers, potable water, vitamin A supplementation, child feeding centers, family planning, ambulances, fire trucks, and eyeglass missions.
The first eyeglass mission that took place under Sherin's watch was in January of 1996. A team of ten people from Wisconsin traveled to Acoyapa (partner city Whitehall) to fit and distribute eyeglasses to young and old, many of whom were essentially blind without glasses. In addition to the eyeglass program, antibiotics and equipment were provided to a medical laboratory for the clinic in Acoyapa.
Subsequent missions included trips to Rosita in July of 1999, Jinotega in February of 2001, Ometepe in March of 2001, Waspam in February of 2002, and Acoyapa again in 2003, during which several thousand eyeglasses were distributed and dozens of other infirmities of the eye were treated. During each of these missions, volunteers and staff traveled to remote rural areas of Nicaragua, often under harrowing conditions, to work with promoters and brigadistas (medically trained advisers). The trips were eventful and sometimes dangerous, but the need was great. Each day, it was no surprise to find lines of people of all ages (including a memorable 103 year-old woman named Onofre) patiently waiting for a possibility to see a little better.
They would often walk from many miles away, sometimes barefoot, or travel by raft, sometimes for days, to reach the clinic. The mission teams all agreed that there is nothing as exciting as watching a child see clearly for the first time. Each of the missions were deeply indebted to the Lions Clubs for their assistance and contributions, without which the missions simply wouldn't have been possible.
Equal in magnitude to the eyeglass missions was the Vitamin A Project. A collaborative effort between W/NP, the Lions Clubs, and the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health, the Vitamin A Project was ongoing for much of Sherin's tenure and has been responsible for the healthy eyesight of literally millions of children in Nicaragua since it first began. Key to the development and continued success of the program is the indefatigable Willard Davidson who's long range goal is to secure sufficient funding to provide the entire country of Nicaragua with Vitamin A.
Healing the Children began its first medical mission to Nicaragua in February of 1993 and was followed by missions in 1994 and 1996. The primary purpose of these missions was to perform surgeries and identify children for surgeries that are not available in Nicaragua, to teach, and to inform. These missions not only benefited the recipient children and their families, but also families in Wisconsin in the classic people-to-people spirit of Partners of the Americas, Inc. by developing and nurturing new and existing relationships. Over 120 surgeries were performed, changing the lives of many more.
Education/Personal Growth Programs
The various Learning Centers partnerships that we know today grew from humble beginnings as an organized effort to make periodic donations of sewing machines and supplies to existing sewing centers across Nicaragua. These centers provided women the opportunity to acquire basic sewing skills, enabling them to help clothe their families and provide an additional means of financial support for their homes. Ellen Maurer of Verona, Wisconsin had been chief in orchestrating these efforts. She later joined forces with Ardith McDowell of the Wisconsin Association of Home and Community Education. Together, they expanded these events to include needs assessment tours and shipments of pre-assembled standardized sewing supply kits as well as organizing a network of women across Wisconsin to help support the projects.
In the last ten years, the scope of the project has broadened to include increasing the organization of individual Learning Centers as well as their interconnectedness and to assist in converting the centers into self-sufficient microenterprise operations. By sharing information and support, it was realized that a network could be formed creating a unified whole stronger than its component parts and, by offering additional skills training, enabling the centers to appeal to a wider range of participants.
The Learning Centers tours have become an anticipated annual ritual and a rite of passage for some, which serve to not only identify needs and successes, but also to create a turning point upon which to share skills, establish new relationships, renew old ones, and strengthen support systems.
The number of Learning Centers and the ties between them continue to grow with the most recent dedicated in 2000. To date, there are over seventy centers in operation.
In typical W/NP fashion, one program breeds another. When Lynda Pracht first visited Nicaragua in 1998 on a W/NP sponsored Learning Centers tour, she couldn't have known how her life was about to change. She immediately became intrigued and spirited by the possibilities. The applied and design skills of the women she came into contact with, coupled with their obvious desire to become self-sufficient, was the only invitation she needed to initiate a pilot microenterprise project centered around the betterment of these embattled and resolute women. The endeavor was dubbed the Chica Nica Doll Dresses Project.
Now a staunch member of the Women in Development Committee, her name has become synonymous with the project and she averages four to five trips per year to work directly with women from various sewing center locations (she has visited each one to date) in an effort to create and promote new designs for sale in the U.S. The program enables women in Nicaragua, some of whom are the sole supporters for their families, to be able to work from their homes, thus concurrently facilitating income generation and the security of their loved ones. A portion of the sale of the dresses is used to provide supplies, equipment, and training for the centers.
The Chica Nica Doll Dresses Project has become one of the most successful and popular of W/NP born projects. There are currently at least twenty distinct designs of these eighteen inch dresses and that number is increasing all of the time. Its exhibit is in perpetual motion creating a genuinely marketable product that can be sold internationally. Equally important, it provides dignity and value to the lives of women who would otherwise be facing much more grave economic futures.
Agricultural Programs
The stronghold for any W/NP agricultural project, large or small, has always been found within the boundaries of POA's Farmer to Farmer programs. These programs were among the first to ever receive funding. They have been ongoing since very early in the life of W/NP and continue to garner wide support today. They have strengthened training and extension services in agroforestry, animal husbandry, vegetable and small crop production, farm management, and environmental protection. The programs are too numerous and varied to detail fully here, but we can touch on a few of the successes of the last decade.
A primary goal of the W/NP Farmer to Farmer project has long been to improve the dairy industry, from milk production to marketing of the final product. To that end, a dairy processing plant was built in 1995 in Chinandega, a livestock auction was set up in 1996 in hopes to improve prices, and a milking system and bulk milk tank was installed at the Universidad Nacional Agraria facility in Camoapa in 2002. The Milk Production Improvements and Milk Quality Program for processing and commercial marketing was started in 1999. FTF has possibly had its greatest impact in Nicaragua with the advent of this program.
In an attempt to instruct rural Nicaraguans in methods of utilizing environmentally sustainable farming practices while combatting nutritionally impoverished lifestyles with fresh homegrown vegetables, projects like the Kitchen Gardens were developed. These workshops trained leaders in the use of an intensive planting method based on using square meter blocks of garden space and contemporary composting methods.
In 2001, the Bee-Keeping Project was initiated in order to take advantage of the native environmental conditions which lend themselves so well to the honey industry. Areas of concern included pest control, lack of appropriate education, poor organization at all levels, and restrictive government controls.
The economic plight and health issues of Nicaraguans have also been addressed on a more intimate level. For example, rural Nicaraguans have long used traditional clay cook stoves in their homes to prepare their daily meals. Unfortunately, these stoves have tended to produce large amounts of black smoke that wasn't vented properly, creating a poor living environment and respiratory problems.
The Stove Pipe Project implemented the distribution of simple, affordable stove chimneys that were found to remove 85% of the smoke out of the kitchen. Alternative methods of cooking have also been explored, displayed by a pilot project began in 2002 to test the onsite use and validity of highly efficient solar cookers in Nicaragua.
Other Important Programs
One of the most ambitious programs that W/NP has envisioned in recent years, dubbed the Cornerstone Project, endeavors to build upon the recently laid foundations for economic growth and sustainable development in Nicaragua toward encouraging the expansion of democratic ideas by sharing the principles of self-governance. By uniting Wisconsin and Nicaraguan local government leaders, administrators in Nicaragua have been given a unique opportunity to exploit the knowledge and skills of those living in a working functional democracy to create an experience that specifically addresses the Nicaraguan culture and existing conditions.
A U.S. State Department funded grant supported the travel of one individual from each of six selected Wisconsin communities plus a media representative to Nicaragua as well as the visit of nineteen elected and appointed Nicaraguan municipal officials plus four staff members, two media representatives, and two Central Ministry representatives to Wisconsin. As well as touring Central Wisconsin, meeting with corporate, non-profit, educational, wastewater, environmental, and agricultural representatives, and job shadowing, the Nicaraguan and traveling Wisconsin participants were able to "home-stay" with their respective counterparts.
One of the exciting aspects to the Cornerstone Project is the involvement of new groups - mayors and their organizations, municipal officials, new host families, new partner city volunteers, and innovative technology - that will be useful for future communications between the participants, taking this project beyond the grant period. Continued training and weekly assignments are part of the ongoing reinforcement to continue contact between all participants beyond project completion.
Hurricane Mitch, which struck in October of 1998, was a disaster of monumental proportions for the Nicaraguan people, which tested the resolve and effectiveness of W/NP. With more than 35 years of experience in Nicaragua, W/NP was in a unique position to collect and distribute materials in a timely fashion. Its established network was crucial to the success of the relief effort and its response was immediate.
From her desk in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Sherin handled the logistics of coordination, documentation, and international shipping. Initially, cash donations were easiest to manage. But quickly the collection of goods and materials began in order to embark on the process of reconstruction. Over 110,000 pounds of materials valued at nearly $800,000 were shipped within a relatively short time. Additionally, more than $150,000 in cash donations was collected. The relief effort dominated the activities of W/NP for many months. The work was intense, the hours were long, and the dedication shown by the participants was exemplary.
In July of 1999, funding was received for the Nicaraguan Leadership Development Program, a project that focused on acquiring training in community development techniques supporting reconstruction activities resulting from Hurricane Mitch. It was a collaborative effort between W/NP and UW Extension. Visitors from Nicaragua attended five days of training seminars at UW Madison, experienced Wisconsin life through "home-stays," and then returned to Nicaragua where a mentoring system was established to make their new assets usable.
The U.S. government eventually put through a large aid package for Nicaragua, but the number of bureaucratic impediments that had to be overcome highlighted the value of a grassroots organization like W/NP whose strength lies in simple, honest, committed person to person connections.
The last ten years have produced so many other programs and initiatives that can't be mentioned here but are equally important to those who were benefactors for and beneficiaries of them. Thanks and recognition goes out to those unsung compadres of Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners of the Americas, Inc.
During times of transition emotions run deep. Fortunately, organizations like W/NP grow through transition, and the links and bonds that have been forged over the last decade will continue to anchor W/NP to a foundation of wisdom, compassion, and dedication for years to come. W/NP extends its heartfelt gratitude to Sherin Bowen for her ten years of contributions and is looking forward to her reduced but continued presence about the office. Thanks Sherin!
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