The Peru Gazette

Contingency Plan re North Country Mission of Hope Programs and Services – June 25, 2018

Official statement: The situation in Nicaragua continues to be very difficult and unsettled. Due to the current political and civil unrest, life for the Nicaraguans has been interrupted on many levels. Life has become very unstable and difficult for all, while fear and uncertainty are evident on all levels. National news outlets have not shared much about the volatile situation in Nicaragua, but you will find numerous articles online if you go to www.todaynicaragua.org or google “Nicaragua unrest”.

At this time, the North Country Mission of Hope Leadership can assure you that our Leadership both here in the United States as well as our Administrators and employees in Nicaragua, have been working diligently behind the scenes to insure, as much as possible, continued services to the communities we serve.

Travel Alerts: The US Department of State has issued a level 3 travel alert urging US citizens to reconsider travel to Nicaragua. The Mission of Hope has suspended our Mission trips for the summer months and will reassess the situation come September.

The developments in Nicaragua come on the heels of our 20th Anniversary of the Founding of the North Country Mission of Hope and could be quite disconcerting. However, today, as from the beginning of the Mission, our efforts remain focused on serving the poor and marginalized while fostering hope. These same efforts are attempting to address short term and long term situations. In all our efforts, we are doing everything possible to stabilize and insure the continuation of our services which are a lifeline of HOPE for those who are desperately in need of hope.

In all of these efforts, our Mission continues to seek ways to implement the call that Jesus shared in Luke 4: 18-19:
“The Spirit of God is upon me,� because God has anointed me� to bring good news to the poor.�God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives� and recovery of sight to the blind,� to let the oppressed go free,� to proclaim the year of God’s favor.”

We are able to share the following update with you at this time:

Community Development, such as home shelters, repairs and renovations:
Cost of materials: Minimal increases have occurred.
Availability of materials- for construction: This is tenuous at this time but Magaly and Mauricio will be checking and advising as needed.

Ecological services, such as training and delivery of water filters and rocket stoves: These two projects are on hold due to materials coming from Carazo or San Rafael areas and the materials are delayed due to blockades. Some people in the barrios are reluctant to leave their homes at this time, either to come to Nicasa for training or for the construction person to go to the barrios. This is a fluid situation and may change.

Education sponsorships including OHP (Orphans’ Hope Project) sponsorships:

For both OHP and Regular Education Sponsorships, secondary (high school), Collegio Technico and University students have not been attending school for approximately two months. While efforts were initially suggested for these students to continue their studies online, that has not been the case for most students. Two of our schools, i.e., Nino Jesus de Praga and Madre Divino Pastor do have secondary students attending school, but all the public schools do not have secondary students attending.

Primary students (what we term elementary) have been in session most of the time, but some parents are choosing to keep their children home due to safety concerns.
We do not know when the secondary, University, and Collegio Technico students will return to class. We are hopeful that when there is a viable resolution to the unrest and protests, students will return to class as soon as possible.

OHP sponsorships are due now (June) and while there may be adjustments to this program in the future, OHP sponsors will receive an email with details and forms from Barbara Dobilas and Sally Kokes, our OHP chairperson and liaison. Please note that the delay in sending out our OHP renewals was due to our Leadership review and assessment of Nica situations. All other regular education sponsorships come due in October. When we are closer to that time, we will provide the necessary forms and information for all regular Education Sponsorship renewals, along with any further updates.

Healthcare and Nutritional services, including food program, our clinics and outreach:
Food Program: This program continues to serve all schools except one, but our personnel expect that this one school will begin receiving the food again shortly.
Clinic services: All our clinic services continue uninterrupted except for the one day of the National Strike. Medicines are a little more expensive. For example, the average cost of monthly medicines for our clinic were $250 monthly, but now that average is $280. The same is true for medicines for our Women’s Health and mental health programs.
Outreach services: These services continue at this time.

General: Cost of fuel has increased a little. So far, availability of fuel is accessible in Managua.

Container shipments to Nicaragua: Due to the blockades on major highways and the inability to get containers processed at this time, our warehouse is filled with donations, enough to ship 3 containers. While we are sorting through options and info as to when it will be safe to ship to Nicaragua again, we are also pursuing the shipment of at least 1 container to one of our Non Profit partners who also serves in Puerto Rico. As has always been the case with any/all donations of equipment and supplies, our primary destination is Nicaragua but we assist in other disaster areas both monetarily and in this case, with equipment and supplies, if we can establish a trusted contact on the ground in the disaster stricken area. We will update as this situation develops.

Now, more than ever, we invite and urge you to sustain your contributions and prayers as we continue our service to the most vulnerable victims of poverty, marginalization, injustice and greed. Please join us, as you have for the past 20 years, as we continue to foster hope and empower relationships with the people of Nicaragua, through our programs in education, healthcare, community development and ecological sustainability.