LOS HERMANOS

LOS HERMANOS
Winter / Spring 2016
Villanueva Brigadistas Newsletter — Volume 2
What is the significance of Los Hermanos?
Even though the history between the Syracuse community and Villanueva dates
back to the early 1990s, none from our group of travelers in February 2013 had
been to Villanueva. It had been several years since a group from Syracuse had
made the trip. It was all new to all of us. To our Nicaraguan hosts, however, we
already shared a bond. We were hermanos.
When we arrived, we were greeted by the four members of “La Directiva”: Candida, Maria Antonia, Juanita and Lucas. They saw us as old friends they had
simply not yet met. They welcomed us and immediately began to show us around,
introducing us as los hermanos to the members of their community. To them, we
were literally “brothers and sisters” because of our shared history. They had
known our predecessors dating back to Frank “Paco” Woolever, and the many
others from Syracuse who had visited them over the years, sharing their gallo pinto with them, staying in their homes, listening to their needs and supporting their
mission of maternal and infant healthcare.
We have made two subsequent trips to Villanueva since 2013, each with a mix of
veteran travelers and new ones. Each time, the announcement was proclaimed,
¡los hermanos han llegado! (“our brothers and sisters have arrived!”).
In a very real sense, each of us in the All Saints, St. Lucy’s and St. Andrews community is considered by the members of our sister community in Villanueva to be
hermanos, brothers and sisters. Whether we have traveled to Villanueva, hope to
one day do so, or will never make the trip, we are all walking the journey of faith,
hope and love with our sister community. We all are los hermanos.
MISSION STATEMENT:
Promote a culture in
which people are empowered to strive for the realization of their human
rights. Encourage community organization and
participation to meet
community needs and improve quality of life.
“Only when we are united
will we achieve healthy
communities”
In This Issue
Mural at the center to remember Frank “Paco” Woolever and
the visit to our sister community in 2007

What is the significance of Los
Hermanos?

Nicaragua Canal

El Amor de Dios Es Maravilloso

Julie Norman’s Report Investing in Brigadistas

Trip Planning Update

Thanks and Gratitude
EL AMOR DE
DIOS ES MARAVILLOSO
(scan this QR code to watch the
video clip of our sister community
singing with of our travelers)
Singing with our sister community
NICARAGUA CANAL
As our parishes get involved with Villanueva, I think it is important that we study
some of the political and social issues that dominate the country. One fascinating
picture into the political life of Nicaragua is that the government of the country is
exploring the idea of building a canal much like the Panama Canal. President
Daniel Ortega and the National Legislature have already given a 50-100 year concession to a Chinese billionaire, Wang Jing, to build and manage a 178 mile canal
from the east coast of the country through Lake Nicaragua to the Pacific Ocean in
the West. The Nicaraguan Grand Canal is projected to cost $50 billion and is suppose to be completed by 2020. It will be deeper and wider than the canal in Panama and thus allow the passage of oil supertankers and the new class of very large
container ships that can't use the Panama Canal.
There are already many problems. Mr. Wang's fortune of $10b was reduced by
85% in the Chinese stock market crash of 2015. (but people wonder if he is representing himself or the Chinese Government that is looking for an economic foothold in the backyard of its biggest rival, the US). There are also many environmental and social roadblocks being discussed. Also many people being displaced
by the project are complaining and organizing themselves. But things are moving
ahead. Construction was suppose to start by the end of this year but that has
been postponed until the end of 2016. On the other hand a major environmental
and social impact study of 11,000 pages has been completed by a London-based
company. (many call this study into question) The Chinese company contracted
to do the construction is moving ahead with engineering plans and has begun to
improve the roads in the area at the Pacific end of the project. And, although
many serious students of the project laugh off Mr. Wang saying that this is just a
boondoggle, media outlets are taking it seriously. I have found extensive articles
in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Business News, the Smithsonian Magazine,
The Guardian, The New Yorker and others.
Many of these articles contend that the canal will be an environmental disaster for
all of Central America. The canal needs to cut through Lake Nicaragua, one of the
largest fresh water lakes in the Americas. The canal through the lake will have to
be dredged extensively raising the possibility that much of the fish life in the lake
will be destroyed. The canal on the east coast will have to cut through some of
the most pristine forest and jungle in the world negatively affecting all of that area.
Perhaps the most devastating impact will be on the local populations. It is projected that 28,000 people will loss their homes and livelihoods. Also the business
journals don't think that a Nicaraguan canal could compete with the Panama Canal and/or the rail system that takes goods from China to places in the Unites
States. They feel that even if built, it will be an economic disaster for Nicaragua.
On the positive side, the Nicaraguan Government argues that the canal will provide 250,000 jobs and raise the country out of its dire poverty. Right now the average Nicaragua makes $150/month making the country one of the poorest in the
Americas. Building the canal, says the Government, will double the income of the
average Nicaraguan.
(continued next page)
El Amor de Dios es Maravilloso
El amor de Dios es maravilloso
El amor de Dios es maravilloso
El amor de Dios es maravilloso
Grande es el amor de Dios
Tan alto que no puedo estar arriba
de Él
Tan bajo que no puedo estar abajo
de Él
Tan ancho que no puedo estar
afuera de Él
Grande es el amor de Dios
God’s love is marvelous
God’s love is marvelous
God’s love is marvelous
How great is God’s love!
So high, I can’t be above Him
So low, I can’t be below Him
So wide, I can’t be outside of Him
How great is God’s love!
The Ultrasound arrived safely and
is sitting in customs in Nicaragua
JULIE NORMAN’S
REPORT - INVESTING
IN BRIGADISTAS
Silvia has been a brigadista with us for more
than 12 years. She has
also offered us her home,
which we use as a Casa
Base. There are no
health puestos in the
community, so family
planning consultations,
pre-natal exams, malaria
tests, immunizations, and
weighing children are all
done in her home. She is
poor - and her home is in
bad shape. There is no
door between the two
rooms in the house,
which means that there is
not much privacy when
women are examined.
We hang up a sheet. A
few months ago, I called
Silvia to the center. I told
her I noticed that they did
not have a door; and that,
as a gesture of our appreciation for her service and
the use of her home all
these years, we wanted
to help buy her supplies
to build and install a door.
She was elated and accepted the offer. We
gave her two sheets of
metal, and she planned to
pay someone to help
build and install the door.
A few days later, Silvia
came to visit me. She
was smiling. Her two
sons had come home to
visit, and told her there
was no need to pay
someone - they built the
door for her! The materials only cost about $40,
but she and her family
were too poor to come up
with that much.
Nicaragua Canal continued.
One of the reasons many people think that either the canal will never be built or if built
will not favor the average Nicaraguan citizen is that they don't trust Daniel Ortega, the
President of Nicaragua. “Daniel” as he is known in Nicaragua was a Sandinista revolutionary in the 1980's. He fought against the dictator Anastasio Somoza and was
elected President when Somoza was force to leave. In the 1980's his government
fought a war against Ronald Reagan and the United States. The Nicaraguan people
eventually saw that they had no chance against the US supported “Contras” and voted against Daniel and the Sandinistas.
Daniel left office without a fight but ran for election three more times until he was
reelected. He has now been president for more than 8 years and many see him staying for some time to come. He still uses much of his revolutionary language but he
governs not as a Sandinista but rather much like his old enemy Somoza. Most of his
support comes from the private business people that were his rivals in the 1980's.
They are the ones who will benefit most from the new canal, the commentators contend.
If you find this overview at all interesting please look up some of the articles that I
used to write it. Find “Nicaragua Canal” in Wikipedia as a good place to start. You
might also read the article in Bloomberg of August 19, 2015 and the Wall Street Journal of 8/9/15. I found the Guardian's article from 1/20/15 a very good summary of the
recent history of the canal but the most interesting reading I found was a long article
in the New Yorker (The Comandante's Canal, 3/10/14). The article traces the history
of the country from the coming of the Spaniards in the early 1500's to the present. It
also gives you a very interesting commentary on the financial dealing going on behind
the scenes. As the saying goes, if you want to know why powerful people do what
they do, “just follow the money.”
Panoramic view of Lake Nicaragua—one of the largest fresh water lakes in the Americas
TRIP PLANNING UPDATE
We are in the process of planning our next mission trip for February 2017. A
group of interested travelers attended an informational meeting in December.
They are now in the process of discerning whether they are called to make the trip
at this time. By the end of January, we should have a good sense of who will be
traveling and will begin preparing for the trip. As with any group excursion, extra
time allows travelers to get passports and vaccines, and find the best airfare without stress. We will also have the time to help travelers do fundraising as necessary. Most importantly, however, with a full twelve months to get ready, we will
have ample time to develop a cohesive group and prepare travelers for the experience. Our plan is to meet monthly to learn some basic Spanish, prepare some
songs that we can share with our Nicaraguan hosts—since song is a major part of
all of their get-togethers—and learn more about Nicaraguan history, politics and
culture. As we learn more about each other and the gifts that each traveler brings,
we will try to coordinate those talents and skills with needs identified by our brothers and sisters in Villanueva. Please keep us in your prayers!
Here is a link to a video made by one of our team members to show what life is
like in Villanueva:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEff347voLI&feature=youtu.be
You can still sign up although you must act fast and get us the $150 / person
down payment by 1/31/2016!
THANKS AND GRATITUDE
Contribute!
Thanks to all of you, we were able to purchase a great laptop for
our Nicaraguan ministry. A church group in Rochester has agreed
to take it there for us. Cindi and Walter (Candida Betanco’s adult
children) will use it for their college studies, as well as transmitting
reports and photos from our Sister Community. Cindi has already
been doing this of course, but up until now she has had to go to a
cyber café.
If you wish to help support our
Sister Community and their
efforts, you can make a tax
deductible contribution as
follows:
We received a check from the Diocese in the amount of $3,772!
This represents the proceeds from the July Mission Cooperation
weekend in which Kip, Kathleen and Dave were our wonderful
homilists at three area parishes. Father Severine is the pastor of all
three, and he facilitated the scheduling and welcoming of our representatives during the weekend of July 12, for which we are deeply grateful.
St. Lucy’s Church, or
Thanks to Paul and Becca Mohally Renk who are working with us
to make sure the Ultrasound equipment is delivered to our community.
To celebrate the Feasts of All Souls/All Saints as well as the 7th
Anniversary as a parish, All Saints put on a pancake breakfast
fundraiser for Villanueva. Thanks to all who made this initial fundraising for Villanueva event at All Saints so spirited and successful!
They raised over $3,500!
Make checks payable to either
All Saints Church
Be sure to put in the memo
section: “Sister Community”
Or place your contribution in the
envelopes available in the back
of each supporting church
This Newsletter sponsored by:
Peg Barnett was selling her crafts again which went fast at both All
Saints and St. Lucy’s. Also, sister Pat Bergan coordinated the
Christmas wreath sales at St. Lucy’s and Mary & John Jureller coordinated wreath sales on the All Saints side .
New this year was the Christmas cards that artist Sr. Eleanore, osf
had made for us. Kathy Osbelt and Marijane Reilly coordinated
this effort for us.
Many thanks to all of you for your roles in making this happen.
These funds will go a long way to providing continued public health
care in Villanueva, Nicaragua. Many thanks to everyone for their
generosity, prayers, craft and wreath sales, etc!!
Again, muchas gracias por todo! (Thank you for everything!)
Craig Polhamus – 952-4227 – crpolhamus@aol.com
Meg Ksander – 472-9934 – ksander@allsaintssyracuse.org
Charles Clinton – 469-1239 – cclinton515@gmail.com
Leigh Hunt – 448-1968 – leighfhunt@aol.com
Kip Hargrave – 382-6443 – kiphargraveh@gmail.com
Dave Pasinski – 637-7934 – dpasinski@verizon.net
Walter Salazar, Craig Polhamus, Cindi Salazar
Walter and Cindi will be using the laptop we got
to send us reports and photos.