Moscow Sister City Association Newsletter

June 2020


This newsletter was sent via the City of Moscow on behalf of the Moscow Sister City Association. This newsletter was written by Moscow Sister City Association authors and may not necessarily reflect the views of the City of Moscow.
In this issue:   
  1. Our New Scholarship Students
  2. Nica News
  3. Moscow/Pullman Daily News articles

1. Our New Scholarship Students


These are our five new scholarship students. The first four began their university studies in March 2020 at the UNAN (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua). The fifth is studying in a vocational program.

MARÍA YAHOSKA ESPINOZA GUIDO


MARÍA YAHOSKA ESPINOZA GUIDO
MARÍA YAHOSKA ESPINOZA GUIDO
María is a medical student. She says this about herself (translated from Spanish): 

I am 16 years old, from a family that has instilled in me values (humility, honesty, solidarity, kindness, among others) I am clear about my goals and ambitions; I like sports like soccer, baseball, basketball and volleyball. I like to listen to music, sing, read, contemplate the sky and the moon. . . . I decided to study medicine because I think it is a beautiful career; the idea of becoming a doctor and helping people to improve their health condition fills me with great enthusiasm.  

My goals are to study, work hard, learn a lot, graduate, specialize in pediatric surgery, help and provide excellent care to my patients; In addition to that I want to study English at some point because it is very important, I also want to have my own house, a car and to be able to give back to my parents a little of all they have given me with so much effort.


RAYMOND STEEP DOÑA MENDOZA
RAYMOND STEEP DOÑA MENDOZA
RAYMOND STEEP DOÑA MENDOZA
Raymond is studying geography. He wrote this (in English; lightly edited):

I decided to study this major because it has to do with natural phenomenon and social movements.  I have always felt interested in this subject, and when I complete my major I will be able to work on different geographical projects that are performed in my country. I like to play baseball, soccer and volleyball, I also like to play videogames and read and play the guitar. I love to go fishing and have some fun with my family at the beach. I want to thank you guys for the support you are giving me; this university scholarship will help me sustain my expenses for transportation, food and some learning materials. 

[Recently he notes that] I have classes now only on Tuesdays and Fridays due to the Pandemic. In my free time I am practicing with my guitar since in the future I plan to be a musician, of course without neglecting my studies and my career. I'm practicing baseball and volleyball, right now I don't do it often because of the situation. Hopefully everything will improve soon so we can return to our activities normally.


DAYANA CELIA GALLEGOS ABURTO
DAYANA CELIA GALLEGOS ABURTO
DAYANA CELIA GALLEGOS ABURTO
Dayana is studying geology. She writes (tr.):

 I am 16 years old and I live in Villa el Carmen. I am a kind, studious, responsible and very applied person in all areas; I like to strive for what I want and achieve my goals, that's why I thank God for being in my life, my mom and family for being with me and motivating me to achieve my dreams.

I am the daughter of a single mother, an enterprising person and a warrior for all the sacrifice and effort she has made to get me ahead. I am a good student, I always obtained the best grades in high school and opted for a geology degree . . . and career through reading books on the study of soil. . . . I took to studying geology partly because of the importance of soil studies to verify the safe construction of houses and buildings, and improve water sanitation, etc., for that and more I have decided that I will be a great geologist by putting all my effort, heart and dedication to achieve it and thus be the best in my work.

Dayana added that she also wants to study other languages and go abroad.


NANCY JUBIANKA MENDOZA REYES
NANCY JUBIANKA MENDOZA REYES
NANCY JUBIANKA MENDOZA REYES
Nancy is studying finance. She writes (in English): 

 I will tell you a little about my goals and dreams that I plan to do in the future with the people who support me to achieve that triumph; one of those people is [Moscow Sister City] for wanting to help me get ahead. One of my goals is to finish my career in Banking and Finance at the UNAN-Managua, and then get a job to be able to help my family since we are very humble and where we live there is no electricity, many things are difficult for us.  My dream is to have my own house to live in, a car for work, a good job and earn well, but above all, that my family is always healthy.

Achieving the degree is the most important thing for me, being a person prepared with a title that supports me wherever I go. I trust God that I will succeed, thank you very much for supporting me; [the scholarship] is a great help for me and my family. 


HELLEN NOEMÍ  MARTINEZ CRUZ
HELLEN NOEMÍ  MARTINEZ CRUZ
HELLEN NOEMÍ  MARTINEZ CRUZ
Hellen is the second student that we have supported in a vocational institution rather than a university. She writes (tr.): I am 17 years old and I am currently studying the career of customer service and hotel reception at the Hotel Casa Luxemburg School. My dad is a shepherd and a farmer. We have come forward by faith and grace of God all my life since I was born. I am a Christian. Thanks to God, I have instilled fear of God, respect and honesty.

Well, my wishes and desires are many, even if they get complicated. In the name of Jesus, little by little, the main thing is to continue on his ways, the next is to finish this career and have my parents be proud of me, joy towards them and help them as much as possible after finishing. My desire is to study a career that has more to do with traveling. I like that type of work because I am also one of those people who likes to socialize and meet many people of diverse cultures


2. Recent Developments

I. Current and Former Scholarship Students

Jacziri Flores
 Jacziri Flores, recent graduate in business and finance,
 found work in Managua, in January, as an accountant in a company that constructs roofs. About her life currently, she says (tr.): 

Every day I travel to work on public transport; with the pandemic I have to wear a mask practically all day. With my family everything is fine, my mother does not leave home, to avoid the spread of the disease. My sister was attending  [a private] university but with this disease the university took the step of teaching the classes online so she is not currently traveling to Managua but receives classes at home via the internet. My dad and I travel to Managua to work. We always use mask, gel alcohol and liquid alcohol.
Degree in Psychology

José Manuel Sequeira received his Degree in psychology in April. Here with his parents.

José Manuel Sequeira with his parents
Baby Yanci
Yanci Espinoza, recent graduate in business administration and employee of a business  in Managua, recently had her first baby, also named Yanci.
José Isaac Dávila and Dave Barber

José Isaac Dávila, in his senior year as university student of physics, is teaching math part-time, weekends to adults. He took this photo, with me, in February.

II. General Situation

Nicaragua is still struggling with the social/political crisis that began in April 2018, and now the pandemic is hitting it hard, compounded by the Ortega/Murilla government’s refusal to take any measures to diminish the spread of the disease or acknowledge how serious it is, or initiate (or even allow!) widespread testing. As far as I know, only one of our students has been sick with what appears to be COVID-19, and she has recovered. A friend in Managua says that four colleagues have recently died, from what may be the coronavirus. Everyone I know, including all our students, are taking the situation very seriously regarding social distancing, etc. Private schools and universities have gone from onsite to online classes, but the public universities are still having onsite classes. The UNAN has at least taken the step of cutting class days from five days a week to two days, reducing the number of students in class at any one time. Adding to the general difficulties, three of our students have been robbed: had their cell phones stolen. Nevertheless, the determination of all our students to continue learning, however they can do it, remains very strong. 

3. Moscow/Pullman Daily News Articles


I’m copying them here for the record and in case you didn’t see the articles in the paper). The first focuses on the history of Moscow Sister City Association; the second, on my February trip to Nicaragua.

Moscow-Pullman Daily News, March 28, 2020   ///   For 30-plus years, staying true to its mission  
Moscow Sister City Association makes a difference ‘one individual, one community at a time’
Editor’s note: This is the first of two installments from Moscow’s David Barber and his work with the Moscow Sister City Association.

In February, I spent three weeks in Nicaragua. So much has changed in everyone’s life in the past month that it’s a different world, with COVID-19 at the center. But other endeavors continue; my trip involved a local organization whose goal precedes and will outlast the current crisis: “To promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation — one individual, one community at a time.”

My main business was to visit Moscow’s sister city, Villa El Carmen, on behalf of the Moscow Sister City Association, to check on our scholarship program. This program builds on the organization’s long effort, going back to the 1980s, to offer physical and emotional support to people in a country suffering from poverty and war.

Early in its existence, the Moscow Sister City Association, or MSCA, supplied basic resources, especially medical equipment, to the community. We sent funds to the Villa El Carmen mayor’s office – until learning that city officials in Nicaragua were diverting funds intended for community aid. At that point, MSCA changed course and began a program of supporting local schools.

MSCA has funded school supplies, equipment, and repairs, and over the years we have brought three English teachers to Moscow to live with families and study English at the University of Idaho or Washington State University. The first of these, Ana Julia Castillo, spent six months in Moscow in 1998 and since then she and her husband, Mario Mendoza, have been our representatives in Villa El Carmen making sure our support has been used responsibly. Ana says they do this to repay the kindness of Moscow people during her time here. That’s 22 years they’ve been repaying us.

In 2015, MSCA began awarding student scholarships of which we’ve developed two types. The first is a small grant to parents of elementary-school students who cannot afford the cost of school uniforms and supplies. We give grants of $50 to help parents. We have provided as many as 50 of these small grants annually.

The second type is a grant, from $350 to $1000 per student, awarded to high school seniors or recent graduates to attend universities in Managua, the capital city. Villa El Carmen is a small town (c. 6,000 population) and county (c. 45,000), rural but only about 30 miles from Managua where the universities are located. Nicaraguan public universities are tuition-free. They are not residential so our scholarship students live at home.

That means they have to take the bus to Managua every school day. From the town it takes an hour to get to Managua by bus and 20 minutes more to get to their university on another bus. Most of our students live in the hills and fields that surround the town; and for some it may take nearly an hour to get to the highway to catch the bus to Managua. Commute time may be four hours daily. Our scholarships are designed to help transportation costs as well as book expenses.

In 2016 we had eleven scholarship recipients, selected by their teachers and principals on the basis of academic ability, financial need and the value of their study to the community. But we knew nothing about them but their names, grades and areas of study. So in 2016 I returned to Nicaragua to get to know these scholarship students.

I did this by riding the bus with them individually into Managua and attending classes with them and by meeting their families at home. I was thrilled with the results: these were serious, dedicated students of business, English, medicine, psychology or physics with highly supportive though impoverished families. They needed and deserved our help. They were and remain very grateful to MSCA for our support.

Just having money for books and a year’s funding of bus rides and lunches is a big thing for them. Beyond that, they hugely appreciate that people from the outside world consider them worth noticing. This appreciation intensified after the uprising and crisis that began in April 2018. Knowing that the international community had some sense of what they and their country endured mattered greatly to them.

I returned last month to visit the first group of twelve scholarship winners, most of whom have graduated by now, and to meet five new scholarship winners. I also wanted to see how the country might have changed since 2016, even as the way countries change is taking on a whole new dimension in the current global crisis.

I’ll cover that in my next installment.

************************
Commentary: Despite turmoil, people of Nicaragua warm, welcoming and willing to help visitors  [April 4, 2020]
Editor’s note: This is the second of two installments from Moscow’s David Barber and his work with the Moscow Sister City Association. Last week, Barber discussed the scholarships provided by the association and the students who receive them. Today, he looks at the people, the culture and recent unrest in the country.

This description of Nicaragua as I experienced it in February predates the major ways in which COVID-19 has transformed all our lives in the United States and is starting to do the same in Nicaragua. So my account is on one level out of date, but I think it will remain basically accurate. I won’t try to adjust for the pandemic.

This was my fifth trip to Nicaragua; my purposes were to see friends, develop Moscow Sister City Association’s scholarship program and observe the present condition of the country. It was my first visit since the civil uprising of April 2018, which sparked a crisis that still continues. The United States is playing an important role (as it always has in Nicaragua) in this crisis.
Nicaraguans who support the current Ortega government are angry at the Trump administration’s recent actions against that government. Those who criticize the government — including most of the Nicaraguans I know — are pleased that the U.S. is applying pressures, such as financial sanctions against government officials for human rights violations. But the political scene hasn’t changed the basic nature of the people as I’ve experienced them: warm, welcoming and always willing to help you. These are the essential qualities of the people I know.

Certainly there is an undercurrent of brutality in Nicaraguan culture as seen in the behavior of the National Police, which the government has turned into a powerful repressive force against dissidents. And certain groups are common targets of assaults: in particular, women, farmers and indigenous communities. I often read about that, but personally I’m not seeing it. On my recent trip I was hosted warmly by four different families in four cities, but I also felt good will from people I didn’t know.

For example, one day getting off the bus in a new city and needing to contact the people who were going to host me, I realized my cell phone needed a Wi-Fi connection. I asked two schoolgirls, who were waiting for a ride home, where there was a place with Wi-Fi nearby.
There’s none around here, was their answer. I was standing around for a couple minutes trying to think of a Plan B when the girls offered me the use of their phone. One of them made the call I needed.

My hosts were always vigilant to keep me safe, especially in Managua, famously an unsafe city. My last full day in Nicaragua, my host in Villa El Carmen, Ana Julia Castillo, drove me to the center of Managua where a taxi driver, a friend of the family I was to stay with that night, would pick me up. Since Ana did not know this taxi driver, and since taxi drivers in Managua have a reputation for kidnapping and robbing tourists, she arranged with my new host for her taxi driver friend to give us a prearranged password at the meeting point. He arrived, spoke the password, and off we went.

In some ways Nicaraguans are different from Americans. They have a lot less money, of course (Nicaragua is the poorest country in Latin America), and their governmental structures, such as separation of executive, legislative and judicial powers, are much weaker, which allows dictatorships to develop. On a personal level, they are much like us. One difference is that their sense of personal space is minimal; often they seem to want to share it with you.

This quality also applies to car and bus drivers who regularly charge into traffic openings so slim that I was sure the space being entered was narrower than the car. Drivers do respect other vehicles’ personal space when they get really close: no car or bus I was in ever got within, say, two inches of a neighboring vehicle. I would never drive there.

Nicaraguans treat dogs differently than most Americans do. Dogs there are usually guard dogs, or they pretend to be guard dogs by barking a lot. My hosts Ana and Mario have a pit bull, however, who is both pet and guardian. I was assured that Trixie would eat me if we were ever in the same space together so a gate always separated us. But Ana has ways of keeping Trixie calm. Regularly she bathes the dog in warm water infused with chamomile tea leaves while playing soothing music. Trixie loves the bath and the music and she naps long after.

Nicaraguans strongly possess qualities of friendship, loyalty and family strength. I hope for their future, which seems full of dangers. It’s hugely important that national Nicaraguan elections are scheduled for next year. Unfortunately, since the Ortega government has grown more authoritarian over the years, free and open elections do not seem likely. When I asked a friend about that, she said, “Oh, we already know that won’t happen.” I hope she is being too pessimistic. Many Nicaraguans are working publicly to reestablish a democracy. How effective they will be — I have no idea.

Newsletter by Dave Barber, President MSCA


Officers of Moscow Sister City Association;
                Dave Barber, president (and newsletter editor)
                Lubia Cajas Cano, vice-president
                Amy Garwood, secretary
                Jim Reece, treasurer
                Elisabeth Berlinger, board member
                Linda Christenson, board member  
     Aengus Kennedy, board member 
     Cindy Magnuson, board member
                Susie Wiese, board member
                

Contact:  
Dave Barber
dbarber@uidaho.edu 
208-301-3342
MSCA Mailing Address:
PO Box 8367
Moscow, ID 83843



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