PaxWorks in Nicaragua

Project YAHOSKA

Laughter, hugs, and games welcomed us to Yahoska! Still in school uniforms, 28 previously homeless and abused girls age 4 to 14, gather in front of the central concrete building which displays beautifully painted nature scenes. This is the communal spare and the girls eagerly report the day’s events to their friendly caregivers. The excitement at visitors was enormous and I was immediately captured, taken to a concrete path and was challenged to a marble match, played with rocks from the driveway. The older kids’ dexterity was amazing, but laughingly they included the eager 4 and 5 year-olds, giving hints and help. Then they proudly showed us their spare sleeping quarters, laundry and washing facilities, and a cabin where items are produced for sale. But these skills will not translate into jobs. Data processing skills will provide those. PaxWorks has taken in the first computers, taken in by a group of volunteers from Sarah Lawrence College. Because of their size they must be at the local Multi-Cultural Center. We want to take laptops to the compound, to be stored under dining tables when not in use. One of our board members, Beverly Habada,will fund a computer teacher as soon as they are in place. In a city with 60% unemployment, these trained girls will have a chance to find meaningful work!

History of Project Yahoska

In 1991 a vacationing Italian woman, Zelinda Roccia, observed many homeless children. She moved to Managua and and founded Los Quinchos, feeding and housing by now over 250 previously homeless boys. In 1999 Yahoska was started for homeless and abused girls living in abject poverty. Now there are 28 girls in a separate crowded compound.

ACAHUALINCA HEALTH CLINIC

The world can change with the courage of one or two persons. It did in Acahualinca, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Managua. Situated next to the huge garbage dump from which many women scavenge for a living, four teenage girls became activists twenty years ago. On behalf of the women of their neighborhood they advocated for healthcare and education. They received minimal contributions towards schoolbooks and uniforms. Even before graduating they decided to fight for women’s medical care. They begged for space, and a neighbor offered them an old trash- filled garage. They cleaned, fixed, painted, and found a woman doctor to donate half a day a week... and it grew and it grew, inch by inch, as the story goes. Now, these women, having earned graduate degrees, manage Acahualinca Health Clinic, its lab and pharmacy. Sex workers are trained here in cooking and sewing. Their daughters, better educated, will be trained in computer skills for data processing jobs – as soon as we can raise a batch of laptops. The Clinic’s waiting room will be the night time class room!

Martin Luther King School

Beaming faces look up at us from behind the computers - the teacher, boys and girls flashing huge smiles in the open computer lab of the Martin Luther King School. PaxWorks has just brought in the first Pentium computers to replace the old slow boxes burnt out by Mangua’s searing heat. For the first time they will be able to run the donated educational CDs they've carefully preserved for this auspicious day! Younger kids peer in, smile, and say "yes, and we'll play games too!" The new computer lab was constructed by parents, teachers and neighbors. It is larger, and, most important, the new AC donated by the nearby Catholic Church will keep the computers from overheating again. One day, the children are sure, MLK School will have a phone line, and then! Yes! They will be able to surf the web!

I love visiting this place! 460 boys and girls have equal opportunities to study. Some years ago the school was 'autonomized' by the government. Yes, it is autonomous, which means it receives no financial support. The whole neighborhood contributes in various ways to keep it going. When additional classroom space was needed, the children came to school carrying a lunch bag in one hand, in the other a stone for a wall! Everyone feels the school belongs to them - it is home. Sitting on the stone flower terrace amid exuberant and yet self-controlled play, I appreciate the gentle touch that pervades even competitive communal games. I am always amazed at how much physical contact there is. Children reach out to embrace the principal; a teacher returning after illness is enveloped with little children climbing all over her; groups of girls put arms around each others' shoulders, and the boys link arms; a small group is practicing a song in the corner of the courtyard while holding hands; three new girls stand close to each other holding each other's waist, waiting to find their classrooms. Yes, it will be home for them as well.

My companion Lillian and I look back when we leave. A large group of children and teachers walk down the middle of the road carrying two large bouquets of flowers. They are on the way to a class mate's home whose grandparent died. They walk down the road bordered by dusty littered empty lots, engrossed in conversation. The children know one another's extended families well. Everyone has been exposed to suffering and death; they know how it feels. They know they need one another, can depend on one another - and that is their source of strength.