Hello America!
This is Keyla Silva and today May 19th, 2009 was such an inspiring day. It started off with breakfast (omelets, French toast, tortilla, watermelon, and melon juice mmm☺) then we reflected/checked in on how we were doing that morning. We then learned a lot of information about economics and Nicaragua’s environment. We learned about the Neoliberalism framework/model of economy. We also learned a lot about how much influence the United States has on Nicaragua. Nicaragua is in a lot of debt due to loans, interest rates rising, Nicaragua having to pay loans off by accepting other loans, imports/exports decreasing, etc. Nicaragua has not had a time when other countries were not intervening and meddling in their affairs. Of course we cannot demonize or romanticize- the U.S. and other nations have helped Nicaragua but what were there motives? Whose interests were at hand?
Nicaragua’s debt in 1990 was 7 times bigger than their GDP! In 1998 and 1999 they had the highest per capita (per person) debt in the world! The result of all this debt and corruption as well as dependence on other nations such as the U.S. resulted in poverty, poor education, poor health care, etc. Most of Nicaragua’s children do not attend school because of the costs to even get a bus ride to school. The average family makes $1-$2 a day! This lack of education perpetuates a never-ending cycle of poverty.
We then heard from an environmental agency he talked a lot about the riches of Nicaragua (its natural resources). It’s funny how the countries/continents with the most resources tend to be the most impoverished- I wonder why? Could it be that these other more powerful nations are threatened by the richness and rip these countries of their resources? Just a thought from me, Keyla Silva. This man was very wise he spoke of the fact that all of us may know how to read and write but there are many Nicaraguans as well as others who are very, very wise and think critically and they too are educated. The schools are starting to focus much more on critical thinking because it does produce a more educated being. He talked about the negative effects of the horrible conditions that workers are put into- for example there was a study done in Estelli, Nicaragua that discovered that women who worked in tobacco factories had uterine cancer, and children who worked in these factories also later developed cancer and were infertile due to the tobacco and chemical exposure. He later talked about free trade and pesticides. Can you believe that food that has been approved only for animals by the USDA in the U.S is then given to distribute to 3rd world countries through the world food program? WOW, so these foods like soy, wheat, corn, flour, etc that have been genetically modified and full of pesticides are given for human consumption in these countries!!
This next portion of my day was very disturbing so please read carefully.
Imagine if there was a large dump that reached capacity about 5 years ago in NJ. Imagine if your house as well as other people’s houses was located in the dump? Imagine if everything you ate, drank, and made a living off of was based on the dump? We had a speaker come in who lived and worked in the dump for over 20 years. She had children who grew up in the dump! This community of people is so poor and due to the earthquake, revolution, and so many other factors have nowhere to live. They built houses and a school (HOPE school) in the dump. The children there look through the garbage to find valuable items they can sell (plastic, metal, etc.) they collect a whole bunch for example 100lbs and get a measly $5. They sell it to intermediary companies who then sell it for more to U.S. companies. This woman put everyone in the van to tears; there is so much hope amidst all this poverty. The dump can be very violent as you can imagine-SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. It was such an inspiring experience that we couldn’t even be taken into the dump area=we went to her house just outside the dump and it was so sad. There was so much hope though, this woman came from nothing and barely had anything and still did so much for this community (volunteering). She is a health care advocate and community leader who distributes medicine to this community and she also organizes programs (like soccer for gangs). I just really look up to this woman-and my mom has so much influence and I love her because she really has prepared me in life and has been telling me about these issues since I was young. I didn’t feel pity for these people, I was angry. I was angry that humans could allow other humans to live like this. Humans are not meant to live in a dump!! Children, babies, and animals are not meant to live in a garbage dump full of disease, rotting food, feces, garbage, mercury from the river surrounding the dump, and such poverty. I feel so unappreciative of everything that I have in my life, I feel stupid for wanting superficial and material things when there are people living in dumps!! I know this experience will have a lasting effect on me, but I also know that it will take time for me to change my American ways. It’s so easy to talk about change, be knowledgeable, and truly feel sympathy for people that have to live daily like these happy people do. The challenge is to actually do something, to change my lifestyle and I know I am guilty and that it will take time before I do change my ways but I also know that I will surely change my ways!
**Disclaimer- I could not put all my experience, thoughts, ideas, and all of what I have learned and seen into a blog! This blog represents 1% of all that I saw, felt, and learned about TODAY. There is so much more that I can put on this document but then no one would read it because it would come out to about 10 pages!! GOODNIGHT AMERICA!!
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