Quest for Peace - Pursuing Justice, Peace, and Equality

Quest Spring Newsletter

Mon, 9 Jun 2008 16:01:19 -0400

In this Issue
Recovering from Felix and Lorenzo
Plant a Tree for Me
In the Footsteps of a Giant
Project Prever
A Gusher for Ojo de Agua
A New School Year
Alliance for Responsible Trade

Read Quest for Peace Newsletter-Spring 2008

Tropical Storm Alma impacts agricultural cycle

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 17:04:11 -0400

Tropical Storm Alma produced millions of dollars in damages to the agricultural sector, impacting over 24 thousand producers. In Leon and Chinandega, campesinos lost their first planting to heavy rains and winds which reached 100 kilometers per hour in some areas. This crop loss is disastrous for small farmers who have not harvested since last year and must now repay bank loans used plant. Crop loss was heaviest in Leon, Malpaisillo and Achuapa. In response to a request from the Institute Juan XXIII, the Quest for Peace is working on the possibility of shipping vegetable seeds so that families can reinforce food production from patio gardens.

Tropical Storm Alma strikes in May

Thu, 29 May 2008 21:17:54 -0400

In an atypical pattern, Hurricane Alma developed off the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua on Wednesday, threatening the entire region with torrential rains. Heavy rains pounded Costa Rica for 24 hours where the President of the National Emergency Commission reported that "more rain fell in one day than in the entire month of May", producing mudslides and damage to roads and housing. At noon on Thursday, the storm hit land in Nicaragua near Leon, converting to a Tropical Storm with winds of 65 miles per hour and dumping as much as twenty inches of rain.

UN warns of food crisis in Central America

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:21:31 -0400

The United Nations issued an alert in response to a sharp hike in world food prices that has provoked food shortages in Central America. Nicaragua is considered to be one of the most vulnerable countries in the region, according to Laura Clementi of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). High prices for basic grains have resulted in Nicaraguans eating less food. This is of grave concern because the daily intake of calories is already below required levels, and the situation is getting worse.

Reflections from FEDICAMP on news of world food crisis

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:31:54 -0400

While traveling to work on the bus, I reflected on the world news headlines of food insecurity. In Nicaragua, we read alarming reports about food shortages that impact the developed countries of the North, Europe, and Asia. This is alarming to them, but is very common for us. I asked myself if they have ever thought about the impact of the economic blockades that they impose on our countries, leaving millions of people hungry, with no health care, no education, and no possibility of a dignified life.

Hurricane recovery efforts going strong on the Atlantic Coast!

Wed, 5 Mar 2008 11:42:55 -0500

Miskito communities in Waspam are working hard to build homes from salvaged lumber before the next rains set in. See our full report.

Report on Recovery Efforts - Building Houses in Waspam

Wed, 5 Mar 2008 10:56:40 -0500

In September 2007, Hurricane Felix, a category 5 storm with 165 mph winds slammed into the eastern coast of Nicaragua. The Quest for Peace and our Nicaraguan partner, the Institute of John the XXIII mobilized. Within a month, the Quest has sent $80,000 in emergency recovery funds.

Nicaragua Recommits to Education as a Right

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:28:12 -0500

"The exploitative systems in Latin America need illiterate people."

Fr. Fernando Cardenal, Minister of Education, 1979 -1990

The right to education was one of the greatest achievements won by the Nicaraguan people during the 1980's. In 1979, just months after the overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship, the new government organized a massive literacy campaign, reducing the national illiteracy rate from a national average of 60% to 12%. Seventeen thousand volunteer teachers, taught fellow citizens to read and write. Children from poor families had access to University education for the first time in history. The government of Nicaragua was internationally recognized for its historic achievement in reversing a legacy of illiteracy and human exploitation, even in the midst of the U.S. backed contra war.

Report on Quest Disaster Relief Efforts

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:05:08 -0500

"So our great reconstruction challenge is to restore the balance and harmony. And we are facing that challenge at a moment in which we are all in mourning, all crying, we still haven't found some of our people...We have to use all our energy to rebuild and help people shake off that feeling of emptiness and loss currently reigning in our communities."
Alta Hooker, President of the University of the Autonomous Regions of Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast

Nicaragua faces epidemics after flooding

Mon, 5 Nov 2007 15:23:17 -0500

In the aftermath of flooding caused by back-to-back disasters (Hurricane Felix followed by two tropical depressions) the Ministry of Health (MINSA) is working intensely to control epidemics.

Nicaragua declares another disaster on the heels of Hurricane Felix

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:32:06 -0400

A tropical depression has resulted in 50 days of ceaseless rain, provoking yet another disaster which has impacted the entire country. This comes as Nicaragua struggles to recover from the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Felix on the Atlantic coast, just weeks ago.

Fear and lying in Costa Rica

Sun, 7 Oct 2007 11:29:30 -0400

As we head out to observe the voting on the CAFTA referendum, it seems appropriate to compare the state of democracy in the U.S. with that of Costa Rica. We have only been here a short time, but we've received an intensive course in Costa Rican history and politics. It has become obvious from this instruction that we in the U.S. have much to learn, if we are to prevent the complete dissolution of the few semblances of democracy which remain in our country.

We quickly learned that the referendum campaign has included a permanent and massive campaign of fear mongering from the Costa Rican and U.S. governments and a large segment of the corporate sector here. There are many examples of this operation.

Costa Rican NO to CAFTA Campaign finds a way to Fund the Revolution while Building a Base

Sat, 6 Oct 2007 15:41:32 -0400

By Jessica Walker Beaumont, Alliance for Responsible Trade

October 6, 2007 - the eve before the first ever referendum on a trade agreement

As the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement goes through Congress at a rapid pace with little resistance from the very same Democrats who so adamantly took a stand against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), I am honored to be in Costa Rica to witness a vivacious grassroots movement likely to stop CAFTA's ratification in tomorrow's referendum. The US movement against CAFTA was not insignificant with a near defeat to the trade pact-passing by just two votes in July 2005. However, the rapid rate at which it dissipated is an indicator that the effort failed to include grassroots groups in shaping a strategy that can be sustained by a broad spectrum of movements.

Costa Rica at a Junction

Sat, 6 Oct 2007 12:06:55 -0400

The scandal that broke yesterday around the funding of the campaign of President Arias provides yet another insight into what is at stake in the referendum on CAFTA. In 1948 major reforms of the constitution created a system that guaranteed free, universal access to basic services; health care, education and social security. Part of this reform includes the notion that access to a decent house, electric and telephone service should be considered basic human rights. A widespread internalizing of these beliefs has preserved this system in the face of permanent efforts by powerful actors to dismantle the structures which are the base of the model.

The Costa Rican Countryside- intense energy!

Fri, 5 Oct 2007 11:50:37 -0400

See Slideshow at the foot of the article!

We headed out of the office at 7am, destination San Carlos, a city about 120 kilometers from San Jose. In addition to giving the delegation a splendid tour, the purpose was to take the latest flyers and stickers to offices there and around the province of Alejuela. By the end of the day we would feel, up close, the energy of popular participation in this David and Goliath struggle.