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.

 
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.

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

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.

"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.