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Consuelo Alvaro shows Father David Garcia an organic coffee plant.
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By Father David Garcia
For Today’s Catholic
I was very proud to be a U.S. Catholic when I visited Nicaragua with a group of seven priests, permanent deacons and seminarians early in August to see the programs Catholic Relief Services (CRS) sponsors in our name. All of us are CRS Global Fellows who preach several times yearly about the work of CRS. This was also my introduction to learn about CRS first hand for my new position as CRS senior advisor for Clergy Outreach, which I began July 1.
Nicaragua is a very poor country. Over 70 percent of the people in this country, second poorest after Haiti in the hemisphere, live on less than $2 a day. Yet the price of most items is similar to the United States. Gas is higher than in San Antonio, hovering at $5 a gallon, while inflation this year is approaching 22 percent. This makes for tough decisions that families face each day. How do they feed their children and provide for their education?
Other factors have kept this country very poor. An earthquake in 1972 devastated the capital city, Managua, destroying the downtown area, including the old cathedral. Although a new cathedral was built away from the city center with funds from donors in the United States, the rest of what was lost has yet to be rebuilt. Several wars in the ’80’s and ’90’s along with Hurricane Mitch have taken a harsh toll. Over half a million Nicaraguans have migrated to neighboring Costa Rica looking for work. Some have made their way to the United States in a desperate bid to provide for their families.
What we saw gave us hope in a sea of poverty. Hard working people had received micro loans through Catholic Relief Services, as well as technical, educational and resource assistance. With this help they had organized their farms, small businesses and cooperatives into viable income producing projects that have helped change their lives.
In one area, a group of 12 women told us how they began a cooperative with a loan which helped them rent land to grow coffee and other crops. They also received help from the local diocesan Caritas through a CRS grant to address issues of education, literacy, health, violence and domestic abuse. CRS provided a new wet mill, which is a machine that separates the coffee bean from the fruit pulp. The women now have a growing business selling Fair Trade organic shade-grown coffee, which is among the highest quality possible. They have paid back the initial loan and their children are now dreaming of going to the university.
A second group of men and women in a small rural community spoke of organizing a cooperative to produce organic fertilizer. Other individuals spoke of increasing their crop yields through improved farming techniques like drip irrigation and organic practices. All told us they were doing their work to preserve the environment as they raised their crops. One man was helping build a home for his family of five children including two who were disabled and one he had adopted. The materials were donated by the local Caritas with CRS help.
Each Lent when we U.S. Catholics are asked to donate to the Rice Bowl and to the Catholic Relief Services Collection we often wonder where our money goes.
I saw and experienced personally that our money changes lives. I heard from the people their extreme gratitude for our help. I felt the solidarity of our common brotherhood and sisterhood with them.
Next year when that second collection comes around I am going to give more.