Only a week in Nicaragua… What could one see, do, understand, in such a quick visit? Yes, the time was short, but I was able to glimpse the richness of a people, the beauty of the country, the commitment of my sisters. The visit also enabled me to join the rscj community in celebrating 25 years of our presence in Nicaragua. I could listen to and share stories, anecdotes and memories with the community in Managua: Anita Pérez and Lucila Cerrillo, both from Mexico, and Pilar Crespo, from Spain.  Two other members of the community, Christian and Myriam, were in Mexico following the Junirorate program. They are the first Nicaraguan rscj missioned to their own country. (Three Nicaraguan women who entered before the rscj came to the country lived in other provinces.) 

I tried to recapture the essence of the visit during the return flight to Miami. Three words leapt immediately to my mind and heart as a summary of what I had lived and seen lived:

Reflection – Education - Healing.

I also experienced the community as one presence, lived in three ministries. I sensed a common mission: accompanying and supporting those with and for whom they worked, in relationships that are sisterly and mutual, in action that seeks to transform so that lives becomes more human, just, and peaceful…. not just words from Chapter 2000, but a life being lived.

Reflection: Pili’s work at the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) is a ministry carried out in the context of human development. Pilar heads a program of continuing education that confers a Diploma in Religious Sciences. This course, designed especially for pastoral workers, young religious in formation, and Christians who seek to deepen their faith, is built on a process of dialogue and reflection. Participants will eventually “assume a creative and constructive role in a pluralistic society, faith community and family - a role deeply based on Gospel values”, so as to enable others also to engage in the process of transformation.

Pili describes her commitment with conviction: “I do not work with the poor, but everything I do is for the poor.”

Education: Lucila is based at the John XXIII Center at UCA, where she is pursuing an M.A. in education.  At the same time, she supports and works closely with the facilitators of literacy programs in isolated communities. In this way she is able to bring together what she learns from experience and reflection with the task of preparing tools that are useful and relevant for workers in the field.

We made a visit to some communities located deep in the interior of the country, away from the main road and reachable only by driving on stones. But what joy Lucila and I shared as we listened to adults speak with pleasure of what they are learning, and saw the pride of knowing how to handle pen and paper reflected in many faces. One small instance, yes, but it bears witness to a process that goes beyond the acquisition of skills of literacy and numeracy and enables persons to tap their inner riches.

I was very impressed by a group of teenagers who give time in the afternoons to coach younger children in an after-school  program… kids who in other circumstances would complain of boredom or be glued to TV. The facilitators for the literacy program are also young adults. One of the crucial problems in these communities is that children drop out of school early, as young as 10-12, because they have to help at home and in the fields. So there is little interest in learning for the sake of the future, and few role models to encourage children to complete their education … the cycle of poverty not only perpetuates itself but holds the community in a stronger grip. In one of the places we visited, we saw women going down the hill to where there is water, two kilometers away. And the bucket has to be carried back on the head, two long kilometers that certainly seem longer because the retun trip is uphill.