Time to talk 'revolutionary' politics

By a landslide victory, Daniel Ortega and Nicaragua’s Sandinista Party (the FSLN) has just claimed victory for the third time, and the second time in a row (despite a law prohibiting Presidential re-election).

The FSLN is Nicaragua’s so-called revolutionary party, the party which brought justice to Nicaragua, defeating the dictatorship of Somoza.  Sounds great. What a shame it is such a farce, especially in terms of protection offered to children, teenagers and women, something which should be vital to the concept of a revolution. 

When Ortega returned to power in 2006, the first thing he did was introduce a complete ban on abortion.   In a country where girls as young as 11 years old are being raped and exploited sexually for commercial purposes, to not allow the option of an abortion, at least in emergency situations, remains a diabolical violation of the human rights of women and girls.

In his previous administration, Daniel also tried to tackle the problem of children living on the streets.  He introduced the project of Programa Amor.  What Programa Amor did was simply find all the children living on the streets and take them back to their families.  Great, job done, right?  Wrong!  In fact, it could not be further from the truth.  No child ever chose the streets.  Every child living on the streets are victims of violence, abuse or many other complicated factors in which they need holistic support and assistance, to recover physically and mentally.  Simply finding the kids and taking them back to their families solves nothing, and in fact puts the child at much greater risk.  But, according to our newly re-elected revolutionary government, they are helping children in need. 

Over the past few months, the FSLN election campaign could not be missed.  Throughout Managua, bright pink and yellow posters showing Daniel’s smiling face were everywhere to be seen.  At nearly every roundabout in the city, children from about 14 years old and above, would stand at the roundabouts every single day, singing, dancing, and flying the flag of the FSLN.   It didn’t seem to be of concern that these children shouldn’t be spending their entire days on the roundabouts, but that they should be at school.  On the contrary,  if you want to fly the flag and wear the party t-shirt, well then, education is a secondary concern.   What’s more, whilst on the roundabout, many of these children were drinking and engaging in sexual relations.....once again, it doesn’t matter, if you are flying the Party flag, all over concerns are out the window.    To be on these roundabouts many of these children were offered money.   I don’t think I really need to write about the massive risks of creating values such as these in children and teenagers in the name of revolution.  

As part of the campaign, I recently saw a demonstration of the Female Youth Wing of the FSLN at a park in Managua.  After the speeches took place, there was a dance competition.  The girls had to dance as sexily as possible, rubbing against the male organizers.  I was shocked that this was the perception of ‘female equality’ being promoted at an FSLN rally.  

This newly re-elected government is guilty of completely failing to provide long term healthy and sustainable alternatives to those most vulnerable.  Earning $5 in a day to stand at a roundabout does not provide any form of long term solutions.   I really hope changes are made, that the government begins to see, that if it wants to claim to be the revolutionary party of the Nicaraguan people, it must seek to find long-term solutions to the problems Nicaragua is facing.....if not, my job will be a lot harder than it needs to be.  
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And while on the topic of politics, on this same day, Guatemala has elected a former military general to be their new President.  There is considerable evidence that the President elect (Otto Perez) is guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity during Guatemala’s 36 year civil war.      

He promises a military solution to the problems of violence and insecurity in Guatemala.  Great, so we are tackling violence with violence.  I thought 36 years showed that that tactic doesn’t really work.


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We will keep doing all we can at Casa Alianza, but it is about time the government started playing its part too,  especially the one's which claim to be acting in the name of 'revolution'. 

It was about time......Working with the kids to protect our environment

In Nicaragua as a whole, there is worryingly little concern about protection for our planet.  Rubbish is happily chucked onto the streets, and it is equally common to see people burning their plastics and garbage.   There is not one single recycling plant in the country. 

For the kids we care for, environmental care is also a fairly abstract concept, and on the whole one of little concern.

It is bearing this in mind that at Casa Alianza Nicaragua we have decided it is time to turn the tables around, and we are now doing what we can to make sure all the kids we care for and support are fully aware of the dangers of global warming, and aware of what they can do to protect the environment.    

In light of this, I thought I would share a few things happening at Casa Alianza to carry this out:  


We are currently working with the British Embassy in San Jose, and the British Ambassador to Nicaragua, who have prepared a quite brilliant animated film called Odyssey 2050.  The film is set in the future, and concerns the destruction being done to the planet.  After the film, the kids contribute to the development of the film by putting forward their own ideas through group discussions, art work, poetry and other forms of expression.  It is proving to be a great way to get kids involved in environmental protection.

We are also working with environmental students at the University of Central America to train members of staff and kids on what we all need to be doing to protect the environment. 

We are trying to get as many kids involved as possible in recycling projects, including making floral decorations out of old bottles, or earrings out of used drinks can.

We are also planting our own crops in the green space avaliable at our main residential center. 

It is a work in progress, and one that in reality we are only just starting, but I am delighted we are doing it.

As I said at the beginning, for the kids we work with, caring for our environment is largely a foreign concept.  We now hope to show to kids that by caring for our planet they are not only engaging in very important and necessary work, they are also gaining new skills and abilities, which is essential in their recovery process.   As such, we have a double aim, one to make sure we are doing what we can to be environmentally sustainably, and secondly, in doing so, our kids learn that through doing this, they themselves are stronger and more sustainable individuals.

As the program moves forward, I will try and update the topic from time to time.