October 18, 2002
Managua, Nicaraguan Economy
Dear friends!
We thought we´d send a short hello to you on our eve of leaving Managua
for Esteli. If you are inspired to send us a note please send it to
the pam2490@aol.com address...rather than the reply button which will send
the message to my good friend Max who has been so kind to send you this
message!!!
We hope you are all well and enjoying the fall...we're enjoying summer!
Paul and I have had a rich first week in Nicaragua - and with the generous
help of our Managua hosts, Tom and Jenny (AFSC regional reps), we´ve
met with more of Paul´s former contacts than we ever dreamed possible
for a first week!
We stayed in Managua a tad longer than we had planned because Paul came
down with one of his famous colds. Rest, acupuncture, herbs...and
he's on the mend.
It´s impossible to truly share life with Nicaraguans without some
understanding of the economic inequity here. As I mentioned earlier
to many of you, Nicaragua is now the poorest country in the western hemisphere
- with half the population trying to live on less than 1 U.S. dollar a day
(about 14.5 cordobas).
An elementary school teacher in Managua earns about 600 cordobas a month.
She might have several children and might be able to rent a very small apartment
for 300 C a month. She also might want to purchase a quart of milk
a day to divide amongst her children (6.5 C/quart...about 200 C a month).
If she needs to spend 6 C a day for the bus to and from work she was already
spent more than her salary.
Along side this picture place the fact that Nicaragua has some of the
highest paid managers in Central America. I've also read that the Minister
of Education was paid $10,000 U.S. per MONTH...and I´ve read that
other Ministers have been paid the same (I've had the Minister of Education
salary verified...but not the others....just too hard to believe!!!).
These salaries are higher than in any other country in Central America.
It is into this scene that the World Bank is urging the implementation
of the POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY (this is the new verbage...used to
be "Structural Adjustment"). In education this is carried out by placing
a larger burden of payment for education on the parents and the local communities.
Now most schools have agreed to become autonomous...which means the state
pays for the salaries of the teachers and the parents and the communities
pay for the school building repairs, educational materials, additional teacher
salaries if the enrollment increases, desks, etc.
This topic deserves a more expansive and detailed development than I've
given, but I wanted to at least start the story. I'm sure you will agree
that is is criminal that people who work all day and still cannot satisfy
the basic nutitional needs of their children now have to help pay for their
children's education. They have no place to squeeze pennies. Are we surprised
to learn that nearly half the children of school age do not attend?
We, as U.S. citizens, are part of this tragedy. The U.S. has significant
power (and veto power) in the World Bank because of our level of funding.
That means our tax dollars are supporting these changes. Our tax dollars are
being used to make changes that can't possibly be good for the poorest
people in the poorest country in the western hemisphere....and this money
will have to be paid back by the workers of Nicaragua! They are again
going into debt and not being helped!
It is quite possible that our tax dollars are NOT helping to eliminate
poverty...but ARE helping to pave the way for multi-national corporations.
We'll certainly have to look at this more.
You'll be happy to know that Jenny and Tom have a housekeeper who is paid
quite well. She discussed her history with me...says she used to work all
day and not be able do more than feed her children. I'm wondering how she
even fed her children in those days!
Thanks for your interest! We send each and every one of you a hug....
(and sorry for typos, etc, but we don´t have much time to use the
computer!!!)
Pam and Paul