The Nicaraguan government has continued to tighten its grip on power by clamping down on organizations it considers potentially critical. Over 5,000 NGOs have been closed down since the political troubles began in 2018, along with considerable restrictions placed on media outlets, churches, and universities. Unfortunately, Nicaragua remains a difficult country to operate in, but we are still able to help.

We used the kind donations given to the Trust in memory of our former Chairman, Bill Gladstone, to buy desks for a small school outside Bluefields. When Richard Geary and I visited in May, this school was borrowing chairs, tables, and whiteboards from a local church. We were immediately able to provide stationery and new whiteboards, much to the delight of the teachers and pupils. We were also able to commission a local manufacturer to produce 36 new desks with chairs, which were delivered last month.

Before Richard and I returned to the UK we bought and distributed paint for four schools along with zinc sheeting to replace a clinic roof. I’m delighted to report that all the schools are now newly painted, and the clinic roof is complete and watertight.

We continue to fund a feeding programme allowing fifty children to have at least one nutritious meal a day.

One of the larger schools we support asked for a new computer, printer and overhead projector. This equipment will not only improve the school’s educational offerings to its pupils but will also allow the school to provide continual professional development sessions for the local teachers. The new equipment arrived in mid-October and the Headteacher is absolutely delighted. We are going to continue to monitor its usefulness and, if appropriate, provide further equipment to other schools in the future.  Three of the school’s older classrooms are without electricity and are very dark in the afternoon. We are also going to fund the wiring needed for good lighting and some electrical sockets.

Our friend and colleague Margaret Storey contacted us with some very sad news. On 10^th October a gas canister in the home of a family she has known for many years exploded. Two children were badly burnt. One daughter tragically received 96% burns and sadly died the following day. The explosion also blew out the windows and destroyed the roof and made the family homeless. Our friends from SIFT have paid for the house to be reroofed and we agreed to replacing and repairing the damaged windows.  I’m delighted to say that family are now back in the house, and we received this letter of thanks.

Another container full of Peace & Hope and Belief in Action equipment has made it safely to Romania. Sixteen volunteers loaded the container at our Linton Warehouse on 19^th October. Attached to this newsletter is a report from Tim Sharpe about his recent trip to Romania and how the donated equipment is used and distributed.

The Trust continues to fund a Physician in Kagando Hospital in Uganda for one day a week. This appointment has proved to be very worthwhile.  The doctor’s presence provides reassurance to patients and the local community that there is senior cover in the hospital, provides guidance for the junior doctors and allows for a weekly training session.

It was with great sadness that we learnt of the death of James Smith last month. James was a great volunteer, friend and supporter of the Trust for many years. He pioneered the dental trips to Nicaragua, treating many people in the remote villages along the Rio Grande where no dental treatment was available. The living conditions on these trips were very basic and uncomfortable and the buildings used as clinics simple, but his team succeeded in creating a clean environment to operate in and managed to provide pain relief for large numbers of people. James made many dental trips to Nicaragua but eventually his health stopped him from travelling. By then he had inspired a generation of dentists, nurses and helpers to continue this work, which carries onto this day. (The latest dental trip was earlier in the summer. The team was funded by the Peace and Hope Trust and manned by Nicaraguan colleagues).

James was also a regular volunteer in the shop at Ross-On-Wye until just a few weeks ago. We will all miss him.

Will Hanks.

by Richard Geary and Will Hanks

It was great to be in Nicaragua again. Richard was welcomed back to Bluefields like a long lost son with crowds of people coming up to say hello, share their news and find out what the Trust’s plans are for the future. We were shown great kindness wherever we went.

Initially, we hired a truck in Managua, filled it with educational supplies and distributed them to the schools we support in and around Bluefields. It was wonderful seeing these schools, many built by Peace and Hope Trust teams, full to capacity with bright and eager young pupils grabbing their chance of getting an education. As you can imagine, the provisions we handed out were gratefully received by both staff and pupils. The schools were generally in good condition, but looking a little tired.

Two classrooms still had uneven earth floors and in one school themain teaching block was a basic wooden, rather dark building.Richard had the idea of internally lining this otherwise sound building with Plycem [interior boarding] and painting the rooms white to brighten things up. The Headmaster was delighted at this idea and arranged a small army of local helpers to carry out the refurbishment. We ordered the materials the same day and they were delivered that evening! Two days later we turned up with all the necessary nails and tools and the team of locals set to work.

By the end of the first day, two rooms were almost complete and a first coat of white paint had been applied. It was incredibly impressive how hard everyone worked, parents, village members School supplies being distributed Dark walls of the classroom. The volunteers and lined walls and teachers alike, all keen to volunteer and do their utmost to improve their village school.

We were then told of a small school, close to Bluefields, in desperate need of equipment and so we decided to pay a visit. The teachers were doing their best but it was obvious that they were urgently in need of chairs, desks, books and stationery. The only white board available was on loan from the local church, long with a number of pieces of furniture. We immediately set off back to the local shops, returning the next day with essential supplies, including three new whiteboards. We are sure that with a little bit of extra support and investment this school will go from strength to strength. A new pupil’s chair and desk made in Bluefields costs about £35 and we would like to instigate a ‘Sponsor a Desk’ scheme to do just this. Please let me know if you would be interested.

We provided each school with paint to smarten things up, both inside and out.

We called on the ‘rock breakers’ at the quarry and once again witnessed what a precarious and hard life they lead. The new road linking Bluefields to the rest of the country has meant that stone can now be transported from elsewhere easily and consequently there is much less local demand, resulting in even harsher economic circumstances for these people. We were upset to see that one of the ladies had sore and swollen eyes from the repeated trauma of small stone chips flying into them. There are now only around twenty people still working the quarry and so we went and bought enough safety glasses and protective gloves for them all. In addition, we bought a tarpaulin for them to hang up as protection against the extreme elements of rain and sun. We hope that the Trust will soon be allowed to build in Nica again and can return to buying stone from this community.

The Trust continues to support a feeding programme and It was heart-warming to see the children here tucking into a wholesome lunch. The Trust pays for fifty children to have a daily nutritious meal and we have just committed to funding this for a further three years.

We didn’t have time to travel up to La Barra ourselves, but we could send things there by the river boat. Hence we packaged up numerous school supplies, along with spares for the rice mill and enough corrugated iron to re-roof the village clinic. Since our return, we have received a message from La Barra saying that everything had arrived safely and to send thanks and best wishes to our supporters back home.

Presently it is not feasible to send a UK dental team up the Rio Grande de Matagalpa. In the past we have worked with a local Bluefields’ dentist, who is a great friend of the Trust. This time we met him, along with colleagues from Frontier Mission and have now arranged and paid for a five day trip for him and his nurse to travel up to Frontier Mission’s clinic in Kansas City (an extremely rural village many hours up river). The plan is then for people from surrounding villages to be brought by boat to see him.

It was also great to be able to get a favourable report from Frontier Mission on the water project we have paid for in the villages near Kansas City. Everything looks very positive at the moment.

One of the most moving moments of the trip occurred when visiting Casa Materna next to Bluefields Hospital. This is a maternity unit supporting women from the rural villages who travel to Bluefields for the birth of their babies. Most of the women are desperately poor, arriving with only the clothes they stand up in, and they may have to stay for several weeks before the due date. The accommodation is very basic and was full when we visited. We were there to distribute 50 Maternity Packs, assembled on our behalf by the wonderful Margaret Storey and her friend Jean. Margaret returns to Bluefields for roughly 6 months each year and is a fantastic friend and support to the Trust. She supports local employment by ensuring that, where possible, pack contents are manufactured by local women (one is a fourth year Medical Student). The packs contain an eclectic assortment of maternity essentials, ranging from soap and flannels to baby clothes and nappies and all are very gratefully received. Richard had the privilege of praying for some of the mums, babies and families, including one girl who was just 16 and particularly fearful. Margaret plans to distribute further packs soon and we are so grateful for all that she does.

A school uniform is still required for children attending the city schools. Roxanna has a list of roughly fifty children who need our help this year and she is in the process of buying and distributing what is required. Unfortunately, the shopkeeper we use was away in Managua during our trip and so we had to leave this in Roxanna’s capable hands.

We were wonderfully supported by three Nicaraguan colleagues:
Nestor who sourced the rice mill parts for La Barra, helped us navigate the stationery suppliers in Managua and recommended Alex, who became our excellent driver for the first part of the week. Roxanna was indispensable with her language skills and passion for the Trust’s work. She is a massive asset and a community leader in the making. We were also so impressed with the teams of volunteers who helped at the schools. It is a great privilege for the Trust to enable these amazing people to invest in their communities and to see them grab this opportunity with both hands.

There is plenty of scope for new projects. The schools we support need further maintenance. One needs a new room for the pre-school. We are attempting to form a partnership with the BICU University and supply some medical equipment for the poorer medical students. They are also requesting help in building a small clinic on the University Campus. We will keep you informed of how this progresses. There is also a call from one of the rural schools for a computer and projector. This would both open up many
educational opportunities and allow the school to become a CPD centre for local teachers. We will obviously continue to fund the feeding programme, water projects, dental and medical trips, school uniforms and school supplies.

Thank you so much for your support. It was incredibly gratifying to see what a difference the Trust is making to so many lives.

Best wishes,

Will (will@peaceandhope.org.uk)

It remains a challenging time for the Trust to be working in Nicaragua. Politically it remains tense, and the system continues to be hostile to charities and NGOs working in the country.

Having said that, we are very lucky to have some dedicated Nicaraguan colleagues who have continued the Trust’s work. Also, as the world learns to live with the pandemic, we hope that volunteer UK teams will soon be visiting the country once more. 
 
We are still unable to get Nicaraguan approval for sending out containers. It is very frustrating for the ‘Container Team’. They have collected, sorted and packed two warehouses full of useful items which are now waiting to be transported and distributed, and have done astonishingly well throughout a very difficult period. As you know from previous letters, we have been looking for other partners to take this equipment.

A short report by the Team’s lead, Tim Sharpe:

In February we loaded a 45′ lorry in collaboration with a charity called Belief in Action, which works both in Romania and more recently with Ukrainian refugees.  We loaded about 20 hospital beds and mattresses, plus numerous boxes and sacks of clothes, shoes, toys, bedding etc, along with chairs, tables, mobility aids etc
 
We loaded a 40/45′ curtain side artic. last Friday in partnership with Mission without Borders International. This has travelled to Romania, and the contents will then make their way into Ukraine.  We loaded about 40 hospital beds and mattresses, plus numerous boxes and sacks of clothes, shoes, toys, bedding etc, as well as chairs, tables, mobility aids and anything else we felt could be useful.
 
We have also delivered 40 hospital beds and mattresses to Hereford for onward travel into Europe and then Ukraine. This is also a collaboration, with a charity called GAiN (Global Aid Network).
 
As you are aware, we are having problems sending aid to Nicaragua and more recently to the Philippines, so we have been following many leads for sending aid overseas. The most recent two leads came thanks to Michael Harrison, and involves a logistics company called Mission and Relief Logistics.
 
We have maybe two or three more loads in our van to clear the Wolf warehouse, which we have to vacate ASAP! – ***TS***

Alvaro is in Bluefields at present. He is re-equipping the Mother and Toddler group at Santa Rosa, set up by Emily John about four years ago. He is also refurbishing the Marie Anne Vocational Centre as it starts to develop closer links with Paz y Esperanza school.

It is great to see that the new school being built at Santa Cruz on Ometepe is progressing well. This is a project championed by Carolyn Gibbs and is very much a community project. The Trust has paid for the roof, which looks a strong and stable structure.

Casa Rahab is full and supporting twelve girls. All are trying to escape a life of exploitation and abuse.

Once again the Trust supported an ‘up river’ medical trip, run by our colleague Dr Kelly. Her team visits some of the very remote villages along the Rio Grande, treating and educating people who have little opportunity of receiving medical or dental care elsewhere.
 We are still awaiting further details about Torsuani, the village south of Bluefields where we hope to build a new clinic. We need to gather more details about the disease profile and size of the local population before we can design an appropriate building. This information is being formulated and should be arriving soon.

Once it is appropriate for teams to return to Nicaragua, our first building project is likely to be a primary school for San Sebastian. The existing school is in poor condition and desperately needs replacing. San Sebastian is a community that Richard Geary knows well and they are very keen to help in the school’s construction.

Once again, thank you to all the volunteers who work in the shop. The money you make is vital to all our ongoing projects.

If you want to see photos of some of the projects mentioned about please look on Facebook, Twitter, or our website: https.//www.peaceandhope.org.uk

Thank you once again for all your support –
Best wishes, Will

This month we have:

Sponsored a very successful medical trip providing care for the “Coastal and River
Communities” outside Bluefields. The doctors carried out a total of 536 consultations with
almost half of these being on children. The most frequent ailments were respiratory
problems, UTIs, intestinal parasites and fungal skin infection. We will be sponsoring further
medical trips in the future and we will make sure that the team has the appropriate
equipment and medicines available to treat these problems.

We also sponsored a dentist to travel with the team. He managed to treat 52 patients and
carried out 84 extractions alongside providing preventative advice.

During the trip 16 maternity and baby packs were also distributed. These kits include items
such as essential mother and baby clothing, cot sheets, nappies, sanitary items, towels and
soap, many of which are made in Bluefields. These packs are only given to the poorest
mothers. The doctors and nurses are delighted to be able to distribute them and feel they
make a massive difference.

The Trust bought and distributed Christmas presents for the 300 pupils being educated in
the schools which were either built by, or have a close affiliation with, us. The presents were
individually wrapped and named. It was very emotional handing out the gifts for both
children and colleagues, many of whom were in tears. Apart from the joy of giving these,
we also consider the presents to be a reward for remaining at school, and we hope it
encourages them to stay there. The cost was roughly $3400. This year we have also helped
by providing such essentials as stationary and school uniforms.

We continue to sponsor ongoing projects in Nicaragua: mother and toddler groups,
vocational education, feeding programmes and the Casa Rehab women’s refuge.

One container full of medical equipment is still on the high seas, in transit to the Philippines.
We hope to send another shortly but the international container world is very congested at
the moment. Nicaragua are still not accepting containers from us, although we hope this
situation will change in the New Year. Once again, if anyone has a contact of a charity who
might be interested, please get in touch. Last month a number of people very kindly passed
on details of various organisations, but sadly none needed quite what we had to offer.
The new shop in Ross-on-Wye is now up and running. Thank you once again to all our
volunteers. The money raised in the shop is vital for the charity. We are always looking for
more helpers to work in the shop, so if you are able to offer some time please do get in
touch.

We are currently considering building a Clinic in a very remote area south of Bluefields. The
Clinic would become a centre of health care for a number of villages in the area that find it
very difficult accessing help elsewhere. The project was requested by the local health
authority and we will keep you up to date as this scheme takes shape.

Lastly, I would like to thank all our volunteers and donors. You are the life blood of this
organisation and without you none of the above projects would be possible. We are all
looking forward to the pandemic loosening its hold on the world and getting back to normal,
but meanwhile, with your help, we can still make a difference.

Happy Christmas to you all.

Best wishes,
Will Hanks
will@peaceandhope.org.uk

Normally at this time of year there is a Peace and Hope Dental team hard at work treating the people in the remote villages along the Rio Grande de Matagalpa. Many of the villagers have their lives blighted by toothache. It is simply too far and expensive for them to travel to Bluefields for treatment.  Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we are unable to send a UK team this year. However, the Peace and Hope Trust has been able to sponsor Jose Manuel, a good, local dentist who has worked with us previously, to join an ‘upriver’ medical team led by Dr. Kelly, an old friend to the Trust. We have also provided vital medicines for Dr Kelly’s trip.

The 2020 team had a successful trip despite hitting many bureaucratic obstacles. Much of our equipment and medicines were detained in customs and the authorities didn’t give us permission to work for nearly a week, in spite of providing all the necessary paperwork well in advance. This obviously cut down our clinical working time so we had to rationalise our schedule. The villages earmarked to have clinics over two days were reduced to one. Luckily over the years there has been a steady improvement in the oral health of these villages. Many of the chronically decayed teeth have been extracted on previous trips and we believe our preventative messages are also getting through. We only extracted an average of 1.5 teeth per patient, which is a great improvement, and didn’t have to turn anyone away who needed treatment.  We also gave all the patients a toothbrush, oral hygiene instruction and advice for a healthy diet. As in dentistry there are no optician services available and so we also supplied reading glasses which proved very popular.

We visited the maternity unit at Kerawalla, which is supported by the Trust. It was great to see the maternity and baby smocks, made by our volunteers, in use. The sleeping area looked far more comfortable with the donated beds, mattresses and bedding in place. It is such an important facility. Some of the women turn up many weeks before their due date as travel up and down the river is very difficult and they take advantage of a lift when it becomes available. They often arrive with only the clothes they are wearing and so the donated smocks are vital. We were also very happy to provide the Kerawalla clinic with some of the medical equipment they had requested. I think this is a partnership we should continue to build on.

We visited La Barra school and gave Ivania Nikins (the Headmistress) the stationary and teaching supplies donated by the Trust. It was lovely to see the textbooks which we had recently provided in use and being well looked after.

The logistics and agenda for the trip were managed by Anna Cruz Roque who remained out of the country but was supportive throughout.

UK team members in alphabetical order were: David Evans, dentist; Ruth Gibbins, dental nurse; Fiona Hanks, assistant and trip treasurer, Will Hanks, dentist, Maria Hardwick, dental nurse, Mac MacArthur, steriliser and team first aider. Nicaraguan members: Mr. Humberto, panga helm; Miss Leila Bendliss, clinic nurse; Kengi Martin, translator; Valeria Lopez, co-ordinator; Alvero, driver.

We also hugely benefited from support by Stephen and Katherine Ind, who were mainly stationed in Bluefields.

In July we heard with great sadness about the untimely death of Humberto, our panga helmsman. He has worked with the trust for many years, delivering teams safely all along the Rio Grande. He was a reassuring presence at the helm of the boat and extremely competent. Popular with everyone; wherever you went he had friends waiting to welcome him. Completely dependable and kind, he was in every sense a true gentleman and we will miss his friendship enormously. Richard Geary is planning to build a clinic soon in the San Sebastian area and we hope to dedicate it to Humberto.

Huge thanks to all the following: supporters who knitted teddies, donated toothbrushes, glasses etc for the 2020 trip; the warehouse team who transported equipment to support our work;  Mike Gibbins and Stuart Goulding for driving the team to the airport; the UK P&H office.

Additional thanks to Hereford Rotary for their kind donation of a new portable dental chair and the continued financial support given by Latchett Church. There are others that we may have missed and apologies if so. It is always humbling to realise how many people are actively involved in such an expedition and it’s impossible to mention them all.

So how can the Trust help this year during the pandemic?

As mentioned earlier, we are sponsoring dental visits by a local Bluefield’s dentist. We are also opening up lines of communication with health professionals in the local ‘upriver’ clinics to see if we can provide medicines which are either absent or in short supply. Nicaragua and the UK spend similar proportions of their GDP on health. Unfortunately, being a poor country, even this excellent effort means that many vital drugs are in short supply. We understand that there are not enough diabetic medicines, painkillers and worming tablets so we will be looking to ease these shortages. We will also be providing medical equipment for the clinics via our container operations.

If anyone has any other ideas as to ways we can help or would like to volunteer please contact Will Hanks on will@peaceandhope.or.uk