Waspam experience

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2 Suddenly... everything changed

Suddenly... everything changed

Edition: Social Action Institute Juan XXIIIManagua, Nicaragua. September 2009

Coordination: Ketxu Amezua

Redaction: Marisol Cerrato and Amelia Mallona

Edition cares: Antonio Belli

Photographs: Aurora Velzquez, Amelia Mallona,Marisol Cerrato and Itzel Fajardo

Translation: Regina Belli

Cover: Evening rest, paint by Augusto Silva

Counter cover: Breadfruit, peach palm (pijibayes) and bananas,Sketch by Augusto Silva

We thank the people who participated in the systematization work-shops and to the interviewed for the richness of their contributionsand testimonies; to the religious sisters of Santa Ines for their support,and to CAFOD-England, who made this book possible.


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Suddenly... everything changed 3

THANKS

Many generous wills and solidarity efforts were combined to restore the life of the families affected on the path of Hurricane Felix in the municipality of Waspam,so that in the middle of desperation for each one of themwould be built a

Proper, Safe, Happy House From many parts of the world, including Nicaragua,

particular persons, religious congregations, public entitiesand cooperation agencies responded to the call for helpfrom these families, gestating once again,

the miracle of the solidarity.To all, our deepest feelings of gratitude.Religious Congregations:

Mercedario Missioner Sisters from Berritz,Jesus Sacred Heart Society,Religious from Asuncin,Society of Jesus

Central American Province

and Loyola/Alboan ProvinceCooperation Agencies:Quixote Center (United States of America),Entreculturas Fe y Alegra (Spain),

AMYCOS (Spain), MANOS UNIDAS (Spain),St. Benedict Guild Quest Fund (United States of America),City Council of Abadio (Basque Country)

Particular donors: Alba Mallona, Olivia Cerrillo,Personnel of the Central American University (UCA) of Managua,Personnel of the Institute Juan XXIII and an anonymous Jesuit


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INDEX

Introduction 6Chapter I: Waspams Communities 8Chapter II: Dawn September 4th 10Chapter III: Reconstruction project: Proper, safe and happy house 1

First stage: The day after everything was different 14Second stage: Organization of the working squads 16Third Stage: Model houses 17Fourth Stage: House-building phases 21Fifth Stage: The new home and future plans 26

Chapter IV: Achievements and obstacles 294.1 Achievements 294.2 Obstacles 35

Chapter V: Apprenticeship and projections 35.1 Apprenticeship of the communities 35.2 Institutional lessons 435.3 Future projections 48

Actors and authors 50



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We dont know where Juan XXIII office is,but they have sent help for us.I am one of the grateful ones

Casta, Santa Rosa communi


Introduction

Institute Juan XXIII has the habit of systematizing its project experiences,as a learning mean for the institutionand for the beneficiaries of theattended communities.

From this action-critical reflectionpractice the institute identifies thefactors that facilitate the achievementof the human and material developmentobjectives of the carried out projects.

The present systematization is aboutthe reconstructing experience in fivecommunities in Waspam, beneficiariesof the project The proper, safe, happyhouse. It is addressed to:

Recover and systematize theprojects experience from thebeneficiaries and involved organismsperspective. Promote communal

education from a participative reflectionon learned lessons.


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Identify working ways that can bewidespread, to be taken into account infuture project actions in the NorthAtlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) of Nicaragua.

This is the first project incommunities affected by naturaldisasters in RAAN, and as such, it isimportant for the Institute to identifythe methodology used and workinglessons obtained. Above all, because it

was implemented in a cultural, socialand economic environment different tothe regions in which the Institute washistorically worked in, succeeding inattending the three ethnics settled inthe zone. In Awastigni the populationbelongs to Mayagna ethnic; in Mospamit is of mixed parentage, and thesettlers of Santa Rosa, Piera andKururia they are miskitos. It is withinthis context that one tries to answer thefollowing questions:


Beyond the tangible housingbenefits, how does the populationvalue and perceive the selfconstructionexperience of their homes?

Of the experience, what could berepeated and what couldnt under similar circumstances?

When finalizing, the project carriedout a workshop with communityleaders. There were working groups,plenary sessions, and individualinterviews.

It is mainly the voices of theparticipants that we included in thiswork, in order to create a collectivememoir of the process, its benefitsand learned lessons during the project.

The leaders and the populationremembered how they lived before thehurricane; they remembered the day of the disaster and reconstructed their own history through the building of their houses and their own life.


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Chapter I:Waspams Communities

The municipality of Waspam in thenorth Atlantic Autonomous Region(RAAN), located in the North-east extremeof Nicaragua, bordering with Honduras; itis has biggest extension in the country,with 8,798.61 Km2.

The total population of the municipalityis 53,294 inhabitants (49% males and 51females), 10,543 families, being one of themunicipalities with the least populationdensity in the country 6 persons per Km2.

The population is mainly of the Miskitoethnic, including Waspam, a smallpercentage is Mayagna (2.5%), and theyspeak Sumu-panamhka. There is aminority of mixed parentage who speakSpanish and Creole families who speaktheir own English.

The municipality has 111 communities,including Waspam, the head of the

municipality, the only settlement withurban character. 91.3% of the populationlives in rural areas in municipalities or towns (as they are called) located alongthe Coco River, on the Caribbean littoral,and on the Pine Savannah, along theBilwi-Waspam road, Wawa River basinand Likus River sub-basin.

According to the political constitution,

Law 445, the lands and territories of theAtlantic Coast are communal lands,therefore, the indigenous people have theright to use, enjoy and benefit from itsnatural resources.



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The communities lived quietly withcoastal little houses, with palm roofs,because we had no zinc, a big family livedin the same little house, stacked, becauseof the same need.

Teekiamp community

We had our houses wood or bamboolined, palm roof, we had food in the

plantations, fruit trees and lots of timber inthe forest, and lots of palms for thehouses.

Awastigni community

We lived in high houses on stilts, somehad zinc roofing (the better well off)others, the poorest had palm roofs;everything was fine, with yard farming, oufruit trees, our crops, the trees in theforest.

Santa Rosa community

We had the schools, yard animals, fruit trees, our crops. We cultivated rice and beans; at least we had for our food.

We used to work in the mountain; wewould exchange our crops in town for fishor shrimp.

Kururia tow

Before September 4th in our town LaPiera everything was normal, the radiosannounced the arrival of the hurricane,some people believed it would only affect

Puerto Cabezas, and part of itsmunicipality, others doubted the arrival of this disaster. With the natural phenomenonthings changed.



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Chapter II:Dawn September 4th

By the news we learned the hurricane was coming

The indigenous people of Nicaragua

Caribbean Coast historically have beenaffected by natural disasters, due to itsgeographical location in the Caribbeanbasin.

The impact of category 5 hurricaneFelix on September 4th 2007, causedmore than a hundred deaths, thedisplacement of thousands of people frtheir communities, the lost of their crothe destruction of thousands houses, anan irreplaceable ecological damagebecause of the lost of a vast forested ar

Most of the population has lived inconditions of extreme poverty, in dispeisolated communities. Precisely becausof this, they are even more vulnerable natural phenomena.

Data gathered by OPS indicate that162,373 people and a total of 27,281families were affected by the hurricanethe region.

It was estimated that 9,948 houseswere in vulnerable conditions in themunicipalities of RAAN, of which 7,9were completely destroyed.

The OPS document also indicates th5,190 wells were contaminated and 6,0latrines were destroyed.



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The municipalities of Waspam andPuerto Cabezas were the most affected byHurricane Felix.

The communities of Santa Rosa, LaPiera, Teekiamp, Awastigni, Kururia andMospam, located in the plain zone werehardly hit by Hurricane Felix, where 545families lost their homes, production, greatpart of the forest and reserves.

The families were in the middle of greatdesolation and abandonment because of the isolation and difficult access to thisregion. The leaders of these communitiesremembered how they spent the day of the hurricane:

we werent prepared and at dawnthe wind roughened.

By the news we learned that HurricaneFelix was approaching, we thought therewas no problem, because hurricanes only affect coastal beaches; therefore wewerent prepared and at dawn the wind

roughened, just then we realized that the problem was upon us. We looked how thetin roof was flown away, fruit trees fell.During these difficult moments civil defense did not come to help us, each onefought to save ones family.

Kururia town

We did not know what to do;everyone looked for a way to saveones family.



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By the news we realized the hurricanewas approaching, but we didnt expect itbring destruction.

At dawn the wind became stronger, palm trees were flown away, some of theweakest houses began to fall...

We didnt know what to do, everyonelooked for a way to save ones family...

Some of us went to the school, but theroof was taken away by the wind, peoplewere very scared.

Awastigni communi

It was a day for grief,lots of lives were lost,flora and fauna disappeared

It was until dawn, September 4th whewe really lived the strength of thisdisastrous hurricane.

It was a day for grief, lots of lives welost, and flora and fauna disappeared .

These were sad moments, in four houwe were left with no forest, no houses,living all people and families in La PierSchool, because it was the only thing left

You could see from one community tothe other a vast sea of giant fallen trees.

Community Pie



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At that time we lived terrible hours. The

houses vanished, the roofs were flownaway and we got ourselves under thetambos of low houses.

People could not stay in their housesbecause they were weak.

Others ran into the school, becausethey saw it was better.

Our natural wealth is gone, the cassavacrops, and tubers.

Teekiamp community


We thought the end of the world was

coming; we had no help from anyone.It attacked us from early morning, no

one was ready to face this kind of disaster,everyone looked for a way to defend their families, and we saw how fruit trees fell,the roofs, the houses, the children crying in fear. The Santa Rosa hill was bald, not one tree left, the deer and other animals

were in the patios as if looking for shelter.We thought the end of the world wascoming; we had no help from anyone.



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Chapter III. Reconstruction project:Proper, safe and happy house

This chapter describes the stagesidentified by the projects participants,starting from Hurricane Felix:

First stage:The day after everything was different

When the hurricane past, everybody was turned upside down and didnt know what to do, many wanted to commit suicide. Why live? We thought we had gone backwards. Some organizations

came to bring us food.The following day everything was

different, destroyed houses, fallen trees,some sideways, the school was roofless,many dead animals. We saw how thetrees in the fields were destroyed, wecould see far, because everything was onthe floor, the roads were blocked by thetrees; we couldnt even go into the woodsto look for food.

Awastigni community

All plantations were destroyed. Wewere left with no food, and no home. Theanimals eat the food that was left on thefields, the birds eat they hadnt ever eaten.We were in trouble because of thedisasters left behind by the hurricane and

by the radio we heard the announcement saying that all community leaders had totake measures for the needs, and to get moving .

Kururia town


We were scared by the strength of nature; it destroyed not only the houses,the patio animals, the fruit trees, but all tforest. You had to think over, seeing somuch damage.

We were left in plastic tents, brought us by SINAPRED from Puerto Cabezas.The Waspam municipality helped us. The

organized community went to see Lucy and we explained our situation and shegave us a little help.


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A few weeks later arrived in Piera Dr. Aurora Velasquez, Mother Myrna and Rose Cunningham to see our situation and offered to ask for help from some donor organizations.

Santa Rosa

Doctor Velasquez, who undertook the projects direction, remembers:

We visited the community Piera wherethere lived 13 families. We talked to theleaders and they talked about the need of black plastic or some tin plates.


Then, even when it seemed ironic, weasked them to dream about how they would like their house. At the beginning they laughed and looked at us maliciously.But then the dream began. Thus, we could design the Proper, safe and happy house.

A request letter with the design of thehouse was sent to Institute Juan XXIII. Wetalked to Ketxu and after analyzing the

pros and cons and the possible funding sources, Juan XXIII then began the

process of getting the funds. At thebeginning we had chosen twocommunities: Santa Rosa y Piera. Littleby little funds began to arrive for more. Wstarted adding communities, Teekiampfollowed, Mospam, Awastigni and Kururia

The housing design was the product othe consultation to the communities andadjusted by an architect with the measurneeded to strengthen the structure,

preventing future natural disasters.In Piera we built 12 big houses, with 3

bedrooms, living room, corridor and thekitchen aside. The kitchen aside wasdecided by us, because it is our custom,thus we dont get smoked, and a corridor to go from the house to the kitchen.

When they asked us how we wanted

the house, some said with one room,others two. We did not want the kitchennext to the house, but separated. Weasked our liking.

Beneficiaries from Piera


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Second stage:Organization of the working squads

When the funding was confirmed, wereturned to the communities to give them

the good news, to orient the selection of the beneficiaries and to promote their organization, because it would be a self-construction project. Also the coordinationwas established with the projects localpartners. A team was organized, whichwas responsible for the execution of theproject.

Juan XXIII hired Dr. Aurora Velasquezas project coordinator, initially supportedon the technical aspects, by an engineer and two master builders, later on a sawmilloperator was hired.


Along with the social and organizataspects, we would count with thecollaboration of Rose Cunningham, whhas worked in the zone with indigenouwomen on rights and civil participationissues.

For assistance in preventive health fthe communities, there was Sister Myrfrom the Santa Ines congregation.

Another partner collaborator in theproject was the Association for theDevelopment of the Atlantic Coast PaPana, with the support of Lucy Law torganize communal plant nurseries.

We also had the support of theauthorities of the Regional Governmenand of the army.


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As the trees were selected, started thecutting of the wood for the 61 squarepillars (for each house) 8 x 8 and 2meters in length.

10 squads were organized (two in eachcommunity) as permanent saw-millworkers, integrated by a chain sawoperator and two aids.

After we got an agreement for theconstruction of the houses, we got organized to build the model house and we did it in eight days. We worked

together, carried the timber, and theengineer told us to watch how this housewas built, and that afterwards we would all be able to build it.



When the Doctor arrived, we werealready organized. To direct the work andstart the project, came Eng. Eric, along with a master builder, Mr. Reynaldo, andthe first house was built. It was the Modhouse, the Proper, Happy and SafeHouse.

We worked with him. He taught us loof building matters, there was a lot of responsibility to look after the materials.

Group of leaders, Piera community

The engineer decided the style and thedesign of the house, we didnt do it, but hasked if we agreed.

We worked together and obeyed ineverything. We learned so we could do itwhen he was not there.

Teekiamp communi

All the pillars of the model houses wcut with the chainsaws, more than 9,00pieces of lumber. The hardest work on stage was not to saw all the pillars, but

transport them into each community bysheer force, carrying each piece amongfour to six men, even for more than thrkilometers, to their places.

We started working with chainsaws,cutting logs. Then we took out the timbecutting the logs without barking them. Wnoted that two persons alone could not dit, so it put in more men.

For the houses, the Institute gave uslaminated zinc, nails, fuel, lubricants, andfiles, among other materials.

Kururia commun


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There were lots of difficulties, becauseat the beginning we thought about cutting the logs the hurricane had knocked downed (pine).

But with time, it was moth eaten and we had to bring timber from the forest, it seemed easy at first because it was withchainsaws, but the work was slow.

First, we got organized to bring the pillars, then to make the holes. At thebeginning everybody agreed and worked,but some stepped back, because they saw it was a lot of work.

Men would carry the timber, womenwould cook. The owner of the house was

in charge of feeding all the workers.Piera community


Along with the construction of themodel house, in each community weworked in the preparation of the terrain,outlining, laying the foundations and holdigging for the remaining houses.


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During the construction, the budgetthe materials was adjusted, thetransportation costs, and above all, thecommunal effort to extract the wood frthe mountain was valued. A total of 6,6board feet for each model house.

The cost of the community contribuwas estimated in US$ 3,000 for eachhouse, which includes timber, terrain,labor, and transportation for the wood.Kururias integration

The town of Kururia was not includthe project, it was the last to be inserteand a beneficiary from Kururia tells us

I want to talk as a woman, Melba wasin a plastic tent and we were invited to ameeting in Teekiamp. We were told: go tTeekiamp and tell us how is their situatioin Kururias list there were only men asbeneficiaries, no women, so we went tothe meeting.

I went to see a house, Donalds, it wthe model house, I saw it had three rooma kitchen, a living room, when I saw it, Doctor asked me: Did you like the hous

And I said

But Donald told us: This is no game,we worked a lot, at dawn, day and night,and thats how we are fighting. Here at thsaw-mill there are two women that cook.

Can you cook? And I said yes. Heretwenty families were benefited, 12 menand eight women alone with children.

Kururia beneficia



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Fourth Stage:Construction phase

Once the model houses were finished,the squad analyzed, along with thebeneficiaries the difficulties and a new

working strategy was defined, to savetime, improve quality and lower the costs.First, buying a portable saw-mill,

because cutting all the wood withchainsaws was slow; with the saw-mill youcould cut an average of 1,600 board feetusing diesel, while it would take 5 workingdays for the chainsaw operator to saw thesame amount, and at a higher costbecause of the use of gasoline.

Second, working on simultaneousphases of the construction of severalhouses at the same time in the fivecommunities, instead of building thehouses one by one.

When the model house was finished,we talked to the Doctor, there was a lot of work and she told us they would bring asaw-mill. We have pine forests, so we got ready; when the saw-mill arrived, we took it to the forest and started sawing. Another

problem arose: the vehicle could not get through to the place where the saw-mill was, so the timber we carried among themen from the forest to where the house

was, that was a distance of four kilometers. The Doctor saw it was toohard, so she negotiated with the army sothat a truck transported the timber fromthe forest to the houses. Awastigni


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With the saw-mill it was moresuccessful, but it was also hard working.

The logs, 10 and 11 feet long wecarried among three to four men and took it to the place where the saw-mill wasinstalled.

With the saw-mill working, eachcommunity could count on the first stock of sawed lumber.

From then on, the team proceeded toorganize two building squads in eachplace, integrated by six to eight people,with a technician in charge of each one of them, so that two houses could be built atthe same time.

The participation of the beneficiaries inthe process was very important, a total of 325 people were integrated, of which 150women and 175 men.

For the squads, the importantreinforcement team was the women andchildren who would pass the materials,bring water, act as couriers betweencommunities, and the women taking careof the crops while the men were occupiedin the construction.

Many women, after cultivating andpreparing the food for everyone, helped tomove the wood and some helped evenwith the construction

In the communities it was the first timethat men and women all worked together,especially sharing an activity that wastraditionally carried out only by men.


For many women this was a difficul

experience, of battle and personal growI went to the woods when the logs

were cut and were sawed into 8 x 8 feet long and worked along with the men, butsince it was too heavy, I asked them tohelp me and not to give me the big ones.

Among three women we would carry the 6 x 6 boards, with those we could

cope. On this shoulder I carried 6 x 6 boards. I fell and was hospitalized.

My 16-year old son helped me; we hamarks on our shoulder for carrying wood


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I also climbed up the house to nail the

wood, I did not know how to use ahammer but I learned; the men used tosay: you are a woman, you cannot do it.

I helped in the kitchen and carrying water for the men.

Gladys, Kururia community

My 18-year old son helped me until wefinished the house, he is a chainsaw operator, and I helped with the food for theworkers. Sometimes with oil, but whenthey had no meat I sent them a hen.

Woman, Awastigni community


The children were in charge of carryiwater or some refreshment for the men ithe different squads, and also carryingboards. In Santa Rosa it happened likethis:

The children would help you to get onthe shoulder the boards that were light when they were brought from the saw-millwith the truck, after they were downloadedto be distributed among the families,where each one would get their ownwood, thats when the small childrenhelped to get them on your shoulder.

My boy and girl, for example, would grab a piece of cloth, put it on their head and bring one board home

Woman, Santa Rosa community.

During the construction did some fielwork using the ancestral indigenoussystem of mano-vuelta .

Everybody worked on everyones fielThis way they cultivated beans, cassavaand plantain.

During May 2008, they cleaned theparcels in order to cultivate rice, and inJune they planted it.

In 2009 the climatic changes affectedthe seeding period, because of the rainsout of season, which prevented thepreparation of the field, and became agreat feeding limitation for thecommunities

.


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Phase III: Walls, floor and kitchen.

The walls of the houses were made of one inch thick, eight inches width and four varas in length, everything nailed downto the respective posts with four and five-inch nails.

The floor of the house rested on the 61pillars, at an approximate height of 1.5meters from the ground, in order to avoidflooding during the rainy season and thewild animals, especially the snakes. Thefloor also covers the ample corridor infront of the house.

Following the Miskito cultural traditionand the will of the communities, thekitchen is set aside, separated from themain house, but also connected to it bythe corridor. The kitchen is equipped witha sink, drainage tube for the gray watersinto a septic tank.


Phase IV: Internal divisions.

The internal divisions are a significanchange with respect to their traditionalhouses which used to have only oneroom. The actual houses have four interirooms: three bedrooms and a multiple-usliving room.

During the construction workshops fothe population were conducted, especiallfor the women, to promote some behaviochanges in the use of the house,emphasizing taking care of the couplesprivacy, and separating male from femalchildren in the family.

I am a single mother of seven childrenand I am supporting them all. I am happy because I never had a house like this, withthree bedrooms; this way my children arein one room, my mother is in other, and I am in another one. Kururia community


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The house has five doors: the mainentrance door, three interior doors for the

bedrooms and the kitchen door. It has fivewindows, one in each room, another onein the living room and one more in thekitchen.

During this stage, while the houseswere built, a carpenter along with the moreadvanced beneficiaries, were making thedoors and windows of all the houses.

They made 840 doors and the sameamount of windows, using manual andsemi-manual tools, and because of therudimentary equipment, it took a lot of timeand effort.


Phase V:The new home and future plans

At the end of the previous stage, thefamilies thought that their homes were

finished, but as they were making thedivisions and interesting dynamicappeared, in order to decide who wouloccupy each of the rooms, who would care of the keys of the house, where tofind material for the curtains, etc.

The play of roles took them to the mimportant: recovering the dignity, the

surging of life and hope in the communNow they have new illusions, to

improve the house, keep it in goodconditions, clean and with flowers, to ptrees, there is also more awareness abotheir rights and claims, like food securibetter health services in the communityand electricity.

On the other hand, they are takingsteps for new projects that contribute tsolve the problem of food security, a fipriority in this zone.


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Plans for the future

In order for the plans and ideas not tostay up in the air, a workshop wasconducted, where the leaders of eachcommunity elaborated plans to keep their homes and improve their lives.

They worked out four plans for eachcommunity: reforestation, health, housemaintenance and contingency for disastersplan.

Now we are committed to do somecontinuation and finished what little is left.

We are committed to give them a proper maintenance for the durability of our pretty home.

Piera community

We want to have nurseries, so we canleave the trees as a heritage to our children, to improve the living conditions of our family and the future generation, sothat our streams dont dry up and theanimals can survive.

To prepare the conditions so that our houses can last longer, for this thedeteriorating parts should be repaired intime.

Teekiamp community

We are happy with our houses. But weask you to take steps to help us in other things we are missing, because we haveserious alimentary problems, and electricity would also be fine.


We want to know more about natural disasters, so we are going to look for helpfrom the organizations, so that they teachus more about natural disasters.

Kururia community

We will get organized, do somecleaning-work, ask for help from theorganizations, meeting with all themembers of the benefited community, ask for support from MINSA, so that they visitus more regularly, guaranteeing us ahealth center because it is too far to go all the way to Waspam.



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Some 300 people participated, all thfamilies of the Teekiamp community, fdelegations from the other projectscommunities, regional and municipalauthorities, as well as the vice-mayor, tpolice and Pana-Pana, Wanki-Tagniorganizations, Santa Ines Sisters andInstitute Juan XXIII representatives.


The opening of the houses

The project officially finished on July10th with the act opening the housescarried out in the Teekiamp community. Itwas a great celebration, with much joy,organized by the beneficiaries, withpiatas for the kids, lunch, a cultural act,speeches, singing and typical dances,mixing their own from the Caribbean coastwith others from the Pacific.


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Chapter IV:Achievements and obstacles

4.1 Achievements

Now 172 families live in better conditions, 117 families that completelyrebuilt their houses, and 55 which madeimprovements aided with laminated zincand construction materials. For them it is aproper, safe and happy house.

A proper house: is one in which onecan live at ease, here lives my daughter,my living room to rest, my veranda where I hang my hammock, a house where you

can move around tranquil.YI used to sleep with all my children

piled up. Now we sleep apart, each one inits room. That is important, because now if I have a man, I can sleep apart with himand my children dont see.

A safe house: because it is mine, I ama lone woman and a mother. When the

hurricane comes, it wont tumble it down,because now the house has 61 posts and will fight the hurricane. Now when the raincomes we dont get wet, before the water would come in and I had to protect them.

Each one is in its room, before we slept all together, sleeping apart is new. Now wecan sleep naked with the man.

A house where we have the assurancethat no wind will take it down, my windowsand beams are well tightened up, and nothief will break in, it is a long-lasting house. Woman, Teekiamp community


A happy house: because everybody more tranquil, motivated to look after th

health, cleaning the houses, patios andlatrines, eliminating puddles and practicipersonal hygiene, like washing hands.

Now we sleep fine, we are not worried about the rain, we are happy.


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New capacities

A new model and a new way of buihouses. The beneficiaries expressed thsatisfaction in having learned and enjotheir homes.

We learned to build better. Theseconstructions are magnificent.

The project has helped us a lot with ohouses. We have learned the constructionof the new houses. The ones we madewith palms are destroyed.

We didnt know this housing model, bwe did it. A lot of people from other organizations asked who was helping us,because they saw them pretty.

More awareness of their rights

The participants have more awarenessof their rights, there cannot exist a happyhome if there is no respect for the humanrights of women and children living in thehouse.

Right now, we women have morerights than men. Before men would beat us, hit us, they could do anything they wanted, but now they cant beat us.

Woman, Santa Rosa community

Before, men were judges, deputies, presidents, and now women also can inthe community

Woman, Kururia community



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In the communities now there are morepeople trained as chainsaw operators andcarpenters; a good group of young peoplelearned to use electric drills, circular saws,

electric generator, measuring tapes andplumb, tolls they hadnt used before.They learned to build safe houses,

plumb and bolting techniques. With them,they can keep and expand the houses, or work as salaried worker in other constructions.

Besides, young people learned new

values:At first we started with the master

builder, now the communities can takecare of these activities.

Young people learn how to get organized, they learn to be honest and humble, they obeyed the master builder and so they learned.

The participation of women in non-traditional activities, such as nailing boacreated awareness that they can do otherthings, besides cooking, and sometimesthey even work better than men:

I helped to nail the boards. I would climb up the house and the men would tellme you are a woman, go now, you cannot

do it and I would answer Oh, how come cant? I nail boards better than they do.

As a woman, I learned to work, to make posts, nail boards. There I was following thmen, helping.


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Improved self esteem

The beneficiaries have developed thself esteem and pride of belonging to tcommunity.

We have a house that, nowadays, they

will look at us as decent people, with a presentable house, and thats why I haveto look well after it, so that it does not ro

Woman, Santa Rosa community

Among women, pride is expressedtidying up the house, cultivating floweand placing curtains on the windows.

Some have put shelves to store the

china. Others think about building bunbeds in the childrens rooms.In the interior of the houses you can

see some self-made beds. With pride thsaid the new houses have divisions andis known there is a house of respect .

Others, with wooden leftovers haveconstructed hen houses.

The communities are aware that thecan have better living conditions insidehouse; one can see the planning of newprojects like solar panels, roads, improschools and health centers.

We are telling the project Proper, Safand Happy House that a painting

protection is needed, so that the houses

last longer


Communal work strengthened.For the first time we worked in a

common project that mobilized the entirecommunity in organized way, facilitatingthe recovery of the ancestral miskito valueof working together and looking after thecommon wellbeing.

We hold communal assemblies in

order to organize men, women, elderly and children. With the men we makeseveral groups to work on different activities. We formed four groups and send them to a house for setting the wall frames, lay the laminated zinc, and thenthe wall lining. We worked day and night.Sometimes we work until dawn. Thewomens activities are feeding everyone;make coffee, at night moving boards, thekids bringing water and boards also. The

project helped us get more united, thecommunity is changing

Group, Teekiamp community.


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Relations and communications

The communal leaders expressed their interest and need of friendship andcollaboration links between communities.

To them, the workshop represented a

first step in the creation of flowingrelationships between the different ethnicsthat live together in the zone.Improved planning

With the construction stages of thehouses, subsequent keeping and theresponse to disasters plans, awarenesswas developed on the importance of

planning.Thus, the short term vision is changing

to a longer term vision that requiresplanning.

Self determination

The beneficiaries had the opportunity of practicing leadership centered on thecommon wellbeing.

They got aware that self-determinationinvolves compromise, persevering workand cooperation.

In the change of attitude of thecommunities stand out the participation inthe self-construction of their houses andthe appropriation of the communal vision.

This way they fight the dependencecreated historically in this zone

.


Synthesis of the beneficiariesCommunity beneficiaries houses

Santa Rosa 162 27Piera 65 13Awastigni 210 15Tee Kiamp 228 37Kururia 186 25Total 1091 117

Improvements with laminated zinc.Community Nr of families

Mos Pam 33Kisalaya 11Piera 7Special cases 4Total 55

Social programs BeneficiariesTeekiamp schoo 98 childrenMaternal house, Waspam 400 womenWomens house, Waspam 110 women


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4.2 Obstacles.

The socioeconomic context and localpolitics under which the project wasdeveloped were full of obstacles, andinfluenced its execution in one way or another.

It hasnt been a flowing project, it wasrather a permanent steeplechase run, withconstant difficulties: bridges, rains,captured saw-mill, strikes, tense political situation with local elections

You had to maneuver to keep peoplesconfidence, to keep on walking regardlessof the obstacles, and not let people downwith the confidence they had on theinstitution.

Ketxu, Institute Juan XXIII

Food safety

Food safety of Waspams communitieshas depended greatly on what they fishand hunt, and from the subsistenceagriculture, activities which, after thehurricane were diminished.

In consequence, food security of thepopulation was extremely precariousduring the construction period, eventhough there were efforts from the WorldFood Program (WFP) to supply food, itwas insufficient, and especially sporadicand out of time, because of institutional

burocracy and the bad condition of theroads to transport the food to the region.


During 2008, the population had toinvest time for the rebuilding activities,competing with the time they shoulddedicate to agriculture.

Therefore, Institute Juan XXIIIcontributed with coffee, rice, beans andmaize at certain moments, to guaranteethe food for the building squads and keethe constructions going.


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Rain, floods and isolation

The 2008 rainy season stronglyaffected the population still living in te

During the second semester of theyear, the intense rain occurred during

several days caused the flooding of theWawa river and the destruction of thebridge, which obstructed the way to Biin the RAAN.

During October, the tropical storm N15 affected with torrential rain for morthan 12 consecutive hours.

The rural communities were isolate

because of the flood and roads and bridestruction.For around two months the roads

were impassable, having to carrymaterials, fuels, accessories, toolsand other inputs at sheer forceand on foot, causing delays in theexecution of the planned activities.

The lack of spare parts and minimutechnology to solve simple problems,like repairing a vehicle, a chainsawor a portable generator, forced to sendall damaged tools and equipmentsto Managua, taking around two weeksto get them repaired and send them bacto the community.


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Political conflicts and civil violence

During 2008, RAAN was the scenariofor strong violent confrontations and socialconflicts between the groups of thedifferent political parties because of thedelay in the municipal elections.

The continuous strikes and peoplesdemonstrations, the closing of the airport,suspension of school activities, interruptionof basic services: electricity, water,telephone, the closing of differentgovernmental institutions and communityaccess road blockades were some of theregretful episodes that delayed the work.

The dispute for the ownershipof communal forests

Due to the lack of clear territorialdelimitation of the indigenouscommunities, the indigenous communitiesand private owners of foreign origindispute the right to the trees tumbled downby the hurricane.

This caused the Kuiwitigni community(which did not participate in the project) tohijack the saw-mill (project property) whichwas sawing the wood for the houses in thecommunity Piera.

Therefore, Institute Juan XXIII, alongwith communal leaders of Piera, had toturn to the authorities of the RegionalCouncil in Bilwi to denounce the fact andsearch for mediation of the authorities tosolve the problem.


All this took over a month of comingand goings, meetings and negotiationsbetween the parts, but the most importanis that it was possible to overcomethe problem without violent acts, pronein this zone.


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Methodological differences

At the Mayagna community Awastaarrived a foreign organization offering pay for cutting the wood (US$ 0.30 / bfoot) and to build 28 houses with foreitechnical personnel and no participatiofrom the community.

Because of this, of the 40 selectedfamilies in Awastagni, 20 opted for theeasiest road to obtain their houses, so iAwastagni only 15 houses were built othe initially foreseen 44, the rest wereassigned to the Kururia community,incorporated later.

The houses built by the Institute use6,967 board feet each, which weresupplied by the community, that is, theequivalent to a little more than twothousand dollars per house, only with tsawing efforts and transportation of thewood for their homes, to this has to beadded the voluntary work provided du

the construction.Another limitation was the lack of

fulfillment of the governmentalresponsibilities in providing thecorresponding services:

The Estate has been inefficient because there should be a map of how many organizations are working, and wh

those organizations can finance.In the housing- project it would be

freight elevator, to raise those logs, logswhich weight like .


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V: Apprenticeship and projections

Our ancestors dug holes on theground and put a low roof which served asshelter. Because we realized that evencement houses are demolished by thehurricane.

Leader, Kururia communit

5.1 Apprenticeship of the communities

The communal leaders identified thelearned lessons from their own livingsduring the hurricane and during their participation in the rebuilding project.

One of the more important lessons was

to realize their vulnerability to hurricanes, itwas the first time they faced this kind of phenomena and they were not prepared.

Now they know it is necessary toprepare the population in the communities,to look for support from the competentauthorities and keep themselvescommunicated and informed.

It is important to organize civil defense.Being attentive and alert, listen to thenews and get prepared before a

phenomenon like the hurricane arrives.

We want to know more about natural disasters, for that we are going to look for help form the organizations, so that they teach us more about natural disasters. Wehave to prepare good shelters to protect our lives, saving children and ladies first.

Group work, Kururia


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Houses should be placed in less risky areas.

Getting ready for response isnecessary, but no enough, preventiveactions are needed to avoid risks.

We learned that, that the house shoulbe located where there is less wind, awayfrom the streams and rivers to avoid flooding.

With Felix in 2007, I lived at theriverside when it flooded. I lost 115 shee8 cows drowned with the flood. It affectemy health, pain in the bones and evenmalaria for being flooded for such a longtime. Now I live in the plains, where I bumy new house.

This experience was not only to build alone, but to build along.

The reconstruction of the houses antheir later maintenance was only possibthrough unity, cooperation andorganization of the community.

The leaders recognized that:We learned to work together. If there i

no unity, there is no force and now therewould not be one house here. I learned that if we are not united we get nowhere

That if we do not fight, if we have nofaith in God, we will go nowhere. If wedont work inspired and will power wenever do anything. If we do not get to wotogether, the works fall behind, unionmakes force.

Piera gro


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The project taught us to get organized.

Communal organization is dynamic and

it is necessary to adapt/improve itaccording to the new projects of to faceemergency situations. Working together took them to new organized working ways.

Being organized strengthens us as acommunity. Now we have to get better organized to face a hurricane.

Even though traditionally they havehelped each other with mano vuelta, thishas been only for agricultural work wherethe owner of the vegetable garden directsthe work.

Instead, with the houses they learnedto work in specialized squads, sawing,construction and finishing ones.

In the building squads the fittest member was elected as coordinator todirect the different tasks.

An example is the case of the leveling of the terrain, activity that requires certainlevel of mathematical knowledge.

Men and women learned that it is noteasy to work together in activities thathave traditionally been destined to onlyone of the two sexes. In this case, thewoman, to keep on going ahead has tofight, that is the cost of having your righrecognized. Even though at the end menand women validated the experience of working together, during the process thewere tensions when some of the womenexpressed their minds regarding theactions of some men.

I was left homeless because of thehurricane, but I worked with my 16-year

old son in this, we would carry wood fromthe forest to the house. The boy wanted torun away, but I would not let him, the rest of the men would make fun of me saying the son would run away. For being a lonewoman, many women treated me badly,because they thought I was after their husbands, but I endured all these

problems and now I have my house.Woman, Kururia community

The men did not treat me well, becauseI was cooking for all those building and there were some of them, who profited, assoon as I gave them their food they would get away from the saw-mill to avoid working.

Two men did not want to work, but tonegotiate the wood for their own benefit and I gathered the community and madethem think it over, so they would not dothat, at the end I managed the judge tothem out of the group.


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A good planningand work divisionaccording to capacitiesthere are elements to meet the goalsin due time.

The beneficiaries learned that settinsmall goals and working all in the samcould make the dream of a house cometrue.

First we began with seven houses. W

made a plan of how to get the work doFirst an excavation plan and we all

worked on it. Then the foundation planuntil we finished the seven houses.

Once he first seven houses werefinished, we started to build another seven, getting to 14 houses. And thus, wemanaged to build 36 houses in this

community .Teekiamp communi

In the working groups the fittestmember was elected as the groupcoordinator, substituting the traditionalleader.

This change suggests a dispositionfrom the community to identify, validaand share individual talents to achieve common wellbeing.


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5.2 Institutional lessons

The project was a new and importantexperience for the Institute, because it wasthe first time we worked with a populationculturally different to the communitieshistorically attended.

It is also new because were supportedcommunities with which the Institute hadno previous organizational relationship.

The experience demonstrated theadvantage of executing projects in placeswhere the Institute already has anorganized support. It demonstrated that itis necessary to get some previous, intenseand prolonged work done so that peoplehave better disposition to get incorporatedinto the participation process.

Reinsures the institutional vision of working under the institutional principlesbased on a working methodologydecentralization and development.

At the same time, the decision to give aspecific aid to this zone reaffirms themission of the Institute towardspopulations affected by natural disasters.

With this experience we managed tovisualize how to attend communitieswhere the Institute has not had previousorganizational work, and in cases wherethey have not been attended by other local

or national organizations.This project was made possible thanks

to the alliances with local organizations,which supplied the lack of familiarity of theInstitute with the communities.



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To open participation spaces for worequires perseverance in theaccompaniment of the local organizatio

connoisseurs of the general culture andwith working experience with gender approach to address relationship problebetween men and women.

The reduced accompaniment orienteto deal with gender issues while changwere introduced in the role of sexes,risked the dignity and integrity of somparticipating women, especially lonewomen (with no mate).

With this experience we verified theneed to have opening steps to face other forms of alliance with local organizations

(solidarity networks).One of the foundations of the alliances

with the local organizations was the needto give good use to the scarce availableresources.

Another base for the alliances was thecontinuity of the support to thecommunities by local organizations.

The housing project set theorganizational foundations for thedevelopment projects that can only bedeepened through the accompaniment of the local organizations to the communities.


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It is important that the different localorganizations share methodologies andworking visions to facilitate and obtain

better results, better impact and avoidconflicts between men and womenbeneficiaries.

One of the main conflicts originatesfrom the assitencialists options whichdonate everything and those whichpromote compromise in their self-administration.

Coordination is very important.

It is necessary to guarantee thatcommunities and organizations rationalizthe contribution of the communities.

The organizations have to take intoaccount that the communities dont havethe capacity to execute several projects aonce, especially if they demand the sameperemptory execution time.

It was hard, because of what?Because they didnt plant anything, sincethey were decided to get their wood.

They work night time, they had to takethe wood from the mountain It washard, some got sick. Now they are plantingmalanga and cassava, but they have towait months.


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Juan XXIII taught us to work to get thehouse, but we could not cultivate.

The communities prioritized the houconstruction because of the need of shelter against the elements, and alsobecause of the execution times stipulatby the project.

Besides, the rain began earlier and tcommunities were with the earthunprepared and could not produce food

Even though climatic changes are npredictable, the inclusion of a fair workthe construction activities along with tagricultural productive tasks is one of greatest lessons learned.

We thank them for their support, but wwere left with another problem, which isthe lack of food and for this we asked forsupport from another organization .

Awastagni communi

It is true that there was division of responsibilities among participatingorganizations, but it is unjustifiable thacommunities suffer from lack of food dto maladjustments in the coordination,planning or fulfillment from any of theparts.

The food security should be a prioriany support intervention in emergencycases, especially when it is demanded

massive support for communal work inbuilding or rebuilding tasks.


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It is also important, while workplanning, to take into account the customsand ancestral knowledge of thecommunities.

As one of the leaders illustrates:The project had its timing. For example

we had a problem with the moon.

During new moon and full moon you cannot cut trees, because the wood getsmoth eaten. Sometimes you might not believe it, but it is important for us.

Even though, we cut the trees, much of

it was used, mahogany, oak, corts and others.

Now we will have problems with that wood if dont cure it with used oil

Lder, comunidad de Kururia


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5.3 Future projections

The plans articulated by thecommunities were carried out by eachcommunity, answering the followingquestions:

What do we want to do? What do wwant to do the work for? What activitican we carry out? How can we do thesworks? Who is responsible for them? Feach of the following plans:

Preventive healthIndicating the activities that can be

carried out for the prevention of

sicknesses. Between them they mentiothe importance of draining the puddlescleaning the patios, well, streams androofs.

Contingency planThey include preventive actions to

avoid/reduce the risks of future disastelike hurricanes or fires.

House maintenanceIdentifies the activities for the

maintenance of the houses, among themprotecting from

Moths and replace boards, bolts, naand laminated zinc whenever needed.

Reforestation plan

Conservation measures for the naturenewable resources were identified, liplanting or replacing whatever is cut dto cut or use rationally and to allow naregeneration.


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Participants elected the Board of directors which will supervise theexecution of the communal plan and itsrespective working committees.

Besides, it was created a follow upinter-communal committee to:

Supervise that each community gathersthe tools used during the project.

Make an inventory of the existing toolsand to name a person responsible for them.

Send to Institute Juan XXIII the toolinventory.

Coordinate activities with organizations,according to the planned activities. For example, Pana-Pana and the HealthMinistry (Mother Myrna), and to givecontinuity to the inter-communalcommunication initiated during the project.

At the end of the workshop, participantselected the following persons to represent

their communities in the inter-communalcommittee:

Community Representative

Awastigni Mario SalomonTee Kiamp Sabino CruzSanta Rosa Dionisio Paiz

Kururia Evenor ChalePiera Jose Martinez


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VI. Actors and authorsSocial Action Institute Juan XXIII

The Institute Juan XXIII is an instanfor social projection of the CentralAmerican University (UCA). With Chr

orientation and inspired by the examplJohn XXIII and the Ignacian spiritualitThe social promotion is oriented to

generate organizational, participation asocial incidence processes with the movulnerable sectors. Its mission issummarized with the implementation ofive programs: Health, education, housorganizations and participations,preventions, emergency andreconstruction.

Religious congregation of the SantaInes Sisters.

The Santa Ines Sisters is acongregation of religious missionariescompromised with the transformation othe rural and urban communities in LaAmerica and the United States. Theysupport health, education, pastoral andsocial service areas.

The congregation is inserted into thcommunities with the goal of improvinlife quality, promote social justice, prowomens participation in church and incommunities, and to guarantee mutualiinclusion and collaboration amongindividuals, groups and communities.

Based on her religious mission, MoMyrna Alvarado Hernandez accompanthis project.


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Wangki Tangni

Wangki Tangni or River Flower is anNGO whose mission is the attention of theindigenous women and their families,through a program in the communities of Waspam, Ulwas and Kisalaya.

A voluntary team of women gavetraining and counseling on indigenouswomens rights and family and communalconflicts attention.

Pana-Pana

It is an autochthonous NGO from theNorth Atlantic and based in Puerto

Cabezas.It was created in 1990 within the

political context of the return to theresettled communities.

Its mission is to contribute to theimprovement of the conditions of thepopulation promoting self-developmentand self-management of the communities

of the North Atlantic Autonomous Region(RAAN).The communities

The communities of Teekiamp, Kururia,Santa Rosa, Awastagni, Piera andMospam, were selected by the localorganizations for being affected byhurricane Felix and for lacking any kind of

local or international assistance toovercome this extreme-need situation.



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For the institutions

Social Action Institute Juan XXIII

Ketxu Amezua

Sub-director Dra. Aurora Velazquez

Project coordinator Marisol Cerrato

Planning and projectsAmelia Mallona

ConsultantWangki Tangni

Rose CunninghamWorkshop facilitator

Pilar Muller,Translator: Miskito-Spanish

Participants in the systematization


Dionisio PaizTeresa OmyeRoger Balendres MenaSemilia Bons ReyesLandir Wilson

Teekiamp community

Donald ZamoraSylvio CruzRealito Cruz

Nancy ZamoraYadira AguileraHandel Zamora Lucas

Awastigni community

Airen BalderamosSanta LpezPatricia Salomon

Mario SalomonKururia community

Evenor CharlyMelba LaivaRicardo BarrowGladis Alvarado A.Rosdali Eliston Homphya

Piera community

Jose Francisco Martinez RubensElba Barberena Martinez


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Waspam experience

Documents

Transcript of Waspam experience