One of the first projects I became involved with in Nicaragua was a child sponsorship program in a community called La Chureca. In my first week down here, still stunned by the move and drastic transition, I found myself walking through the dirt paths of this community. I remember thinking to myself, "How is this even possible? Do people really live like this? Am I going to wake up and realize that this hell-on-earth place was just part of my imagination?" No such luck. This place is actually very real.
La Chureca is a community located within the city dump. Where we in the States have regulation as to whom can enter, Nicaragua has none. Families have moved into the dump in order to make their houses out of trash and position themselves closer to the thing that most closely resembles a job: digging through freshly dumped trash in order to pull out the recycleable materials. Around 1500 people call this place home and most never see life outside of this community. Many organizations have begun work in this community and we now see functioning clinics, churches, schools, feeding programs, kids programs, etc. I have seen kids treated for severe cases of lead poisoning, parasites, respiratory illness (from the constantly burning trash), malnutrition and HIV. Despite the terrible conditions, the community is extremely close. They look out for each other, care for each other's kids, and provide a source of identity and support for these people. The clearest example of this to me was at a funeral. A year and a half ago, two kids were playing in the dump and started eating some rotten watermelon that was lying around. Well, the watermelon was covered with pesticides and the children (5 and 7) ended up dying. Never before have I seen an entire community come out in support of this family. In such tragic and horrible conditions, there still existed a ray of light. Now that you have the background on the community, I am going to attach a journal entry I made last Thursday while sitting in the dump clinic. We are looking into the possibility of conducting business education and micro-lending to some women in this community and, for some reason, I was struck with the desire to write out my thoughts during one of our initial meetings. I am just going to copy it below. In it, I found myself wrestling with some basic development issues. And I found myself, like I have every time before, without a clear answer. So, I was hoping to share these stream-of-conscious thoughts with you all and maybe get some feedback. Feel free to read it, think about it, question it, share it with others, or whatever you would like. I don't know if there is an answer, but my hope is that we might get clearer, or at the very least grow, in the pursuit of one. " I sit here in the corner of the back room of the city dump clinic. I've been here many times, held a variety of talks in this very room (medical education, child care classes, conflict resolution classes) but in the two years I have worked here I have never been here for this purpose: business. Business in the city dump, really? I take a back seat in these meetings because, for the benefit of the project, I should. I have simply worked here as an intermediary, using my long-term relationships and connections in the dump to provide opportunities to RPN to begin work (RPN is the organization through which Babcock students do business seminars, consulting, etc).I see Nicaraguans serving Nicaraguans, working to help their own people and own country. It is truly a beautiful sight. I look around this meeting room at the women I have come to know very well. Many of whom are part of the child sponsorship program with which I used to work. And this picture is this: 13 women working together to fill out their "solicitud", or business summary form. You see, each of these women either owns a small store in the dump, raises pigs, or has trash diggers working with them to make a living from recycleables. Each woman is helping the other through the process...how to describe the business, how much money they should ask for, how to fill out their ID number when most don't have a formal ID, birth certificate, or even know their actual birthdate. I see women filling out a formal business form, and official looking document that might just add some validity to their operations. I see excitement, albeit controlled excitement. It is like they are trying to make sense out of this. Like they can almost see an opportunity yet can't quite capture it. Like they might be part of something good, something bigger, yet they can't let themselves believe it. Here, before me, I see the country's poor. The bottom of the pyramid. They have had people come in here and try to help, had people make promises and leave with them unfulfilled. Will they buy into this again only to be let down? Can they make it? Can this be a step to building a successful business? Can they take out and repay a loan? All very good questions. So now to a bigger question. Micro lending in the city dump. Is it a good idea, is it responsible? Development theories land on both sides of this issue. Which side is right? Is there a right? Past efforts have been made to move people out of the dump. One effort gave them an actual housing complex in which to live. They were given a nice, liveable house outside of the trash. However, all this was done only to see them sell off everything in the house in order to move back into the dump. There were no jobs. They make their money working in the dump and outside of the dump they have no marketable skills, no jobs. Thus, the program failed. If anything, this shows that the issues are bigger. Psychological. Economical. Medical. Educational. Everything. So the question...Is putting money into the dump a good idea? Are we merely enabling individuals to stay living in the trash, with houses made of trash, breathing burning garbage all day and night? Are we actually doing more harm than good? Or, on the flipside, could we be breaking the cycle. Is the confidence and excitement of getting and repaying a loan going to motivate movement out of the dump? Does it need to? Or is the building of confidence among these women enough? If just one person realizes the possibilities their life can hold, is that enough to declare success? Is it acceptable to offer help, but on condition? Can we conditionally show them love; loving them so long as they adapt to what we view as good and healthy and move out of their community?" There are some big questions here; questions that span the various departments of study. Issues that require the coordination of all of them. While I can't answer all of these questions, I can say that, after my time in this community, I know that a broad, coordinated effort is necessary. Education, Health, Economic, Psychological, Spiritual. There is a place for it all. So, as we move forward, we do so slowly and responsibly. We work through existing relationships, make commitments that we know we can meet, and are now only focusing on educating these women in their current businesses. Roberto and Rosa (RPN) are an amazing couple with an amazing heart for their people. Roberto is naturally quiet although becomes super charismatic when speaking about business development to these women. Rosa is a sassy, quick-witted women with a heart and capacity to love the size of the country. They are both absolutely amazing people. And, together, they are breaking down walls, building relationships, and moving us forward in this project. I don't know where this will lead but I feel blessed to be a part of the process.
I have to start by being completely honest with you. This is my first time doing this, maybe my second time hearing the word "blog", and as I write this I still am not exactly sure what I am doing. However, I was asked to attempt this and so am giving it a go. Let's see....where to start. I guess I'll begin with how I ended up here and why you might be partially interested in what I have to say. Last year I was blessed with the opportunity to be a member of the founding team of the Nicaragua Project at Babcock. What started with five students, Christopher Burch, Megan Glaser, Ben King, Vera Cuevas, and myself, quickly grew into a project that reached MAs, First Years, Second Years, Evening Students, and Faculty. The project is now in its second year, with the amazing students who participated in last year's Spring Break trip leading the way and guiding the project forward. What started as a project with a foundation in social responsibility and international business, aimed at establishing a business arm to a vocational school, quickly grew into an entrepreneurial, consulting, and business seminar project that spanned the business school concentrations. What started as a project specific to Babcock has quickly grown into a project that will reach across the Wake Forest campus and into the various graduate and undergraduate schools. What started as an interesting idea and the passion of a few has quickly become a force of change. This summer, while on a scholarship from the Price Foundation, I had the opportunity to host Ajay and Aparna Patel and Tom and Karyn Dingledine. During this trip, I was able to show them the beautiful country of Nicaragua, introduce them to the organizations we work with, and allow them to meet the small business owners that attended our student's seminars. In these four days, after these visionaries were given first-hand experience with this project, the scope of what we were aiming to do exploded. It was here that the goal to reach the greater Wake Forest community was born. With Babcock leading the way, we hope to help Wake Forest differentiate itself on the unique learning opportunties, founded in social responsibility and an international application of classroom knowledge, it provides its students. After this summer we realized that in order to accomplish these goals we would need someone in Nicaragua, working on-site in order support Babcock students in this move forward. After much thought and prayer I decided to withdraw from medical school, take a year off from Babcock, and return here to help in these efforts. 
I am writing now from Nicaragua after having been here for one week. In this short amount of time I have already experienced things that are truly "Nica", and will share and explain those shortly. With this blog I was just looking for a little warm-up.....and to set the stage for the year and blogs to come. What is that I hear? Yep, it is a rooster crowing at 9:30 p.m. (by the way, the rumor that roosters crowe only at sun-up is completely false). Hasta pronto, Chris