NSCAG MARCH UPDATE
Nicaragua Language Teachers’ Exchange – still time to apply!
The National Education Union (NEU) is offering a unique opportunity to NEU members who are experts in the teaching of Spanish to primary or secondary school pupils. This is a partnership project between the NEU, Nicaraguan teachers’ union ANDEN and NSCAG and is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share teaching skills, show solidarity with teachers in Nicaragua and to see and experience the country, visit its schools and meet its people. For further information and to apply please see here
Webinar Recording – The Evolution of Education in Nicaragua
This webinar, hosted by our international partners, the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition, took place on 25 February. A link to the recording is here
Women’s Empowerment
‘We won’t go back into our cages, now we have voices, now we have faces, we are visible’ – Rosibel Ramos, Las Diosas Rural Women’s Cooperative – read article here
Forthcoming webinar – Brave Women, Strong Women: Power & Protagonism in Nicaragua
Hosted by the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition, this webinar takes place on Sunday 24 March at 7pm UK time. The webinar will feature a 90-minute report back from a January 2024 delegation to Nicaragua which explored Nicaraguan women’s roles and experiences as active protagonists in their society. Link to register is here
Climate Justice
‘The climate crisis has many dimensions: social, political, economic, environmental, moral, ethical, and ideological. The way out of the crisis must address the root cause: the endless, limitless, mindless accumulation and concentration of capital on a planet with finite resources.’ Valdrak Jaentschke, head of the Nicaragua delegation to COP28. Climate justice means holistic transformation, not tinkering around the edges – read article here
International Court of Justice (ICJ)
A reconfiguration of global power is playing out as rage escalates internationally at the refusal of the US, UK and other allies to call for an immediate cease fire in Gaza and to take concrete action to ensure it is implemented by Israel. But what is likely to happen if Israel and the US continue to refuse to accept and block the ruling of the ICJ. Will the ruling meet the same fate as that of the ICJ ruling on Nicaragua vs USA of 1986? Or will the reconfiguration of global power since the 1980s assert its influence to ensure a different outcome? Read article here
Palestine
On Feb. 24, Roberto Morales Hernandez presented to Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine, his credentials as Nicaragua’s new ambassador. Morales conveyed the fraternal greetings of President Daniel Ortega, Vice President Rosario Murillo, and all the Nicaraguan people. He also expressed the desire of President Ortega to continue strengthening relations of friendship and cooperation between the two nations. For his part, Abbas expressed his great affection and admiration for the Nicaraguan people and highlighted the decades of friendship with Nicaragua and especially its support for the Palestinian cause. He also urged the continuation of work to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and to achieve the recognition of the State of Palestine as a sovereign state.
Native Languages are Part of National Pride
“They are native languages, true languages of great value.” This is how Johnny Hodgson, political secretary of the FSLN in the South Caribbean Autonomous Region, refers to the diversity of languages in the area, which were called dialects to belittle them during the Somoza dictatorship and neoliberal governments. Hodgson stated that, with the FSLN, development with identity is being achieved on the Caribbean Coast since the native languages and the diverse cultural expressions are now promoted. Interculturalism and multilingualism are immersed in social, cultural and religious activity. The coastal leader said that they work with the premise that there is no superior culture, rather it is a national culture enriched by the Mestizo, Creole, Garifuna, Misquito, Ulwa and Rama peoples and their customs. Hodgson stated that Indigenous, Afro-descendant and Mestizo peoples work in the construction of a unity in diversity, preserving their identity. “Intercultural bilingual education is strengthened in schools, so that children who speak Miskito in their community, at home, can go to school and find a teacher who speaks the language they speak,” said Hodgson.
Campaign Launched to Encourage Reading
On Feb. 26 the Ministry of Education launched the National Library Plan. This project includes various strategies, such as the formation of book clubs and the promotion of digital platforms among students, in order to encourage the habit of reading. The Minister of Education, Mendy Araúz, explained that the main objective of the National Library Plan is to instil a culture of reading not only among teachers and students in schools, but also among families and communities that have municipal libraries. The initiative seeks to create a dynamic and natural environment in order to develop creativity, critical thinking and neurolinguistics in users.
Speakers Just a reminder that we are happy to provide speakers for regional/branch meetings (online or in person). Just email me on nscag@nicaraguasc.org.uk if you would like a speaker for one of your meetings.
In solidarity
Louise
Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group www.nscag.org
Twitter: @NSCAG_UK