An open letter from Compas de Nicaragua
NSCAG News |
on: Saturday, 4 September 2021
The following is an open letter from Ana Narvaez, Director of Compas de Nicaragua
Dear xxx
It is a pleasure to greet you from Nicaragua. I am writing to you with my concerns about further economic sanctions that the US and UK are planning for Nicaragua through the RENACER ACT. I am concerned because these sanctions will affect those in most need and will hamper not only our work at Compas de Nicaragua, but also affect the many social programs that are being offered by the government. [Here is a list of the many accomplishments of the current Nicaragua government]
When I was 14, I had an opportunity to volunteer with a woman’s nonprofit organization in my neighborhood in order to work with youth. At the time, I was struggling to get through high school because there were user fees and monthly fees that we had to pay and my parents also struggled to afford the school supplies. So, I was excited at the opportunity to volunteer with this women’s group because I knew what it was like to grow up in poverty and wanted to help youth in my community.
I remember that I couldn’t afford to attend my 6th grade or 12 grade graduations. We had to carry our own chairs from home to the school because there were not enough seats. My mother had to sew our notebooks together and we had to take our books in a rice sack to school because we couldn’t afford a book bag. I was in secondary school toward the beginning of the 16 years of neoliberal governments when there were few social programs to support the poor, and when you had to pay to go to the doctor and for access to health care and there were user fees for public education. I had dreams of going on to college, but my parents couldn’t afford to do so and there we few scholarship opportunities.
Read the full letter here
