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Madison group distributes seed to Nicaragua farmers
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By CHUCK CLEMENT, Staff Reporter
| 04/25/2008 |
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Madison residents representing St. John Lutheran Church visited northwestern Nicaragua earlier this month to assist farmers who fell victim to a 2007 flood.
Scott Parsley of Madison traveled to Central America with the group that observed the distribution of about 500 pounds of rice and bean seed. The seed will help farmers from the town of El Bonete get back on their feet after their fields were ruined last September by flooding caused by Hurricane Felix.
"Aid went to Nicaraguans hurt by the hurricane, but these people didn't have much hurricane damage," Parsley said. "The rainfall from the storm flooded their fields and ruined their crops. We provided some food and some seed for when they plant in May."
The Madison group -- consisting of Parsley, Lynn Graves, Ed Hansen, Jane Schubert, and Barry and Gayle Cole -- left on April 4 for an eight-day Central American trip.
According to Parsley, El Bonete has about 1,800 residents who are mostly employed as farm laborers. The local diet mainly consists of rice, beans and corn tortillas. Parsley said El Bonete is located "off the beaten path" with the last leg of the trip to the town consisting of 3 or 4 miles of rocky roads.
Under the Sandinista government, a land-reform measure gave cropland to farm cooperatives, but not to individuals. The Nicaraguan government once provided technical and financial support for development, but the current government ended those programs for cooperatives. As a result, small Nicaraguan farmers have difficulties in obtaining any financing.
El Bonete residents operate their community as a cooperative and produce crops, clay pottery and clay jewelry. The Madison group brought some of the El Bonete jewelry back to South Dakota and sold it at St. John Church to raise money for the villagers.
Hurricane Felix made landfall on the eastern coast of Central America on Sept. 4, 2007, just south of the border between Honduras and Nicaragua. The hurricane was blamed for 130 deaths in Nicaragua out of 133 total deaths. Official reports announced that 40,000 people were affected by the storm and 9,000 homes were destroyed.
The hurricane created inland flooding in northwestern Nicaragua that caused about $3.6 million in crop damage. The total amount of damage attributed to Felix was estimated at $46.7 million.
According to Parsley, the ELCA South Dakota Synod and the Nicaraguan Lutheran Church started a companion relationship in 2002. Officials from both branches of the Lutheran church work together on projects that South Dakotans would consider rural development programs.
As an example, a new medical clinic was constructed in the nearby town of Chinandega and church representatives from both nations discussed raising funds to hire medical personnel to staff it. Additional packages of seed were delivered to the capital of Managua for distribution to local farmers.
The ELCA Global Mission reported that the Nicaraguan Lutheran Church became a full member of the Lutheran World Federation in 1994. The church has grown from four communities in 1991 to 24 communities at this time. The majority of its members are peasants and small farmers in rural areas and poor individuals in Managua's suburbs.
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