Miscelaney

MANCHESTER COLLEGE MEDICAL PRACTICUM JANUARY 2001

We arrived home safely on January 23 after three weeks of new adventures. Our plane left Managua 30 minutes late and we set a record from debarking at Houston at the far end of the International Terminal, through immigration, baggage claim, customs, rechecking baggage and running to the far end of the departure concourse. As we were boarding, we overheard a desk attendant remarking that the flight from Managua had just arrived about twenty minutes ago with thirty passengers who were going to Indianapolis. We said "And we are here!" He looked rather astonished and said "Nobody ever gets through customs that fast!"

We arrived in Managua on January 3 with all 25 bags of medicines and an equal number of personal checked baggage. Every thing cleared customs smoothly with no bags being opened, thanks to the careful work of Aynn Setright and personnel of FUNDECI. Aynn again provided our orientation background to the current political and economic situation in the country.

After a quick visit to Casa Ben Linder we met with Benjamin Perez at Procuraduria Para La Defensa De Los Derechos Humanos (ombudsman for the defense of human rights). The meeting was very cordial and informal. Later his office issued an 18 page report denouncing the government for its attempts to deport Dorothy Granada without giving her the rights mandated by the Nicaraguan constitution.

Next we went to the office of Dra. Vilma Nunez, president of CENIDH, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights. The media had been invited so TV channels 2, 6, and 12 along with reporters of El Nuevo Diario and La Prensa, morning Managua papers, were present. We talked with Dra. Nunez about our past trips in which we had worked with Dorothy Granada for eight years and our disappointment that she had to be in hiding and that we could not work at the clinic because the government had closed it. She then opened the meeting for questions from the media which were directed to me because I had been on each previous trip and had organized them. The questions ranged from our opinions of the government's accusations that abortions had been carried out in the clinic, that the clinic served only Sandinistas, to one in which the reporter asked me if President Clinton was aware of this case and what he thought about it. I replied that I hadn't asked him. The session went on for quite awhile and was rather stressful but I had decided to speak only in English. I could understand most of the questions and during the translation I had more time to formulate an answer. I felt the whole session went well and by the time we returned to Casa San Juan, there were already clips being shown on the midday news. There were repeats on the evening and nightly news. In the afternoon we had the Managua tour. What a first day in Managua!

Friday morning, after reading the reports (with pictures of our group) in both newspapers, Aynn and 5 of us who had been to Nicaragua several times went to the U.S. Embassy and met with reps from AID, the diplomatic corps, and the consulate. To enter the embassy, you have to have an appointment. A large hydraulic barrier blocks the driveway and after the van was inspected, the barrier was lowered, we drove in and the barrier went back up. We surrendered our passports and cameras, had bags inspected (they kept my water bottle at the desk) and passed through a metal detector. In the meeting we were shown the fat folder of all the newspaper clippings related to Dorothy's case from the Managua papers. It already included those about us in the morning papers. The embassy at first tried to respond to letters and faxes from the US but gave up because of the volume and is now collecting them and turning them over to the Nicaraguan government to see the support for Dorothy in the US. They said it was important to keep the letters and faxes coming until the case is resolved.

Since the embassy had asked AID to investigate the charges about the clinic in MKK, we asked the rep from AID what had to be done to reopen the clinic. There is a document that states the new requirements. The main item is that the clinic must be overseen by a Nicaraguan doctor who spends some time in residence in MKK. The regulations apply to MINSA clinics also and many of them do not qualify, but they have been grandfathered in. The Maria Luisa Ortiz clinic in MKK has to meet the requirements. When we asked Noel and Grethel, they said they had seen nothing in writing. (We reported this to the embassy on our return to Managua and the embassy said they would get a copy to Aynn for Noel.) The rest of Friday we enjoyed a trip to the colonial city of Granada with a boat ride on Lake Nicaragua but we didn't see any fresh water sharks.

Saturday we loaded up the Mercedes Benz cattle truck. Yes, we went by truck again! with students sitting on top enjoying the ride and scenery. We arrived in Mulukuku by evening, stayed in the dormitory and ate supper in the comedor. The press was there, also, taking pictures and asking our feelings of being there but not able to work. The community had an emotional reception for us and it was an important moment of solidarity with them. A picture of Dorothy was posted on the bulletin board with the caption: "Feliz Navidad? Solo con la Dorotea en Mulukuku!"

Sunday morning we loaded up kitchen utensils, clinic equipment and medicines, and the health promoters, cooks, clothes washers, etc, (the whole crew who has worked with us in MKK) and left on the three hour trip to Siuna, then north another 45 minutes to the end of the road at the Wani River and the village of El Hormiguero where we lived and worked for two weeks. It is a tranquil village on a beautiful clean river where we bathed and had our clothes washed. The surprisingly nice school with tile floors consists of two buildings separated by a courtyard. We slept in three rooms on one side which also housed the pharmacy and dental area in the fourth room. The patient reception, vital signs, vaccinations, and consultations were in the other building. The kitchen and comedor were close by at a small nunnery complex. We took two generators from Mulukuku so Noel and Steve Rayner soon had lights in the kitchen and dining room as well as several rooms at the school and we could operate the centrifuge, autoclave, and recharge batteries for otoscopes. They also enclosed a temporary shower area for those who preferred dip baths or warm water from solar shower bags. Our group of 40+ shared two relatively new pit latrines behind the school. Of course patients also used them at times during the day. One night one of the students took a candle into the latrine. Just after she stood up a bat flew up from the pit and its wings blew out the flame as she stood petrified in the dark!

As the first foreign delegation to visit this pueblo, we were warmly welcomed during a community reception that included speeches by representatives of various co-ops, prayers and songs by members of the local Catholic church, (and we sang Amazing Grace for our participation). Monday morning we unpacked bags, set up the pharmacy, dental, and consult areas and began seeing patients after lunch. During our eight and one half days of consultations we saw 1,714 patients. There is little malaria and less malnutrition than in MKK. Many people had enough land for small gardens and fruit trees. By the end of the week patients were arriving who had walked twelve or more hours from the nearby mountains or came by bus from towns much farther toward the Caribbean coast. The staff of professionals and students worked well together and with the support provided by the MKK crew we were able to function efficiently under conditions much different from the clinic setting of MKK.

El Hormiguero is near the Bosawas rain forest preserve so on Saturday, January 13, we took an expedition into the woods. We drove to a trail entrance and hiked for at least 90 minutes up and down long steep inclines, across streams and in places on a very muddy slippery trail that challenged everyone's ability to stay upright. It was disappointing that much of the trail was through cleared areas of bean and corn fields, but we finally reached the forest and a shelter house by another river where we ate lunch (that our Nicaraguans friends had CARRIED over the same trail!) Some of us rested and others hiked a bit farther to a waterfalls. It seemed so peaceful but we knew that not many years before there was the terror of the Contras who roamed this area. It began raining before we started the return hike so the trails were even more treacherous but we made better time because nobody cared anymore if they fell in the mud one more time or got wet feet wading through streams rather than trying to jump from rock to rock (and falling in anyway).

Sunday, some of us visited an experimental agricultural station at the edge of El Hormiguero. They had solar panels and a windmill for generating electricity. A variety of trees and plants are being tested. Artificial insemination of cattle produces mixtures of Brahman and Holstein for good milk and meat production. And youth attend school to receive education and technical training, then return to their home villages to teach others. We were inspired to see visionaries working with the next generation for a better Nicaragua.

The second week we worked through Thursday, packed up on Friday morning and headed back to MKK. El Hormiguero hosted us again with a final reception on Thursday evening with more speeches, singing (this time we sang Swing Low, Sweet Chariot), prayers, thank you's, skits and dances by school children. Traditional societies really know how to express welcome and thanks to visitors. We can learn much from them.

At supper in MKK Gerry Hadden from NPR joined us and stayed in the dorm that night. He had just come from El Salvador reporting on the devastating earthquake. In Managua he had interviewed Daniel Ortega and Dorothy Granada who told him we would be in MKK so he came out to visit the clinic, interview women with cancer who were being denied treatment by the clinic's closing, and talk with Grethel. (His 5 ˝ min report aired on the morning report on Tuesday January 23 and you can listen to it by going to www.npr.org and typing in Gerry Hadden in the search blank, then scan his reports for the one about nurse deportation). Many are asking if we felt the earthquake. It occurred while we were hiking and we didn't. But it was felt in Managua. Aynn was at CSJ giving orientation to another delegation and had just finished remarking about the unstable situation in Nicaragua when the whole building began rocking and they all ran for the open courtyard. We saw no evidence of damage to the Casa San Juan.

Saturday we returned to Managua. After supper Dorothy Granada came to Casa San Juan to meet the delegation and she stayed two nights with us. (She had information that the police were not actively searching for her at that time, but on Monday she went back into seclusion at a different location.) What a great surprise! Finally all the students and staff new to Nicaragua could associate a face with the name, Dorothy. She was of course interested in our work and the students reaction to Nicaragua, the campo and their work with the campesinos. Then she gave an inspiring talk about her 10 years of work, the current problems and urged us all to consider our lives and lifestyles and begin the process of changes needed for ourselves and our country to create a more just world. Saturday ended by dancing at a disco for those who still had energy left.

Sunday we headed to Masaya to visit the Masaya National Volcanic Park. (Some of you may not know that the last Somoza occasionally dropped political prisoners from a helicopter into the then active crater). Then on to the central market for our part to help the Nicaraguan economy. Lunch was several kilometers outside of the city in a restaurant at a mirador (lookout point) with a view directly below of a crater lake, Granada and Lake Nicaragua in the distance to the east and the inactive volcano, Mombacho to the southeast. Another first for everyone. Sunday evening some attended mass at Batahola Norte where a visiting group from Europe performed on recorders. Dinner at El Eskimo, a very clean, air-conditioned upper class restaurant with wonderful desserts ended a very full day.

Monday our group of five headed back to the Embassy to report on our trip and get updates on their perspective of Dorothy's situation. Then we all headed for Pochimil and spent a relaxing final day on the beautiful Pacific beach but also got a workout playing in the breakers as they rolled in from the Philippines.


Ed Miller
27 January 2001

DECLARES:

That Mr. José Marenco Cardenal, Minister of Government, has violated the Human Rights of Ms. DOROTHY VIRGINIA GRANADA, with respect to her right to live without violence, her right to self-defense, her presumption of innocence until proven guilty, her right to be heard, her right to be informed of any accusation against her, her right to equality before the law and her right to individual freedom, which also implies the violation of her right to DUE PROCESS, to which any person residing in this country is entitled. The following recommendations are made, on the basis of the rights defined in Law 212 and specified in Articles 18 through 23, and in Article 41:

I. That Mr. José Marenco Cardenal, Minister of Government, should modify Ministerial Resolution 69-2000 to correct any immediate and future violations of the Human Rights of Ms. DOROTHY VIRGINIA GRANADA, and reinstate all such rights.

II. That any investigation of evidence presuming Ms. DOROTHY VIRGINIA GRANADA's commission of crimes of a public nature, as specified in our penal legislation, falls under the jurisdiction of the Judicial Powers, the Public Ministry and the National Police, respectively, according to the faculties assigned by law to each of these institutions. Any such investigation must respect all guarantees of due process as established in the Constitution of Nicaragua, as well as any International Laws Protecting Human Rights and the other Laws of the Republic of Nicaragua.

III. That Mr. José Marenco Cardenal, Minister of Government must report in writing to this Ombudsman's Office on Human Rights and specify the measures that will be adopted to reinstate any of Ms. DOROTHY VIRGINIA GRANADA's rights that have been violated, within five days of this Resolution's date of notification.

All interested parties will be notified of the present resolution, and will duly follow its recommendations.

BENJAMIN PEREZ FONSECA
OMBUDSMAN for the Office on Human Rights

Tuesday, January 16, 2001

Dear Friends and Supporters of Dorothy,

 The attached is a message I received today from friends who are working in Nicaragua: Sandy Price, Rebecca Trujillo and Maureen Brogan, all Sisters of Notre Dame of Namur. I am sure that we will be hearing more from our Santa Cruz area support group, but this start of good news is something to pass on. Let's keep our FAXes and letters flowing.

Ann Veronica

===============================================

Dear Family, Sisters and Friends,

 Today has been a day of joy and sorrow, rejoicing for the declaration of the Commission for Human Rights on the case of Dorothy Granada and great sorrow for the death and destruction in El Salvador. The earthquake did not affect Nicaragua although there were over 84 tremors in the area of the capital, Managua, on Sunday. Our e mail went out because of the quake on Saturday. People are a bit nervous, especially if they lived through the big quake in 1972.

When we came home from Managua and the meeting on Dorothy we heard the announcements of aid collection in the Matagalpa Dioceses for El Salvador. In Managua they were collecting black plastic to send. We are sure that you have also heard of collections in your countries. Sandy tried to reach Sister Rosa Lillian in San Salvador, who some in California may remember spent several months with us in California in 1980. No calls are getting through yet. We assume and pray that she and the Sisters in the capital are all right as the area where they live was not mentioned as one of the more damaged areas.

The three of us, Rebecca, Sandy and Maureen Brogan from Ohio, were invited to be part of the delegation today to receive the Government Human Rights report on the investigations of the activities of Dorothy Granada and the Women's Cooperative in Mulukukú. It is the first step and first victory in the process to resolve the conflict and restore the clinic and programs.

The conclusions are that there have been multiple violations of Dorothy's human rights. In the document the Attorney General's Office for Human Rights states that the Minister of Interior has violated Dorothy's rights to live without violence, her right to be informed of accusations against her and her right to be heard and defend herself against such accusations before being judged and sentenced.

The report criticizes the Minister of Interior for placing a paid announcement in the newspapers accusing Dorothy of crimes that have not been proven. It notes that Dorothy was not informed nor have competent authorities examined the evidence or pronounced on the accusations, thus violating her right to honor and good reputation.

The report states that she was denied equal rights before the law and the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty. The constitution of Nicaragua states that Foreign Residents in Nicaragua have the same rights to equality and justice as Nicaraguans.

It was especially good to hear in the report reference to the specific rights of women. The report mentions article from: The Interamerican Conventions to Prevent, Sanction and Eradicate Violence against Women, The Declaration of Vienna and the IV World Conference on Women in Bejing, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Declaration of the Americas on the Rights and Duties of Peoples.

The attorney notes that violence against women includes threats, coercion, the denial of freedom both in public and private life. The resolution gives the Minister of the Interior five days to modify his resolution and restore the rights which have been denied to Dorothy.

This is just the beginning of solving the situation. First because the Office of Human Rights cannot enforce any recommendation. It is only a consultative office to the government. Secondly, the next step is that the case goes to the courts and the legal process begins to prove Dorothy's guilt or innocence of the crimes brought against her.

It is not going to be easy as Ministers and the President of Nicaragua are involved. One of the latest accusations has come from the Ministry of Natural Resources accusing Dorothy and the women of deforesting Nicaragua because the women have a carpentry shop in Mulukukú where they make furniture which is sold in the area!

There are now five ministries of government against Dorothy and the women: Ministry of Health, National Police, Immigration, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Natural Resources. It is incredible that such violence could be unleashed against women who are only working for good. This case has been brought specifically against Dorothy but the women of the cooperative are the real target. One of the lawyers of the human rights commission explained to us that they have to do a separate pronouncement on the Cooperative.

Your letters to the government and human rights groups are very helpful. The declaration of the National Council of Churches and Maryknoll which was published Sunday in the papers has been the most important declaration in support of Dorothy. Now we are waiting for reactions to the report especially important is the US Government reaction. Keep everyone in your prayers and the candles lit until justice is done and women are vindicated! All of us are part of this struggle for justice.

27 December 2000

Dear Friends,

          Having been working at the clinic in Mulukuku with Dorothy since last April, I want to express a few thoughts about the present situation.
          The word the present moment is "solidarity," and all of us are certainly one with Dorothy and doing everything we can for her. She is also aware of our support - letters, donations, faxes, e-mail, contacting people, giving testimony on her behalf - witnessing to her humanitarian work, communicating with and supporting one another, rallying our community of solidarity - we are certainly alert and ready to work through to a resolution of this situation. This is the least we can do for her and the people of Mulukuku. But there is more we can do.
          When one is present here, it is so evident that Dorothy has preserved the focus of service to others and the love expressed by that service. That service has been silenced. The clinic itself, the consulting rooms, the patients waiting, the treatment room, the pharmacy, the laboratory, the ranchito, the reception room, the dormitories, the bodegas, the kitchen, the latrines, the showers, the staff - open to all, ready to serve all - all that Dorothy has established over the past twelve years - all has been silenced.
          What hasn't been silenced is the cry of the people for the justice of health care for themselves and their families. The people suffer. Therefore, Dorothy suffers. We identify with them in their heartbreak.
          All of us have been drawn to Nicaragua by Dorothy's example. We have used our time, energy, and resources, our money, equipment, medicine, expertise, and joined with an expert local staff, trained and directed by a strong-willed, expert nurse, with a Christian heart of love. We came to Nicaragua alone or in medical and dental delegations, embracing that humanitarian service of love. We have become one with Dorothy's vision of service. Her service to the people of Nicaragua has become our work also. This is her gift to us.
          All this has been silenced by the actions of the government of Arnoldo Aleman.
          The people are the ones "who pay the cost of the rage of Arnoldo Aleman: the poor, who have no other way out for the health of their families and communities" (quoting the open letter from the women of Mulukuku to the Minister of Health). In addition to the energy we use in acting in solidarity with the poor and with Dorothy, we have to shift into high gear and bring our spiritual forces in unison with our material efforts. The sacrifice of our time and energy, our continual supplications to the Lord for the people, for Dorothy, and for ourselves, the effort to keep focused on the task at hand for the long run, our ability to be flexible and respond with energy to any new challenges that arise - this sacrifice, all this spiritual energy will help bring back the service to the people, the service now silenced.
          DOROTHY HAS NOT BEEN SILENCED, WE HAVE NOT BEEN SILENCED, Nicaraguense y Extranjeros, juntos - With Dorothy, we will see that the people are served!

Joseph Franklin, Managua

December 22, 2000

From a friend who got it from Today's One World, a lead story leads to the MADRE website with the following:

MADRE Speaks Out Against Nurse's Deportation From Nicaragua

In December 2000, MADRE issued the following letter to the US State Department, protesting the Nicaraguan government's intent to deport Dorothy Granada, a nurse and long-time health advocate of poor women and families.

December 22, 2000

Dear U.S. Ambassador Oliver Garza,

We at MADRE, an international women's human rights organization, are writing to express our grave concern about the pending deportation of Dorothy Granada from Nicaragua. Granada is a nurse and U.S. citizen who has lived in Nicaragua for 11 years, providing critical health care to women in a rural health clinic - the Maria Luisa Ortiz Women's Cooperative Clinic - in Mulukuku, northeast of Managua.

At the end of November, she was threatened by President Arnoldo Alemán with deportation after he falsely accused her and the clinic which she founded of treating leftist rebels. The Alemán government has since revoked Granada's residency status, issued a warrant for her arrest and threatened the closure of the clinic. In fear of these terms against her, the 70-year old Granada is currently in hiding.

In a country where health care is so scarce and desperately needed, it seems inhumane to expel one of the few individuals who has selflessly and impartially devoted her life to helping an extremely under-served community. We have worked with rural communities in Nicaragua since 1983 and have first-hand knowledge of the critical lack of services available to rural Nicaraguans. Clinics like Granada's often carry the heavy responsibility of being the sole service-providers in their region. Closing Mulukuku's only medical facility and deporting Granada would effectively deny 30,000 Nicaraguans the basic human right to health care.

If the Nicaraguan government was concerned about violations, why not go after the lumber companies that are illegally destroying forests on Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast and dumping pollutants into the water? These companies are denying local communities access to their staple diet of fish and clean water, thereby raising rates of malnutrition and intestinal diseases. Yet the government has chosen to ignore their wrongdoings. Instead, President Alemán is targeting a 70-year old nurse who is committed to improving the health of the very communities that have been devastated by his neoliberal polices. That seems to us very cruel.

Dorothy Granada is in no way partisan to Sandinista patients in her medical practice. Various investigations have confirmed this. Five former members of the anti-Sandinista "contra" army even testified before Nicaragua's National Assembly in support of Granada, praising her and the clinic for having saved their lives. Granada is not a criminal nor a threat to Nicaragua; her sole focus over the past 11 years has been to selflessly provide health care to this impoverished rural community.

We urge you to take a stand against the Alemán government's threatened deportation of Dorothy Granada. Please express your concern to the US embassy for the inhumanity of this action. Rather than being expelled from the country, Granada's expertise should be used by the government to aid them in improving health for the country.

Sincerely,

Vivian Stromberg,
Executive Director,



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