Siuna

Communication in Nicaragua is not always easy. In many remote areas of the country, there is no phone service, no cell reception, no internet, no television, no newspapers or even a convenient road for transport. Yet the local communities have found means to connect. In the Siuna region, radio is their link to the broader world.

Farm families that live hours outside the “big town” of Siuna, all have transistor radios that are on 24 hours a day. The farmers go out to their fields every day with the radios slung over their shoulders and placed near by as they work the land. The local university, URRICAN, transmits radio programming from a small building on campus that was built by Bridges’ volunteers a decade ago. Local meetings, happenings in various communities, and opportunities for people to talk to one another are all part of this essential daily information sharing.

For the past few months Nicaragua has been hit hard by torrential rains.  Most recently Tropical Storm Matthew hit Nicaragua forcing over 10,000 people to evacuate their homes and communities. The majority of the affected people are from the North Atlantic Autonomous Region, the “poorest” region of Nicaragua (where our Siuna site is located).   Yet, even in more urban communities including Masaya and Guanacastillo, families have had their homes flooded. read more

An anonymous donor has given $25,000 to Bridges in memory of Douglas Wardle, a student at St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Virginia, for the purpose of building a solar-powered water project to a rural community in Nicaragua. The venture will make potable water accessible for over 300 individuals in the remote area of Siuna. The gift was made in part to recognize Douglas Wardle’s commitment to the people of Nicaragua and his love for the country where he was volunteering when he died from a sudden, unexpected brain aneurysm in 2007 while on his second Bridges’ trip. read more

During his tour of Nicaragua, Kevin and I paid a visit to our Siuna site. We went out to the community of Santa Rosa where Bridges has worked for 5 years in agricultural, health, education and housing projects. To get to this community you have to walk 20 minutes and then cross a river in a dug out canoe (one of the groups' favorite activities). After arriving at the banks of the Wani River we yelled "wooooh"- the standard signal that one has arrived at the river and the needs a lift to the other side.