World Venture Partners Overview
	Photos of the recent Nicaragua trip
	Peter Blomquist's trip report
	Observations of the Participants
	Steve Forman's Foundation News and Commentary article

Observations of the Participants

Steve Boyd, Principal, MacDonald Boyd and Associates

With the Miskito people, I observed that effective participatory development is much less a problem of technical transfer and primarily a challenge of social learning. At first glance, micro-credit programs serving the very poor appear to be primarily technical operations such as loan agreements, interest rates, collateral guarantees, marketing, etc. Looking closer, one discovers that the groups' social learning processes such as basic meeting skills, participatory problem-solving, community decision-making, systems for mutual accountability and structures for governance are, in fact, the keys to progress."

Kris Mayer, Program Officer, Stuart Foundation

I keep being confronted with my own privilege and thinking about what my presence represents to others. The ingenuity and strength of character I observed in people whose lives are challenging and simple was inspiring. Life in the third world is certainly less cluttered than my reality which is bombarded with energy crises, stock market declines and mega mergers things that are pretty far away from what is REALLY important.

When visiting Siskiyyari (8 hours up the river), I was humbled by the community meeting at the bank, how a loan of sometimes less than $100 could change a family's circumstances in such profound ways. Sometimes it was the difference between being able to have pots and pans and blankets. When a woman in a blue dress (a non-bank member) spoke up to say she was a hard worker and that she could see the way a loan was helping others, that she wanted to do it, too, I was compelled to think about how much courage she had, how observant she was. What it must feel like to want to improve your lot in life and need someone to make an investment in you...when, until Alistar started their work in village, there was no one to even notice.

Peter Blomquist Executive Director, Global Partnerships:

I was humbled when one family, who had lost everything during Hurricane Mitch, offered me a picture of their 15 year old daughter from their slim and tattered family album. It was an act of tremendous generosity to a stranger after a 30 minute visit. I reflected on how such a culture of hospitality has been largely lost in our fast-paced technological society.

In the Plaza de la Republica, the eternal flame to slain Sandanista Carlos Fonseca lives in stark contrast to the obelisk and cross raised in honor of the Pope's visit in 1996: a visual presentation of the intensity and polarity of Nicaraguan life over the last 25 years.

After half century of repression, revolution, and fragile democracy, Nicaragua still finds itself desperately poor. Writer, priest, and former Sandinista Minister of culture Ernesto Cardenal told us hope must be found in the next generation.

Stuart Rolfe: President, Wright Hotels:

One unexpected highlight of this trip was the positive interaction and the collective curiosity, sensitivity and wisdom of our group. I have rarely participated in group discussions where I learned so much and spoke so little. It occurred to me that the two were probably related!

Jim Losi, President, Community Investor Services, Charles Schwab:

I felt a sense of pride and honor to be accepted as we were by the Nicaraguan citizens that we met each day. I felt a sense of mutual respect and mutual learning. It was one of those types of experiences that nourishes the heart and spirit.

Roxanne Hood Lyons, Executive Director, Project LOOK:

The Rio Coco: Drawn to the river's edge by the haunting, mesmerizing chorus of spider monkeys. From the jungle canopy, music reverberates to honor the full moon.

Greg Tuke, Executive Director, Powerful Schools

I went hoping to learn more about the education of Nicaraguan children. I saw villages of very poor, yet seemingly well-cared for children with hopeful eyes. Yet only 5 % secure a 6th grade education. Like in the US, teachers are undervalued. Nicaraguan construction workers earn 4 times the salary of Nicaraguan teachers.

I expected to find deep division of simmering hatred between former Sandinista and Contra citizens, left over from 30,000 deaths and 10 years of civil war. Instead I found a truce of sorts among those I met. There was an understanding that given the circumstances, each person did what they thought was right. I saw Sandinista leaders who once represented the enemies that burned the Miskito Indian villages now working side by side, developing new agricultural methods along the Rio Coco.