A letter from Carlos Cardenas Martinez in Nicaragua
Late Fall 2013
Testimony of a companionship model for development with justice, tolerance and love in the service of the most excluded.
The Lord will keep you from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord will keep thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and forever (Psalm 121:7, 8).
Brothers and Sisters,
I greet each of you with gratitude while sharing this humble testimony of faith in our ecumenical practice of life at the Nicaraguan Council of Churches (CEPAD). I want to thank God for the provision of blessings through your congregations and presbyteries, which enable us to share with our brothers and sisters in need in this country.
I have long wanted to write a synopsis of what our mission work addresses in CEPAD. Let me describe briefly my impressions of some of the actors and actions that give content to the tasks and challenges that involve working for development in an organization guided by faith such as CEPAD.
Daily in CEPAD we can see brothers and sisters completely dedicated to fieldwork in programs and projects in communities, while others are engaged in the training of small producers, weaving community networks for food security. Personally I admire the methodology implemented by CEPAD during the last three decades resulting in the formation of the Communitarian Agricultural Promoters or PAC. Everything starts by signing a two-way contract between CEPAD and a communitarian committee for a five-year accompaniment. Experience has shown to CEPAD that this period is enough to lay foundations of sustainable self-development of small agricultural holdings.
If my data doesn't betray me, in the last three years CEPAD has formed more than 2,500 PACs accompanying hundreds of communities to cover over 1,500 hectares of crops, which may represent several thousands of metric tons of food per year.
The amazing fact is the model of multiplication of scarce resources in a chain of solidarity in which each user of received credit assumes the setup of a new group of small entrepreneurs, generating what is called the "passing-in chain." In one of my visits to these communities in the dry zone of Nicaragua after the tropical storm Twelve-E some neighbors of the Village El Obraje explained to our group that the “passing-in chain” is a practice and a commitment of credit users of CEPAD. It looks like the reproduction of a credit with new groups of beneficiaries who receive the same amount of credit as the first users, but in kind. So if I got a credit from CEPAD to buy a pig or a cow I assume the commitment to ensure that another new family will receive a pig or a calf from my small holding. At the same time this individual will do the same, signing a contract with others in need of such a credit.
Personally I believe that the secret of this methodology, let's call it "sustainability of actions," lies in the formation of human resources at ground level applying adult learning principles, which in turn is the multiplier factor for other beginners, who find the hopeful side of this model. Actually, CEPAD is working with groups of small plantain farmers in Nueva Guinea, in the South Atlantic region of Nicaragua, as it has been informed they are applying this methodology among credit users. An added value would be the facilities for trading based on the value chain approach.
In CEPAD we recognize the job of Trinidad Vasquez, CEPAD's radio journalist and communications manager, who bravely usually expresses what in his point of view is driving public opinion. Reflecting on this, CEPAD veterans feel that the organization has learned tolerance and is thereby empowering democracy in staff participation. I would not want to sin by omission leaving aside the contribution of women—on the radio, on the field, in the office, and also at home—who work in this lively and fruitful vine of the Lord.
But not all is work at CEPAD. Each Monday the central office hosts a devotional with a broad agenda that goes beyond the worship of the Lord. We use this time to express gratitude for the life and achievements every day of the institution, individuals and families of CEPAD. During this celebration we might share an analysis of the national context. Or we recall historical dates that mark our national identity. We recall the heroic deeds of the popular revolution, and the historical events in which CEPAD made outstanding contributions to development, peace and reconciliation in the country.
Every month we celebrate the birthdays of sisters and brothers and also meet for joyful and cultural expressions of our artistic talents. The delicious breakfasts "de traje" are inevitable. De traje in Spanish means "wearing a suit," and traje also means I brought something, That implies that each brings some favorite food to share in this highly anticipated event.
But what really catches my attention is the fact that during those meetings, when interpreting the most controversial events of political, economic and social life of the country, participants often say or add comments not necessarily in line with the official CEPAD point of view, thus generating a dialectic discussion that takes us along paths for practicing tolerance of participants’ different approaches. Anyone would say that this was always so in CEPAD. However, there is evidence indicating that in the past it was unthinkable to achieve such levels of tolerance and respect for one another in this setting.
I think that every Monday we have come to celebrate together an interreligious, ecumenical per se worship involving evangelical Christians and Catholics and others without any distinction whatsoever.
Among the personalities of the institutional life of CEPAD that I admire, Professor Aguirre, a literacy father and prophet who has traveled the world, tops the list. He illuminates us on issues of modern, contemporary history of Nicaragua and universal issues as well. Also the wisdom and inspiration of brothers Evenor Jerez and Carlos Silva interpreting biblical passages inspires us.
I would like to have more space and time to write in detail about how this model has reaped many blessings in the companionship of CEPAD-PC(USA) in these last few years. However, to be realistic I must leave this for a future letter in which I can share best impressions, the joys, and the occasional sadness that we have lived in this experience.
Brothers and sisters, your prayers for the work and good results are as important to us as well as your contributions that make possible the success of this fellowship in Nicaragua.
May the Lord bless you greatly!
Carlos Cardenas M
PCUSA Mission Co-Worker with CEPAD
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA)
(505) 88834753
pda.nic@gmail.com
www.pcusa.org/pda
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 44
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