Little by little. This is the attitude you must have at all times when working in the vast world of community development in Latin America. I have learned that nothing should be taken for granted, for change happens slowly. And when it does happen, even if just a tiny bit, it should be celebrated.
The town in which I am working has a considerable reputation for folks who take advantage of any opportunity and/or often seek solutions in which they somehow personally benefit. I suppose Camoapa, Nicaragua could be a notable example of the typical small scale corruption that exists all over the world but that is more frequently (and regrettably) attributed to Latin American politics. Of course I was not privy to this information right off the bat. It was something I had to figure out after weeks of offering ideas that I thought were great, but others seemed to dismiss as almost certainly useless. As a new program assistant looking to develop inroads into the larger donor circles of wealthier countries and/or foundations, I was imagining ways in which we could build capacity. As a program that serves only 22 children in a town of over 20,000, we are not exactly the perfect candidate for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, if you know what I mean. So off I went, spouting ideas that even to me, at times, seemed completely out of reach.
But something great has happened: nothing that I can take personal credit for, but something I was glad to be a part of. In order to build momentum for supporting the children and adolescents of Camoapa (many of whom have seriously been “left behind”), we at Hogar Luceros del Amanecer held a meeting and invited representatives from all the other children’s programs in town to help organize a Community Alliance. We invited the Vice-Mayor, whose primary function it is to serve the children. Knowing that he isn’t given too many responsibilities, or any really (he’s of a different political party than the Mayor), it was quite a disappointing blow when he informed us only minutes before the meeting that he would not be coming. But what initially seemed to be nothing but a letdown, turned out to be exactly what was needed to incite the community into action. How dare he not show up!? they screamed. So we stormed the castle. Community members wrote a letter to the Mayor, demanding his support. He called a meeting with his Vice-Mayor and his council members and anyone who was anyone was there, representing, including the local radio station and TV channels. A Youth Commission was reinstated, with three representatives from Hogar elected to the board. The first official and noticeably upbeat meeting was held on Monday and plans were made to hold regular weekly meetings of the same sort.
The community got its day in court! And this must be what it means to be a community organizer in Latin America. Poco a poco…
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