At last year’s distribution, people got so riled up about who was and wasn’t getting sponsorships that the police were called in.  I wasn’t there for this particular visit, and I sort of feel guilty for missing out.  Josh and Betty had gone to some lengths to figure out what kids were already receiving sponsorships from other organizations.  This meant that our list of 70 something kids to receive sponsorships was much more accurate with respect to the need, but certain parents hoping for a double-dip sponsorship didn’t care.  Our conscience was clean, but a few local ladies were mad so mad that the police were needed to calm things down. The cops sporting a motorcycle and an AK-47 hung out until we left and asked Josh to give them a call whenever we wanted to come back.  That’s not really necessary, but we appreciated the gesture more so than the typical bribe, which characterizes our normal dealings with transit cops.

I tell this story because serious needs like this are the reason for our fundraising efforts.  See the details for our next event, and we sure hope you can come.

Our upcoming fundraiser is all about helping these kids.  It’s a benefit show slated for February 4th @ 9:30.  I know a lot of this readership is not up for a late night at a Downtown Raleigh bar, but that doesn’t mean you can’t contribute.  If you would like to give $25, $50, or $100 to sponsor a kid or two or four, please visit our DONATE PAGE, where you can easily make a donation online. If you prefer to mail a check, our mailing address can be found below.  We also welcome your thoughts and prayers as we maneuver amongst the rowdy ladies of La Limonal.   Thanks for reading!

MAILING ADDRESS:

SuNica
Attn: Alan Wilser
104 Misty Ct.
Cary, NC 27513

Water Delivery

A small SuNica team just returned from Nicaragua last week with plans to begin the process of implementing the Troylo Well Project. The trip was a dandy indeed. My biggest fear for the Troylo Project was that for some reason, our local drilling partner, Amigos for Christ (AFC) would become unavailable to do the project. We were excited to find them just as excited to help as they were when we first began talking about this almost a year and half ago.

We were excited to learn that AFC had already been working alongside local governments in order to perform the projects in cooperation with each other and most importantly, to be able to leave the project in the hands of it’s people. My hope was that we could actually submit the project to a local mayor’s office or the national water institution ENECAL, but neither of those things are even possibilities. The best option will be the community’s local water committee.

There is always the chance that something could go wrong politically, and we as well as other non-profits such as AFC would have to leave the country.   If this ever happened, it would be a travesty if there was no system in place for the system to be well taken care of. For this reason, the most important and the trickiest part of this project will surely be the social aspect.

In order to prepare Troylo’s local water committee to take care of system such as this one, we would need someone on the ground constantly moving, constantly talking, and constantly forcing conversations to happen. This would be best to come from within. AFC insists that SuNica needs to handle this part. We need a man on the ground, and he should be a Nica.