By Marcel Osorto

[This article was published on the web page of the Honduran newspaper El Heraldo on June 1, 2023. It was translated by Katherine Hoyt.]

-Good morning, children!

-Good morning, Mr. Director.

-This day we have a special visitor from our sister country of Honduras, so I ask you to give him a round of applause.

-Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!

-He has a question for you, answer him truthfully.

-Good morning, children, which of you are Hondurans?

The classroom fell silent, the little ones began to look at each other with knowing smiles, while others ducked their faces between the desks a little embarrassed.

In the background a small hand was raised.

-One hand is up,” said the school director [principal].

Then another hand in the front, two more on the sides, one who was reported by his classmates until there were eight or nine Honduran children in the second-grade classroom with their hands raised.

The Investigative Unit of El Heraldo Plus had toured the basin of the Coco River – the largest in Central America – on the border between Honduras and Nicaragua, where it became evident that dozens of Honduran children who live along the river are being educated by the neighboring country in the absence of attention from the Honduran government.

Surprise visit

The journalists found the second-grade students of the San Andrés de Wiwilí de Jinotega school in the Coco River basin, on the Nicaraguan side, practicing a song for Mother’s Day.

The voices of the children sounded in harmony; they had to have everything ready for May 30, when Mother’s Day is celebrated in Nicaragua, unlike in Honduras, when it is the second Sunday of May.

Before arriving at the classroom where the songs were being sung, we were able to tour the school that has a student population of 644 and was remodeled in 2018. The remodeling was done under the mandate of Daniel Ortega’s government according to the information on a huge sign explaining that 37.7 million Nicaraguan córdobas (25.3 million Honduran lempiras at the current exchange rate) [US$1.03 million] were spent.

For a school located on the banks of a river in the middle of nowhere, it could easily compete with any private school in Tegucigalpa and stand out from most public schools in Honduras. The school has tiled floors in the classrooms, blackboards, desks and furniture, soccer and basketball courts, beautiful gardens, surrounded by hurricane fences, a kitchen for school meals, and offices for teachers.

Not only that, it offers both primary and secondary school and special programs for children who can only attend on weekends, making the school a true jewel of education in a border area.

There are five teachers for preschool alone, nine more for elementary school and the same number for high school, in contrast to what is seen in schools in difficult-to-reach areas of Honduras, where one teacher teaches all grades.

On the tour of the school, the Investigative Unit of El Heraldo Plus was accompanied by the school’s director Luis Gomez, who explained that most of the other schools along the Coco River (that runs 750 kilometers) have the same conditions as their school.

In the case of Honduras for the Departments of Choluteca, El Paraíso, Olancho and Gracias a Dios and all along the Honduran side of the river, there is no accredited school for the thousands of Honduran nationals.

This young educator, who is not only responsible for this educational center, but also for six others, was asked about the presence of Honduran children studying in Nicaraguan schools and he was quick to point out that this is a reality that is experienced daily throughout the length and breadth of the Coco River.

The problem is simple: in Honduras there is no educational and health coverage for the people living along the river. So, it is common for Nicaragua to provide this care.

For that matter, there are two San Andres communities, one on the Honduran side and the other on the Nicaraguan side of the river, but only on the Nicaraguan side are there schools; the same happens in the community of Pueblo Nuevo, Plis and Yapankanani, to mention a few.

“So, these children don’t know anything about Honduras?” asked the journalist.

The director explained that Francisco Morazán, the most transcendent and important hero for Honduras, means nothing to them. Nor do they study Honduran rivers or lakes, songs and customs. Nothing, because the curriculum is Nicaraguan.

“They are our heroes, our territorial extension, departments, municipalities, rivers, the same as in Honduras, but from Nicaragua. For example, today they practice for Mother’s Day, which is May 30 in Nicaragua; I do not know when they celebrate it in Honduras, but that is how education is,” he said.

Before we met with the first class, the director told us that the enrollment of Honduran children has decreased considerably, but that this is not due to the construction of a school on the Honduran side, but to the distance the children have to travel. He explained that in previous years between 15 and 20 percent of the students came from across the river in Honduras, but he has learned that one teacher there now teaches all grades in her home.

The Investigative Unit met this teacher in a boat on one of our trips on the Coco and she explained that she teaches 20 children from first to fourth grade in a single classroom, so she divides the students into groups in each corner. Unfortunately, the school dropout rate has been great and many times students only attend classes twice a week due to the work they do and the long distances they have to travel to get to her, one of the few teachers in this area of Honduras.

Another important thing is that many of these Honduran children are seen as Nicaraguan, because their mothers gave birth in Nicaragua. They have a Nicaraguan birth certificate and, with the idea of protecting them with health and education coverage, they are registered as Nicaraguan in Jinotega, a municipality bordering Honduras. The problem is, when these children finish high school on the Nicaraguan side of the border and migrate to the cities of Honduras, their high school diplomas are not recognized.

When we entered the first of the three classrooms visited, the children were asked to raise their hands and little by little they did so with a little embarrassment, as it was perceived that they prefer to be considered with the nationality of the Nicaraguan birth certificate and not by the nationality of their parents.

The director explained that there is no distinction of any kind between the students and many times the minors have family on both sides of the river. However, education and health care have been the responsibility of the Nicaraguan authorities.

We left behind the second-grade classrooms and visited the kindergarten and high school classrooms, but no questions were asked of the kindergartners about nationality because the children were very young, although the teachers told us that there were children with dual nationality.

It was time to leave the school just as the afternoon children were entering. Many were wearing clothes of different colors since it is not obligatory for parents to spend money on uniforms. One by one they entered; there was no distinction and no way of knowing which were the Nicaraguans and which the Hondurans. They all came in together to learn about Nicaragua–in terms of their formal education they will not learn anything about Honduras.

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Briefs
By Nan McCurdy

More than 5,000 Women Receive Attention in Mega Health Fair in Bilwi
The Ministry of Health, in coordination with the Regional Government and the Mayor’s Office of Puerto Cabezas, celebrated the maternal and fetal mega fair with attention in health to more than 5,000 mostly Indigenous women from the North Caribbean (Miskito, Mayangana, Afro-descendant, and Mestizo-Indigenous from Tawira, Tasba Pri, Prinzu Auhya Un, Twi Yahbra, Twi Waupasa, Kárata, Wangki Maya, Wangki Twi, Tasba Raya, Awas Tingni and distant communities of the Río Coco and San Carlos). Sixty maternal and fetal specialists provided attention to the women thanks to the government program that continues to restore health care rights to the Caribbean population. See photos: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/mas-de-5-mil-mujeres-atendidas-en-mega-feria-de-salud-en-bilwi/ (Radio La Primerisima, 17 June 2023)

Senior Citizens’ Health Center to Be Inaugurated June 23
The first geriatrician in the public health system will be providing care at the Porfirio Garcia National Center for the Elderly located in the Hilario Sanchez neighborhood in Managua’s District IV. Dr. Carolina Dávila, presidential advisor for health care in Managua, emphasized that geriatrics is the specialty for the care of the elderly. In the national center for the elderly, about 400 people will be attended daily, with specialties like internal medicine, ophthalmology, urology, gynecology, physiotherapy, natural medicine, as well as endoscopies, ultrasounds and other specialized studies. The center will be inaugurated June 23 and will begin providing medical attention on June 26. See photos: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/casi-construido-centro-del-adulto-mayor-don-porfirio-garcia/  (Radio La Primerisima, 20 June 2023)

Nearly Ten Million Loaned to Producers and Entrepreneurs So Far in 2023
The Ministry of Family Economy reported on June 16 that the Program to Finance Production, Entrepreneurship and Small Businesses (ADELANTE) has provided US$9.65 million to 5,358 small farmers and entrepreneurs between January and May this year to strengthen the quality and competitiveness of products and services they offer in rural and urban areas. The ADELANTE program is part of the Creative Economy Model implemented to promote integral economic development. (Nicaragua News, 19 June 2023)

Tourism Revenue in 2022 Doubles that of 2021
Nicaragua’s earnings from tourism in 2022 were US$596 million, 2.2 times more than in 2021 (US$184 million) due to higher daily per capita spending by non-resident visitors, which rose from US$35.8 in 2021 to US$41.1 in 2022, an increase of 14.7%. Arriving by air were 52.2% of the visitors, while land travel accounted for 47.3%, and water travel for 0.5%. (Informe Pastran, 19 June 2023)

Arts Schools Established in 159 Communities
The government, through the Nicaraguan Institute of Culture, the Rubén Darío National Theater, and the mayors’ offices, has succeeded in taking the arts to 159 new communities, where courses in areas such as dance, singing, choir, recorder, guitar, drawing and painting are taught. To date more than 2,000 students have enrolled, 1,286 females and 868 males. The mayors’ offices continue to contribute to the restoration of the right to culture of children, young people and adults, guaranteeing art for all in urban and rural areas. (Radio La Primerisima, 19 June 2023)

Nearly 95% of Nicaraguans Are Fully Vaccinated Against Covid-19
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported last week that with 94.7% of the population fully vaccinated [with two shots] against Covid-19, Nicaragua is the country in Central American with the highest percentage of fully vaccinated population, followed by Costa Rica (84.8%); Panama (72.9%); El Salvador (68.8%); Honduras (58.1%); Guatemala (41.5%). (Nicaragua News, 16 June 2023)

Regional Epidemiology Lab Rehabilitated
The rehabilitation of the regional epidemiology laboratory in Managua is complete. This lab will carry out bacteriological studies on the quality of water and food and is scheduled to open on June 20.  It will also serve to improve epidemiological surveillance, making faster diagnoses of diseases such as influenza, dengue, chinkungunya, leptospirosis, Covid-19, HIV, and tuberculosis, among others. It has equipment such as biosafety cabinets, centrifuges, microscopes, a biological safety cabinet, and an ultra-low-temperature freezer. (Radio La Primerisima, 20 June 2023)

Central Bank Reports Solid Economic Growth
On June 20, the Central Bank reported that economic activity showed positive performance, registering an inter-annual GDP growth of 3.5% (2.4% in the previous quarter). With this result, the annual average growth stood at 3.4% (10.3% in 2021), according to the preliminary estimate.  According to the report, the positive inter-annual evolution of the GDP was due to the growth in activities of hotels and restaurants (27.5%), mining and quarrying (13.3%), transportation and communications (6.8%), commerce (5.6%), other services (5.2%), financial intermediation and related services (4.4%), and the manufacturing industry (3.3%), among others. The report points out that from the expenditure perspective, the growth of the GDP was determined by the increase in the net external demand for goods and services, due to the growth of exports (7.1%) and the decrease in imports (-4.0%). Domestic demand decreased as a consequence of a lower expenditure in gross capital formation, which was partially offset by the increase in consumption expenditure.

This past quarter, agriculture grew 1.7% as a result of the greater generation of added value in coffee, corn, beans, sorghum, rice, soybeans, peanuts, sesame and tobacco, among others. Livestock activity registered a decrease of 0.3%. Mining and quarrying grew 13.3%. The manufacturing industry grew 3.3%, as a result of higher production of dairy products, tobacco, textiles, petroleum derivatives, and vehicle harnesses, among others. This performance was partially offset by decreases in the production of meat products, sugar, beverages, and non-metallic products, among others. Construction activity decreased 1.2%, due to decreases in private construction and increases in public construction. In private construction, there was a decrease in construction for residential, services and industrial buildings, and an increase in commercial construction. In public construction, there was growth in the components of non-residential buildings and civil engineering works. Transportation and communications activities grew 6.8%. Financial intermediation services grew 4.4%, due to an increase in the loan portfolio and higher deposits in foreign and domestic currency. Homeownership activity grew 1.5%. Public administration and defense activity grew 0.3% as a result of increased services offered by the government to the population.

Health services grew 2.3%. Consumption showed a year-over-year growth of 2.9%. Exports of goods and services grew 7.1%. In the goods sector, exports of mining products, sugar, dairy products, tobacco, textiles, harnesses, among others, increased. In services exports, growth was recorded in air and maritime transportation services, communications, insurance services, among others. (Radio La Primerisima, 20 June 2023)

New Loan from CABEI for more than US$800 million
Nicaragua and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) signed a new Technical Cooperation Contract for US$810 million to build the conduction channel of the Carlos Fonseca Hydroelectric Plant of Nicaragua. This is to finance the preparation of the diagnosis, analysis of alternatives, feasibility studies and final detailed design of the works, which will be executed by the Nicaraguan Electricity Company (ENEL). (Informe Pastran, 19 June 2023)