Bright New Ideas » Nicaragua & Developing Nations News

Baseball in Nicaragua

kyle — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 03:24:28 +0000

We have been working furiously preparing for Patrick’s trip down to Nicaragua next week. Expect to see a lot more content and information in the next month.

For now, here’s an interesting blog post on baseball in Nicaragua. Hopefully this will help understand more of the culture of the area.

Energy in Northeastern Nicaragua

kyle — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:32:18 +0000

While we are having a conversation about Nicaragua and renewable energy, I wanted to call your attention to another organization working for electricity in Northeastern Nicaragua. In September 2007, Hurricane Felix devastated the Northeastern part of the country. It destroyed nearly 90% of the civil infrastructure and completely wiped out many communities. This is a a link to an organization online if you want to read more about this situation.

Microloans in Nicaragua

kyle — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 05:27:04 +0000

One of the jobs of this blog, as I see it, is to promote the humanitarian work already taking place in Nicaragua, and showing you the full spectrum of work that is being done so you can know the different ways in which you yourself can help. We are not just promoting energy solutions, but encouraging activism as well.

Microloans have received a lot of publicity in Bangladesh, but there is also a lot of work in microfinance being done in Nicaragua as well. Make sure to check out this article on how university students are bringing the idea of microfinance to Nicaragua. If you don’t know what microfinance is, you could read this wikipedia entry to learn more.

St Olaf College Goes to Nicaragua

kyle — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 21:10:02 +0000

Local students from St Olaf (in Northfield, Minnesota) recently went to Nicaragua to take health surveys of the local population in Jalapa, Nicaragua. I think this closely ties to what we hope to see through our own organization, Bright New Ideas. We hope to build awareness of the situation in Nicaragua. Many of the students traveling there had their first experiences with poverty.

“Student Polina Bugayev ‘10 says seeing the poverty and need in Jalapa put her own problems and worries into perspective. The pride community members there took in what little they have also touched her.

“‘I saw people empowered and encouraged by someone just taking the time to listen to their problems, beliefs, goals and dreams,’ adds Bugayev.”

Make sure to read more about what their goals were in Nicaragua by reading this article.

The Man who would be King of Nicaragua

kyle — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:31:38 +0000

I came across this article about William Walker, the King of Nicaragua in the 1850’s. It’s an interesting look at history and events that not many people know about it. I also think it’s important to know the previous history of the United States in Nicaragua to hone our communications techniques in talking to local populations. To many people in Nicaragua, they know the intimate details of US involvement in their country. For us to ignore the historical background of the interactions of the two countries would put us at a significant disadvantage when talking to Nicaraguans. Rest assured, we are doing all the research we can on solar lighting as well as the culture and history of the country.

Blogging In Nicaragua?

kyle — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:17:43 +0000

Finding good blogs in Nicaragua is a difficult task, but some of the best ones are actually those started and maintained by Peace Corp members.

Here is a directory of all the Peace Corp blogs in Nicaragua. Feel free to comment and tell us which ones you like the best!

Energy Tax Increase in Nicaragua

aaron — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:15:41 +0000

Nicaragua’s daily newspaper La Prensa reports that the Nicaraguan Institute of Energy (INE) will raise electric energy taxes by 8.5 percent beginning this month of February.

David Castillo, executive president of the INE, assured that this adjustment will allow the payment – over a six-month period – of $13 million towards a debt with Union Fenosa, the country’s energy distribution company. The actual debt of $33.3 million is due to the continuing rise in the price of oil.

Castillo explained that if the Government had not promised to contribute $20 million of support the increase would have been 16 percent instead of the announced 8.5 percent.

Those who consume fewer than 150 kilowatts of energy per month will not be affected by the increase. In total, an estimated 550,000 households and clients will share the announced tax increase.

Last year, the INE authorized an electrical energy tax increase of 9 percent.

Lorena Lanza of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) made known the energy conservation means outlined in a presidential decree signed by President Daniel Ortega Saavedra in Feb 2008. According to the decree, all ministries of the state, decentralized entities, and institutions of executive power must reduce their energy consumption (electric and combustable) by a minimum of 20% within the following three months.