Update on Nicaragua
Update on the Nicaragua Crisis Julia C. Guth, CEO & Executive Publisher, The Oxford Club Chair, The Roberto Clemente Health Clinic Dear Friend of Nicaragua, It’s been a frustratingly sad year for our friends, colleagues and community in Nicaragua… but also inspiring in that everyone is trying their best to see it through with a positive attitude. This, despite that so many lost their jobs when Nicaragua’s economically vital tourism industry was decimated by political unrest. While protests and political threats have subsided, tourism is still slow to revive. Many businesses remain closed and people are still out of work, including many laid off from public hospitals and clinics. That’s right… at a time when people need healthcare and emergency support more than ever, the country’s available specialists and clinics are declining. The economic crisis is in its seventh month, and poor, out-of-work citizens in the southwest region of Nicaragua are begging our Clinic to expand services and provide medicine to them now. Now Is When Nicaraguans Need Our Support Most Not too long ago, Nicaragua was hitting the covers of all the top travel magazines. The nearby Rancho Santana resort, developed by colleagues and friends of mine, was named one of the world’s top resorts – two years in a row. This past summer, tourism was dead. Many nearby hotels closed, canceling their financial support to our Clinic. Today we are seeing the start of a slow recovery. More flights were added back on, and the U.S. Embassy has reopened its doors. Medical volunteers are calling us again to line up stints at the Clinic for next year. So much of what happened in Nicaragua never hit the mainstream news. There was an assault on democracy and human rights. There were fears of a civil war. But despite the conflict, the region of the country where our Clinic is located remained relatively stable and peaceful. There is also plenty of local ambition to not let fear get in the way of decades of major progress. We must help Nicaraguans continue their efforts to be economically, mentally and physically healthy. By supporting the Roberto Clemente Health Clinic and its many community programs for healthy living, you support the ambitions of the local people to get stronger. If you’ve never been to Nicaragua, here is where we are making a difference. This nonprofit focuses on one region, Tola, which is a municipality in the Rivas department of Nicaragua, in order to have the most effective impact possible. Visit and you will be astonished by how beautiful it is and how friendly the people are. The incredibly gorgeous landscape and warmth of the area’s people are why we’ve had so many volunteers come help us at the Clinic. It’s why so many tourists have wanted to stay and invest here. One simple result of keeping the Clinic flourishing is we keep locals in jobs. We need critical support to continue with our progress in education and job training. The Clinic also helps parents get their kids to school with proper uniforms, backpacks and supplies. We help provide food, medicine, emergency healthcare and clean water. If you help us today, here is what I can guarantee you… Any support you give to the Clinic will make a huge difference in someone’s life. Your support will have a positive impact on an entire community’s well-being. The Roberto Clemente Health Clinic is truly a standout operation in Nicaragua. It is a model private health Clinic, supported 100% by donors like you. Before this crisis, many of the public health clinics – both within and outside the Clinic’s region – were already in bad shape. Now many of them, at least those outside our region, can barely operate safely. (Even some of the hospitals have laid off specialists and reduced services.) At the Roberto Clemente Health Clinic, we provide care to all regardless of background or political affiliation. We cannot close our doors. We do not want to turn away patients who are out of work and can’t afford basic or emergency care. We always give free care to seniors and young children. Beyond that, we have a sliding scale policy and have received support from the local businesses and resorts whose employees use the Clinic. But that support has dried up, and we are going through our financial reserves quickly. We need more resources to sustain our 24/7 healthcare and ambulance services and not lay off medical personnel. Our Clinic continues to operate 24/7. We have one of the only operating ambulances that can get to the most remote regions, which requires traveling long distances on muddy roads through mountainous areas. While our region is more stable and peaceful, the locals are sad. They have friends and family members who have had to leave for nearby Costa Rica to find work. When a Friend Is Needed Most Is During Times of Serious Adversity I am also deeply sad to see everything the local Nicaraguans have worked so hard for these past two decades disappear almost overnight. Before the crisis, opportunities were increasing in our region for locals to learn new skills for education, health, tourism, construction, management, entrepreneurship and more. At the same time, I’m moved by our Clinic’s strength – its teamwork, positive spirit and determination. The staff works every day to keep the doors open to the local communities. Our team assures me they are strong together in this crisis and are doing the best they can with the resources they have. Please help keep the doors open. We need to distribute more clean water, medicine, food and clothing than ever before. Families are urging us to help them start community gardens so they can have healthy food. We Critically Need More Financial Support Right Now Any amount you can give will help us. The good news is there are many interesting ways to easily help, as you’ll see when you click on this link. You can sponsor a specific family’s health and education. Or maybe you can help us produce more local organic gardens for people to learn to be more self-reliant… We have many gardens throughout the region giving families greater access to healthy food. Or you can help us distribute more clean water. Ultimately, what we urgently need help with is this: We need to maintain our critical medical and pharmaceutical services… to stay open 24/7 with professional care. The future of this incredibly beautiful country hangs in such a delicate balance. The support you can give during this tragic time will make a real difference. We’ve seen the Nicaraguans work hard to overcome adversity before. Each time they do, the country becomes stronger. But this may be their biggest challenge yet… Please help this community persevere and get strong again. You can donate by credit card or check, or by transferring stock. DONATE HERE. Sincerely, Julia P.S. Click the Donate Here link above to see a colorful infographic on how our Clinic and Wellness programs helped so many poor Nicaraguans this year. |
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