You have read in the July Newsletter about a completely new Board taking charge of the Vivir Juntos Foundation. We also told you a bit about ourselves and our prior links with Nicaragua.
Willy de Mooij, Henk Verheul and I have been in office for almost six months now. We try to follow developments in Nicaragua and Juigalpa, and the Ruach Foundation in particular as closely as possible.
Astrid has been writing about the COVID pandemic in Nicaragua. The situation is undoubtedly serious, although the country’s government usually acts as if nothing is amiss. There are no reliable statistics at all and the Government has not taken any measures to combat COVID. The Nicaraguans figure it out for themselves what is going on.
In the meantime, presidential elections were held on November 7, which was won by President Ortega, powerfully backed by his wife Rosario Murillo. That was not difficult, because almost all potential contesters were (and still are) in prison, or were eliminated through other kinds of manipulations. Unfortunately, Nicaragua has become a dictatorship. This is a bitter observation for our Vivir Juntos Board as well. Henk and I used to work in Nicaragua for the country and the Nicaraguans, based on the conviction that there could be a society in which equality and justice would be highly valued by the Government. Although this has alas not happened, we are even more determined to commit ourselves to directly supporting organizations such as Ruach Foundation and the Ruach Community Home in Juigalpa. And fortunately, we are still able to do that.
The Board of the Ruach Foundation also changed composition after elections in the summer. We hope the new Ruach Board will prove to have a more active attitude towards broadening fundraising: (see also Astrid’s blog about this). We have entered into a discussion about this with our colleagues in Juigalpa. And we hope for improvement. Of course we will keep you posted.
We wish all Vivir Juntos donors and friends a peaceful Christmas and a good 2022, and thank you for your continued support!
On behalf of the Vivir Juntos Board,
Ruud Lambregts, Chairman