April 8, 2014:
Greetings, brothers and sisters of the committee. From this tropical location we send you a fraternal hug….
With respect to the activities which the committee is carrying out, it can be said that the Phil Mitchell Fund gave out 19 loans requested for housing repair and business. In the current quarter, 5 persons have come to make payments and cancel their old accounts.
Medical Fund: Thirty (30) persons were supported. Of these, 11 received help for transport to medical appointments at different hospitals. Help [was given] with [various named] medicines, and help to carry out a pelvic ultrasound. We consider that there is considerable demand for transport to get to medical appointments.
Meetings with community boards: We held a meeting on February 11, 2014, with representatives of the boards in the rural zone, which all attended. They presented about the progress of the projects, with a lot of optimism and appreciation. In these meetings there is an exchange of experiences. The next meeting is scheduled for April 8, 2014.
With respect to the cow project: In El Palmar there are two cows who have given birth, for 2 beneficiaries. San Lorenzo has 9 cows and 6 beneficiaries. El Morcillo has one person benefiting from one cow giving birth. Quebrada de Agua has 4 cows and 3 offspring. In Las Cañas, …two (2) more families have been benefited, for a total of 4. Here there are 2 cows who have given birth and 2 [cubiertas] heifers. In La Naranja, there are 4 beneficiaries of cows.
The bees are always maintained, and likewise the poultry, etc.
Food [for the elderly]: We maintain the same number of beneficiaries [200]. Always, when one person is [subtracted], we substitute another and so we maintain the number.
Scholarships: …We budgeted for 34 students; but one did not show up, and we have remained at 33.
July 9, 2014:
Fraternal greetings, brothers and sisters of the Baltimore committee. It gives us much pleasure to turn to you now that we have finished another quarter of the year and we should let you know the results of the activities carried out.
With regard to scholarships: Currently there are 39 young people who are receiving financial help to continue their studies. This semester two students will graduate, one in agriculture and one in clinical psychology. We will substitute two others for them, to whom we could not respond [earlier] and who are studying.
Food [for elderly and disabled]: The monthly distribution of food is continuing. For the moment we have substituted coffee for beans because they [beans] are very expensive and scarce. There are no fresh beans. [Editor note: After a more recent phone discussion, the Limay committee has decided to substitute the less popular, and less expensive, black beans for the red beans to which Nicaraguans are accustomed.]
Bimonthly meeting with [community] boards: We held meetings on April 8 and June 10. They represent their communities where they have sister-city projects. They present their progress and difficulties. From the first cows they received, they have now given [offspring] to other families; they do it consulting among themselves, these same board representatives, and they make it known to the Limay (“urban”) committee. They are focused on the bill of sale and are proceeding to the transfer. We have noted the names of the new beneficiaries.
There are beneficiaries of cows in:
- – San Lorenzo with 6
- – El Morcillo with 2
- – La Naranja with 4
- – El Palmar with 2
- – Quebrada de Agua with 4
Some families are maintaining the projects of poultry. They have gone from the communities: El Palmar and Quebrada de Agua benefited other families of nearby communities (Chapetones and Palmira) respectively.
Those with beehives received training in order to improve their attention, care and thus production. This was in May in the community of El Guaylo; they were advised to make a savings in order to respond to later needs related to the beehives.
Revolving loan fund: Eleven loans were made for small businesses and home repair. The work is going well with users, who have kept their credit up-to-date….
Medical fund: Thirty-one persons were attended to. They were supported with travel to keep medical appointments in the department [of Esteli], Managua, and La Trinidad. Others received help to have exams carried out. They were helped with purchase of [various named] medicines.
Having nothing more to mention, we repeat our greetings.
Sincerely,
Tranquilino Garmendia, Coordinator, Limay Committee