April 28, 2008

Byron Padilla went to Venezuela yesterday

Byron Padilla went to Venezuela yesterday. Byron is the 19-year-old son of a poor campesino who produces coffee on his five “manzanas” (about 3 acres) in the mountains east of Matagalpa. My wife and I got to know Byron’s family because of their struggle to hold on to their land as a wealthy landowner nearby tried to claim it. Somehow, the Padilla family has remained non-violent in this struggle despite the violence of the other party, and appears (at this point at least) to have outlasted the efforts to takeover his land. (The land is a little more valuable than most in the area because of the presence of a good spring.)

We went to the airport to see Byron off, and to share the sad/happy moment with his family. It is the first time he has ever been away from home, and he will be gone for five years to study medicine. In fact, the airport was jammed with families and friends saying goodbye to young people. Byron was one of 85 young people who left yesterday for Venezuela to be trained as doctors and who will return, bringing 85 more possibilities for medical care to rural Nicaragua.

When everyone is finally transported next week, there will be 380 young Nicaraguans studying in Venezuela. They are students of law, business administration, and engineering as well as the future doctors. Most of these are children of poor families who never would have had the money to receive an advance education here in Nicaragua. All of this—transportation, college costs, living expenses, etc.—is being given as a scholarship by the Venezuelan government for all 380 students.

During the years of the Nicaraguan revolution (1979-1990), hundreds of young people from poor families had the opportunity to study abroad with scholarships for all their expenses. However, the governments of Nicaragua for the last 16 years have not worked to establish that kind of relationship with other countries. In fact, for the last 16 years, the government of Nicaragua has paid very little attention to the education of young people, even at elementary and secondary levels, much less helping people get high quality college- or university-level education. For the last 16 years the best opportunity for young people with talent but no money was the CASS Scholarship Program administered by the U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID). But this program provides grants ranging from one semester to two years, making an associate degree the highest that can be earned in a U.S. college or university. Thus, people can earn a degree that will help them be a small cog in a big business wheel, but not a professional degree that will help them change the delivery of health care in Nicaragua.

Besides these students, hundreds of poor Nicaraguans have been taken to Venezuela over the last two years for treatment of eye and vision problems such as glaucoma and cataracts. All have been treated without cost. I know that some will complain that the leftist government of Venezuela is doing this to gather good publicity and to try to buy the loyalty of Nicaraguans. There probably is some truth behind that, but I don’t believe that is all. There must also be a genuine desire to offer the skills and the financial resources that are available in Venezuela to help their poorest neighbors and friends. The fact remains that these groups of students will return with much-needed skills and will contribute to closing the gap between rich and poor. And we celebrate that fact!

For the past 16 years, other governments around the world could have offered the same kind of help, but they haven’t. The last three presidents could have worked to cultivate the kind of international relationships that make programs like this possible, but they haven’t. While it may be easy to sit back and condemn the leftist government of Venezuela, it isn’t so easy to provide full scholarships for five years to 380 of the brightest and most talented young people of Nicaragua.

We have many disagreements with this new government under President Daniel Ortega. We do not believe that most of the actions of the government are moving this country towards a more open, transparent, democratic society. (We see the same problems in the United States, but that is another story!) In many concrete ways, however, the Nicaragua \government is working to narrow the gap between rich and the poor. It is providing opportunities that governments in the past could have offered but didn't. Those who come from poverty and see no alternatives for their children will often overlook lack of openness and transparency if there is a possibility for change in their children's lives.

It was a real honor to be invited to the airport yesterday morning. We shared Byron’s father’s pride and his mother’s tears. We spoke with several other students, family members, and friends. It was a great day for those 80 families, a life-changing day for their young people, and a day of potential for great change in Nicaragua. Byron Padilla has wanted to be a doctor since he was a little boy, but he never dared hope that it might be possible. How much does it cost to make such a dream a reality?

Doug

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 263