Nicaragua
The residents of the city dump of Managua are joining together to fight injustice.
This meditation was written by mission co-worker Doug Orbaker.
The city dump of Manauga is called “La Chureca,” and it may be the last place you would ever look for signs of hope of restoring God’s justice. It is a dirty place filled with dust and smoke and filth, where 1,600 people (about 500 of them children) try to eke out a living by digging through the garbage for recyclables that they can sell, or a scrap of food to eat.
The sign of hope for restoring God’s justice that I see is in the people of La Chureca themselves. They, the poorest of the poor, have organized and are fighting back, even at the risk of their own well-being. In early 2008, they blocked the entrance to the dump and refused to let garbage trucks enter. They are negotiating with the city to enforce an agreement that prevents garbage collectors from taking the copper, bronze and aluminum, which bring the highest prices from the recyclers.
It is in those people, who have been so badly neglected and whose lives are truncated by the squalor, that I find hope for the restoration of God’s justice. They are hanging together. They are well organized and are seeking allies. And they are not asking for charity! In fact, they aren’t willing to settle for charity! They want enforcement of a legal agreement that will allow them to work and earn their meager living from other people’s garbage.
PC(USA) People in Mission
Council of Evangelical Churches of Nicaragua (CEPAD): Carlos Cardenas Martinez, disaster mitigation/ environmental management and agriculture, The Rev. Dr. Douglas Orbaker, delegations coordinator
Partners/Ministries
CEPAD: Damaris Albuquerque, executive secretary
Moravian Church in Nicaragua: The Rev. Joseph Rivera, superintendent
Interchurch Center for Theological and Social Studies: Jairo Arce, general director
Evangelical Faculty of Theological Education: Blanca Cortés Robles, dean
Presbytery Partnerships
Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy, Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, Presbytery of Lake Michigan, Presbytery of Missouri River Valley, and Presbytery of Pueblo with CEPAD; Presbytery of Hudson River with the Moravian Church in Nicaragua
PC(USA) General Assembly Staff
The Rev. Hector Rodriguez, GAMC
Jeanne Romer, GAMC
Lord, lift us beyond charity to see the need to struggle for justice. Make us as strong for the struggle as the poorest of your children are as they struggle for the right to earn their daily bread. Amen.
Ps. 42, 146 Ps. 102, 133
2 Kings 22:1–13
1 Cor. 11:2 (3–16) 17–22; Matt. 9:1–8
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