Islas Hermanas
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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Filmed on Ometepe Island in Nicaragua, and Bainbridge Island near Seattle, ISLAS HERMANAS ('Sister Islands') celebrates a 13 year relationship between people on the two islands. Shade grown organic coffee, produced on Ometepe, is imported to the U.S., and profits are returned to Nicaragua to fund clean water and school building projects.
Each year Ometepe families welcome Bainbridge High students into their homes for two weeks. An enterprising third grade class on Bainbridge creates and sells calendars to support community projects on their sister island.
In an era of many negative impacts of globalization, this program, filled with inviting Nicaraguan music by the Mejia Godoys, conveys a positive story of international friendship.
'An inspirational story of two foreign lands providing services for the other, exchanging cultures, and building friendships...Through the personal experiences of each of the island inhabitants, a great sense of enthusiasm and gratitude shines brightly...Recommended for high schools and undergraduate classes in the fields of Central American Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, Spanish, Community, and Geography.' Kim Davies, Milne Library, SUNY College at Geneseo, MC Journal
'If we are to create sustainable futures for our children it will be by creating dialogue through cooperation with others...This is beautifully illustrated in Islas Hermanas.' Danny O'Keefe, The Songbird Foundation
'This informative video powerfully conveys the extraordinary success of one Washington community's effort to make a global impact through responsible buying.' Paul Rice, Executive Director, TransFair USA
'Extremely upbeat, filled with images of tropical scenery and animals, children playing, and festive music...(G)ives a brief but heartfelt description of an inspiring relationship between two completely foreign and unrelated cultures tied together by nothing but the common bonds of humanity and the fact that they are both surrounded by water.' The Nicaragua Monitor
'Islas Hermanas helps students in the United States make a link to those living in a small country like Nicaragua. The program shows that international relationships can be established based on respect and that young people in the United States can make a difference in the lives of those around the world.' Matias Valenzuela, Spanish instructor, University of Washington
Citation
Main credits
Young, Melissa (film producer)
Young, Melissa (screenwriter)
Young, Melissa (film director)
Young, Melissa (editor of moving image work)
Dworking, Mark (screenwriter)
Dworking, Mark (film director)
Dworking, Mark (videographer)
Dworking, Mark (editor of moving image work)
Other credits
Videography, Mark Dworkin, Freddy Lanuza; editing, Mark Dworkin; Melissa Young.
Distributor subjects
American Studies; Anthropology; Central America/The Caribbean; Community; Conflict Resolution; Geography; Humanities; International Studies; Multicultural Studies; Sociology; Urban Studies; WaterKeywords
WEBVTT
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[sil.]
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Greetings to all the wonderful
new friends I\'ve made
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here on our island I remember you well and hope
with all my heart, you will visit me again.
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[music]
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I feel like they\'re not only my friends but my family.
The long-term plans that I may conclude them.
00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:49.999
[music]
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People thought nothing of stopping by I\'m talking
to you. It\'s just a lot more friendly culture,
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you know, uh… generous
culture that we have here.
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Because we are poor it\'s difficult
to solve many of our problems,
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but then to discover suddenly that there are
people who will help, who love our island,
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it\'s wonderful.
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It\'s a good experience, the learn things
from us and we also learn things from them.
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They grow coffee down there
and Sister Island Association
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sells it up here and the money
that they make goes back down
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and foremost projects. Water
projects, school projects.
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It\'s amazing to think that the first time
I got the coffee bag from Nicaragua,
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they brought back 15 suitcases full of beans.
Oh, no, I was it. Did you see that? Yeah.
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And now look. I think it\'s a
great thing to do. I know that
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uh… most coffee producing countries have
populations that don\'t really receive
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what they should from uh… the work that
they do. This is how we primarily earn
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our income for various
projects that we want to do.
00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:19.999
We get a different crew every week who comes
in and helps us bag and it\'s fun to do that.
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I love the smell of coffee. I went
down to the very small medical team.
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And we were treating the same kids every three months and we went down there
because they were drinking the water that was carried by hand from the lake
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where cows bathe and so forth.
And when we got into
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buying their coffee and showing how to
make potable water systems down there,
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I got totally hooked.
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[music]
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[non-English narration]
00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.999
When I was little, I came
up here to help the cook.
00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:09.999
But then one day my dad got very
sick and after a while he died.
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The owners kicked us off the land.
After the (inaudible) Land Reform
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I came back.
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In this cooperative, each member
gets paid according to the work
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he or she does.
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We don\'t operate as if some
of us are boss of others.
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[music]
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[music]
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I sell clothing, rice,
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oil, rum a lot of rum.
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Our kids are very happy
with the Sister Island
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because people come to give us a hand. They
help in many ways, even college scholarships.
00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:14.999
[sil.]
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We serve five communities,
everything from eggs and pin
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to stitches and (inaudible). We receive some
assistance. For them it may not seem like very much,
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but for us it makes a big difference.
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Can you like to buy (inaudible)
to help our Sister Island.
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I did the cover with my friend.
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Last year and the year before, we built a school
and one library because they only have like
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one shelf and only few books.
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This song is for the children
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trying to be heard. We
(inaudible) for justice.
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We hear you everywhere… We were like doing
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the counter project and the money is
going to Nicaragua and that can sort of
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change the world because Nicaragua may
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uh… get a little more develops.
It means a lot because
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I am able to help other
people who are so far away.
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This is a time consuming product where children have
had to deal with five and six and seven and eight
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rough drafts with nothing but a positive attitude
because they know that what they\'re doing
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is making a difference. Oh, this one is
better. Nice. Is that some kind of bee?
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It\'s a hornet. That\'s a hornet.
We\'re doing the butter… butterfly.
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I\'m drawing the honey ant. Yeah, sorry.
But I remember most
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about the calendar Project is uh…
proving all the people wrong
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who said third graders can make a difference. They can\'t
see the bigger picture. They can\'t care about people
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who are so far away. For
the children everywhere,
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we say a little pray and we sing
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this song for you. On behalf of our class
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we would like to present to the Bainbridge
Ometepe Sister Islands Association our check of…
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[sil.]
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$8,744.54.
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Yeah. Wow!
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[sil.]
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A delegation came to visit
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and I was teaching in a palm leaf hut.
There was no floor.
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The funds that our Sister Islands send help to build
the preschool classroom. Its right over there.
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[non-English narration]
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Then, Alice Mendoza came and she
brought a lot of school supplies.
00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:09.999
She was delighted with the
reception the community gave her.
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Alice Mendoza and her third grade class
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together we create the future.
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The money was very well spend because the
community (inaudible) all the labor.
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The porch of the library
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is perfect for our cultural events.
The children perform up here
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and the audience is out there under the trees.
It\'s much better outside than in a classroom.
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All these are textbooks
for the children. Uh-huh.
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Over here are some of the other books.
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These are books for the youngest children.
This is literature, more literature,
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geography. This whole
cabinet is dictionaries
00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:10.000
for both students and teachers.
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[non-English narration]
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This is the old waiting room, this used to be the
bus station here in Managua (inaudible). Uh-huh.
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And a lot of the kids especially the little
kids sleep at night. Uh-huh. (inaudible).
00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.999
We started working about five years ago
with kids who are living in the market.
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Our objective is generally to help the
kids to straighten out their life,
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get off the drugs, straighten
out the behavior problems.
00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:59.999
There are orphans and many children
who are neglected or abused.
00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:04.999
They may not have a mother or father.
Sometimes the kids are difficult
00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:09.999
just because they need affection.
We try to help
00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.999
raise their self esteem.
00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:19.999
Here\'s where we keep our
clothes, our homework and stuff.
00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:24.999
This is my bed that I got when I
moved over to this side of the room.
00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:33.000
[sil.]
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So here bit by bit they learn other ways of
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relating of socializing and stabilizing and
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reading and writing and etc. Always with the
goal that… that they go back into society
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back with their own
family, so it\'s possible.
00:09:55.000 --> 00:10:03.000
[non-English narration]
00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:09.999
We would like to thank the Bainbridge
children for their generosity
00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:15.000
and affection for our
children here in Nicaragua.
00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.999
[music]
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I\'ve a letter for you, from a student.
00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:34.999
[non-English narration]
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Thank Heaven. But the thing
you came all that way.
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All the students we had here were good people.
They were working (inaudible) the school.
00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.999
They left money for the community project
and every time I see the streetlights
00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:54.999
I think of them.
00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:59.999
Thanks so much for the donation. We have a streetlight
right outside our house, greetings to everyone.
00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:04.999
[music]
00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:09.999
Did you have a student last year?
00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.999
Once coming back
00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:19.999
we would like to see him. Tell
we are expecting him. Okay.
00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.999
Tell him, I am sending a thousand
kisses, a thousand hugs.
00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:29.999
[music]
00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:34.999
[non-English narration]
00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:39.999
Melisa. Melisa. Well, we loved
00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:44.999
having such a good people here. He
climbed the mountain with my son.
00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:49.999
[non-English narration]
00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:54.999
They were always dancing…
dancing… dancing all the time.
00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:59.999
You guys (inaudible).
00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.999
And it has been adjusted. On the way
down on the airplane I was nervous.
00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.999
I\'m like what have I got myself
into, but then the moment that I,
00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:14.999
you know, got off the bus (inaudible)
there\'s my mom giving me
00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:19.999
this huge hug and it was just nice.
Being down there you would think that,
00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.999
you know, you would miss feel like luxuries that
we have up here that they don\'t have there.
00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:29.999
But I didn\'t… For two weeks like
I didn\'t think about my friends.
00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:34.999
I rarely thought about my family, never School.
I was just like I never crossed my mind.
00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:39.999
Nothing wrong with the United States, but it
was… it was a welcome change to be down there.
00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:44.999
We\'re trying to explain to my friends and even if they also
tend (inaudible) to be really be patient, so it\'s really hard.
00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:49.999
I think that they have a very good understanding of what life is
like in other places because they watch TV in their soap operas.
00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:54.999
But they\'re very, very content with their life down there.
They were really happy and they didn\'t have a huge desire
00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:59.999
to take their lives and have indoor plumbing and things
like that. Because up here in the States people,
00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:04.999
you know, we have that bigger and better.
00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:09.999
It\'s so amazing to see all the stuff that people have donated
just because they want to help people and to try to improve
00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:14.999
their lives and to take down the step
that\'s going to do, that naturally excited.
00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:19.999
(inaudible), pens, crayons.
00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.999
Right now we\'re trying to use all this filler paper that
people have donated to fill up the binders making flat,
00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:29.999
they are easier to pack that way. And since we\'re taking these
down to put paper and anyways we are just throwing them up
00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:34.999
and getting rid of all the excess plastic.
What we do is
00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.999
work with the community on projects that help the
whole community rather than help individual families
00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.999
and certainly education and good
health help the whole community.
00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:49.999
I\'m gonna be splitting up the bats,
and the gloves and the balls.
00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:54.999
Umm… Put in the bags we\'re going to number them and then just
put them off to different towns. We have a couple of boxes
00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:59.999
full of uniforms and hats and things like
that, so we\'re going to try our best
00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.999
to form a couple of teams and, you know, help them play. The people
there have a whole different (inaudible) than they do in America,
00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:09.999
I mean, they… they don\'t take as much for granted
and they\'re more easy living (inaudible).
00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:14.999
The atmosphere is so much better. Yeah.
(inaudible) is really friendly.
00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:19.999
What they lack in money, they make (inaudible).
It\'s just a good quote, good quote.
00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.999
[non-English narration]
00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:29.999
The students bring material aid and they help with
work projects. But society doesn\'t just develop
00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:34.999
just through physical work. It also develops
through communication and relationships.
00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:39.999
[non-English narration]
00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.999
(inaudible) like to have a
student from the States.
00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:49.999
They are used to the kind of food we
eat here, but we along pretty well
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.999
and I really enjoyed her visit.
00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.999
[sil.]
00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.999
I treated them like family.
We understand that sometimes
00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:09.999
because they don\'t know our language very
well, they feel embarrassed about talking,
00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:14.999
but we don\'t laugh. Instead, we ask
them questions, are you hungry,
00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:19.999
do you want something to drink and within
a couple of days we\'re talking a lot.
00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.999
[non-English narration]
00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:29.999
Sometimes at night we sit out here
00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:34.999
and we talk and laugh. The
culture of the foreigners
00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:39.999
is more sophisticated than the Nicaraguans.
Here we just work in the fields.
00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:44.999
Most older people haven\'t gone to school.
00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.999
I didn\'t go to school.
00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.999
[non-English narration]
00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.999
One of the most important things is to
share our culture and get to know there.
00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:04.999
It was a great experience
to have her in our family.
00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:09.999
She felt right at home.
00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:14.999
We all do the household chores
and she like to work on lunch.
00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.999
She helped to clean the rice and
the green, got the meat ready.
00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.999
She learned a lot and we
also learned from her.
00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:30.000
[non-English narration]
00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:39.999
When the Sister Project began, I applied to the
Bainbridge in Altagracia Committee for a scholarship
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.999
to attend the university. They
supported me for five years.
00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.999
In 1988 I had the opportunity to come
back to my high school to teach.
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
[non-English narration]
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
Already six scholarships
students have graduated,
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.999
six professionals who contribute
to Nicaraguan society.
00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.999
[non-English narration]
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.999
Each year fewer students go on to the
university often because of financial process.
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.999
We believe we won\'t always need help,
but right now we appreciate the support
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.999
to help (inaudible) start
the Nicaraguan economy.
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:33.000
[music]
00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.999
Not only is it important
to produce organic coffee
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.999
but also shade-grown coffee because the
lives of people, birds and animals
00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:29.999
will all benefit from the forest.
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.999
[music]
00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.999
About a week, we picked this area again.
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.999
By that time these berries will be ripe.
00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.999
All our work here is for our own
benefit, that\'s wasn\'t always true.
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.999
Before we were exploited for
the benefit of (inaudible)
00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.999
now we exploit ourselves with the
profits for meeting the (inaudible).
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:08.000
[music]
00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.999
(inaudible) pack freight,
00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.999
this will be used on the mules to transport
the coffee from the field to the (inaudible).
00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:33.000
[music]
00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
We have to remove the pulp
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
from the coffee beans and the machine must be
adjusted, just right the beans to come out perfectly.
00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
[non-English narration]
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
Then we wash the coffee three times. When the
pulp is gone, we test it on the wall like this.
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
If the beans are clean, they won\'t stick.
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:18.000
[music]
00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
So they can have a lot more coffee. They\'d really like to sell
to us because we give them a better price and anybody else.
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
Well, uh… we\'re thinking about that
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
and looking for new markets. Now to start the
negotiations I would like to offer $1.56 for pound.
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
[sil.]
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
You haven\'t talked about the
increased cost for the pickups.
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
Here, we haul the coffee on mules
all the way down the mountain
00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
and if we don\'t have the mules, we
have to rent them. In other places,
00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
truck drives right up to the coffee field and
hauls the coffee to the processing plant.
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
When we first started, we started dominated because
our people (inaudible) didn\'t have much experience
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
the concept of negotiations and now
it\'s evolved into a discussion
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
between the… the two parties. Those people down
there then are able to go negotiate with anybody.
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
That\'s $0.05 more upon
that they\'re asking for
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
because it increased cost, yeah. We can go by the
formula, when they ask for more. We can go by the formula
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
umm… and you don\'t have
to show us anything,
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
but if we don\'t go by the formula and you say, well, it costs more
to do, this it costs more to do that, then we want to see the books.
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
And they haven\'t shown the books. And we haven\'t seen the
books. It is important that this does get wrapped together
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
and it is saleable in terms of the
larger organization, the marketing
00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
and their life. And… and
I think those are all
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
workable sort of thing.
00:21:55.000 --> 00:22:03.000
[music]
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
[sil.]
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
Greetings from the Sister Islands and all the people
there who have a great interest in your lives,
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
we have got some school supplies
as a token of our concern.
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:45.000
(inaudible).
00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
The portable water system is a great success, thanks to
the help of my brothers and sisters on the other island
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
and also while the work that we put in.
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
People are healthier and the project
has inspired us as a community.
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
We don\'t have a secondary
school here in Mérida
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
and people who want to continue their education, they
have to walk about eight or nine kilometers every day.
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
I wonder if we could give you a proposal
00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
on budget for this project for you to
take to the Sister Island Organization.
00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
[non-English narration]
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
Almost every year we bring high school students
from Bainbridge to spend about 10 days
00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
with families here (inaudible).
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
What\'s the purpose of bringing
students to our community?
00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
It\'s an opportunity for the
northern students to find out
00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
something about life of (inaudible) and for you to learn
something about young people from different countries.
00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
[non-English narration]
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
As far as I\'m concerned
they would be welcome here.
00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
Other people could offer housing
but I can\'t speak for them.
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
[non-English narration]
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
One student in each house that has a room, I don\'t
think it would me too hard to work that out.
00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
And they\'ll only be here for 10 days
or so I think we could do it, right?
00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
Well, then, we\'ve decided
they will be welcomed here.
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
When they come, they\'ll take me to beach.
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:43.000
[music]
00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
We took struggle, work and sacrifice
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
and lot of help to make
this project a success.
00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
This is a community then in the past
is felt isolated and abandoned,
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
but today we have a water system.
00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
When I used to go to beach to bathe before
we had the water system I would itch so bad
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
I\'ve to use kerosene to make it stop.
Who knows what it was?
00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
Maybe the lake was full of bacteria.
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
The community dug the ditch for the
pipes about 15 or 18 days for family.
00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
Bainbridge provided the pipes
and each house (inaudible)
00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
all the fitting they wanted
to use inside their house.
00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
They need to have a system that they
can deal with, they can understand
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
uh… that they can fix. Umm… that
they have to install, it\'s theirs.
00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:13.000
[music]
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
I want to say hi to
everyone Bainbridge Island
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
in Seattle and in the United States.
To finding out we don\'t just have
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
blood relatives. We also
have Island relatives.
00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
I think that I had some experience
with foreign aid in Vietnam
00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
many years ago and it\'s refreshing to see a project
that is actually responding to a felt need
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
from the community, not something imposed
by someone else from the outside.
00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
Like I have a second family there
and if I wanted to go back,
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
I could just be welcomed right away.
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
These exchanges are marvelous.
My children are learning a lot
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
and above all the friendships because
money can\'t do everything in life.
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:25.000
Sometimes it better to have friendship.
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:05.000
[sil.]