Today we took a 6 hour drive up to Somoto to help launch a library there. Somoto is a very poor town located about an hour south of the Honduras border. I am very glad to be in Somoto as I thought San Juan del Sur was "typical" Nicaragua. But coming to Somoto I realized that SJDS definitely is more western with a huge expat population and a local economy that caters to the vacation/surf/retiree crowd.
The people of Somoto were thrilled to see us. They have an interesting situation there - the mayor of Somoto has very strong ties with the Spanish government. The Spanish government donated money to Somoto to build a library, but it had to be according to their directives. So there is this beautiful, Spanish-style building in the middle of a huge dirt field far removed from the center of the town. The building doesn't look like any of the houses in Somoto, so right away I felt a disconnect between the library & the people. I mean, if they're not comfortable using the building (& they're not), then it's not benefiting the community. There are other problems with the library - after Spain built this beautiful library, they stopped supporting it. So there are all these books, computers, scanners...and no one is trained on how to use them. So they just sit there & there's also no money for the town to buy paper, toner, supplies, etc. The library didn't have a lending system in place, so we explained cataloging & accessioning. The library director is very nervous about opening the stacks because in the past people have stolen books. But what good does it do anyone when the books are locked up? I think there needs to be a leap of faith. I just hope it works out (& there will be more collaboration between SJDS Biblioteca Movil & Somoto).
Anyway, the people of Somoto are so warm & welcoming, even more so than in SJDS. The townspeople held a reception in our honor & we met several high school students who just received scholarships to go on to University. And they were thanking us for our support of their library! Really, I feel like we have taken so much from them (their hospitaliy is unlimited) that our help seemes insignificant. But I know it's not.
A few students asked for my email & now I have a few new email buddies. I'm going to write to them in Spanish & they will correct me & write back in English. I can't wait & I feel lucky to have made these friends.
Tomorrow we're running a workshop on family literacy & then there will be another dinner with a folk dance performance.
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