January Impact 2015

IMPACT

JANUARY 2015

BELONG ING

NICARAGUAN MIGRANTS IN COSTA RICA FACE ISOLATION

N

icaragua sees far fewer child migrants making the trip in the community. north to the U.S. than its Central American neighbors "Many of them come [across the border into Costa Rica] with Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Nicaraguan families only the clothes they are wearing." have for decades, however, migrated south into Costa Rica.

Besides extreme poverty Nicaraguan migrants face isolaA little more than a third of all sponsored tion and blame for crime, lack of jobs and other children and their families in Costa Rica are societal problems, Rafael said. The Unbound promigrants from Nicaragua, said Rafael Vilgram creates a space for migrant families to feel lalobos, coordinator of Unbound's program welcome, and gain access to education and other based in San Jose, Costa Rica. He said the opportunities to help them break through povnumber may be as high as 60 to 70 percent in erty. It also addresses immediate needs such as Costa Rican communities bordering Nicarafood and clothing when migrant families arrive. gua. In all, it's about 2,500 families.

Natural disasters, political instability and eco"The role of Unbound in Costa Rica in this nomic troubles dating to the 1970s have resulted in situation with migrants is to be a light of hope several waves of migration from Nicaragua to Costa for them. We tell them they have open doors in Rafael Villalobos, Unbound-Costa Rica. Rica, the International Organization for Migration our hearts, in our centers, in our offices," Rafael reported on its website. The largest was around 1984 said. "We try to support them in everything we can, not only when more than 50,000 refugees fled Nicaragua for Costa Rica to sponsoring their children, but also creating a sense of solidarity escape an internal armed conflict, the IOM said. (continued)

HELP US HELP THEM

WEAR YOUR HEART ON YOUR SLEEVE

You can help children and elders and their communities by hosting

Be our walking advertisement. Unbound now sells T-shirts,

a Living Unbound Sunday in your own community. With you, we

mugs, bags and other gear. Wear your Unbound shirt to help

can reach more people and find more sponsors for those in need.

raise awareness for sponsored friends around the world. Get

Read the insert included in this mailing for more information about

your swag at Unbound.org/store.

hosting an information table in your neighborhood.

Migrant families share their personal stories

A

t the heart of the movements of immigrants

wife, Lillian, 73, sponsored elders in Unbound’s

from Latin America are thousands of sto-

program in Costa Rica. Luis was at one time the

ries of personal loss.

director of a music school in Nicaragua, where he

Francisco and Martiza had a successful pine-

apple farm and a comfortable life in Nicaragua until their son, Mario, was born with extensive

Mario and Marjorie are siblings who are both sponsored through Unbound.

devastating Managua earthquake of 1972.

As he was rebuilding, now with a family, the

health issues. Paying for his medical care depleted

increased militarism following the overthrow of

the family’s resources and they lost everything.

the Somoza regime brought new instability to the

After their second child, Marjorie, was born they

country. With two children they didn’t want to

moved to Costa Rica. Both children are sponsored

lose to armed conflict, Luis and Lillian moved their

through Unbound.

family to Costa Rica.

After 12 years the family feels settled into

Luis was able to purchase a small plot of land

their new country. What discrimination they have

with money he made by selling his piano. After

experienced has been mostly indirect. Marjorie,

living in a shack for many years, the family is now

now 16, has borne the brunt of it in school, but

building a permanent home.

Martiza encourages her. “I always told her, feel

Sponsored elders Lillian and Luis enjoy time together at home.

taught his future wife. He lost everything in the

Luis expressed the feelings of many immigrants

proud of being Nicaraguan. One has to be proud

when he said, “My heart is broken into two pieces

of the country, of the blood one has. One has to be

— my love for Nicaragua and the love for my

grateful for what you have.”

adopted country, Costa Rica.”

That thought is echoed by Luis, 87, and his

‘We are one family’ (continued from front) Events in Nicaragua, including the ouster of the Somoza regime in 1979 and the Sandinista revolution and war with Contra rebels in the 1980s, spurred an influx of migrants that continues today, Rafael said. Nicaraguan families in Unbound cite jobs and educational opportunities for their children as the main reasons for migrating to Costa Rica.

Nicaraguans in Costa Rica generally work at harvesting coffee and melons or in construction. The jobs aren't stable and offer minimal economic security, Rafael said.

Sponsorship through Unbound helps families ensure they will be able to afford education for their children, and it connects them to a community where they can belong.

Workshops offered by Unbound seek to counter cultural divides and promote unity among families from diverse backgrounds. When children are sponsored their mothers become part of small support groups in their communities.

The groups are referred to as "circles of hope" because the mothers sit in circles at meetings to demonstrate equality among members. The mothers share ideas, discuss problems and support each other in efforts to move their families forward economically and socially.

"There are Nicaraguan mothers and Costa Rican mothers and mothers from Honduras, too," Rafael said. "They have learned to be fraternal as sisters, and that's a sign. It's a small sign that our world can be different."

1 ELMWOOD AVE., KANSAS CITY, KS 66103

800.875.6564

HONDURAS Tegucigalpa

Total population of Costa Rica as of 2013:

4.9 million

Immigrants (2013) as a percentage of the population:

NICARAGUA Managua

COSTA RICA San Jose

8.6%

Source: International Organization for Migration

The Unbound program focuses on unity and stresses that "we are one family," Rafael said.

"In God's project, in God's people there are no divisions of race, or culture, or religion, or political divisions or boundaries," he said.

The belief at Unbound is that diversity can serve to unify instead of separate.

"That's my hope, and in Unbound we are trying to do it," Rafael said.

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©UNBOUND 2015