Transformation in the Computer Lab

Hultner Estrada

In general, we don’t question our customs.

They are part of us, day after day, and because of how well they work, we don’t see much reason to change them.

“We were accustomed to using pirated software.  We saw this as the “normal” thing to do – we didn’t know it was illegal.”  With these words, the director of the Bethlehem Baptist School of Managua describes what has become the widespread culture for using software at the national level.

A large number of the cybercafés, academies, and schools in Nicaragua that teach computer literacy, use “cloned” or “borrowed” software licenses, as has become the norm for the rest of the world as well.  “It wasn’t until the folks from REDPROCOM came and made us aware that we came to see that we were being poor Christian witnesses,” adds director Jazmina López.

REDPROCOM is a network of Christian computer teachers that was started by a small group of friends who were interested in transforming the culture of technology use in Christian schools in Nicaragua.  With the support of the Nehemiah Center, ACECEN, EDU-DEO, and FH-NICARAGUA, they are promoting the use of free software and teaching ethics in the world of computer usage.

“Honestly, I had a lot of fears about changing our computer system”, says director López.  “The teachers feared that it would draw many complaints from parents and that the students would be resistant to the change – they were already accustomed to the programs, the colors, the layout of Microsoft Office and we thought they weren’t going to like the Ubuntu programs.  But in the end, it all turned out well.”

The teachers of Bethlehem Baptist School, along with other Nicaraguan schools have joined the trainings that are being organized by REDPROCOM.  “The teachers have received many tools and have discovered many new options they weren’t familiar with before,” adds the director.  “We also discovered that using the free software, we weren’t incurring as many costs from repairing machines infected with viruses.”

“Now we have realized that we have made the best decision.  We feel that we are working with total integrity and that we have authority to tell our students that they too should be doing things honestly,” shares López, who on her part thanks God and the REDPROCOM staff who are caring about teaching correct computer usage in Christian schools.

“Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not treat prophecies with contempt

but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.

May your whole spirit, soul and body

Be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Apostle St. Paul

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A Modern-Day Slavery

By María Lourdes Rivas*

  

Slavery still exists.

Human trafficking currently takes third place for the most severe issues affecting Central America after narcotrafficking and the smuggling of weapons.  Nicaragua is first on the list of “source countries” for human trafficking, and evidence shows that Guatemala is the highest “consumer” in the region.

Women, children, and adolescents of both sexes are the principal target of traffickers’ networks who seek the sale of organs and the trafficking of persons for sexual or labor exploitation.

According to the National Coalition for Human Trafficking, the furthest borders of Nicaragua (to the north and to the south), are the territories where the majority of traffickers operate.  Chinandega, León, Madriz, Nueva Segovia, Rivas, and Rio San Juan are the departments with the highest number of cases of trafficking victims.

The threat is so real and so close that it is affecting the evangelical church.  In a survey done by the Nehemiah Center (2011) with two groups of pastors and leaders from León and Chinandega, 74% of those interviewed claimed that this is a problem that has been affecting their congregations for some time now.  80% of those surveyed were in agreement that the church should act in response to this reality.

The pilot project Combating Human Trafficking in Nicaragua, directed by the Nehemiah Center, has been researching this topic during the past year and has been training 12 churches in León and Chinandega in themes such as Legislation on Human Trafficking, Victim Counseling, and Action Plans for preventing trafficking in communities.

Through these trainings, the churches have been able to verify that the buying and selling of persons is a real threat in their neighborhoods.  Before, many leaders though that the cases of minors disappearing were an issue resulting from rebellious adolescents that had run away from home.  With the information they now have, they have been able to effectively recognize these cases as human trafficking.

At the beginning of this year, thanks be to God, we were able to rescue a girl from Chinandega.  Following the procedures they had learned, through prayer, and by working as a team, we were able to learn the whereabouts of the girl just before she was about to be transported by traffickers to El Salvador.  The young girl is now receiving spiritual and psychological support.

The Nehemiah Center is concluding the pilot project in the next month.  We are very satisfied with what we have accomplished, but we hope to continue with this effort.  We are praying for the human and financial resources to continue with this work of prevention and attention to victims.  It is risky work, but it is also a duty: as Christians we are called to live an abundant life in Christ, but we are also called to announce and defend the plentitude of life in the context of slavery and death.

*Project Facilitator, Combating Human Trafficking in Nicaragua.