Next Reading Group Program
The next Reading Group program will be a discussion of A Thousand Deaths Plus One, a novel by the Nicaraguan writer, intellectual, and former Vice President Sergio Ramirez, in the Seminar Room of the Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St., on Wed., May 15, from 12:30 to 1:30 P.M.
A Thousand Deaths Plus One was originally published in Spanish as Mil y Una Muertes in 2004, and the English version with translation by Leland H. Chambers, in 2009. The novel’s stories set in Nicaragua and Europe offer insight into history and culture.
H/OSCP and the Hartford Public Library sponsor the program as part of the Library’s Bridging Cultures Series. Take a brown bag lunch if you wish. If you have questions or would like more information, contact sanderson03@snet.net or kganderson@snet.net. All are invited to this and other Reading Group discussions scheduled on June 19, and July 17.
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The Hartford/Ocotal Sister City Project is a story of two cities reaching out to each other, one in Nicaragua, Central America, the other Connecticut in the United States. It begins in 1986 when the Hartford Ocotal Sister City Project(HOSCP) was established with the help of the Capitol Region Conference of Churches and moves forward again in 1995 when the Project began providing seed money for a micro-lending program called FUNAFAM, which is based on the Grameen Bank model. Financial support from this program has helped hundreds of Ocotal women start small businesses of their own.
Over a period of 25 years HOSCP has used contributions to help fund the following programs, evolving from direct material aid to self-help initiatives:
- Material aid shipments in conjunction with the New Haven-Leon SCP
- Educational events
- Helping to fund the purchase of an ambulance
- Helping to fund the clean water project
- Hurricane Mitch relief
- FUNAFAM, a microcredit program based on the Grameen Bank model. Loaning small amounts of money to individuals starting small businesses
- Health education programs in outlying areas surrounding Ocotal
Many of the founders of the HOSCP are still active in the work. The sister-city commitment does not go out of fashion, nor does it cease to inspire those involved.
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