Interviews

INTERVIEW WITH NEYLA MARIA, FROM SAN FRANCISCO LIBRE

By Mark Downey
Dec 2000

MD- Hello, what´s your name?
NM- Hello, my name is Neyla Maria (NM).
MD- And how old are you?
NM- I´m 9 years old
MD- Where are you from, Neyla Maria?
NM- I´m from San Francisco Libre (SFL)
MD- What do you like from SFL?
NM- That is very calm but at the same time populated village.
MD- Is there a lot of people here?
NM- Yes, there is.
MD- And are there any thinks you don´t like from SFL?
NM- The traffic, because when you want to cross the street you have to look to both sides, otherwise you get crashed by someone.
MD- Do you think it´s dangerous?
NM- Yes
MD- What are you currently doing, do you study?
NM- Yes, I study.-
MD- Where do you study?
NM- In the "Concepción de Maria" School
MD- What do you do there and what kind of subjects do you study there?
NM- We study spanish, maths, sciences, moral ethics and social studies.
MD- And which of these ones is your favourite?
NM- Spanish
MD- Can you describe me how is life in SFL?
NM-....uhmm...
MD- Don´t you understand the question, maybe?
NM- No...
MD- Do you thing life in SFL is being easy and good or hard, for you?
NM- Life is being good for me, yes.
MD- So, tell me, what do you usually do everyday since you wake up and untill you go to sleep at night?
NM- I wake up at seven o´clock, and after that I play with young girl of the house, Clarita; I have a bath I get myself ready, I eat my breakfast and then I go to school...
MD- At what time are you going to school lessons?
NM- At 12.00 pm; afterwards I go to the church. As I´m in a choral group we receive trainning; later we go back to the church to pray, and then I go back home to go to bed.
MD- At what time do you go to bed?
NM- At ninish.
MD- Well... and what do you normaly eat in SFL, in all your meals?
NM- For breakfast I eat rice, tortillas, mincemeat (yogurt) with lemonade; for lunch mash potatoes and tortillas and for dinner I eat chicken with "tajadas".
MD- What are these "tajadas"?
NM- "Tajadas" are slices of fried banana.
MD- In SFL, are there bars and pubs, big shops,... what can you find?
NM- There are some bars and some variate shops but not very big shops.
MD- So what can you buy in SFL?
NM- "Chucherias"!
MD- What are "Chucherias"?
NM- "Chucherias" are sweets, chocolates, dried fruits, biscuits... there are also other things like "Maruchas" which is a type of soup. There are also brooms to sell- when you waste your broom you can go and buy a new one.
MD- Do you have clothing shops, in SFL?
NM-...uhm... yes. One woman, Geiba, brings girl dresses, trousers, t-shirts, blouses, skerts, everything...
MD- Only this woman?
NM- Yes, only she.
MD- And, Maria, what would you like to be when you grow up?
NM- I´d like to be a doctor.
MD- A doctor, where?
NM- Here in the Health Centre of SFL.
MD- So you´d like to stay here in SFL for good, then...
NM- Yes... beacuse the beach is also close to SFL, but if I can´t I´m moving to Managua.
MD- All right Maria,... thank you very much for the interview!
NM- You´re welcome!

INTERVIEW WITH ALEJANDRO MAJORGA, FROM SAN FRANCISCO LIBRE

By Mark Downey
Dec 2000

MD- Hello, what´s your name?
AM- Hello, my name is Alejandro Mallorca (AM).
MD- And how old are you?
AM- I´m 26 years old
MD- Where are you from, Alejandro?
AM- I´m from San Francisco Libre (SFL), Nicaragua.
MD- And what do you like from SFL?
AM- That it everything is quiet, there are drug production and traffic related problems...
MD- And what don´t you like from this town?
AM- I don´t like the high unemployment rate thatwe have here, you cannot find a job to survive. There a no jobs.
MD- What do you do to make a living?
AM- During the winter season I work in agriculture with partner that has in property a plot of land, we sow part of the land and we try to get as much as we can from it. Sometimes in winter and during the summer I have to look for other jobs because sometimes we the harvest is not as good as we expected, due to the dry weather. Then you can only jump from one job to another.
MD- Why don´t you explain how is life in SFL for the majority of people?
AM- We mainly work cutting firewood, fishing,... and agriculture work.
MD- Are the life conditions in SFL harder after the hurricane Mitch?
AM- Yes, because, at least for us, everything that we had such as cattle to have meat and milk was lost, in fact taken by the river during the inundations. Now we don´t have anything, we have to look for where to work. There is no ongoing work, I mean if you find one job you work, but if it doesn´t come up, you can´t do anything. We spend our time cutting firewood.
MD- Which do you think are the differences between city life and life in the countryside?
AM- City life is much more frantic. Here in SFL is much more tranquil. Having a job you life really well here, but as there is no work it´s difficult for you have to get your food.
MD- And which are the typical meals in SFL?
AM- "Frijoles" kidney-beans, rice, tortillas made of Wheat and egg, from hens. Last month we lost all our hens because of the floods.
MD- What do you usually eat for breakfast here?
AM- Frijoles and rice, tortilla and "cafe"
MD- Cold or hot cafe?
AM- Hot cafe.
MD- And for lunch?
AM- Eggs with tomato and rice, and frijoles.
MD- Rice and frijoles is really popular meal, isn´t it?
AM- Yes, we eat it quite often.
MD- And for dinner, what do you eat?
AM- We eat bread, frijoles and cafe.
MD- Do you have bars or shops in SFL?
AM- Yes we have. We have bars and few shops where you can buy clothes.
MD- In SFL there aren´t so many bars because of the lack of employment, though...
AM- Yes because if you don´t have work, you don´t have money to go there... without "reales" (national currency) you can do nothing.
MD- Would you like to stay in SFL or would you preffer to go somewhere else?
AM- For me this place is good to stay, Ilike it, but when you dont have a work here and you are offered jobs in other towns you have to go... for sure.
MD- Are you single or married?
AM- I´m married.
MD- And do you have children?
AM- Yes, I have a daughter.
MD- Which is her name?
AM- Judith. She´s going to be three years old now in January.
MD- And do you have brothers?
AM- Yes, I have five brpthers and two sisters.
MD- Is in SFL to find such large families?
AM- Yes, I know from families that are up to twelve brothers and sisters...
MD- Which religious confessions do you have in SFL?
AM- The Catholic and the Evangelist christian religions.
MD- Well... look we have lots of visitors... girls... layind around us...
AM- Yes...
MD- Thanks for your answers, Alejandro!
AM- You´re welcome.

INTERVIEW WITH GLENNABAN, FROM SAN FRANCISCO LIBRE

By Mark Downey
Dec 2000

MD- Hello Glennaban, Please talk to me about life in Nicaragua, what do you think?
G- Well, this is a country that works very hard to survive and choose our future. You people from Reading, England, have realised during your visit to SFL about the damages caused by the lastest catastrophes we have been sufering like the draught. We also don´t have many sources of employment. Nowadays the unique activity is fishing, which doesn´t allow to earn much money. As the cost of living for our families is high, because here families are much larger than in your country, getting 5 pounds of fish at 4 Cordobas per pound is not enough to keep all the family.
We welcome and thank you ,our english brother friends, that you have come here to put your grain of sand as we also, the Nicaraguenses of SFL, as well to keep this town alive and improving due to the lack of investment and help from the Nicaraguan government. This town mainly subsists with the support of NGOs and those brother countries that help directly SFL, with their brigades and project teams. We didn´t have here in SFL an Hotel, but soon we will have it open... we are now finishing the last works with the key advice and assistance of the Reading twinning project guided by Chris Weird. Another current project is the building of a public radio station for the comunity, managedhelping with the provision of the necessary equipment. All the beginings are hard times, but I think the town will succeed, and we truly appreciate all the help that comes from abroad. We thank all these people that help us without any interest.
MD- Are you the owner of the bar in SFL?
G- Yes, I am.
MD- So then, how is the bar... is it a big or small bar?.What kind of people come to your bar?
G- In this bar everybody comes, from the poorest to the richest, from the one that doesn't have any money to the one that has lots... everybody is treated well.
MD- Does this means that tonight the beers we are having are for free?
G- You can have one or two for free... there are good days, and worse days.
MD- Do you play any music in the bar?
G- Yes, of course.
MD- What kind of music do you listen to in the bar?
G- We listen to all kinds of music, from Santana, English music, Latin music...
MD- Well Glenaban, thank you very much for having accepted our interview.
G- Thank you too.