The Burlington/ Puerto Cabezas Sister City program continued it mission of supporting ìpeople-to-peopleî projects between the residents of Burlington, Vermont and those of Puerto Cabezas on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua.

     In September the Board voted to support two main projects for the year, allocating $1000 to each.
     One was for continued support of the Community Video Project begun with URACCAN in 2000, to be directed by Board Member Dan Higgins.
     The other was for preliminary efforts at establishing a teaching program, and ultimately a school, for training young people in Puerto Cabezas in the construction trades, to be directed by Board member Charlie Delaney.

     In December we were able to send a check for $1000 to The Maureen Courtney School for Special Education in Bilwi, the result of fundraising efforts orchestrated by Lynn McNicol during 2002. Director Sister Katy Schilling reports that the money will be used toward sports equipment and needed salaries for part time teachers. 

     In February Dr. Myrna Cunningham, former rector of URACCAN, visited Burlington, bringing with her examples of videos produced through the Video Project at URACCAN. She brought a list of over 50 locally produced programs, as well as copies of her own program ìAgenda Costenaî that is cablecast weekly in six communities: Bilwi, Waspam, Pearl Lagoon, Bluefielsds, Bonanza, and Siuna.  The highlight was a 15-minute fictional film, produced by Myrna, scripted by local writer Avelino Cox, videographed by Julio Bordas, with local residents as actors, based on the traditional Miskito story of the young man and the mermaid that had been reinterpreted with an ecological message. 
The UVM anthropology department hosted a talk for the academic and educational community in which Myrna described the process of forming URACCAN.

     At the request of Mayor Peter Clavelle local musician Paul Asbell, in collaboration with Calliope Music store, obtained a new guitar for Puerto Cabezan songwriter Remigio Hodgson. The guitar was delivered to him in May, at which time he introduced his new song, "Tamugaî, citing the rising costs of living in the region. We are putting together a CD of some of Remigioís songs for those Vermonters who have been requesting it.

     During the spring semester 2003 Board member David Hutchinson taught a class at Johnson State College for 13 students, exploring the history, the culture, the economy etc. of Nicaraguaís Atlantic coast. The culmination of the class was for the group to visit Puerto Cabezas in May where, under the auspices of a service organization called Breakaway, the group planned 3 weeks of service activities in the community. Board member Puerto Cabezan Howard Jaentschke arranged for contacts in the community, and the Sister City Board allocated $1000 for supplies, etc. to help the group. While in Bilwi the students carried out several activities, including painting the hospital, working at an orphanage, donating money to a local school, and planting palm trees for the municipality. They also transported1000 pairs of eyeglasses collected form Lionís Clubs which they left at the convent for distribution. The Johnson students participated cheerfully in many aspects of life in the community and were ideal ambassadors exemplifying the Sister City Programísìpeople-to-peopleî mission.

     In May board members Dan Higgins and Jane Kramer returned to ìîPortî to help nurture the URACCAN Video Project begun in 2000. Using the funds allocated they obtained a new video camcorder, rewinder, electronic accessories and lots of tape stock. They also obtained a DVD player and DVD discs and established a DVD Media center in the new library at URACCAN.  To encourage better integration of the video program into the educational mission of URACCAN Dan made a presentation to the heads of academic units, showing videos of past work, and discussing how videos might be used in teaching situations. He also taught workshops for former URACCAN students in the art of digital editing. 

     Julio Bordas and Jimmy Lopez, former students of Danís, have left URACAN but continue to produce videos in the community. Julio coordinates the PuertoVision access channel; Jimmy works with Myrna Cunningham on her weekly show, Costena Agenda. Between the various groups producing videos community access cablevision is alive and well in Puerto Cabezas.

     Dan also worked with Rossman Flores, a Miskito man who was a former student of his, supporting Rossmanís visits to indigenous communities where he produced hours of video of life in those communities. Dan is editing that work to be put on DVD for an interactive presentation this October in UVMís Living-Learning gallery as part of the UVM Hispanic forum. 

     In May the fireturck donated by the Salisbury fire department was finally trucked to Miami, put on the ship in July and as of August 10 has arrived in Puerto Cabezas.  In addition to being packed with much needed fire-fighting gear the truck includes 3/4-inch video editing decks donated by Adelphia Public Access Channels 15 and 17, along with studio video cameras and hours of cassettes destined to help PuertoVision Cable company establish a public access studio in ìPortî. 

     Charlie Delaney has not as yet accessed the funds allocated for his technical school project. Charlie plans to produce a brochure he can use to solicit support from local Vermont construction companies. He also plans to bring a young Nicaraguan man to Vermont and enroll him in a technical training program, preparing him for the role of director of the future technical school.

     Our Sister City web site continues to generate numerous queries and we have been able to connect numerous groups and individuals interested in Nicaraguaís Atlantic Coast. We are trying to broaden our membership and communicate more regularly through the Internet. 

     2004 will be the 20th anniversary of the Burlington/ Puerto Cabezas Sister City Program. Strong relationships have developed between the communities over the years, and we hope to celebrate this anniversary in both locations, perhaps with a delegation to Bilwi in February and one bringing Neko and his dance group to Vermont in April. To kick off the 20th year celebration we participated in the Burlington Latino Festival in August, closing off the street in front of City Hall for a street dance featuring Soka music from Howard Jaentschkeís CDs, and exhibiting Dan Higginsí photographs of residents of Burlington and Puerto Cabezas ìSide By Sideî in the municipal gallery.
     Members are always welcome to our monthly meetings and we seek new board members representing different aspects of the community.