UNITED CHURCH
of the VALLEY

News from Nicaragua and Just Hope

Since 2008, UCV has partnered with the poor rural community of Chacraseca, Nicaragua. We’ve had many teams from UCV spend a week or more at a time building houses , digging latrines (ugh!) and helping develop and support a music program in several of the schools and the community at large. We’ve forged lasting friendships with the people in Nicaragua and hosted a few of them in Murrieta. We’ve worked thru a Tulsa-based non-profit called Just Hope. In fact, UCV was Just Hope’s very first group when Just Hope officially established in 2008. Our group built two simple houses that year, both in very remote, hard to get to areas of Chacraseca. The houses, like most at that time in the community, had dirt floors. Another team that was there at the same we was composed of community health students. They asked about our project and, when they learned that the houses had dirt floors, they commented that the single biggest benchmark for improved health outcomes was to have houses with paved floors. So, at a meeting of our team and the local governing committee, we shared that information and asked how much more would it cost to have a paved floor. When we learned that the additional cost would only be another $200/house, our team dug into our pockets and came up with the additional funds to pave “our” two houses. From that point forward, every house that was built by visiting teams had paved floors! The model of Just Hope really resonated with all of us at UCV was that of building a partnership between our church and the people in Chacraseca. We weren’t there to bring charity or handouts, we were there to work side by side with the local people and forge long term relationships. Most of us who went to Chacraseca I think would agree that we learned more and received more than we gave. In 2018, we had a team ready to go to Chacraseca when severe political unrest made it unsafe to travel there. In 2019, I was part of a group of adult leaders who went down to assess the situation and the possibility of resuming trips. We felt that things “felt” safe and, carefully, plans began to be made for 2020 which, of course, was when covid hit. By the time that covid eased enough for groups to again consider safe travel, the Nicaragua government was becoming increasingly oppressive to the Nicaraguans and likewise putting more controls on foreign visitors. As a result of all of this uncertainty, tourism in Nicaragua which had been an essential part of the economy virtually shut down. In addition to an office in Tulsa, Just Hope had an office in Leon (near Chacraseca) employing local translators, office workers and

liasons with the US Office. Increasingly, the government was becoming suspicious of NGO’s. As a result, it was dangerous for the local staff to be seen as affiliated with the US, finally resulting in the “temporary” shutting down of the office in Nicaragua. Unfortunately the situation has gotten worse rather than better. Last winter, the chair of the Just Hope Board of

Directors, was denied entry into the country, presumably because she reposted on Facebook a flyer promoting a concert in the US of a Nicaraguan refugee now living in CA. All of these events have led to the painful decision to close down the US office of Just Hope as of July,

2026. This has been a very difficult and painful decision for the board (I’ve been on the board for the past 2 years) and, especially for Just Hope’s founder and director, Rev. Leslie Penrose. See the letter below: