Apolinar Centeno Dávila

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Apolinar Centeno is the Bridges to Community community coordinator in the Siuna region. He meets with community members and establishes the short term and long term goals of the various projects that are implemented in the community.

Below is the interview with Apolinar that Douglas Moody conducted at the end of the ten days that the CD team was in Fonseca.

Audio:

Apolinar Centeno Interview (English)

For the Spanish transcription of the interview, click here: Apolinar4_SpanTranscription

Douglas Moody: Let’s continue with the interview. So you have worked with several groups, not just the Dartmouth group, but also other universities and high schools. How is it for you, to have these groups of foreign volunteers working with you all, working in the field with the community members? Any reflections on what it’s like for you to have us here?

Apolinar Centeno: Well, for us as an organization, because we are going to talk about both parts? As an organization, but also as community members, because for us the groups that come to work and collaborate with us on our projects mean a lot but also because it teaches us more and strengthens our work in the community. Why? Because when the group comes there is a lot of exchange with the people of the community and that helps to think with the community. When a group comes, afterwards I go to meetings and assemblies of the community and always they say the groups set an example to the community. The always tell me: look how beautiful it is that people come from other places to give us an example. How beautiful it is that they come to work and help do things and see things that we, who live here can’t see. It’s so beautiful hearing the community members saying how much they learn from the groups of volunteers. Sometimes because of humility or simplicity, they have a great mind but sometimes they can’t express everything but after the groups of volunteers leave, the community members express themselves and tell us how the volunteer groups make them feel motivated, feel good and feel like their work is being recognized by people who come from other places and have helped them. It’s like a reminder that comes to their minds and they are very appreciative of it. Like I said, for us as an organization, every group teaches us something and leaves us with a new experience and the work that each of the groups perform, little by little, adds up. The help ends up being significant and big and you can see a huge help on each project we do.

Douglas Moody: Thank you. I also occurs to me… yesterday you talked about financials and numbers and quantities of money that each project costs and specifically, the water project. Tell me, could you go over the costs that community members pay and what Bridges pays, the donors and every step of the financials of the project?

Apolinar Centeno: Well for this water project especially, but also all the other projects, community members pay 15% of the costs. This 15% goes to a communal bank account that belongs to the community. In this project, Bridges is investing a sum of USD $54,894, but the community is working. We register day by day who is working and every day has a value; every full day costs 150 Cordobas (equivalent to around USD$6). Each community member is then expected to work for 63 full days, which is part of their cost. When you add it all up, the community is contributing over USD$11,000 by working full days. This is a significant and huge value but there are also other ways the community members contribute. By working, community members are contributing 17% of the total cost of the project. This is important.

Now, this project is very expensive, as I explained earlier. We had to contract a business to perforate a well from Managua that had a high cost. We also contracted an organization that works with solar energy that we also had to bring from Managua, and that also had a high cost. We also contracted another organism, Water for Life (Agua para la Vida) for the distribution of the water. Just in labor, it’s a lot of money but why did we do this? Because we wanted to leave something of quality, something that would last a while and be a long term good for the community. So I think each of those investments have been worth it. Why? Because many times we have told ourselves that we could just connect to the power grid coming from Managua. This would be easier and cheaper but we would leave a problem for the community and we as an organization have the objective of solving problems not creating them. Because repairs will be expensive, the administrative parts and sustainability of this project are very important.

It’s like I told you yesterday. Its beautiful seeing this project and its beautiful giving the project to the community. It’s also a huge responsibility from this day on to give, maintain and administer the project well. It was decided that the community would pay 15% of the cost of the project, on top of the $54,800 that bridges invested. It ends up being around USD8, 000, and divided by the 30 families, each family is paying USD$274.47 over 27 months, paying USD$10 a month. Why? This wasn’t a decision that the organization mandated, nor a decision the project coordinator made. Instead, it was a decision made by the community. I told them I would respect their decision because it’s their project, their money. I will only take notes, write up the contract and whatever you all decide, I will help implement. They met and decided to pay monthly, knowing that we will need this money. The pumps can last anywhere from 15 to 20 years and whatever problem, God forbid there be a natural disaster, there could be some damage so we are preparing to find a solution to that. This is part of the sustainability of the project. Consequently, we started collecting the money starting in June of 2013 and now we have a little over USD$1,000 already collected and this money is going to the committee of water to fix any problems the project may encounter. Water for Life (Agua para la Vida) through the contract of the water distribution, there is a clause that says they need to enable the committee and they have don’t a great job because Water For Life has a lot of experience with water projects. Water for Life is leaving the community with an excellent project and the Water Committee has learned everything they need to know about the project.

Douglas Moody: Again, this is a very capable community that can improve itself and has been doing so for many years because the leadership of the community of Fonseca is very special, like you said, and have the sufficient training to be able to take on these projects.

Apolinar Centeno: Yes, the community of Fonseca, for us, has always been an example for other communities and we always say in all the communities that Fonseca is one of the best communities, lets learn from them and follow the paths they have taken and we hope this success will continue. I have a lot of faith that I will see a project continue for many years because there is a good organizational structure, there are many people and the majority of people are conscious of the importance of this project. They are aware of how his project is helping them but they also have the obligation of managing it, caring for it and giving the project the proper maintenance. For us, I believe we all are very happy in having completed such a large task that was very difficult at first. At the end, in conjunction, we all accomplished our goal and I know Miranda is very pleased and has sent a letter. She wrote because she was one of the first ones that partnered with us. Everyone who has collaborated is very happy because the project took a lot of work, from the office of New York to the office in Managua. For us, it was finding who is going to do what in Managua but finally everything worked out and the job will be completed soon.

Douglas Moody: I love the work Bridges does. It’s not only an organization that not only North Americans come to share their insight and give money and everything but also the Nicaraguans are completely involved in the organization. Can you talk a little about this model and also the financial questions about the donors? This is an important part of how Bridges to Community operates. Without the money from the north, we could not realize these projects and also the equipment that Bridges to Community needs.

Apolinar Centeno: The funds always come from small donations in The United States and different sources. In the New York office, there is a special team to promote the projects and raise the funds they need. In Siuna, we work on an outline based on what the demands of the communities are. After, we write an outline of the project, very detailed and the send it to the central office in Managua. They revise it and see if any other details need to be included. Then they send that plan to New York and they accept is and they raise the funds needed. There are also projects that donors will say, “I will donate the funds for a school” and that’s a different process.

Douglas Moody: That’s how [the school in] Amparo was built.

Apolinar Centeno: Yes, but there are many times, such as the water project, that it is more difficult for them to say, “I will give” when the price tag is so expensive. Sometimes there aren’t funds. I think the best thing for a community is the public health projects. What I would like to work on first in every community would be water projects and public health projects such as latrines. Why? Because that’s where the biggest problem for families. But often, we simply cannot materialize funds even if we work hard, its difficult to raise funds for water projects. So in New York, they put in the efforts for raising funds. Projects that they get funds for, they approve.

That’s why we have projects that are plan A and projects that are plan B. Projects that get funds are plan A and plan B are those that continue throughout the years that sometimes get funded and sometimes don’t. That way, we are successively working and every time New York goes to raise funds, we are in communication with Siuna and they are telling us the details required for every donor and we answer their question. They call us and we are constantly sending them information. This way we are working in full communication with everyone and the communication is very fluid. Whatever question or whatever thing they ask about, we are giving them answers so they can raise the funds and when we do raise the funds, we begin working with the community. When the community is aware and in agreement with the project we work very closely with them to make sure the project gets implemented well. We also make sure there is good community involvement in the development of the project.

Douglas Moody: I hope that many projects come to other communities. We will see.

Apolinar Centeno: For me, as coordinator of this program, I wish we could have a project like this every year. We will see, maybe we will get lucky. We will wait and see the results we have because in each community we enter the first thing is always water. There are times when the funds aren’t there. It’s all a process and sometimes we get lucky and sometimes we don’t have the luck we were waiting for.

Douglas Moody: Well now we have a good example in Fonseca. People could pass by here and see how it works; hear their story.

Apolinar Centeno: I think this is a great experience and will serve as an example. Really, these projects are so important for the communities. Such a big help. We hope that with this example, there will be something to motivate others to help and to keep working on these projects. I think it was a great experience and we learned lots. We worked hard and at the end, we accomplished what we wanted, in conjunction with the community.

Douglas Moody: Well, in good time after so many years of hard work! You must be very proud of all of this. I know I’m proud of the little part I got to be involved with and I think the Dartmouth students feel the same way.

Apolinar Centeno: Well, I am very appreciative with all the groups that have come to Fonseca. Since we built the bridge, the community center, the latrines, the groups have worked hard right? I think the work that you all do, as affiliated with Dartmouth, that you shared with us is very significant and I think it is something that will stay in our minds and we won’t forget it. I know this university has helped a lot and we have done good work. This experience with Fonseca that we had with this group was wonderful, how we got along, how we worked, how the people from day one united as family. It motives you because that’s exactly what you want to see: the people working in conjunction. Nicaraguan with North American: working with each other on an equal manner without distinction. For me, accomplishing a project like this makes me very happy with my team. We have had a great support network, from Margarito to Megan. For us, Megan’s arrival was special. It has helped us because the experience she has is great. I believe that Bridges, in Siuna, is a family that pushes each other: how can we help each other. The team in Siuna has always been an example because we are always looking out for each other. How can I help you? Every time we solicit help, we are all there for each other. This is a process that I am very happy to finish and it was a great task in the beginning and at the end our involvement was minimal. This was thanks to the support and I know that united, we will always triumph. This is a large team. We do not see each other as individuals but as a family. Always Margarito is sharing personal information with us. We are teaching each other and always asking what we can do for each other and what ideas we have. In life, you always learn from others. When you work together, you should expect a happy triumph at the end.

Douglas Moody: Apolinar, thank you for this talk

Apolinar Centeno: Well I want to thank you, professor. You have been a marvelous person and being with you, sharing time with you has been something important in our lives. I hope we will continue seeing each other and working in other communities.