An overview of Project Gettysburg/León

Who would have predicted in 1983 when Will Lane, an ‘82 Gettysburg College grad, traveled to Nicaragua that his experience would turn out to be the first step toward the development of Project Gettysburg/León, Gettysburg’s sister city organization. Yet it was one of the early influences, and by 1985 connections were forming between Gettysburg and Nicaragua under the leadership of Chaplain Karl Mattson and with strong institutional support from Gettysburg College itself which continues to this day through the campus’s Center for Public Service. 

In 1985 nine Gettysburgians visited Nicaragua in a travel seminar organized by the Augsburg College Center for Global Education, and in the community that year a fund-raising “Peace Concert” was produced at the College Chapel with Tim Braband as choral director and Norm Nunamaker conductor of the orchestra.

1986 is the year in which Project Gettysburg/León became an identifiable organization. Given the opportunity to ally with Project Minnesota/León, which already had an office and full-time coordinator in León, interested individuals in the community and at the College established an official relationship with PML. These individuals began meeting informally once a month, holding a pot-luck dinner at the homes of the supporters. PGL immediately engaged in support of a wide range of projects in León, from the hospital to the volunteer fire fighters. Eventually, however, PGL  grew large enough to separate from PML and become its own organization with its own office in León. 

When did Gettysburg become a sister city of León? The Borough entered into an official sister-city relationship with a resolution on February 13, 1990. Prior to that, in the spring of 1988, PGL had been incorporated as a non-profit entity in Pennsylvania. The two “incorporators” who signed the official document were Will Lane and Karl Mattson. 

The important question was, how could one best help the people of Nicaragua? After all, they live in the third poorest country in the western hemisphere, and initially for PGL, as the war in Nicaragua was coming to an end in the late 1980’s, the immediate needs were obvious. PGL gathered contributions of such things as clothing and medical and dental supplies. Over time the categories kept increasing to include sporting goods, bicycles, sewing machines, toys, etc. 

However, it was always clear that the more effective way to help people is not simply to give them things, but to support initiatives that the people themselves want and can sustain. Hence, as PGL’s motto indicates, its two-fold goal is to support sustainable development and to share cultures, and its character has remained that of a people-to-people organization. 

Currently PGL works with five major projects, four connected with education. One is support of a school for the arts, the Xuchialt Foundation, where young teachers give instruction in painting, folkloric dance, and music. In Gettysburg paintings by the instructors can be seen in several locations, such as Gettysburg High School and the seminary. The next visit by persons from Xuchialt will be in the fall of 2019.

PGL also aids two after-school programs, Las Tias, that serves at-risk youth, and “Homework Clubs,” a very successful activity introduced last year when the dangerous political turmoil made it risky for children to go to school and caused schools to close. PGL’s fourth educational project is financial assistance for three young men studying to be agricultural extensionists. Obviously the beauty of their education is that its effect will be multiplied in the agricultural community.

The fifth major initiative is the attractive plan to install a complete water supply system for the remote, hillside village of Talolinga. The total project is expected to cost $30,000 to $50,000, a very large amount compared to PGL’s usual commitments, and the hope is for sizable grants.

Meanwhile, what about the current political situation in Nicaragua? Unfortunately, the life of Nicaragua as an exemplary peaceful country changed dramatically last April when government cuts in social programs caused civil unrest, and estimates are that well over 300 people were killed in the first months of the turmoil. The violence was not as bad in León as in other areas, but street barricades and effects of the turmoil, such as businesses shutting their doors, made life difficult.

As violence increased, many people left the country, and one estimate is that about 50,000 are in Costa Rica. A few programs like PGL closed as their directors returned to their home counties. In contrast, however, PGL decided from the start to remain active in Nicaragua, knowing that for over thirty years it has remained a non-political entity. 

During the summer the unrest did, however, cause PGL’s in-country director and his wife, Steve and Kath Lewis, to return to England before the end of Steve’s contract in May, 2019. Coincidentally, a serious health issue for Kath made it logical for both her and Steve to return to their home country.  

Fortunately for PGL, one of its earlier in-country directors, Greg Bowles, and his wife, Mercedes, live permanently in Nicaragua, so PGL was very happy when Greg accepted the invitation to step in as interim director. Thus, the program in León continued without a break, and the meetings of PGL supporters (with, yes, the delicious pot-luck dinners!), continue on the first Sunday of each month.

Aside from PGL’s annual fund-raising auction on January 19, readers are invited to participate in PGL in at least two additional ways. One is to attend the informative and educational monthly meetings, and another is to join the group going to Nicaragua in August, 2019. For more information contact: www.gettysburg-leon.org or 717-337-6490.