On Wednesday 6 November 2024, the Reading San Francisco Libre Association (RSFLA) marked the 30th anniversary of the twin town link between Reading and San Francisco Libre in Nicaragua with a special event celebrating the achievements over 30 years.
A 30th anniversary celebration event, attended by the Deputy Mayor of Reading Borough Council – Alice Mpofu-Coles (pictured below with David Sutton and Paul Starkey of RSFLA), staff from the University of Reading, colleagues from other UK-Nicaragua twinning organisations, representatives of all Reading’s twin towns and Trustees and supporters of the RSFLA, took place at RISC as part of the Reading International Festival. The event, which was open to everyone to come and hear about the history of the link, showcased the many projects the RSFLA have funded and the achievements of the partnership. There was a photographic exhibition showcasing San Francisco Libre and its people, as well as live links with San Francisco Libre and videos showcasing the work of the Apreden NGO team in SFL.
About the RSFLA
Through the RSFLA, a volunteer-led organisation based in Reading, Reading has been working with the community of San Francisco Libre in the Central American country of Nicaragua since the late 1980s. This was formalised by the official twinning in 1994.
RSFLA is an associated registered charity that funds a number of projects and educational initiatives in San Francisco Libre through a local partner NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) Apreden (Asociación por la Recuperación y el Desarrollo en Nicaragua or the Association for Restoration and Development in Nicaragua).
Over the past 30 years, the RSFLA has worked to increase understanding and partnership between the two communities of Reading and SFL. With the support of many people in Reading, the University of Reading, Reading Borough Council and many others, the Association has helped San Francisco Libre by providing ongoing assistance with numerous community projects in the municipality. In 1998, the Mayor of Reading launched an appeal to assist reconstruction after the natural disaster of Hurricane Mitch, in which the nearby lake level rose by four metres, flooding five thousand acres of the municipality, destroying houses, pastures, latrines, crops, bridges and roads.
The three main ongoing projects supported financially by RSFLA’s trust are:-
La Biblioteca library and community centre supports learning in the community
La Biblioteca library and community centre, built and equipped with the support of RSFLA, is run by Apreden. It has books, computers, video equipment and an internet connection and provides facilities where young people can meet with friends, prepare school homework or university projects, attend the reading club, participate in arts and crafts, games and sports or receive assistance in learning to read. It also runs special courses for young people or adults, including clothes making, guitar and keyboard lessons, English language lessons and an Information Technology (IT) course. Currently, graduates of a recent English course are volunteering to teach younger children English at the centre.
Bursaries to allow young people to attend school
A bursary of about £10 per student per month allows them to attend school instead of having to support their family economically from a young age. The fruits of this project can be seen in the doctors, nurses, teachers and other professionals working locally who benefitted from schooling enabled by the bursary programme and had then continued to university. Currently, the bursary programme supports 106 disadvantaged families in the urban area and outlying communities, with children in both primary and secondary schools.
La Guayabita environmental centre
Deforestation is a great environmental challenge to San Francisco Libre. People earn on average less than $100 a month and resort to cutting down trees for sale as firewood. A crucial long-term project has been the development of La Guayabita and its nursery of indigenous trees and fruit trees. Sustainable reforestation is enabled by planting trees which support the production of crops such as coffee, cocoa and honey, which offer direct, short-term benefits in addition to the long-term benefits of reforestation.
In addition, over the past 30 years, the projects supported by RSFLA have included:–
• Hosting a young person from San Francisco Libre to undertake a carpentry course at Reading College in order to start a carpentry business and train apprentices in San Francisco Libre.
• Funding the purchase of 12,000 shade, fruit and timber trees to help reforest parts of San Francisco Libre.
• Part-funding a new school at Los Tiesos, a new community about 4 km from the main town of San Francisco Libre, resettled as a result of lake inundation.
• Bringing the internet and wifi to La Biblioteca and supplying computers
• A pilot apiculture (bees) group was funded with a donation of £2000 for equipment and protective clothing to produce organic honey. The group has been successful and has expanded.
• In 2018, the RSFLA funded the purchase of 4.5 acres of land on the northern side of La Guayabita ecological centre to plant fruit cropping trees (banana, dragon fruit, mango and guava).
• Developed greater ownership of poultry at a small household scale with 27 families each receiving locally sourced chickens of a hardy indigenous breed (gallinas criollas) able to thrive while free ranging in the local environment.
Many of these projects have been funded by the David Grimes Trust set up in memory of Dr David Grimes, a Senior Lecturer in Hydrometeorology at the Department of Meteorology of Reading University. David died at the age of 60 from a rare neurodegenerative condition. He was a strong advocate for social justice and equitable international development and was a founding member of the Reading-San Francisco Libre Association and a trustee of its charity. The University’s Meteorology Department’s annual ball is a fundraiser for San Francisco Libre.
The current chair of the RSFLA, Paul Starkey, said “Reading’s 30-year partnership with San Francisco Libre has been amazing, with people in both towns gaining from the cultural exchanges. As Reading is much richer, it has been able to contribute to the education, development and ecology of San Francisco Libre. This has only been possible through the fund-raising work of volunteers and the generosity of people. Join us to reflect on our 30 years of town twinning, and please volunteer to work with us, and contribute to the continuation of this important partnership with people in Nicaragua”.
The Mayor of Reading, Councillor Glenn Dennis, said: “Reading Borough Council would like to send a message of solidarity to the people of San Francisco Libre in Nicaragua and to commend the work of the volunteers at the Reading San Francisco Libre Association in marshalling Reading’s support for one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Over the last 30 years, the work of the Association has supported a wide range of projects in our twin town of San Francisco Libre, including regular bursaries that have allowed many young people to attend school instead of having to work to support the family economy.”
About San Francisco Libre
The municipality of San Francisco Libre (SFL) runs along 50 miles of the northern shoreline of Lake Xolotlán (Lake Managua) across the water from Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. Its 12,000 inhabitants live in one small town and 32 small communities in an area of 756 km2. It came into existence in the early 1900s as a port for transporting goods from the north of Nicaragua to Managua markets, as SFL is only 24 miles from Managua by boat but 47 miles by road. When the Pan American Highway was built in the 1950s, it deprived SFL of its key transport advantages and it reverted to a largely agricultural and fishing community. In the past year, a new road has been constructed that links Managua to the second city of León (twinned with Oxford) and this passes through SFL, which may influence future developments. It is also possible that a second international airport for Managua may be built in the far east of the municipality.
Reading’s twin towns and cities
In addition to San Francisco Libre, Reading is twinned with Düsseldorf (Germany), Clonmel (Ireland) and Speightstown (Barbados) – all 4 organisations came together for the 30 the anniversary event for Reading-San Francisco Libre. San Francisco Libre is also twinned with the German town of Oldenburg and RSFLA works very closely with NV Oldenburg in our joint support of San Francisco Libre resulting in excellent three-way friendship and collaboration.
