We are writing to our friends and the organizations who have helped and shown solidarity with us since the emergency until now. This work continues and is turning out to be a task which will take a long time. This experience is opening new possibilities and opportunities.

The Women’s Construction Collective and the Network of Women were active on the Emergency Committee. The Network of Women played an integral role within the Committee, working directly with the refugees and those affected, by organizing information and distributing food and other donations for immediate use. We at the Women's Construction Collective took a logistical role of transportation, coordination with the Women's Movement, soliciting help, and keeping the groups and friends outside the country informed of the situation.

It was at this time that we decided to incorporate the construction of housing for women, as the Women's Construction Collective already had experience in this realm. We could take advantage of the situation to teach women, increase our influence, and offer construction and carpentry services to other projects.

Some members of the Network of Women and the Women's Construction Collective were involved in forming the task forces of the Emergency Committee (Infrastructure, Environment, Food) with representatives from other NGOs and institutions (MINSA, the local government, the Catholic and Evangelical Church). It took a short time at first to make a division between Church and State (the Catholic Church continued working on the food aid with the Liberals who are the party in power). Afterwards, while the institutions (particularly the local government) got back to "normal," they again took power away from the members of the Task Forces, giving the Emergency Committee a merely institutional character.

The Network of Women, together with other organizations and institutions, had to obtain the facts and information about women in the municipality and verified the lists of those affected. This level of communication permitted the exchange of lists in order to prevent duplication of housing beneficiaries or construction materials. The priorities of the Network of Women are single women, politically dedicated to anti-violence, leaders of their neighborhoods and communities, women advocates already trained or in training, other individuals who have identified themselves to have these qualities.

The Network of Women organized brigades of women from the countryside and the city for the reestablishment of foot paths, as well as educational brigades for the prevention of illness and epidemics.

We began to secure money for the houses and for the costs related to construction and training of women. A short time after the hurricane two international contacts (one in the UK and one in the U.S.) took the initiative to organize brigades of women (skilled and unskilled in construction). Now there are two groups helping: Condega Homemakers Project (U.S.) and Condega Aid Project (UK).

We are looking for a forewoman; we worked with one previously (the only one we know of the country), but she was busy with another self-build project. This was a problem for us, and we asked urgently that the brigades send us forewomen to manage and teach; it was not easy to for them to find forewomen either.

The Network of Women helped us in the search for four students (young women and beneficiaries of the Network of Women) for an introductory course in carpentry (January and February 1999). A special course followed (February and March) to train in the production of doors and windows for our houses and to offer our services to other housing projects. This course included two of the best students of the previous course.

During this stage the psychologist from the Network of Women visited the refuges with her students from Estelí in order to attend to refugees in trauma, since the Network of Women attended to women.

The Network of Women worked on other projects with their Advocates and community/neighborhood leaders on a "work for food" basis, cleaning and repairing walkways and roads. The women help themselves and in this way benefit by contributing to the reconstruction.

From February until April the first brigade was here [Condega Homemakers Project], two forewomen and 5 unskilled women, building almost all of the first house. Working with them were the beneficiary (an Advocate of the Network of Women), her son, and women apprentices from the Women's Construction Collective. It is the first rural house we built, in Santa Teresa, 10 km outside of Condega. Meanwhile we negotiated with the local government the other 30 lots in the new urban zone in El Culse, 1 km outside of the city center. The house in Santa Teresa functioned as the pilot house to test the design, techniques, organization of work, etc.

Once we had the lots given by the local government, we were able to develop the project to its maximum capacity. We built the tool shed and contracted personnel (CPF and responsible for the bodega) specifically for the control of materials and the care of the land.

This brigade of volunteers came for a short time. We regretted that we didn't have the capacity to build more houses with the forewomen of the brigade, since their presence had allowed us to train women simultaneously. Without exception we were working against the weather with the onset of rainy season, the pressure from the beneficiaries to have their houses, two forewomen form Europe with construction experience, many unskilled volunteers, and worries of future hurricanes. We decided to contract with a local foreman to build 17 houses. We were to build 6 houses at the pace needed to train women and work with the brigades, under the guidance of the contracted foreman, since we didn't have a forewoman.

Our women's project has been responsible for producing the window frames and door frames for these 17 houses, as well as the windows and doors, the window boxes in the kitchen, the internal partitions of the house and the mounts for them.

Since March we have trained and integrated two women in making ironwork. One led a team on site and the other led a team in the workshop. Sometimes, according to need, we supplemented the teams with brigadistas, who also worked making bends in the ironwork.

After the training in carpentry the 6 women continued working on doors and windows until two became apprentices in construction.

This team worked an extra shift at night because we had one contract for doors, windows, and frames from organizations who work with women from the countryside. The other carpenters have in addition the contract of doors, windows, and frames for us, a contract for the same with another women's organization which works in the region. Obviously this increased their level of income and experience.

Work Log of the Women's Construction Collective in the workshop and on site.

Since January we have completed the following activities:

1. 168-hour course, introductory course in carpentry, use of manual tools - 4 women
2. One-month special course, windows and doors, learning the use of machines - 6 women (the same 4 + 2 from the previous year)
3. One-week special course, making ironwork - 2 women
4. Apprenticeship in carpentry and construction - 12 women

1. In carpentry, production of doors and windows - 6 women (the same)
2. In training in construction, building the 6 houses - 4 women (also working on carpentry)
3. Team for making ironwork in the workshop (2 women - lead by one skilled woman)
4. Team for making ironwork and responsible for the tool shed (2 women lead by one skilled woman)

1. We have contracted a cook for the apprentices and the brigadistas who live in the dormitory of the workshop. This is also our contribution to the brigadistas who come voluntarily on their own funds.
2. We bought a machine to make blocks, which is working, but still in a stage of experimentation and training. Even though we don't have women for this business, it is administrated like a sub-micro-enterprise of the Women's Construction Collective. It has produced all of the blocks for the houses.
3. So that the site would function well with this new situation, we built a roof over the last available space in order to allow a large quantity of wood to dry. The wood is for houses, doors, and windows.

Apart from the beneficiaries mentioned above, there is one foreman with his 14 workers, the CPF on the site, a team of 6 young men making blocks, and other contractors (delivering materials, arranging wood, etc.) Family members of the beneficiaries of the houses are working to contribute to the reduction of price of the houses.

We have bought almost all of our material in Estelí, and the wood (pine) comes from a sawmill in a forest management project in Nueva Segovia.

1. Attending to the refugees in the refuges.
2. Individual and group attention.
3. Attention to secondary school students.
4. Attention to battered women (as usual).

The Network of Women conducted one-on-one interviews with the beneficiaries of the houses in order to make agreement dependent on the personal situation of each one, and in this way pay the cost of the house, whether by working or in weekly payments. The fund which results from these systems of payment will serve to fund other stages of the project of housing for women, or for the promotion of an economic program for women. In this way one confronts the fundamental problems for women to own their own houses and to create employment for them, a situation which worsened with the phenomenon of Mitch.

During this entire period the Network of Women and the Women's construction participated in the activities of the Women's movement, contributing to the Reconstruction and Transformation of the country to the Central American level, which brought the Civil Coordinator and other delegations to the Common Forum of the NGO's in the official meeting of Estolcolmo, Suecia, in May. The Women's Construction Collective is part of the feminist movement, the National Feminist Committee. We meet monthly and the Network of Women participated in the Central American Meeting "Women in the Reconstruction" (April 14-16) in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

For the Women's Construction Collective and for the Network of Women, the reconstruction has been an improvisation, but advantageous for the disposition of the activities which forced it. We have encountered many difficulties on the way because of inexperience in leading and administrating a big project, but it has gotten better with time:

1. For example, we didn't have women with experience in construction to launch the project, neither did we find qualified women who could stay and teach with us. This we overcame by contracting a foreman and we are taking steps to get a forewoman as part of the development of the Training Program in Construction. Meanwhile, the apprentices are learning to make houses under the supervision of the foreman.
2. This type of work requires much organization, coordination of teams, materials, personnel, vehicles, etc. We have encountered problems, but in a manner we were more prepared than ever with the conditions on site, a team of united personnel, contacts and funds to obtain sufficient tools, a cement mixer, a generator which will serve in the future also as investments. We have had problems with space: a workshop which earlier was large now feels small with so much movement.
3. We have achieved a good relation of work and cooperation with the foreman and his team in general which will serve in future contracts of construction.

Thanks to all our friends, here and internationally, who have helped us in all ways during this period: money, tools, T-shirts, ideas, good energy, and volunteering, etc. We will write again at the end of the project.

An embrace from the Network of Women of Condega and the Women's Construction Collective of Condega goes to:

Gerald y Lisa Fairtlough (UK)

Condega Homemakers Project/Margarita Suarez (U.S.)

MADRE

American Jewish World Service

Trocaire (Ireland)

Dia Mundial de Mujeres de la Oración (Gremany)

WOMANKIND (UK)

Acción Solidaria Aragonesa (Spain)

Iglesia Los Hermanos (U.S.)

ICZA/Sieglinde Grunseis (Austria)

Christiane Sattler, Roswita Nagel, Barbara y amigas (Germany)

Fondo Global para Mujeres (U.S.)

CIIR/CID (UK)

Stichting Noordelijk Institut (Holland)

Ayuda Feminista para Centroamérica / Ana Ferguson (U.S.)

Maria Los Angeles (Germany)

Bill Bordass y amiga/os(UK)

Alison Rooper, Jenny Rathbone, John y amiga/os (UK)

ICADS/Lucy Grinnell (U.S.)

West Hampstead Housing Association/Judy Pevan (UK)

Derek Pidgeon General Builders

Monovan Construction Ltd.

South Birmingham College (UK)

From Birmingham to Nicaragua (UK)

Condega Aid Project (UK)

Jane Shears (UK)

Mary Edbrooke (UK)

Frouke Schuringa (Holanda)

Neela (U.S.) Johnny Symons (U.S.)

Brigadistas and brigade organizers from the UK and U.S.

Comité Nacional Feminista, amigas nacionales y centroamericanas