Hartford/Ocotal Sister City Project
January 2009 – April 2016
Monthly Activities
From April 2009 to March 2011, the Steering Committee of the Hartford/Ocotal Sister City Project met every month except August. From April 2011, following incorporation, to March 2015, the Board of Directors of the Hartford/Ocotal Sister City Project, Inc. met monthly except in August each year and in December 2013, November 2014, and February 2016; also, annual meetings were held in April.
H/OSCP sent a $400 donation to FUNAFAM monthly during this period.
Other Activities
2016
January
Reading Group Discussion of Eleni N. Gage’s The Ladies of Managua. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
February
Reading Group Discussion of poems by Ernesto Cardenal. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
March
Reading Group Discussion of documentary film Café Chavalos: Overcoming the Streets. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
April
Reading Group Discussion of Jeffrey L. Gould’s To Die in This Way: Nicaraguan Indians and the Myth of Mestizaje, 1880-1965 (through p.133). Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
2015
January
Reading Group Discussion of Claribel Alegria’s Family Album (transl. Amanda Hopkinson). Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
February
Reading Group Discussion of ethnographic documentary film The Black Creoles:
Memories and Identities. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the
Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
March
Reading Group Discussion of ethnographic documentary film Lubaraun. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
April
Reading Group Discussion of Rubén Darío’s Stories and Poems / Cuentos y Poesias: A Dual Language Book (transl. Stanley Appelbaum). Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
First in New Evening Series: Reading Group Discussion of ethnographic documentary film The Black Creoles:Memories and Identities. Light refreshments. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
May
Publication of Newsletter.
Reading Group Discussion of Silvio Sirias’s The Saint of Santa Fe. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
Second in Evening Series: Reading Group Discussion of ethnographic documentary film Lubaraun. Light refreshments. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
June
Reading Group Discussion of Vidaluz Meneses’ Flame in the Air: Bilingual Poetry Edition (transl. and ed. by Maria Roof), Sect. I and II. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
Inspiration to Action Networking Fair. Stowe Center at Immanuel Congregational Church, Hartford.
Third in Evening Series: Reading Group Discussion of Stories, Poems, and Pictures from the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua. Light refreshments. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
July
Reading Group Discussion of Vidaluz Meneses’ Flame in the Air: Bilingual Poetry Edition (transl. and ed. by Maria Roof), Sect. III. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
September
Goodwill at the Grill. Whole Foods Market benefit lunch for H/OSCP. Bishops Corner, West Hartford.
October
Proposed Canal – Visits of Katherine Hoyt and Victor Campos
Katherine Hoyt’s Radio Interviews about Proposed Canal with Mike De Rosa of WWUH and WESU and with John Dankosky of WNPR.
Reading Group Discussion with Victor Campos: Recent Articles about the Proposed Canal in Nicaragua. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
Victor Campos’s Talks on Proposed Canal at CCSU and UCONN.
Katherine Hoyt’s Talks on Proposed Canal at Trinity College and Conn. Coalition for Environmental Justice.
The Nicaragua Canal Debate: Development, Environment, Rights. With Katherine Hoyt and Victor Campos. Panel and reception at Trinity College.
Two H/OSCP Board Suppers, One with Katherine Hoyt in Burlington with Focus on H/OSCP Goals, and One with Victor Campos in Hartford.
Visit to Harriet Beecher Stowe House with Katherine Hoyt.
Visit to The MarkTwain House and Museum with Victor Campos.
November
Publication of Newsletter.
Wine Tasting Benefit for H/OSCP at Grace Episcopal Church, Hartford.
Reading Group Discussion of Selected Poems about Women’s Lives and Gender Roles in Vidaluz Meneses’ Flame in the Air: Bilingual Poetry Edition, (transl. and ed. by Maria Roof), and of Implicit Ties between Recent Canal Issues and Meneses’ Writing. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
December
Fundraiser at Ten Thousand Villages, West Hartford. Percentage of sales donated to H/OSCP.
2014
January
Reading Group Discussion of Poetry by Nicaraguan Women. Brown bag lunch.
Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of Its Bridging Cultures
Series.
February
Reading Group Discussion of Sergio Ramirez’s Margarita, How Beautiful the Sea (transl.
Michael B. Miller). Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the
Library as part of Its Bridging Cultures Series.
Delegation to Ocotal.
March
Report on 2014 Delegation to Ocotal. Bristol Rotary Club.
Reading Group: “February 2014 Impressions of Nicaragua: the International Poetry Festival in Granada, the New Canal Proposal, and Ocotal, Hartford’s Nicaraguan Sister City.” Presentation by H/OSCP delegates to Ocotal. Related media articles and group
discussion. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as
part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
April
Reading Group Reading and Discussion of The Güegüense. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored
by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
May
Wine Tasting Benefit for H/OSCP at Grace Episcopal Church, Hartford.
Reading Group Discussion of Leonel Rugama’s The Earth Is a Satellite of the
Moon. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of
its Bridging Cultures Series.
June
Inspiration to Action Networking Fair. Stowe Center at Immanuel Congregational Church,
Hartford.
Reading Group Discussion of “Poverty and Microfinance in Nicaragua Today.” Brown
bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging
Cultures Series.
Publication of Newsletter.
Community Read of The Güegüense with H/OSCP and HartBeat Ensemble at the HartBeat Ensemble’s Carriage House Theater, Hartford. Talk back with Abigail Adams,
anthropology professor at CCSU.
July
Reading Group Discussion of the film La Yuma. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by
Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
September
Goodwill at the Grill. Whole Foods Market benefit lunch for H/OSCP. Bishops Corner,
West Hartford.
October
Reading Group Discussion of Salomon de la Selva’s Tropical Town and Other Poems.
Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its
Bridging Cultures Series.
November
Publication of Newsletter
Reading Group Discussion of News from Nicaragua. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by
Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
An Evening with Paul Baker Hernandez, Eco-Minstrel and Social Activist from Managua.
Music, pictures, and discussion of issues in Nicaragua. Grace Episcopal Church, Hartford.
December
Fundraiser at Ten Thousand Villages, West Hartford. Percentage of sales donated to
H/OSCP.
2013
January
Reading Group Discussion of Claribel Alegria’s Luisa in Realityland. Brown bag lunch.
Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures
Series.
February
Television Program with H/OSCP Board Members about H/OSCP and Nicaragua. Hartford Cable Access.
Discussion with Martin do Nascimento about His Recent Peace Corps Experience in
Nicaragua. Hartford Seminary.
Second Reading Group Discussion of Claribel Alegria’s Luisa in Realityland. Brown
bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging
Cultures Series.
March
Reading Group Discussion of Nicaraguan Music. “The roles of revolutionary song –a
Nicaraguan assessment” by Robert Pring-Mill and “ ‘Let’s Enjoy As Nicaraguans’: The
Use of Music in the Construction of a Nicaraguan National Consciousness” by T.M.
Scruggs. Songs with translations presented by Andrew Hook. Assistance of Amy Martin.Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
April
Wine Tasting Benefit for H/OSCP at Grace Episcopal Church, Hartford.
Concert to Benefit H/OSCP at Eastern Conn. State University in Willimantic. Sponsored by
ECSU Peace and Human Rights Club.
Reading Group Discussion of Daisy Zamora’s Clean Slate: New and Selected Poems.
Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its
Bridging Cultures Series.
May
Reading Group Discussion of Sergio Ramirez’s A Thousand Deaths Plus One (transl. Leland H. Chambers). Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
Publication of Newsletter.
Inspiring Action Fair. Table. Stowe Center at Immanuel Congregational Church, Hartford.
June
Harriet Beecher Stowe Community Birthday Fair. Table. Stowe Center, Hartford.
Hartford/Ocotal Sister City Project 25th Anniversary Celebration. Hartford Friends Meeting House, West Hartford.
Second Reading Group Discussion of Sergio Ramirez’s A Thousand Deaths Plus One
(transl. Leland H. Chambers). Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public
Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
July
Reading Group Discussion of Gioconda Belli’s Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand (transl.
Margaret Sayers Peden). Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library
at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
September
Goodwill from the Grill. Whole Foods Market benefit lunch for H/OSCP. Bishops Corner,
West Hartford.
October
Reading Group Discussion of Omar Cabezas’s Fire from the Mountain: The Making of a
Sandinista (transl. Kathleen Weaver). Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford
Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
November
Publication of Newsletter.
Reading Group Discussion of Margaret Randall’s Risking a Somersault in the Air:
Conversations with Nicaraguan Writers (transl. Christina Mills). Brown bag lunch.
Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures
Series.
December
Fundraiser at Ten Thousand Villages, West Hartford. Percentage of sales donated to
H/OSCP.
2012
January
Meeting on Delegations to Ocotal, St. Patrick – St. Anthony Church, Hartford
Reading Group Discussion of Gioconda Belli’s The Inhabited Woman and Brown Bag
Lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library.
February
“Nicaragua: Women and Environmental Issues” at Adult Forum, First
Presbyterian Church Library, Hartford.
Reading Group Discussion of Silvio Sirias’s Bernardo and the Virgin and Brown Bag
Lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library.
March
Second Reading Group Discussion of Silvio Sirias’s Bernardo and the Virgin and Brown Bag Lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library as Part of Its Bridging Cultures Series.
April
Reading Group Discussion of Stephen Kinzer’s Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua and Brown Bag Lunch. Cosponsored by the Hartford Public Library at the Library as Part of Its Bridging Cultures Series.
May
Reading Group Discussion of Arturo Cruz, Jr.’s Memoirs of a Counterrevolutionary: Life with the Contras, the Sandinistas, and the CIA and Brown Bag Lunch. Cosponsored by the Hartford Public Library at the Library as Part of Its Bridging Cultures Series.
Events Related to Visit of Dorothy Granada:
Dorothy Granada. Discussion with Students and Faculty. Yale School of Nursing, New Haven.
Dorothy Granada. Talk at H/OSCP Potluck Dinner at Franciscan Center for Urban Ministry, Hartford.
Dorothy Granada. Tour and Discussion with Staff at Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford.
Dorothy Granada. Discussion with Faculty, St. Joseph College, West Hartford.
June
Inspiring Action Fair. Table. Stowe Center at Immanuel Congregational Church, Hartford.
Harriet Beecher Stowe Community Birthday Fair. Table. Stowe Center, Hartford.
Reading Group Discussion of Nicaraguan Music and Poetry and Brown Bag Lunch. Cosponsored by the Hartford Public Library at the Library as Part of Its Bridging Cultures Series.
July
Reading Group Discussion of Meet Me under the Ceiba by Silvio Sirias. Brown bag
lunch. Cosponsored by the Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging
Cultures Series.
August
Delegation to Ocotal.
September
Hope Out Loud. Table. Hartford Friends Meeting House, West Hartford.
October
Publication of Newsletter.
Reading Group Discussion of Nicaragua: Living In the Shadow of the Eagle, 5th ed., by
Thomas W. Walker and Christine J. Wade. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by the
Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
Goodwill from the Grill. Whole Foods Market benefit for H/OSCP. Bishops Corner, West
Hartford.
November
Echo and Drake: THE CONCERT FOR OCOTAL. Benefit for H/OSCP. University of
Hartford.
Second Reading Group Discussion of Nicaragua: Living In the Shadow of the
Eagle, 5th ed., by Thomas W. Walker and Christine J. Wade. Guitar, percussion, and
vocal music of the Nicaraguan revolution. Brown bag lunch. Cosponsored by the
Hartford Public Library at the Library as part of its Bridging Cultures Series.
December
Visit of Roque Barreda of Ocotal:
Tour of Hartford with visits to Wadsworth Atheneum, Conn. Historical Society,
and Parkville.
Lunch with Conn. families and visit to Bushnell Park with carousel ride.
Family suppers with snowshoeing, sliding, snowballing, etc.
2011
January
Reading Group Discussion of Margaret Randall’s Sandino’s Daughters Revisited: Feminism in Nicaragua and Brown Bag Lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library.
People’s Music Network 2011 Winter Gathering. Table. Bulkeley High School.
March
Reading Group Discussion of Gioconda Belli’s The Country Under My Skin: A Memoir of Love and War and Brown Bag Lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library.
April
Reading Group Discussion of Florence E. Babb’s After Revolution: Mapping Gender and
Cultural Politics in Neoliberal Nicaragua and Brown Bag Lunch. Cosponsored by Hartford
Public Library at the Library.
May
Delegation to Ocotal.
June
Inspiration to Action Fair. Table. Stowe Center at Immanuel Congregational Church, Hartford.
Reading Group Discussion of Nicaraguan Poems and Brown Bag Lunch. Cosponsored by
Hartford Public Library at the Library.
World Refugee Day. Table. Hartford Public Library.
July
Second Reading Group Discussion of Nicaraguan Poems and Brown Bag Lunch.
Cosponsored by Hartford Public Library at the Library.
Publication of Newsletter.
September
Hope Out Loud. Table. Church of the Good Shepherd, Hartford.
Events Related to Visit of Haydee Castillo from Ocotal:
Haydee Castillo’s Talk at Central CT State University, New Britain.
Supper – Haydee Castillo and H/OSCP Board of Directors, Burlington.
Haydee Castillo’s Talk at “Women’s Wednesday,” University of Hartford, West Hartford.
Haydee Castillo and Luz Santana of Vecinos Unidos, Hartford. Panel in Series Human Rights Where We Live. Trinity College, Hartford.
Haydee Castillo. Meeting with Vecinos Unidos, Hartford.
Haydee Castillo. Tour and Discussion with Staff at Mashantucket Pequot Museum and
Research Center, Mashantucket.
Haydee Castillo. Tour and Discussion with Staff at Harriet Beecher Stowe Center,
Hartford.
Haydee Castillo. Meeting with Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice, Hartford.
Haydee Castillo. Talk at AAUW Middletown Chapter. Russell Library, Middletown.
Haydee Castillo. Meeting with Mayor Pedro Segarra, City Hall, Hartford.
Haydee Castillo. Meeting with Hispanic Health Council, Hartford.
Haydee Castillo. Talk at H/OSCP Potluck Supper, Grace Episcopal Church, Hartford.
November
Reading Group Discussion of Sandino: The Testimony of a Nicaraguan Patriot, 1921-
1934 and of Lt. Col. Charles Neimeyer’s “Combat in Nicaragua: Effective and unique” in
Marine Corps Gazette and Brown Bag Lunch. Co-sponsored by Hartford Public Library at
the Library.
Publication of Newsletter
Discussion of FUNAFAM’s Microloan Program in Ocotal and H/OSCP. Eastern
Connecticut State University Political Science Class, Willimantic.
Introduction to H/OSCP. Book Group, Burlington.
December
Discussion of Nicaraguan Poetry. Book Group. Bristol.
2010
January
Delegation to Ocotal.
February
Report on 2010 Delegation to Ocotal. Bristol Rotary Club.
March
An Evening with Paul Baker Hernandez, Eco-Minstrel and Social Activist from Managua.
Quaker Meetinghouse. West Hartford.
April
Discussion of FUNAFAM’s Microloan Program in Ocotal and H/OSCP. Eastern Connecticut
State University Political Science Class, Willimantic.
Raising Global Consciousness: Life in Ocotal, Hartford’s Sister City in Nicaragua, in a Time of Worldwide Economic Crisis: Impressions of 2010 Delegates and Audience Discussion.
Hartford Public Library.
Publication of Newsletter.
June
Program on Nicaragua, Ocotal, and H/OSCP. Coordinated by Middletown High School
student. Russell Library, Middletown.
World Refugee Day. Table. Hartford Public Library.
September
Hope Out Loud. Table. Bushnell Park, Hartford.
Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration. Table. Hartford Public Library.
October
Report on 2010 Delegation to Ocotal. Grace Episcopal Church, Hartford.
Publication of Newsletter.
Reading Group Discussion of John Brentlinger’s The Best of What We Are: Reflections on
the Nicaraguan Revolution and potluck supper. Middletown.
Issues of Poverty Conference. Table. Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic.
November
Information Meeting on 2011 Delegation. Hartford Public Library.
2009
January
Delegation to Ocotal
February
Report on 2009 Delegation to Ocotal. Grace Episcopal Church, Hartford.
May
Report on 2009 Delegation to Ocotal. First Presbyterian Church, Hartford.
June
World Refugee Day Program. Table. Hartford Public Library.
Publication of Newsletter.
September
Hope Out Loud. Table. Bushnell Park, Hartford.
Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration. Table. Hartford Public Library.
October
Publication of Newsletter.