About the Consortium:

The Consortium of Northeast US Nicaragua Sister City Projects is a loose confederation. It has no officers, no bylaws, no bank account. It doesn't even have an official name. The title of this web page should be considered a description, not a name.

Despite the informality of the organization, the consortium has been in existence for more than 15 years. The various groups that form the consortium send representatives several times a year to meetings where the consortium's direction and members' contributions are decided. The contributions of member groups are pooled and used to support a coordinator who spends most of the year in Nicaragua, devoting an amount of time roughly proportional to each group's financial constribution to facilitating each group's projects. The consortium also provides support for the coordinator in the form of a vehicle, and office support, including rent, computer equipment, telephone, and e-mail. The coordinator is considered a consultant, not an employee, and the consultant's activities in each of the sister communities are determined by each member group. In most cases the governing board or committee of the US group works with a counterpart group in Nicaragua in deciding the direction of the project.

Current members of the consortium are:

• Amherst, MA - La Paz Centro, Nicaragua
• Beckley, WV - Mina El Limon, Nicaragua
• Norwalk CT - Nagarote, Nicaragua
• Pittsfield MA (Berkshire County) - Malpaisillo, Nicaragua

Several other groups, not currently consortium members, have been associated with the consortium in the past:

• Bard College/Mid Hudson-Larreynaga
• Bennington, VT - Somotillo, Nicaragua New web page Dec 2001!
• Columbia County NY - Malpaisillo, Nicaragua

Here is a more extensive list of links to US - Nicaragua solidarity projects and sources of information about Nicaragua.

Additions, corrections and comments are welcome. Please send e-mail to Al Woodhull, awoodhull@hampshire.edu.