Amherst, MA, has had a sister relationship with La Paz Centro, Nicaragua, since 1987.

La Paz Centro is near Leon, in the hot dry northwest part of Nicaragua. Its location is one reason why it was chosen as Amherst's sister city: Leon has a sister city relationship with New Haven, Connecticut, which is not too far from Amherst, Massachusetts.

Several other communities in the northeastern USA have sister city relationships with communities in northwestern Nicaragua, and Amherst is part of a consortium of four such sister city projects. The consortium supports a full time representative, based in Leon, who helps administer projects and facilitates communications. The consortium also works closely with the New Haven - Leon project, who have staff members in a New Haven office as well as a full time representative in Leon.

La Paz Centro's total population is roughly the same as Amherst's. The central city is home to approximately 10,000 people. The municipality which surrounds the central sity is quite large, about 25 km (15 miles) from west to east, and contains a number of smaller villages, called comarcas in Spanish. An interesting geographical curiosity is that La Paz Centro straddles the continental divide. One of the comarcas, Puerto Sandino, is an important port on the Pacific Ocean. Another comarca, Puerto Momotombo, is on Lake Managua, which ultimately drains into the Gulf of Mexico.

Although the Amherst - La Paz Centro Sister City Project is an official Town activity, created by vote of Amherst Town Meeting, it receives no funding from Town government. Funding comes from contributions and fund-raising events organized by volunteers. Here are a few recent and coming events:

• We sell coffee and refreshments at Amherst Town Meeting. Volunteers are always welcome.

• We have a tag sale on the Amherst Common every Fall. This year it took place on Saturday, September 8. Thanks to all who attended or contributed time and items to sell.

• We collect running shoes to send to Nicaragua. They can have a long life as ordinary shoes after being retired from running. We did this at the Bridge of Flowers 10K race in Shelburne Falls, MA, on Saturday, August 11, collecting more than 100 pairs of shoes.

• A Sister City Bike Ride to benefit our projects in La Paz Centro took place on Saturday, September 29.
  

• On Sunday, Sept 30 we co-sponsored a presentation by solar energy expert Richard Komp. Dr. Komp has been working with Grupo Fenix, an enterprise based at Nicaragua's National Engineering University (UNI), which promotes solar energy, especially photovoltaics, in Nicaragua. Click here for more information.

• Marcus Catsam, the representative in Nicaragua of Amherst (and several other Sister City groups) visited Amherst in late October. He attended meetings of the Amherst Club and the Rotary Club, talked with students at Amherst Regional High School, and addressed a session of Amherst Town Meeting, as well as meeting with the Amherst Sister City Committee.

• In November we co-sponsored a talk by Dorothy Granada in Northampton. Dorothy is a health worker who worked for many years in Mulukuku, Nicaragua. The Nicaraguan government recently refused to renew her residency papers because of her criticsm of government lack of support for health programs. Click here for more information about the event. For more background information there is a web page about Dorothy Granada and her work.

For more information click ...

• The text of the Amherst/La Paz Centro Sister City Project brochure and some pictures of our projects on the AmherstCommon.com website. (Printed copies of the brochure are available from the committee).
• More information about the Consortium of Northeast US Nicaragua Sister City Projects.
• Links to other US - Nicaragua solidarity projects and sources of Nicaragua information.

Click here for more information about Amherst, MA.

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