Views of the Revolution

Yesterday was like a time warp back to the days of the revolution in the seventies and eighties. I was able to attend a talk by Fr. Fernando Cardenal yesterday hosted by the Xavier University study abroad program which is located right in the barrio with us. They had Fernando over for a talk about his recently published memoirs about his time in the revolution. It was amazing to finally meet this man who is literally a walking history book about Nicaragua. His role in revolution was hugely important. During the Somoza years, pre-revolution when the US still like Nicaragua, Fernando went to the US congress to give testimony to the human rights abuses being done by the Nicaraguan government. He petitioned the US to stop selling arms to the Somoza government and in turn to stop being complicit in injustice, murder, and torture. He returned to Nicaragua and after the revolution was won he took a central role in the new government of the Sandinistas by helping combat illiteracy in the country. In just 4 months Nicaragua's illiteracy rate drop from over 50% to just 12%. That is the fastest and largest drop in illiteracy ever recorded by UNESCO at the United Nations. Wow, this guy is amazing. Now, at the age of 75, he is national director of Fe y Alegria. I actually first met him last week when he dropped into my school to visit some classes, including mine! What an honor!
The revolution day continued when we went to a concert featuring Luis Enrique Mejia Godoy. He is a famous Nicaraguan folk artist who has written many songs about the revolution and life in Nicaragua. He actually gave Fernando a shout out in the middle of concert for being such a great national hero and son of the revolution. I´m attaching a clip from youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUxggbBq-VM

¡Viva la Revolución!