Reflections From the Hammock on the House of Justice

26 September 2012.  I am trying a new (for me) form of multi-tasking today—blogging while reclining in the hammock.  In my relaxed mode I see laid out before me virtually the entire city of Managua.  In the distance I see just one tall building—the only one that remains after the earthquake of December 1972 leveled the city and killed 10,000 people.  The same tall building today is the site of a 10 storey tall outline in white neon of Augusto Sandino.  Sandino was the 1920s guerilla hero who fought the US Marines to a standstill and whose name inspired popular support for the Sandanista-led revolution against the autocratic Samoza regime in the 1970s.  These are all potent symbols of the long history that makes Nicaragua what it is today.  But that’s a subject for a college history course, not a lazy refection from the hammock.

Last week we went to the town of Jinotega to visit a House of Justice.  There are 14 or more Houses of Justice spread out among the cities and rural towns of mostly northwestern Nicaragua.  These Houses of Justice are, quite often, literally houses or at most a small law office where trained justice “promoters” and, sometimes, a lawyer work to provide affordable—free—help to poor people with legal problems.  The Houses of Justice are the visible, physical component of the ministry of Centro Cristiano de Recho Humano (C.C.D.H. or, in English, the Christian Center for Human Rights.)

C.C.D.H. House of Justice in Jinotega, Nicaragua.  Gilma is second from right.

The House of Justice in Jinotega is in the office of Gilma, an attorney who both serves her paying clients and donates a very significant amount of her services free to C.C.D.H. clients who cannot pay.  Gilma told us that much of her pro bono work is in the form of mediation of disputes among poor folks who, without money, would not otherwise be able to hire a lawyer or take a case to a court.  The mediation provides an affordable, efficient, and very prompt means of finding justice for folks who would otherwise likely find none.  But Gilma also represents C.C.D.H. clients in court in cases often involving domestic violence, property disputes, and many other issues. 

The day we visited we had the privilege of hearing the story of a rural farmer who came to the House of Justice for help. The farmer does not own any land, but rather he tries to eke out a living working on the land of other farmers (also poor) and by doing the odd job of carpentry.  He has not a centavo extra to hire a lawyer.  This farmer’s brother and nephew had been convicted 8½ years ago of a very serious crime and had been in prison ever since.  Because of their  “good time served” and their in-prison training and work (for which they get an equal share of good time credit), both of the men should have been released from prison by now.  But they haven’t been released and no one in the system is pursuing their release.  Gilma and the House of Justice had taken on the case to advocate for release of the two men from prison, much to the relief of the farmer. After listening to his story for more than half an hour I asked him one last question:  What would you tell your friends about Gilma and C.C.D.H.?  His answer was simple, yet potent.  “I will tell my friends that they really care about poor people.”

C.C.D.H. is a partner of our agency, World Renew.  In the months and years to come, I, Gordon, expect some of my volunteer work in Nicaragua will be to support, in some way, the work of C.C.D.H. and its Houses of Justice.  You can learn more about C.C.D.H. by watching this brand new video describing their work. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGNjO6VfLvU&feature=relmfu

Ah, and now the hammock has done its usual magic.  My reflections are already fading away from these fingertips.  My multi-tasking has run its course, and for now I have but one task—to nap.