This is the city that we have a sister city relationship with here in Nicaragua. Located in the department of Esteli about 2 hours away from the capital city with the same name. Limay as the city is called for short is know mostly for its artesnia – the specialty here is marmolina or soapstone. The range of crafts can be as simple as candle holder or the larger then life gorditas that now line the highway. One of the many highlights of our delegations is visiting with the artists that use the Phillip Mitchel Revolving Loan Fund we have set up to support home business and home repair. We get to see what new things they have come up with to sell and they will take our orders and deliver them to Casa Baltimore before we depart- (or to the bus with everything wrapped and ready to go). Marmolina is a type of marble that can be as fragile as it is beautiful. The spectrum of colors is large and the folks that create these works of art know how really show them off. Just ask for Brilla (shine) to really bring them out.
Each time we visit Limay we see new signs that they are striving to grow and improve the infrastucre. Hurricane Mitch in 1998 did a lot of damage in Limay and the surrounding municipalities. Part of the work our Sister City solidarity project does is to help support the town with housing and latrines for the rebuilding that continues today. Since 2006 (my first delegation) they have updated the park in el centro. They have more paved roads in town then ever before and they have recently opened a mini supermarket. This year I was able to visit one of the Cybers (internet cafe) and we were even able to buy a mobile phone and sim card to use while in country to contact our friends that were showing us around- Much cheaper then paying international roaming for sure.
Even with all that progress, from that large natural disaster they have to deal smaller ones. Recently in fact we visited with the mayor of San Juan de Limay to talk about the recent flooding that wiped out many bridges and roads and had some communities cut off from food and supplies for days. We were able to raise a little bit of money for them to supplement the assistance from the central government. Since our visit they had a 4.5 earth quake right after the big one in Japan. They are being told by the central government that they are connected but we are still waiting for more information to come out of that area for confirmation. The people in Limay have endless optimism and tons of support from many organizations to keep this developing city moving ahead. They work very hard and have a lot of pride in what they have able to do so far and they welcome visitors. So stop by and do not for get to take some Marmolina with you!
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