1998 Annual Report

EPIC Highlights

In support of EPIC member Rachel McKinney, EPIC contributed $500 to this program which focuses on using art and psychotherapy to heal the wounds of war for children who have grown up in war zones. A major portion of EPIC's support was utilized in teacher training in Art and Self Expression. Two well received workshops were given for teachers in one of the public schools in Turbe. Following the workshops, EPIC funds provided packets of supplies (paper, extra pencils, colors, glue, paint, etc.) needed to implement this psychotherapy in the classroom. EPIC also provided money for art, craft and activity books which were shared among centers under the direction of the United Methodist Committee on Refugees. Photographic materials were supplied for the story writing projects supervised by Rachel in Putovinci and Moscanica. Finally, a small scholarship was given to a Bosnian young man from Moscanica who began his university studies in 1998.

Increasing Food Self Sufficiency While Protecting the Rio Motagua Watershed EPIC's year started off with a big boost when its grant proposal to New England Biolabs Foundation of Beverly, Massachusetts, was approved for $10,000. This grant was to provide seed money for FUNDAMARCOS to initiate a comprehensive ten year conservation program to protect the dwindling water supply of the most important watershed of Guatemala, the Rio Motagua including its headwaters. The fact that the water volume of the Rio Motagua is significantly decreasing in Guatemala's dry season is of great concern to FUNDAMARCOS. Excessive deforestation in the watershed is causing the drying up of the springs that feed the river. In addition, poor soil management practices on the denuded hillside farms cause there to be massive erosion, with tons of fertile soil being carried into the river.

Funds provided by the NEBF grant were immediately wired to Guatemala and in February FUNDAMARCOS, working with municipal governments, began promoting soil and water conservation and teaching practices of sustainable organic agriculture. FUNDAMARCOS initiated work in the region of Pachalum of the state of Quiche, Guatemala. Introductory meetings took place in several villages and, as a result , work began in four communities: Aldea Piedras Blancas, Aldea El Cimarrón, Casario Llano Grande, and Finca El Jacote. In each of these communities farmer managed demonstration or experimental plots have been developed. Also, rock retaining walls or grass barrier terraces have begun to be built to conserve the soil on the farms of program participants. Three of the communities have organized farmer groups. Important accomplishments are that these farmers are enthusiastic and want to expand their initial conservation work and that the positive work of the program is becoming known in nearby communities where FUNDAMARCOS wants to work in the future.

A report on the results of the program in the first nine months and a proposal for a continuation grant were submitted to New England Biolabs Foundation in December, 1998. We were just notified that this continuation grant for the amount of $10,000 has been approved for support during a second year . This will allow FUNDAMARCOS to follow through with those farmers who have begun soil and water conservation work on their land and to initiate work with many others. It will also enable FUNDAMARCOS to meet the expectations of new communities requesting instruction from the program.

As EPIC is a partner in this program with fiduciary responsibility, EPIC's executive director visited the work in Pachalum in July 1998 and in January of 1999. These visits included interviews with program participants, as well as municipal authorities, to determine community support and beneficiary satisfaction with the FUNDAMARCOS program.

Current and prospective support for the FUNDAMARCOS In addition to the $10,000 contributed by NEBF, the Ecumenical Project for International Cooperation (EPIC) contributed an additional $3.301.99 in 1998. Most of the administration of FUNDAMARCOS has been provided by contributions of time and money by its Maya founders. EPIC supplemented this in 1998 by providing a grant of $1,006 in support of the organization's administrative expenses. An additional $1,000 from the discretionary fund was donated to support the sustainable agriculture program, and $1,295.99 was spent by EPIC for support services.

Felipe Tomás, the program's agricultural director, has donated the use of his Toyota four wheel drive pickup for all of 1998 because FUNDAMARCOS does not have the funds to purchase its own program vehicle. EPIC's executive director is presently seeking donations to purchase a used four wheel drive vehicle for the foundation's work in Guatemala. This would take that burden off of Felipe Tomás. EPIC has presently received $2,392.55 in designated gifts towards the vehicle purchase.

During 1998 EPIC received $5,785 in designated donations for the establishment of the Casa de la Cultura Maya. This Maya cultural center will provide programs of cultural interpretation and serve both Guatemalans and international tourists. Mayas, for the first time, will be able to present their own interpretations of their culture to the thousands of tourists who visit Antigua each year. Antigua, where La Casa de La Cultura Maya will be located, is the most visited tourist destination in Guatemala. The cultural center will generate income that will create a revenue base for the long term self-support of FUNDAMARCOS in its work of natural resource conservation. Phase one of this project, which will be conducted under the guidance of Kauffman Museum of Kansas, has an estimated cost of $17,500. Grants and donations are being sought so this program can move forward.

During spring and summer of 1998, Jeff Boyer was able to follow up on his 1996 research for a monograph originally titled, "Peasant Leaders and Allies Speak: Reflections on 35 Years of Agrarian Struggle in Honduras." (The "Allies" are the development NGO's Jeff was also interviewing.) He traveled around Honduras conducting interviews with a dozen peasant leaders, some of whom he had known since the 1960's. These peasant leaders and the peasant unions they helped organize have exhibited remarkable tenacity in Honduras' protracted struggle for land reform. Jeff planned to end the book with the contention that these representatives of Honduran civil society are among the few vital forces countering the unequal and environmentally destructive tendencies of global capitalism.

The devastation of Hurricane Mitch makes the completion of "Peasant Leaders and Allies Speak" all the more urgent. The book will be reorganized so that its first chapter takes up the hurricane and its aftermath. It will deal with the question, "What does the pattern of destruction say about the predominant forms of mal-development, i.e., deforestation, agribusiness and slash and burn agriculture, siting of urban housing on denuded steep slopes, and unbalanced consumption patterns?" Next he plans to address, "What are the international forces that keep Honduras hostage to such mal-development and to what extent are the Honduran government and business community dominated by or willing participants of such policies?" The ensuing chapters will return to tell the stories and struggles of the peasant leaders Jeff has interviewed. He will document that many of the persons and organizations presently involved in the relief and reconstruction efforts are those possessing historical ties to the 35 year peasant movement. This book should help illuminate the courageous efforts of many Hondurans to establish their own grassroots democracy. It should also challenge the international community to help such local Honduran leaders and civic organizations in their quest to rise up from Hurricane Mitch's destruction and to build a more sustainable and democratic development model.

In 1995 EPIC provided a $25,000 mortgage loan to the Universal Centro de Lengua y Comunicación Social in Cuernavaca, Mexico. This loan was essential for the school to be able to obtain its own property because mortgage loans at that time were running above 75% interest per year. Several years earlier Paul McKay had selected Universal, because of its outstanding language instruction, as the Spanish language school to use for a college study abroad program he was directing . However, what makes this language school so unique and attractive to EPIC is its emphasis on teaching North American, European and Japanese students about the realities of Mexico and Latin America, with emphasis given to human rights, economic globalization, the environment, politics and development. Students are also made aware of the issues involved in US/Mexico relations. The school is directed by as fine an administrative staff as one could ask for in any institution. Originally the loan was to have been paid off in July of 2003, but because of an advance payment of principal in 1997, the loan will now be fully paid off in January 2000.

Debbie Kiliru was granted a $500 scholarship for support of an internship in sustainable agriculture working with World Neighbors in her native country of Kenya. EPIC's executive director made the initial contact with World Neighbors' international headquarters to facilitate setting up this grassroots experience for Debbie.

Jeff Boyer was granted $1,000 in research support for his work documenting the contribution of peasant leaders to the agrarian struggle in Honduras. Jeff spent a spring scholarly leave in Honduras interviewing leaders of the agrarian movement whom he has known over a 30 year period. A report on his research and writing appears under the Honduras section of this Annual Report.

A Group of Maya University Students who are also FUNDAMARCOS board members were granted $800 for doing research on the Rio Motagua watershed. They decided to use the money only to cover expenses incurred in the research, and as this is an ongoing project most of these funds remain available.

For a second year in a row EPIC co-sponsored a benefit concert for Kansas tenor, Arthur Marks. Since 1996 Arthur has been undergoing extensive treatment for advanced cancer. On May 29th Arthur sang at a benefit concert held at Bethel College Mennonite Church, North Newton, Kansas. A total of 41 donors contributed $1,705.00. This amount included $250 donated to pay for technical sound services.

EPIC Networking

Paul McKay represented EPIC at this multinational, bilingual celebration and conference held February 20 -23 in Tucson, Arizona, and Nogales, Mexico. Sixty-nine activists from across the country and south of the border registered for this celebration of what BorderLinks has meant: opening people's eyes to Central American, Mexican, and US/Mexico Border realities and calling us from a faith perspective to a greater commitment to human rights and social justice. Conference speakers included the Rev. John Fife (Southside Presbyterian Church), Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, and Ched Myers, theologian, activist, and author. The last day of the gathering was spent with the participants meeting to network for continued work toward common goals.

The McKays represented EPIC as three thousand Latin Americanists gathered in Chicago, September 24-26, 1998. With 40+ academic panel presentations during each two hour session, Thursday through Saturday, there was more than enough information on current scholarly research on Latin America. The conference provided an invaluable opportunity for the McKays and Jeff Boyer to renew friendships with colleagues they have known over a 35 year career of working in behalf of Latin America.

Paul and Mary McKay provided information and photos related to Hurricane Mitch for articles in three Colorado newspapers. The articles also suggested response to the devastation through donations to EPIC's work to restore productivity to small Honduran hillside farms badly eroded by the hurricane. As a result of this higher visibility for EPIC in the vicinity of its international headquarters, EPIC received $5,185 in donations for Hurricane Mitch reconstruction work. In addition, Loren Raymond wrote an article about EPIC which was printed in the Allenspark Wind.

In the summer of 1997, EPIC's PowerBook lost its ability to print with its companion Apple StyleWriter printer. Also lost was the ability for the PowerBook to go online with its modem for email, file transfer, and Internet searches. These two functions, printing and modem usage, both use the serial port. The evident failure of the serial port correlates with the passage of a thunder and lightning storm, although this correlation may be coincidental and not causal. Consultation with Apple's technical staff for diagnostics, and testing according to their instructions, seemed to indicate unambiguously that the problem was a damaged logic board. All warranty coverage had been exhausted by previous work by Apple, leaving no alternative from Apple but replacement of the logic board for $600 plus shipping.

In the hope that the Apple-guided testing was inadequate and the diagnosis wrong, the PowerBook was shipped to Richard A. McKay, an EPIC supporter, for examination. Similar and more comprehensive testing by Richard resulted in the same conclusion, namely that the problem was with the hardware. Moreover it was discovered that the SCSI port was also non-functional and evidently damaged. Apple again suggested diagnostic testing with the same result, and held firm to its repair price quotation.

The PowerBook was taken by Richard to two reputable repair shops, one at a university and one commercial, both of which forecast inexpensive repairs; the forecasts were replaced with $600 quotes. The PowerBook was then taken to Di-No Computers, Inc., an Apple dealer in Pasadena, California, where Richard has developed a cordial relationship over many years of association. In February 1998, the dealer was asked to make the repairs and was invited to give cognizance to the IRS section 501(c)(3) status of EPIC. Di-No acted swiftly, ordered a replacement logic board, and installed it over the span of one week, at no charge to EPIC, using their authority of granting extended warranty. Post repair testing confirmed correct function of both the serial and SCSI ports.

Observation by Richard that the PowerBook was using the software RAM Doubler, and an awareness of some of the limitations, led quickly to the conclusion that the PowerBook would perform better in many functions if its RAM were increased from the 16MB then present. Accordingly an additional 48MB was installed, bringing the RAM to the maximum 65MB. This was done at a cost to EPIC of $145 for the RAM chip and $4 for an installation tool, plus $15.82 for sales tax and S&H.

The PowerBook was equipped with operating system 7.5.2 when purchased in January 1996. A careful review of the newer operating system versions available in the spring of 1998 identified version 7.6.1 as the best match for the functional characteristics of EPIC's PowerBook 5300c. A search discovered the availability of system 7.6 on a CD at a special Macintosh User Group price of $12 from Washington Apple PI, Ltd., along with another CD containing the upgrade to 7.6.1 plus with a collection of useful utility and Internet software for $10. EPIC purchased these two CDs.

All the software on the PowerBook hard drive was copied onto a backup drive. The hard drive was next reformatted and prepared for OS 7.6.1 which was then installed along with the newest Open Transport software for optimum network connection. In addition, the newest software was installed for logging onto the Internet by modem. Software was selected and installed for email, Internet Browser, Network Newsgroup, file transfer using file transfer protocol, and TELNET usage, with convenience and efficiency of usage paramount in selecting the software. Included was installing and testing the parameters for login onto an Internet Service Provider (CSD) using the newest software for point-to point protocol, today's standard.

Along with the installation of Mac OS 7.6.1, numerous system enhancements were installed and tested. These enhancements were known to make use of the computer more efficient and indeed more fun.

Recognizing that the modem and serial ports on the PowerBook are somewhat fragile, a decision was made to provide for the usage of the infrared file transfer capability of the PowerBook. Hence EPIC purchased from Farallon the AirDock hardware to enable the PowerBook to communicate with a desktop Macintosh for printing, email, and other file transfer as appropriate, using an infrared beam. This hardware was tested. EPIC also purchased TimbuktuPro from Farallon to enable the PowerBook to communicate back and forth with the desktop Macintosh in EPIC's office, from anywhere in the world over the Internet. One machine can actually run the other. This software includes the capability of two way voice communication, offering international long distance conversation for the cost of local dialup to the Internet. This software was not tested.

Supporting this effort was a Jazz drive for backing up the hard drive, a magneto-optical drive for software installation from archives, and a CD-ROM drive, all not owned by EPIC. The availability and use of this equipment and all of the installation and testing discussed above was donated to EPIC by Richard McKay. EPIC expresses its gratitude to Richard for the hours (months) of donated service to our organization.

Ever since Father Thomas Cowley gifted EPIC with the legacy of his entire estate ten years ago, EPIC has been able to expand its work in the service for which Father Thomas dedicated his life. In 1998 EPIC established a Commemorative Gifts and Living Memorials Program so that EPIC members and friends can honor friends and family, living or deceased, through a gift to EPIC. During 1998 EPIC received Living Memorial gifts honoring the lives of Caryl H. Pyne, mother of Margaret Raymond and Mary McKay, and Elizabeth Jackson, mother of Marg McKinney. A Living Memorials record book was handmade for EPIC in Guatemala. In this book will be recorded the name of the loved one being remembered, the date and place of birth, and the date and place of death. Commemorative Gifts and Living Memorials are a wonderful way to carry forward into the future the love and spirit of your friends and family members by supporting EPIC's work for a better world.

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