Background:
During the 1995
– 1996 school year, the IBP / ACTCo – Atlanta
Caribbean Trading Company – experienced numerous price hikes from Caribbean
crafts suppliers that thinned profit
objectives:
1.
Try to meet
with Abraham Lincoln School Headmaster Jack Delman to
sell him on forging an IBP partnership between North Atlanta and the
prestigious American-style
2.
Discover
talented artisans who reliably produced high quality and value-added giftware
lines that might swell ACTCo’s profit margin.
The Abraham Lincoln
School was located in a hip San Jose neighborhood surrounded by a sea of
excellent arts and crafts stores.
At first, I thought I had discovered “ground zero”
Regardless, I did strike
up a friendship with Mr. Hector Hidalgo of La Rueda
who did business in Atlanta and later came to North Atlanta to advise the IBP
students on how to do business
The IBP’s experience
with international schools, either American or International Baccalaureate
member school, was mixed – some worked well, others lacked the needed
amount of
Some progress towards
an eventual student exchange was made through National Society of Secondary
School Principals (U.S.), the U. S. Chamber of Commerce in Costa Rica, and
1996 Sister Cities
International (SCI) Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana provides the “Window of
Opportunity”:
I have attended three
SCI annual global conferences and found all of them very beneficial for
networking possibilities.
Countless communities have found the IBP / Atlanta Sister
On March 8, 1996, I
received the following letter from Mr. Gonzalo Cardenal,
Director of the Lincoln International Academy in Managua, Nicaragua:
An example of
Lincoln International physical plant that blended functional design, warm
weather architecture with use of open space typically incorporated into
Caribbean and Latin American school
I responded to Mr. Cardenal by letting him know about inquiries towards the
Abraham Lincoln School in San Jose, Costa Rica, also the possible benefits to
his school by becoming
Central area where morning devotionals are held, lunch dispensed after
tables set up with sets of chairs, assemblies in general take place here
– at least that was the case in 1997.
I had been keeping
Center for International Studies (CIS) Instructional Coordinator Mrs. Ann Goellner and North Atlanta Social Studies Chair Dr. Doug
Frutiger informed of the
1.
Been through
the Sandinista – Contra civil war which had recently ended with hard
feelings still existing on each side
2.
Experienced
a hotly contested election between the socialistic Sandinista government and
the victorious UNO coalition of democratic groups with more mainstream economic
According to the
media, the country was still a cauldron of seething political forces. We therefore wondered if the country
was stable and relaxed enough for our students to safely and
It was decided that I
would visit Lincoln and Managua from Nov. 9 – 13, 1996 to investigate
whether it was wise for Americans, who had supported UNO against the
Sandinistas, to
I traveled to
Nicaragua and found the Lincoln International Academy leadership team
hospitable and excited about the proposed joint program and projects. I was fortunate to stay
Managua physically
reminded me of Atlanta with its sprawling circular development – on the
other hand the third world shanty towns stretching to the horizon in all
directions
The city government,
in recent years, has gotten around to naming streets and identifying residences
with specific, assigned numbers.
Mr.
Gonzalo Cardenal, Director, and Mrs. Miriam Bandes, Sub-Director.
I reported back to
Mrs. Goellner and Dr. Frutiger that Managua seemed
safe enough for our students to visit.
The Lincoln International Academy seemed enthusiastic about the
The North Atlanta IBP
exchange group consisted of four young junior level females – Erica
Phillips, Taliah Reid, Nikki Marshall, Brandice Allen – and a single male named David
Narain (Aruban origin I believe)
whose looks had the Lincoln girl students practically swooning over him.
David Narain (far right) and his host student
and other Lincoln kids engaged in a lesson.
Very short history
of Nicaragua:
According to my host
teacher, Adolfo Gonzales, Nicaraguan society is split between the west and east
coasts. Most of the Caucasian
population lives along the Pacific coast which
I learned this aspect
of national life after I brought my five students, all black, to a
predominately white, catholic world that was probably more insular than international. Regardless,
On the second day, I
signed a partnership school agreement that had been prepared in advance and pre-signed
by Principal Thomas Adger, perhaps the best principal
in North Atlanta’s
Mr. Walter Duncan,
the Economics and Science teacher, was an American expatriate married to a
Nicaraguan woman. Walter possessed
boundless energy, a love of Nicaragua, a wealth
Mr. Walter Duncan (far right, white shirt), Adolfo Gonzales (to
Walter’s left in plaid shirt), two senior level, male
Lincoln students who ably served us as chaperons and drivers.
Taliah Reid waiting to be picked up after school by her
host student.
Boat tour of
Lake Nicaragua, one of the 14 biggest lakes on earth. To my right are Brandice Allen and
Erica Phillips. Directly across
from me are Nikki Marshall and Taliah Reid. The islands in
We purchased many fine wooden containers and miniature painted ceramic
crafts.
These hammocks were ACTCo’s greatest bargain – we bought them for about
$10 and sold them for $25 – average comparative hammock cost in Atlanta
was 3 of 4 times that amount. The
Atlanta Journal - Constitution published an article that described how people were
coming from all over to purchase the hammocks. We sold a half dozen in one week, could have sold two dozen
more, and tried to order a
Let me be clear
– the Lincoln International School, host families, PTA members all treated
us great and were very hospitable.
We were provided an excellent itinerary and program
Well, we didn’t make
this vision a reality. Some times
things are just not fated to happen as hoped so one must move on. The Nicaraguan visit was a great
learning experience and a