Implementing community social extension

At its 26-year foundation, URACCAN continues to work for the good life of indigenous, Afro-descendant and mixed-race peoples on the Caribbean Coast, reaffirming its commitment to social, community and intercultural accompaniment, which manifests itself in its connection with society and in the joint search for answers to the problems and needs of the region and the country. For this reason, on the recent visit to the Mayangna Sauni Bas community, the vice-chancellor of the Las Minas, PhD compound. Angélica Leonor Ruiz Calderón, expressed to the leaders of that Indigenous Territorial Government (GTI) their commitment to support them in each of the spaces that the community demands.

"As a university, we want to be close to you to support you in each of the community development processes, but above all reaffirm our commitments that we have addressed in other spaces and it is unconditional support for education," said Vice-Chancellor Ruiz.

Spaces that will be strengthened

The GTI president of the Mayangna Sauni Bas community, Nethan Mordy Taylor, said that "our concern is the number of young people who are unenrolled in college, there are about 85 who are already high school graduates and for reasons of economics or other circumstances have not been able to continue their higher education."

In this connection, the vice-chancellor stated that "monolingual education is given in the community and we want it to be bilingual, to accompany them in strategies, in methodologies, in didactics, so that they can enhance their knowledge and better develop their classes".

"We intend to sow that knowledge in elementary and secondary students, so that when they come to college they do not have problems in basic subjects such as Mathematics or Language and Literature, which is where challenges arise the most; but we also want to help them on organizational issues from community governance," explained Ruiz Calderón.

Accompaniment to indigenous women

Regarding the accompaniment of the Sikilta Indigenous Women's Association (AMIS), Nethan Mordy Taylor referred that "as leaders of the Mayangna people we want to better organize the Women's Association, create an organizational status, where they can work more organizedly and be able to integrate more and more women to occupy significant spaces in the community and above all have access to education".

Teacher Ruiz detailed that "as a university we have the Multi-Ethnic Women's Research Center (CEIMM), which will be accompanying the Association of Indigenous Women of Sikilta (AMIS) in each of the processes, from its worldview and from our approach of Intercultural Community University".

It is intended, as part of the restitution of rights and the visibility of peoples, to offer a radio space in Radio URACCAN Siuna where the indigenous community can share its knowledge and maintain a more fluid communication.