Written by Don Mosley
I first became aware of CEPAD during a peace delegation which I led to Nicaragua early in 1984. I had been there once many years earlier, but this trip started a series of peace delegations and other such trips to Nicaragua, more than twenty over the next four decades. CEPAD had been in operation for more than a decade when we got there in 1984, and it already had a reputation as a very creative and compassionate outreach program. It was supported by several different Christian denominations when I first made contact with them, and Dr. Parajon was admired by everyone for his willingness to reach into some of the most difficult and dangerous situations and bring aid to people who were suffering. He managed to reach across all kinds of religious and political boundaries with his works of love. I arranged for him to speak to several of the peace delegations which I took to Nicaragua during those very tumultuous times.
Late in 1986 there was a terrible road mine explosion which left half a dozen people dead and about that many more with one or both legs blown off by the mine. The mine had been supplied by the United States and buried in a public road by the Contras, one of many such tragedies made possible by US support. I arrived in Nicaragua just hours after the tragedy and made a point to take my delegation to the hospital where the victims were being treated. It broke our hearts to see them!
After a restless night of struggling with what our response should be, I called the CEPAD office and asked Dr. Parajon if he would be willing to help me bring the Sanchez family to the United States to get artificial legs and to help us publicize the wretched consequences of US policies in this war. He agreed immediately. With the help of Jimmy Carter (who had been out of the White House for five years), we managed not only to get new legs for the family but also to have a dramatic television interview with them in the US capital.
Out of all of this grew our Walk in Peace program, through which we were able to work as partners with CEPAD to rehabilitate hundreds of amputees and other victims of the war. Thanks to the integrity and compassionate creativity of CEPAD, we have since managed to channel hundreds of thousands of dollars in aid to hurricane victims, people in need of medical help, hundreds of young people needing educational support, and much more. We have done this in cooperation with several organizations in Nicaragua, but throughout that time we have been deeply grateful for the integrity and creativity of the administrators of CEPAD.
As we all know, Nicaragua continues to struggle with many problems, including some of the most serious poverty in the world. I deeply appreciate the opportunity to work with CEPAD to bring some light into that darkness, and I am also grateful that Kimberly Crider and others have helped to facilitate that kind of work through their CEPAD-USA office. I enthusiastically recommend support for their efforts.