Published - Tuesday, June 01, 2004     La Crosse volunteers find joy in helping people in Nicaragua

By GAYDA HOLLNAGEL / La Crosse Tribune

Betty Baldner went to Nicaragua a few years ago to see first-hand the ministry established by an old friend and former classmate of her husband, Gerald.

Since then, both Baldners and many of their friends and acquaintances in the La Crosse area have become part of the Rainbow Network, a nonprofit organization started in 1995 by Gerald's friend, Keith Jaspers, a millionaire hotel owner from Missouri.

"It rounds me out. It gives me the opportunity to serve, to help another culture, to make a difference," said Betty, who makes one trip a year to help build homes and meet with villagers in rural communities in Nicaragua.

The Rev. Kent Johnson, associate pastor at English Lutheran Church in La Crosse where the Baldners are members, said he became interested in the Rainbow Network after hearing the Baldners and others from the congregation, including his wife, who went on a trip in November 2002. "As I saw the impact of the Rainbow Network on our congregation, I wanted to participate, to go at least once and see what's going on there," Johnson said.

He made his first trip in January, went back with Keith Jaspers in February and now is leading a group from the church on his own for a summer expedition that begins June 10 and ends June 18.

Jaspers became interested in starting the project in Nicaragua after working with Habitat for Humanity and serving on its national board, according to a article in the January/February edition of Christian Reader, a publication of Christianity Today.

When he started, it was with the idea of using some of his wealth to help the poor, as Jesus commanded in his parable in Matthew 25, verses 40 to 46, the article said.

In the beginning, the ministry worked in five rural Nicaraguan communities, but it has since branched out to 89 villages, serving about 42,000 people. The budget in the beginning was $80,000, the magazine article said. In 2003, it was $1.2 million.

Besides the home building, which is done in partnership with villagers who donate two days a week to the construction and also must pay for their homes with interest free loans, the Rainbow Network also has a meal program that operates out of schools six days a week and serves 10,000 people a day. The cost for each meal, which includes rice, beans, fruit and milk, is about 11 cents, Johnson said. Parents are required to help out by serving the meals and helping with the feeding centers, he said.

The network also has a program to help kids stay in school and finish high school, helps with medical needs and provides loans to villagers who want to start a businesses.

The Baldners participate in the school scholarship program, supporting 10 students at a rate of $22 a month, Betty said. She met several of the youngsters on a recent trip.

The homes being built by the network are modest by American standards but are a vast improvement over the tin and cardboard shacks many people lived in before the Rainbow Network entered their lives, Johnson said.

The homes cost between $1,000 and $1,200 and are similar to the type of houses Habitat for Humanity builds in developing countries.

The two organizations in April announced a partnership that calls for the construction in three years of 500 homes for Nicaraguan families. In 2001, the two organizations built

20 homes together in a rural area near Managua.

The 500 homes will be built in groups of 30 or 40 in rural communities where the Rainbow Network has existing community development programs.

"One of the reasons for the partnership is Habitat has lots of experience in urban areas and Rainbow has expertise in rural communities," Betty Baldner said.

Rainbow has 60 employees in Nicaragua, and all are Nicaraguan except for the director, Peter Schaller, who was born in the United States, Johnson said.

Bob Schneyer of La Crosse, a member of the Newman Center Catholic parish, participated in a Rainbow Network experience with a group from La Crosse in November 2002 and said he plans to go back some day.

Schneyer said he wanted to help people in another culture because he knows his life is much more secure than those of many people in other parts of the world, including countries like Nicaragua.

"It kind of bridged the gap," he said. "I do have a very strong sense that we need to get into a ‘we' sense of consciousness."

Schneyer said he likes the way the Rainbow Network requires the Nicaraguans to participate in the projects rather than just have others doing things for them.

"It's not just the haves and have-nots," Schneyer said. "It's recognizing that the haves have (things to give), too."

Gayda Hollnagel can be reached at (608) 791-8224 or at ghollnagel@lacrossetribune.com.