michael@ucbiris.BERKELEY.EDU (Tom Slone [(415)486-5954]) (02/23/86)
tecNICA is a non-profit organization which sponsors people to visit and work in Nicaragua in their professions or hobbies for 2 or more weeks. Volunteers pay their own airfare, and the sponsoring Nicaraguan agencies pay for the volunteers' room and board during the visit. I have gone to Nicaragua with tecNICA and can personally recommend it as a rewarding cross-cultural experience. The help which you would provide to Nicaragua now would be invaluable during this time of crisis. Knowledge of Spanish is recommended, but not essential. "Originally conceived as a project to assist Nicaraguans with computer technology, the scope of tecNICA's activity has steadily increased, and now includes engineering, business management, economic planning, building trades, and a wide variety of other fields. The typical delegation getting off the plane in Managua includes people with skills ranging from machine tool design to insurance marketing, and the variety is constantly increasing." This years' scheduled trips are: March 7-22, April 4-19, May 2-17, May 30 - June 14, June 27 - July 12, August 1-16, September 5-20, October 3-18, November 7-22 and tentatively December 5-19. Here is a sampling of specialists now needed: - General computer professionals (especially IBM 370, 4331, 34 series, OS, databases's, and all micros) - Computer service/repair technicians - Computer analyst - billing and data acquisition - Digital logic teachers - Microprocessor fundamentals teachers - Two-way radio engineers and technicians - Data transmission, switching - engineers, technicians - Telephone engineers and technicians - Electronic trouble-shooting engineers - Electrical engineers (power equipment) - Industrial electrician - Medical instrumentation/electronics technicians - Economists, statisticians - Diesel and automotive technicians - Public health workers - Carpenter/cabinet makers/teachers - Translators, interpretors tecNICA can be contacted at the following places: - Berkeley (National Office) 110 Brookside Drive, Berkeley, CA 95705; (415)654-7768 - San Francisco (415)848-0292 - New York (212)427-0634 - Boston (617)783-1668 - Seattle (206)321-1367 - Chicago (312)524-0198 - Los Angeles (213)970-1495