michael@ucbiris.berkeley.edu (Tom Slone [(415)486-5954]) (04/01/86)
tecNICA is an organization which provides technical expertise to the country of Nicaragua. Typically, a volunteer will pay her/his own airfare to Nicaragua, work for two weeks at a host agency in Managua and be given room and board by the agency at a residential inn (or hospedaje). Tours of the countryside are arranged for weekends and talks with officials and opposition leaders are often arranged for evenings. Computer specialists, mechanics, economists, agronomomists, telephone experts and other technicians have all made valuable contributions to the Nicaraguan government under the auspices of tecNICA. Current priority needs are: 1) Desalinization engineer with experience in design, erection, operation or maintenance of desalinization plants (multi-stage flash type) 2) Instructors for 123, Apple II, IBM 370, IBM 34/36, Symphony, dBase II, and advanced BASIC 3) Insurance experts in actuarial science, statistics, computerized systems, and marketing 4) Telephone traffic engineers, programmers and statisticians 5) Data processing personnel for a large agricultural project, with focus on social statistics 6) Administrator for civil engineering project If you have other technical skills, chances are, you could make a valuable contribution to Nicaraguan society. I worked as a computer programmer (for the Ministry of Health and for the telecommunications center) in Managua in the Spring of 1985 and not only found that I was greatly appreciated, but found the trip to be a great cross-cultural experience, kind of like a mini-Peace Corps. If you have questions, you may address them to me or you may contact tecNICA itself by calling: Berkeley -- (415)654-7768; 110 Brookside Dr., Berkeley, CA 95705 San Francisco -- (415)848-0292 New York -- (212)427-0634 Boston -- (617)782-0510 Seattle -- (206)321-1367 Chicago -- (312)524-0198 Los Angeles (213)394-1183 tecNICA is in the process for applying for tax-free status, until then tax free contributions may be made out to: "tecNICA/Capp Street Foundation." ..arizona!___\ michael@ucbiris.berkeley.edu ..decwrl!_____!ucbvax!ucbiris!michael ..ihnp4!_____/ ..sun!______/ michael%ucbiris@berkeley.arpa