“I am excited by the idea of space travel, being at NASA; see the sky and the stars” …
Francy López Bonilla, Community Development Coordinator at Habitat for Humanity Nicaragua; is a versatile, curious, and passionate woman.
If we had to describe her in one sentence, we would say: Francy is cool. A lover of good food, 80’s disco music, and dogs, this Leonese woman, who has been working at Habitat for Humanity Nicaragua for twelve years, came to shape the area of Community Development and ensures that she never stops doing new things and that is precisely what keeps her motivated.
She graduated as a civil engineer and worked most of her life in that area, but before that, she had a love affair with medicine and even had a slip with law, in addition to her years as a student leader. She also participated in social processes in the country, such as alphabetization, cotton, and coffee cutting, and worked on social projects with the communities of her native León.
“When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a doctor because I grew up seeing my mother sick. She worked in the market and had problems with an ulcer, she spent all day on her feet, so I told her when she grew up, I was going to be a doctor and I was going to cure her. I remember there was a man, Don Chico, who was a cart driver and wore sandals made of tires, he carried a lot of things, and I told him that I was going to cure him too”, Francy tells us.
It was precise during her childhood, watching her parents work at the market in León, that her love for working with people was born. “My favorite moment when I would stay and help my mother at the market was when I would tell her I was hungry and she would tell me, go to Doña Modesta and ask for whatever you want, oh, magic words, Doña Modesta was a lady who would arrive at 11:30 in the morning, set up her little table, arrange her pailitas (skillet) and had a spectacular menu,” she smiles nostalgically.
That’s how detailed Francy is, and that’s how privileged the memory she has to remember every detail, of each one of the facets of her life.
How was the return to university and why engineering?
By the ’90s, I already had my little baby, my oldest, my Cocoliso. I had my partner, so he convinced me to come to Managua, I started to look at the options and I liked engineering because I had always done things, I made forts, I built houses with roofs, I used to play with construction materials, I have always been very curious.
And where did you pursue it?
I worked in the mayor’s office, with a private company, and Minsa project. I discovered things that I didn’t know how to do, I also discovered that I prefer to give my time to the most vulnerable sectors.
So how did you get to Habitat?
I was in an organization where I worked in the construction of the territorial development strategy, I also had the opportunity to do two diploma courses: education for life and development cooperation; we built the risk management strategy, the gender strategy, the education strategy, but the best thing about it was learning what development is, which I think is like the holy grail. After that I came to Habitat, I applied for a position, and they offered me another one. I started on the first of July 2010, the first person who greeted me was Fanny (r.i.p.) and she made me feel welcome and comfortable.
And how would you define development?
Development is an awakening, in the sense of what you want, why you want it, and working for it. And to the extent that a community answers those questions together and comes to an agreement, that to me is development.
What was the Community Development area like?
The area did not exist, at least when I arrived, it did not exist, what they did do was give Financial Education and I thought it was great. This area was the Cinderella of Habitat, then it was to understand what process they were in, I began to work on the strategy and that document is still there, it is like my guide. And well, to understand that the work of RD belongs to everyone at Habitat, and we have advanced in that, before only we trained and now you see some housing solutions training.
What has been the most difficult challenge?
To develop an educational proposal that complements the constructive part, and that allows Habitat to rescue the centrality of people because you can create a house but that satisfies a need, but you did not put people at the center; and with our methodology of healthy housing, we do put the family at the center. Another challenge was to join the process of diagnosis and community planning and to enter dialogue with the communities.
And the greatest satisfaction
I think is the part of the materials, the educational-bibliographical part that we have achieved. They say that the words are carried by the wind but what is written, no. That part is like my legacy, what I’m most proud of.
An anecdote that has marked you
For me it is the hug of the people, I am left with one in particular… I remember that after the act Estelita approached me, she is a lady who makes tortillas, a very loving lady when they are arriving, she goes with his hands outstretched and we hug each other, and it was an impressive thing. She was happy with everything she had achieved. There was also a boy who worked at the brewery and was training him in financial education. He was going to take out a loan and realized that he didn’t need to because she had the capacity to save.
You’ve done a little of everything in your life…
The truth is that everything catches my attention. I’m curious, if you ask me what I would have liked to learn, I will tell you a little of everything. I would like to learn about agronomy, I have been reading sociology, and the subject of communication and the basics to heal calls me, I am no longer enthusiastic about doing open heart surgery. I am excited by the idea of space travel, being at NASA; see the sky and the stars. If that part were reborn I would like it.
