Osvaldo Bonilla's Story

Osvaldo Bonilla lives in northwest Nicaragua, in Chinandega. It was a region marked by extreme poverty, violence, crime and sickness. Osvaldo, his wife Rosie and their children arrived with one purpose: to gather a team of men and women who would impact the lives of thousands in the area.

As a young man Osvaldo had come out of a life of crime and violence, so he understood what he was up against. Where others stayed away, Osvaldo and his team moved directly into difficult and often dangerous situations. He recognized that most of the population was too poor to pay for doctors and medications, and so beginning with just one room, Osvaldo established an affordable clinic in the center of the city. It has grown steadily over the years; now there are several doctors, dentists, lab technicians, nurses and pharmacists. He created a pharmacy that sells medicine to the patients at just a fraction over his cost. One of the doctors travels twice a month up to remote mountain villages, sometimes 600 km. away. Many factors make this clinic a success—Osvaldo’s determination and business giftedness, the commitment of a medical staff willing to work for much less than they could get in the state system, and the gratefulness of city.

Chinandega is surrounded by villages (barrios) where the citizens live in the midst of a whole other level of poverty. To first go to these barrios is to be confronted by the sight of men and women picking through garbage, filthy children running through the dirt laneways (it is immediately apparent that there is no school), and people living in shacks made of plastic and corrugated metal. It can be overwhelming.

Awhile ago, I said to Osvaldo that the foundation for village transformation is education. He smiled and said, “No, education is important, but it comes after security.” Osvaldo then told me that when he and his team target a barrio for change, the first thing they have to do is deal with the gang who controls the barrio. Amazingly, in the midst of the abject poverty, the gangs profit through drugs, bootleg alcohol and prostitution. They control the barrio through fear and violence. So sometimes the first thing that Osvaldo and his team have to do is drive out the gang from the barrio, which of course involves direct confrontation. His stories of putting enough pressure on the gangs to leave are quite remarkable. Hearing this gentle giant of a man quietly recount facing gang leaders who are armed with machetes, yet overcoming them, is often startling—and always fascinating.

Osvaldo is a visionary who when confronted with obstacles, always seems to find solutions. This has led to setting up feeding centers in the seven barrios that now feed over 2,000 hungry children a week. He has started schools, established a farm, and developed programs for the city’s teenagers. Recently the local police gathered 150 youth who were in trouble with the law and asked Osvaldo to spend a day with them. The police reported astounding results, with crime dropping and lives beginning to turn around.

Osvaldo is a natural leader. There are over 150 pastors from many different denominations in Chinandega. Year after year, they ask Osvaldo to be their leader. In this role, he works with government and church leaders from all over the nation.

Osvaldo and Rosie are parents to many, many young people. Besides their own children, I have never seen less than seven young men and women living in their home. Many times I have watched Osvaldo and Rosie shaping these young peoples’ lives through encouragement, correction and challenge. Somehow, Osvaldo and Rosie find a way to help them to go to college (some full time, some part time) in order to be equipped for the common cause of bringing hope to the people of Chinandega.

Our common passion to rescue lives and transform communities has led us to partner in an ever-increasing number of projects. We have worked together to build a feeding center, to plant, harvest and sell a sesame seed crop, conduct mobile medical clinics that have reached thousands, conduct leadership training seminars, build latrines, teach public health and sanitation principles, feed hungry children, establish an intensive vitamin and nutritional supplement program for severely malnourished kids, cook and serve prisoners nutritional meals in a maximum security prison and start a 10 acre farm to provide food for the various feeding programs.

Things never stay still with Osvaldo and Rosie. And so, as much as we have done together so far, I suspect that the journey has just begun.

Steve Stewart