10 years of the founding history of URACCAN, Siuna - Las Minas

Abstract

The University of the Autonomous Regions of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua (URACCAN), is present in four Campuses. In the North Atlantic Autonomous Region in Siuna and Bilwi; and in the South Atlantic Autonomous Region in Bluefields and Nueva Guinea, as they are treated in relation to the organizational structure and working lines: extension, teaching and research. The Siuna Campus was founded in 1995, in response to a historical demand of centuries of economic, political, cultural and social exclusion by the Nicaraguan national state. The purpose of this systematization was to rescue the history and the generation of alternative proposals for the construction of the autonomy of the Atlantic Coast. It’s a longitudinal study from 1995-2005 and it was carried-out in 2007 from a primarily qualitative approach with individual and group interviews in situ; we also examined the reports of the workshops, the minutes, summaries of discussions, statistics, evaluations and institutional diagnostics. It was concluded -using a systemic approach- that URACCAN at a national context and due to its multiethnic and intercultural-bilingual profile, as well as it community accompaniment praxis contributes to identity development in forging the autonomy of the Caribbean Coast where six cultures coexist: Miskitu, Sumu-Mayangna, Rama, Creole, Garifuna, and Mestizo.