About us?

URHWI was born on the initiative of Reverend Melesio Peter, a Miskitu from the northern Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. From a very young age he participated as an activist promoting the culture of the region, as well as denouncing injustice and discriminatory policies towards indigenous communities. During the forced displacement of thousands of Miskitus to other countries, Melesio Peter was one of the hundreds of young people who left their hometown behind at the early age of 15. From outside, he chose a longer path, but no less effective in the struggle for the emancipation of the rights of the communities of the Moskitia. Through education - initially with his ecclesiastical studies that allowed him to become the first Miskito priest, and later, as an anthropologist graduated from the doctoral program in Social Anthropology at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico -, Melesio has used his training and ability to convene to influence the development and empowerment of indigenous Miskitos in the diaspora through multiple projects.

Melesio wrote his thesis on Miskitu migrants in Puerto Arturo, Texas. During the period of research he realized that in that city there were no pro-human rights or pro-labor organizations, mainly because it was far from large cities where they did exist. Workplace accidents were common there and they were not organized to help their countrymen in the process of claiming compensation for work accidents, despite labor violations against Latino immigrants being frequent in the United States. While this was happening, two hurricanes affected the northern Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, and a solidarity group was formed in 2007, with the help of the San Jose Parish Church in Austin, Texas, the Friends and Brothers of Nicaragua Committee (AHN). After that, the Pro Moskitia Foundation was created in the State of Texas on November 14, 2008, which now in July 2024 has changed its name to URHWI.

The foundation has participated in more than a dozen projects in the United States, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama. For this, it has accepted funds from other non-governmental organizations, but most of the funds have been donations from people and faithful Catholic migrants from Miskitos in Mexico and Central America in general. Professional anthropologists in Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States have been of great support in highlighting the situation of indigenous migrants.

When talking about the Mosquitia, reference is generally made to the Miskito communities that have historically occupied territories that extend from the mouth of the Ahuan River in Cape Cameroon, in the Republic of Honduras, to the mouth of the San Juan River, in Nicaragua, crossing the entire Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast.

The Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, where the greatest ethnic, cultural, linguistic, geographic and biodiversity diversity is present in the country, is home to 177,000 Miskitus, 3,957 Sumu-Mayangna and 32,000 English speakers.

The problems of these communities are diverse, starting with the fact that the communities are dispersed in places that are difficult to access. They are among the poorest communities in the country, malaria and malnutrition are common. There are problems of deficiency in teaching, especially in their native languages, only 14% of teachers have completed the basic cycle of secondary school, 10% are only high school graduates and 6% have only completed primary education.

THE NICARAGUA MOSQUITIA

Board of Directors

Board biographies

President: Reverend MelesioPeter Espinoza.

He is a Miskitu originally from the town of Santa Martha in the Moskitia of Nicaragua. He is the first Miskitu priest. An anthropologist with a doctorate from the Universidad Iberoamericana de México -, Melesio has used his ecclesiastical and academic preparation and his capacity for convening and leadership to influence the development and empowerment of communities of the Nicaraguan Moskitia inside and outside of Nicaragua. It is in this context that he founded Pro Moskitia in 2008 in Austin, Texas, with the support of multiple civil society actors, Latino parishioners, Nicaraguan migrants and Miskitus, especially from the city of Puerto Arturo in Texas.

Allen Poveda

Born in the US to Miskito parents, he speaks fluent English and Miskito. He graduated with honors from Memorial High School in Port Arthur, TX in 2010. He currently teaches students in the Petrochemical industry at Lamar Institute of Technology in Beaumont, TX.

He has organized aid for Miskitos on the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast in the face of disasters. Advocate for humanitarian aid for the Caribbean coast from the United States on a Texas podcast.

From Austin, Texas. He was a trustee of the Texas Teachers' Retirement System. He is currently retired from the University of Texas at Austin. He has owned and operated small businesses in Toronto, Pensacola, Florida and Austin, Texas, and has held various positions in community organizations in Florida, Ontario and Texas. He speaks Spanish and English.

Secretario: Philip Mullins

Dina Rivera Fagoth.

Amalia Dixon-Humphrey

Karen Laponzo

Antonio Menn

Astin Zamora

Miskito originally from Cabo Gracias a Dios municipality of Waspam, northern Nicaragua. From a very young age he fled his country on the ship Nenter that transported mahogany and pine wood from Puerto Cabezas to the port of New Orleans. From there he continued his adventure working on different fishing routes and after several decades of comings and goings and feeling insecure as a Miskito in his country, he arrived back in the United States and settled in Puerto Arturo, Texas, where he is recognized as a leader of his community.

Originally from Rio Coco, in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region of Nicaragua, she lives in California. She speaks Miskitu, Spanish and English, and her desire is to help with the educational work that the Foundation does in the region. She was Executive Director of the South and Meso-American Indian Rights Center (SAIIC), a member of the Board of Directors of the Abya Yala Foundation, based in Oakland, California, and was a member of the teaching staff of the San Francisco 49ers Academy School in Palo Alto, California.

Native of the Boom Sirpi people, a small town located on the outskirts of Bilwi, in the Nicaraguan Moskitia. She speaks English, Spanish and Miskitu. In Nicaragua, the first dancer of the Nicaraguan Miskito Folkloric Group participated since the late 1970s in movements for indigenous rights, including JUDEM and Misurasata. In the 1980s, she remained an activist in the Misurasata organization, part of this included joining the Miskito-guerilla war assisting wounded soldiers and refugees. She currently lives in Miami.

was elected to the Board of Directors of the Pro-Moskitia Foundation of Nicaragua in 2011. He was nominated by an affiliated group in Port Arthur, Texas. Mr. Menn lives in Port Arthur, Texas. He is an alumni of Lamar University in Port Arthur. He is active in the Good Shepard Moravian Church in Port Arthur. He speaks English and Miskitu.

Miskito originally from Cabo Gracias a Dios municipality of Waspam, northern Nicaragua. From a very young age he fled his country on the ship Nenter that transported mahogany and pine wood from Puerto Cabezas to the port of New Orleans. From there he continued his adventure working on different fishing routes and after several decades of comings and goings and feeling insecure as a Miskito in his country, he arrived back in the United States and settled in Puerto Arturo, Texas, where he is recognized as a leader of his community.