Ricardo Chavarria, executive director of the Institute for Human Promotion in Nicaragua, will present "Continuing the Revolution? The Role of Non-Government Organizations in Post-Sandinista/Post-Mitch Nicaragua" at Colby College. The lecture will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 13, in Lovejoy 100 and is open to the public. Since Hurricane Mitch in 1998, Chavarria and the Institute for Human Promotion have been involved in relief and development efforts with victims of the disaster.

Chavarria previously served as vice minister of the Nicaraguan Institute of Social Security and Welfare. In 1990, after the Sandinistas were voted out of office, he began working for the Institute for Human Promotion. Created in 1966, the Institute is the oldest non-governmental organization in Nicaragua. The organization works with grass-roots cooperatives, other Nicaraguan organizations and 5,000 volunteers to foster participatory development. Chavarria also has served as the director of planning for the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights.

Chavarria's visit is sponsored by Colby's Latin American Studies Program in cooperation with the Government Department and several health, activism and volunteer student groups.