Understanding Migration: T-Chart Activity—Nicaragua

Section 3: Using T-Charts and Writing Prompts to Explore Migration

Section 3 contains a series of parallel activities that explore specific real-world examples of migration. Each short unit contains a simple reading, written for a middle-level audience, a T-chart activity, and a writing prompt, which can be done as an individual class assignment, in small groups, as an entire class, or as homework. Case Study 4: Nicaraguan Migration during the Sandinista-Contra Years In 1979, after over four decades of the brutal Somoza dictatorship, the FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front, or the Sandinistas) toppled the government. However, the country was in trouble (the economy was in ruins, food was scarce, education was weak, and medical help almost nonexistent) and the Sandinistas were soon fighting a guerrilla war launched by U.S.-backed Contras, or counterrevolutionaries. The new government faced numerous problems. This case study asks students to consider whether Nicaraguans should leave their country to seek peace and stability in other nations.