- Siuna
Siuna is a
municipality in theRegión Autónoma del Atlántico Norte department ofNicaragua .The town of Siuna was the site of a gold mine operated by several U.S. and Canadian corporations in the past. Along with Rosita and Bonanza Siuna forms the Mining Triangle of Siuna.
Ground water in the area is contaminated with arsenic and mercury from the mining. [ Environmental Exposure and Fingernail Analysis of Arsenic and Mercury in Children and Adults in a Nicaraguan Mining Community [http://heldref-publications.metapress.com/index/751317285204L420.pdf] ]
The town of the Siuna has a campus of [http://www.uraccan.edu.ni/ URACCAN (Universidad de las Regiones Autónomas de la Costa Caribe Nicaragüense)] .
With regards to the history of Siuna going back to the 1950s: My family, which included my parents, Allen and Marjorie Drebert along with my brother Doug and myself, Jim, moved from Toronto, Canada, to Siuna in 1957 where we spent 5 years until 1961. My father worked in a capacity of managing transportation and maintenance for La Luz Mining Company. We lived on the staff zone for all of the foreign workers on the top of a hill overlooking Siuna and the mine. My brother and I attended the one room school for all of the English speaking children which taught grades one to nine. After grade nine, the children or young adults had to be sent off to boarding school which would usually be back in their home country. My brother Doug and I, have very fond memories of our time growing up in Nicaragua. The mountain climate was ideal averaging between 75 and 85 degrees F. throughout the year. Check out some of the photos taken during our stay there. By: Jim Drebert. Anyone wishing to contact me regarding this article, please feel free to e-mail myself at: jimdrebert@hotmail.com
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