|
By John Killen
Published in the Oregonian on 05/07/2002
A little more than 15 years ago, a 27-year-old Portlander became the first U.S. citizen to die in the Contra-Sandinista war in Nicaragua.
Ben Linder was working on a hydroelectric project in northern Nicaragua when he was killed by the Contras. Although extensive news coverage followed the shooting, time is threatening to erode the public's memory of who Linder was and what he was trying to do when he died.
That's why a small group of Portlanders recently awarded the first Ben Linder Scholarship -- and why they're hoping to make the award an annual event.
"We want to make sure that Ben isn't forgotten and show that there are still people in the world who would like to apply what they know to social justice," said Susan Maria Bloom, who along with Betty June Marsh came up with the idea.
With that in mind, the first gift from the Ben Linder Scholarship Foundation was awarded to David Taniyama, a mechanical engineering student at Portland State University.
The scholarship, worth about $1,000, will allow Taniyama to attend a 10-day workshop, "Land Restoration, Ecological Living and Natural Building," this summer in Mexico. Cob Cottage, a group based in Cottage Grove near Eugene, is one of the sponsors.
The workshop will help Taniyama combine what he is learning at Portland State with what he'll learn in Mexico, Bloom said. The goal is to enable him to solve engineering problems in an Earth-friendly way, which Linder was trying to do when he died.
"He hopes to find ways to help people solve problems in an Earth-friendly way," said Bloom. Taniyama will put together a slide show and presentation on what he learns.
Bloom said Taniyama won, in part, because of a response on his application.
"He was searching," she said. "He asked himself, 'Is what I'm doing making the world better?' "
Winner aims to help others Taniyama, 26, lives with his wife, Jennifer, near Portland State in Southwest Portland. He was raised in Hawaii and came to Portland about three years ago. He first heard about Linder and the scholarship while attending Portland Community College.
Intrigued both by the way Linder died and what he had been trying to do in Nicaragua -- provide dependable hydropower for people in a poor area -- he applied for the scholarship.
"I hope to educate other people about renewable energy" after returning from Mexico, he said. "Maybe even get more students involved, becoming proactive and finding better ways of living."Taniyama, who works full time as a mechanic while going to school part time, also said he hopes to work to minimize air pollution from automobiles. He sees cars every day that shouldn't be on the road because they pollute so much.
Linder, raised in Northwest Portland, and two Nicaraguan co-workers were ambushed on April 29, 1987, by a band of Contras while working on a hydroelectric project.
The killings gained national attention not only because Linder was the first U.S. citizen killed in the conflict, but also because the Contras were trained and directed by the U.S. government in an attempt to overthrow the Sandinista government. Afterward, his parents, David and Elisabeth Linder, spent years traveling the United States, pointing out the role the U.S. government played in their son's death and trying to raise money to complete the hydroelectric projects their son had begun.
Those efforts bore fruit four years ago with the formation of Green Empowerment, a group that has been raising money to help bring electrical power to remote villages in North America, Central America and Malaysia.
David Linder, a medical doctor, died Jan. 3, 1999, of heart failure. Ben Linder's mother, Elisabeth; brother John, 47; and sister Miriam, 45, live in Portland.
Elisabeth Linder said she is still involved in Green Empowerment but has cut back on her activities. Still, she's pleased about the scholarship.
"It's keeping Ben's memory alive," she said, "and facilitating doing something that he believed in."
© 2002, The Oregonian
|
