OK, I must apologise - I know I have been very lax in writing blog entries (or, in fact, with sending emails at all) in the last fortnight. My excuse is that work is keeping me actually bloody busy. And add to that the fact that temperatures are starting to rise, with the onset of the summer months, so you have to shower and scrub off the sweat and dust and sun cream and grime before you can even think about being human enough to write about what's going on (a girl's best friend out here is her body scrub!)
So given that volunteering is my excuse for not writing, I guess I'd better let you in on what that actually entails. It is what I've come out here to Nicaragua to do, after all... I am now involved with four different volunteering projects: the women's group; the dentist visit program; organising for donated computers to be mended; and communications between a Catholic Mission in New Orleans and an orphanage (yes, I have no idea how that one came about either!).
My women's group work continues as usual, with two afternoon sessions a week with the ladies where we get together and go over current business, and check the quality of the goods that have been made (the leather-bound books are going particularly well at the moment). Once a week we do the accounts and we're trying to get the women to be more involved with both the raw materials costs and the real sales, so we go through the sales and monies earned in some details. Once a week we also have Margie (a local Granadina) come up and teach crocheting, to see whether we can turn this into a saleable product. Although the raw materials for this are wonderfully cheap, it is very labour intensive and takes quite a long time to crochet anything intricate, so we're starting with crocheted borders around material for table centrepieces to see how they might go. The jewellery making group get their regular rations of good beads, and we are trying to keep a good track of costs with them too. In between the meetings, we have jobs like internet research on fair trade status and import/export costs; making new display boards; visiting old and new shops in which to replenish & sell the stock; making up samples of possible new handicraft items (one idea is to make netting bowl-covers with beaded edging); buying supplies in town with the ladies; finding alternative sources and outlets including via volunteer email queries; doing regular inventory stock takes... As you can see this project alone keeps us pretty busy!
For the dentist project I am co-coordinator, so we had to start off by setting up the program with the clinic and seeing teachers at the four schools we take children from. Even just getting the days and timetables arranged involved six different schools visits (each of which requires a chicken bus ride up the main highway). Also, twice a week I take a group of six kids from one of the schools (so I'm up at 6.30am to collect the children at 8am, and then drop them back around 12.30 or 1pm) to the clinic for their treatment. Even with two volunteers to six children this can be hard work, as we have to persuade them to come and mop up any tears; keep them occupied with puzzles, games, chat, books, playing catch in the yard, etc for four hours straight; even just getting them there and back can be an effort, as we have to either brave the chicken bus or hitch a lift in the back of a truck (actually often easier with the kids than without!) Today I had to walk one boy home mid-morning because he was refusing any treatment, and I talked to his parents about him returning another day. To be honest, virtually all the kids have such bad teeth that many are having loads of fillings, teeth pulled, and more, and they come back week after week. So I coordinate and update the detailed spreadhseet records about the visits. Sadly (for the kids, although happily for me personally) the school chats to explain dental health have been cancelled for now, so I finally get a relatively quiet day on Friday.
The other two projects (computers and orphanage) are weird enough but alas I have run out of time today to explain more, so you'll have to hold your breath for another time...
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Managua trips (to civilisation)
I have a confession to make - despite all the mod cons that Granada has to offer, I've already made three trips to Managua (the capital of Nicaragua) to the two shopping malls there, each of which has an air-conditioned mutiplex cinema. I'm afraid the need for a little retail therapy that doesn't involve haggling in market stalls plus a cool cinematic experience (the cinema here in Granada has only three showings a week!) got too great. But I suppose I do also have the excuse that I had to try to replace a few of the things I had stolen from my bag (in which I have been at least partially successful). And our lovely washing machine has this tendency to chew up whatever you wash - so a few more shirts and vest tops are required. Alas, even in Managua it's impossible to replace any bras though, because apparently there are no women in Nicaragua above a C cup (according to the underwear available in every shop I've been into). Not something I completely believe, but that's the way it goes here...
Luckily it's easy to get to Managua, since the best bit of road in the whole country links Managua and Granada. [N.B. Interestingly and strangely enough I hear that the roads here in Nicaragua, even though many are hideously potholed and not even paved, are considerably better than the roads in the much richer and more tourist-developed Costa Rica. Go Nicargaua!] So there are minivans (called expresos or micros) that run from one corner of the Parque Central in Granada about every 15 mins and take an hour to get to Managua. The ride can get a little hairy, especially if you don't get a seat (sometimes having to crouch in the passageway getting up close and personal with the guy who takes the money, and who usually spends half the journey hanging out of the open sliding door trying to encourage more passengers into the van by shouting ManaguaManaguaManaguaManagua (I don't know why but it's always four times) at anyone even vaguely lingering by the side of the road. I think the bus guys would try to persuade anyone into the bus by telling them they can get to wherever you want to go to via that bus's route. I'm assuming the buses run on a franchise basis, which might explain why the drivers and money guys (conductors of a sort) are so keen to pack as many people as physically possible in. Anyway, on the way to Managua it's normally OK to get a seat, but trying to squeeze on the last bus of the night (sadly only at 8pm) for the return journey is another matter!
Luckily it's easy to get to Managua, since the best bit of road in the whole country links Managua and Granada. [N.B. Interestingly and strangely enough I hear that the roads here in Nicaragua, even though many are hideously potholed and not even paved, are considerably better than the roads in the much richer and more tourist-developed Costa Rica. Go Nicargaua!] So there are minivans (called expresos or micros) that run from one corner of the Parque Central in Granada about every 15 mins and take an hour to get to Managua. The ride can get a little hairy, especially if you don't get a seat (sometimes having to crouch in the passageway getting up close and personal with the guy who takes the money, and who usually spends half the journey hanging out of the open sliding door trying to encourage more passengers into the van by shouting ManaguaManaguaManaguaManagua (I don't know why but it's always four times) at anyone even vaguely lingering by the side of the road. I think the bus guys would try to persuade anyone into the bus by telling them they can get to wherever you want to go to via that bus's route. I'm assuming the buses run on a franchise basis, which might explain why the drivers and money guys (conductors of a sort) are so keen to pack as many people as physically possible in. Anyway, on the way to Managua it's normally OK to get a seat, but trying to squeeze on the last bus of the night (sadly only at 8pm) for the return journey is another matter!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
La gigatona
The week before my birthday it was Becca (one of my housemate)'s birthday too. Being a sports fanatic, she often plays football out in the street with some of the local kids who come knocking at our door asking for her in the evenings. When they found out it was her birthday coming up, one particular eleven-year-old boy insisted that he would bring round a gigantona (and at this point none of us had any idea what that might be) to celebrate with her. I have to admit that I think everyone in the house was a little sceptical as to whether this would actually materialise. But, come the evening in question, after a birthday meal had been cooked and eaten, sure enough there was a knock at the door and Becca's young football friends had turned up.
The gigatona is a oversized doll with someone (in this case another little boy) underneath and whilst the "band" plays drums and chants a long and complicated Nicaraguan song/poem/story, the gigatona twirls round and round with her skirts out flying. These little boys really went for it, and everyone who'd come round for dinner absolutely loved the spectacle. In fact, children from our neighbours' houses came out into the street to join in the fun too. It was a truly unusual and memorable Nicaraguan birthday celebration for Becca (and in fact for all of us).
The gigatona is a oversized doll with someone (in this case another little boy) underneath and whilst the "band" plays drums and chants a long and complicated Nicaraguan song/poem/story, the gigatona twirls round and round with her skirts out flying. These little boys really went for it, and everyone who'd come round for dinner absolutely loved the spectacle. In fact, children from our neighbours' houses came out into the street to join in the fun too. It was a truly unusual and memorable Nicaraguan birthday celebration for Becca (and in fact for all of us).
Nica breakfasts
Today I was going to go off sightseeing to the Mirador de Catarina, but given that the weather is strangely overcast and foreboding (but of course as ever still very much hot and sticky) that didn't seem like such a fantastic plan. [N.B. A mirador is a viewing spot!] My second idea was to take the bus to Masaya, where there is the biggest and best handicrafts market in Nicaragua, but I managed to take too long over breakfast and then missed a couple of buses. And from previous experience (see the entry on Diriamba) I know that setting off to travel too late on a Sunday is a bad idea since there may not be a bus back. Therefore I decided to have a quiet day in Granada instead - hence here I am at my favourite internet cafe with a little time to spare for blogging.
And with breakfast on the brain, I thought I'd let you work out which is my favourite joint. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned in previous posts that there are two particularly well-known breakfast options in Granada:
Kathy's Waffle House
pros - great food
- absolutely huge American portions
- on the way into town from home
- lovely outdoor tables
- open until 2pm
cons - ridiculously enormous portions
- very rich food
- only the coffee comes free with breakfast
- full of ageing male US ex-pats reading the Nica Times (a local English-language newspaper aimed at just that market)
Nica Buffet
pros - more achievably-sized large portions
- also delicious but lighter food
- more European relaxed atmosphere
- free iced tea (the real stuff)
- very friendly Dutch owner
cons - further from home (the other side of the Parque Central towards the market)
- you have to sit inside
- it closes earlier at 12pm
So there you have it; please cast vote on which place you think is my favourite... P.S. I may update this post at a later date to include some photos.
And with breakfast on the brain, I thought I'd let you work out which is my favourite joint. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned in previous posts that there are two particularly well-known breakfast options in Granada:
Kathy's Waffle House
pros - great food
- absolutely huge American portions
- on the way into town from home
- lovely outdoor tables
- open until 2pm
cons - ridiculously enormous portions
- very rich food
- only the coffee comes free with breakfast
- full of ageing male US ex-pats reading the Nica Times (a local English-language newspaper aimed at just that market)
Nica Buffet
pros - more achievably-sized large portions
- also delicious but lighter food
- more European relaxed atmosphere
- free iced tea (the real stuff)
- very friendly Dutch owner
cons - further from home (the other side of the Parque Central towards the market)
- you have to sit inside
- it closes earlier at 12pm
So there you have it; please cast vote on which place you think is my favourite... P.S. I may update this post at a later date to include some photos.
Friday, February 9, 2007
San Juan weekend (the full story)
Rather annoyingly I'd written half of this blog entry when the computer froze (oh the joy of technology!) so I've had to write it all again. Oh well. So I just heard yesterday about the crazy weather in the UK, and I hope the snow isn't too mad. It seems so far from my reality here, where hot hot hot is what you have all the time (although actually I'm getting much better at dealing with the heat - you just get used to being hot and sticky all the time and sort of stop caring, although I'd love not to have to wear my hiking boots all the time, but my ankle just isn't healed enough yet to risk it out and about). You'd all laugh to see me here in the internet cafe, sipping an iced tea, wearing a sundress, but with my big leather hiking boots on. I think everyone in town now knows me as the "chica gringa con las botas". Even the school kids smile at them...
Getting back to my weekend in San Juan del Sur, which I promised to write more about today. (N.B. You'll have to go back a post to see the photos.) So after lunch (and I did have to have some lovely fresh fish to make a change after all the chicken and mat we eat in Granada) we settled into San Juan on Friday afternoon, and just hung out at the main town beach for a couple of hours. I took a swim, lazed in the sun and then we watched the sunset sitting on the beach, which is one of the main "sights" to see there - beautiful. Four of the other girls from the house had arrived the previous day as they wanted to practise/continue learning to surf (well three of them were there for the surfing, and the other one is a surfer groupie!) We all met up for dinner and then onto one of the beachside bars for drinks and chat... Like Granada, San Juan is something of a backpacker hangout, so there's quite a scene. Torey met a friend for a walk on the beach, while the rest of us hit the one nightclub in town. It was rather quiet so it wasn't too late a night all in all.
Then the next day it was on the 10am beach truck for the surfing girls and on an 11am launch to the other beaches for Torey, Jason and I (the lazy ones!). No one else made it so we had the whole boat to ourselves for the 40 mins trip to Playa Madrajugal, a fantastic semi-deserted bay. Our captain then took off for a day's fishing while we hung out. Torey and I had hired snorkelling gear, which was good fun, even if we didn't actually really see anything much beyond a few little grey fishes. Then we hiked over to the nearby surfers beach, Playa Maderas, where the big waves are and also a small hut which serves a couple of lunch dishes plus cold beers. It was a complete surfer dude hangout, with boards up on the walls and a lot of "how was that wave for you?" conversations going on. But cool to join in with, even if I wasn't truly in the surfer gang. If we ankle was OK, I would love to give it a try though... maybe towards the end of my trip... Becca, Chris and Fiona have become complete surfing addicts.
That night there was supposed to be a big beach party organised for a biker festival in town(!?) To be honest, there were about half a dozen very noisy bikers riding around town, but certainly not the hundreds we had heard rumours about. Torey and I had dinner with a group of American forest firefighters we'd met on the beach that afternoon (yes, such things do happen in Nicaragua) while poor Jason took it easy because of a bad stomach. [Luckily so far I haven't had too many problems of that sort, just a couple of slightly dodgy days, but nothing serious - probably because Granada has mains drinking water (apparently it's the only place in Central America with potable water) so you can trust all the juices, ice, etc even from street vendors.] We met up for drinks later with the other girls in the infamous Iguana Bar and then headed down to the beach party. I had some hopes that there might be music other the usual reggaeton, and there was the occasional other track, but still you can't escape reggaeton's iron grip on the Nicaraguan music and nightlife scene. But that's probably all for the best given my ankle (too much good music and I'd be throwing caution to the wind).
And like every other Nica night out, we ended up in the nightclub listening to/dancing to raggaeton, but so what - the rum was flowing... Becca had met a Nica guy who owned the hotel next door to the club, so she and I ended up there afterwards with him and another friend, and we went to the beach to wait for the sun rise. Sadly this is the "ugly" part of the story because I had my bag stolen (the first time in my life I've ever lost my purse)! It was all very strange, how it happened. We saw a boat seemingly capsizing in the swell (in the dark) so two of us went to try to help or find out what was happening - I thought perhaps the guy in the boat was drunk. But actually I think he might have Bean trying to steal the boat because he refused all help despite everything coming out of the boat (I located at last on oar in the sea), and without saying a word to our shouts in English or Spanish went off into the darkness using the outboard motor. Meanwhile Becca and her friend had gone back into the hotel since there was nothing more they could add, but alas not having realised that we'd left our stuff with them when we dashed off to the sea. So I returned to find my shoes, but no bag. And I was pretty pissed off and upset, I can tell you. In fact I had to wait several days before I could write about this on my blog because I was so annoyed and sore on the subject.
There was nothing to be done at this point, but cry a little, get some sleep and then report the theft to the police. At least I didn't have my passport or credit cards in my bag - just some money, a few personal bits and pieces, oh and my house keys in Granada (and there's a whole new story about when I got the locks changed on Monday...) So I finally managed to persuade the police to take down the details and give me a report for my insurance company (apparently the Nicaraguan police are notoriously loath to make theft reports because it's just a lot of bureaucratic work for them when the case comes up in court, and no one ever gets caught or prosecuted). Then it was back to Tito's hotel to hang out there and wait for him to give us all a lift back to Granada (Torey and Jason having already left early that morning to head back for an organised trip to Las Isletas). It was a long, long day, as I had had very little sleep, was pretty fucked off and generally just wanted to get home and sort everything out. But eventually once the girls had drifted off (apparently they ended up at a cock fight or something) and then drifted back it was time to go. And at least there was no fighting for a seat on the chicken bus this time. And so endeth the San Juan weekend, with me passing out on my bed back home in Granada at 9pm.
Getting back to my weekend in San Juan del Sur, which I promised to write more about today. (N.B. You'll have to go back a post to see the photos.) So after lunch (and I did have to have some lovely fresh fish to make a change after all the chicken and mat we eat in Granada) we settled into San Juan on Friday afternoon, and just hung out at the main town beach for a couple of hours. I took a swim, lazed in the sun and then we watched the sunset sitting on the beach, which is one of the main "sights" to see there - beautiful. Four of the other girls from the house had arrived the previous day as they wanted to practise/continue learning to surf (well three of them were there for the surfing, and the other one is a surfer groupie!) We all met up for dinner and then onto one of the beachside bars for drinks and chat... Like Granada, San Juan is something of a backpacker hangout, so there's quite a scene. Torey met a friend for a walk on the beach, while the rest of us hit the one nightclub in town. It was rather quiet so it wasn't too late a night all in all.
Then the next day it was on the 10am beach truck for the surfing girls and on an 11am launch to the other beaches for Torey, Jason and I (the lazy ones!). No one else made it so we had the whole boat to ourselves for the 40 mins trip to Playa Madrajugal, a fantastic semi-deserted bay. Our captain then took off for a day's fishing while we hung out. Torey and I had hired snorkelling gear, which was good fun, even if we didn't actually really see anything much beyond a few little grey fishes. Then we hiked over to the nearby surfers beach, Playa Maderas, where the big waves are and also a small hut which serves a couple of lunch dishes plus cold beers. It was a complete surfer dude hangout, with boards up on the walls and a lot of "how was that wave for you?" conversations going on. But cool to join in with, even if I wasn't truly in the surfer gang. If we ankle was OK, I would love to give it a try though... maybe towards the end of my trip... Becca, Chris and Fiona have become complete surfing addicts.
That night there was supposed to be a big beach party organised for a biker festival in town(!?) To be honest, there were about half a dozen very noisy bikers riding around town, but certainly not the hundreds we had heard rumours about. Torey and I had dinner with a group of American forest firefighters we'd met on the beach that afternoon (yes, such things do happen in Nicaragua) while poor Jason took it easy because of a bad stomach. [Luckily so far I haven't had too many problems of that sort, just a couple of slightly dodgy days, but nothing serious - probably because Granada has mains drinking water (apparently it's the only place in Central America with potable water) so you can trust all the juices, ice, etc even from street vendors.] We met up for drinks later with the other girls in the infamous Iguana Bar and then headed down to the beach party. I had some hopes that there might be music other the usual reggaeton, and there was the occasional other track, but still you can't escape reggaeton's iron grip on the Nicaraguan music and nightlife scene. But that's probably all for the best given my ankle (too much good music and I'd be throwing caution to the wind).
And like every other Nica night out, we ended up in the nightclub listening to/dancing to raggaeton, but so what - the rum was flowing... Becca had met a Nica guy who owned the hotel next door to the club, so she and I ended up there afterwards with him and another friend, and we went to the beach to wait for the sun rise. Sadly this is the "ugly" part of the story because I had my bag stolen (the first time in my life I've ever lost my purse)! It was all very strange, how it happened. We saw a boat seemingly capsizing in the swell (in the dark) so two of us went to try to help or find out what was happening - I thought perhaps the guy in the boat was drunk. But actually I think he might have Bean trying to steal the boat because he refused all help despite everything coming out of the boat (I located at last on oar in the sea), and without saying a word to our shouts in English or Spanish went off into the darkness using the outboard motor. Meanwhile Becca and her friend had gone back into the hotel since there was nothing more they could add, but alas not having realised that we'd left our stuff with them when we dashed off to the sea. So I returned to find my shoes, but no bag. And I was pretty pissed off and upset, I can tell you. In fact I had to wait several days before I could write about this on my blog because I was so annoyed and sore on the subject.
There was nothing to be done at this point, but cry a little, get some sleep and then report the theft to the police. At least I didn't have my passport or credit cards in my bag - just some money, a few personal bits and pieces, oh and my house keys in Granada (and there's a whole new story about when I got the locks changed on Monday...) So I finally managed to persuade the police to take down the details and give me a report for my insurance company (apparently the Nicaraguan police are notoriously loath to make theft reports because it's just a lot of bureaucratic work for them when the case comes up in court, and no one ever gets caught or prosecuted). Then it was back to Tito's hotel to hang out there and wait for him to give us all a lift back to Granada (Torey and Jason having already left early that morning to head back for an organised trip to Las Isletas). It was a long, long day, as I had had very little sleep, was pretty fucked off and generally just wanted to get home and sort everything out. But eventually once the girls had drifted off (apparently they ended up at a cock fight or something) and then drifted back it was time to go. And at least there was no fighting for a seat on the chicken bus this time. And so endeth the San Juan weekend, with me passing out on my bed back home in Granada at 9pm.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Beach weekend in San Juan (the good, the bad and the ugly)
After a slightly crazy start to Friday (two men came to cut off the electricity to our house, because of supposedly unpaid bills - all resolved now!), Torey, Jason and I headed off to the bus station/patch-of-rough-ground-behind-the-market-and-petrol-station from where the chicken buses leave Granada and just made it on the 11.30am departure. We failed to get seats, but actually in the heat, standing up in the breeze is more pleasant really.
Then after a bit of haggling when we changed buses at RIvas, we got a colectivo taxi to San Juan del Sur, beach and surfer´s paradise. (Actually I´ve yet to get in anything that´s not a colectivo taxi - basically all taxis pick up mutiple random passengers en route everywhere, so you share your ride with anyone and everyone, and you always pay by the person.) Our taxi driver knew a good posada (guest house) to stay in, and given that it was much nicer (windows, fan, painted walls, etc) than some of the very cheapest options, we went for it...
OK. Sorry guys - I´ve been online chatting with Kate all afternoon and I have to go back to the office in 5 minutes for a meeting about organising children´s dentist visit, so I´m thinking I´ll just put up this message with some photos and fill in the gaps afterwards.
There´s no time left to write more now, but I know I´ve been pretty lax recently. Forgive me!
Then after a bit of haggling when we changed buses at RIvas, we got a colectivo taxi to San Juan del Sur, beach and surfer´s paradise. (Actually I´ve yet to get in anything that´s not a colectivo taxi - basically all taxis pick up mutiple random passengers en route everywhere, so you share your ride with anyone and everyone, and you always pay by the person.) Our taxi driver knew a good posada (guest house) to stay in, and given that it was much nicer (windows, fan, painted walls, etc) than some of the very cheapest options, we went for it...
OK. Sorry guys - I´ve been online chatting with Kate all afternoon and I have to go back to the office in 5 minutes for a meeting about organising children´s dentist visit, so I´m thinking I´ll just put up this message with some photos and fill in the gaps afterwards.
There´s no time left to write more now, but I know I´ve been pretty lax recently. Forgive me!
Saturday, February 3, 2007
La Esperanza monthly newsletter
This month´s photos: Children, Parents and Volunteers walking to town for High School Registration; Doing the Paperwork; A happy student on the first day of school; Traditional Dancing at the official opening of La Prusia's new classrooms.
It feels as though all of this month has been building up to the climax of the opening of the schools for the 2007 school year. Earlier in the month volunteers continued working with both summer schools and the Children's Activity Group, but the last two weeks everyone has been preparing for the new year which commenced on Monday 29th.
We have some great plans for this coming year. As well as tutoring grades one and two in the schools we will increase our level of activity in the 'preescolar' or kindergarten all four schools (last year we only helped a little in two schools). Another area we want to place more focus this year is in community health, and especially the health of the children. This year in addition to our school/community nurse whose salary we pay, we will have a 'health' team of volunteers.
Two major building projects have been completed this month – the double classroom building at La Prusia and the double classroom building at La Epifania. Thanks to The Christ the Healer Mission Group with is a Mission Group under the auspices of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, in New Orleans, U.S.A., we will be able to furnish the classrooms at La Epifania as well as the library room there, plus pay the salary of two extra teachers which means that grades one and two classes can be split into reasonable class sizes instead of one teacher having to deal with over 40 young children. The groundwork of these early years in school is so important to their future. This team, who we met through Bill Wayman last year, also brought down computers and donated 5 of them to La Epifania. We will set them up and install the programs, and plan to have a volunteer teaching computer classes in the school next month.
Teachers of course are one of the most important resources of any schools, and this year through the generosity of all our friends we will be paying the salaries of seven teachers in the schools to help reduce class sizes. One of these is a special needs teacher/child phsycologist. As part of our new efforts (some former volunteers will be amazed) in addition to orientation, and a tour around all the schools, the new volunteers spent a day preparing for tutoring, discussing how to use the items provided in their tutoring kits, getting tips on tutoring from team leaders and volunteers who were here last year, and also receiving advice and listening to a talk about local conditions and learning difficulties in Nicaragua from Georgina who will be the special needs teacher. Every second week we will be holding group meetings to work specifically with how to improve the effectiveness of time spent with the children, and having this specialist advice will be a great help.
The secondary school children now need a full team of volunteers to help them as we have over 50 children attending secondary school thanks to your sponsorship. Chris, Jessie, Judith and Karolien have been to visit the schools and have organized that the children can be tutored by our volunteers in the area they come from, e.g. in their local school. The La Prusia children of course have the benefit of our Community Center.
So many new volunteers this month, all for two months and quite a few for longer terms, we have welcomed Colin Williamson, Lynette Fairclough, Karolien Swaak, Liz Gage, Lauri Tamayo, Laura Manganello, Armando Sotero, Jason Wofsey, Judith Harleman, Lizzie Dipple, Johanna Holman, Becca Alban, Margaux Vulloid, Louis Koenig, Fenna Stomps, Brenda Registe, Linda Yu, Mike Kent Smith, Norm and Lulu Green, Torey Jovick, Jessie Godert, Oscar Bodi Lavall and Kamel Mehasni. We have a wonderful team and look forward to a good year ahead of us. We expect to be able to give to the communities something in the region of 40,000 volunteer hours in 2007!
Donations this month make a long list too and we are so grateful for all the resources so many have brought along, Armando brought over 1000 vitamin tablets, Lizzie, books and puzzles and games, Romero Hernandez Diaz brought lots of great school and art supplies, Becca had sent Spanish language information booklets regarding different aspects of mental health, Jason bought a large amount of beads and cord for the womens working group which he donated to us, Colin brought useful binders and things we need in the office, and Kamel arrived with a bag full of books, toys, even Calendars for La Esperanza Granada that he had printed to do fund raising for us before he left the U.K. (he also brought with him 290 pounds sterling that he raised, plus 40 Euros from his mother Nadia Mehasni). Laura Manganello brought lots of school supplies too, as well as $250 from her parents Bruno and Rossana.
The friends of Charlotte and Stefan Schmidt who I mentioned last month have promised to send 4000 Euros, to be used for our teachers salaries fund. This is a wonderful boost as extra teachers are so badly needed, no matter how many volunteer hours we can offer – the money was raised when Huib Roskam held a 15th Anniversary dinner for his company. The evening was called “Jubileum Vijverberg” and featured a powerpoint presentation about La Esperanza Granada.
We also had pay pal donations this month, from Denton and Terry Sparks, $100, from Jeremy Jensen, $50, from future volunteer Wayne Krause $30 and $25, James Hanesworth sent $200. Delia and Cyril Blakeman sent through $100 Australian. Desi McCaul, who had labored here for some months helping build the new houses in La Prusia for Casas de la Esperanza sent us $500.
The village of Adstock in Buckinghamshire, U.K. sent us $1020. This was thanks to Roger Simmons who had visited last year. Roger put on a fundraising slide show in the village and now the village would like to help one of the villages here who are less fortunate. Maybe we can start a Sister Village project! (Sister City would be a bit big for us)
Thank you so very much to all of you who have been helping us so much and caring so much about La Esperanza Granada. I’m sure I speak on behalf of all the volunteers here when I say we will do our best, and we look forward to a wonderful 2007 filled with the joy of helping.
Regards, Pauline.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
birthday party but stressful afternoon
Last night´s birthday festivites went very well (see the photos below).
The food turned up only about 45 minutes later than planned, but was such a delicious feast that it didn´t matter at all. We ate carne con verduras (sort of meat and veggie stew), gallo pinto (rice and beans), pollo (chicken), tostones con queso (plantain slices fried with Nica cheese on top), albondigas (meat balls), arroz (rice), frijoles (pureed beans), vegetales (vegetables), tortillas (home-made and fried), guacamole, ensalada (pureed coleslaw, sort of)... We also had a pineapple and orange juice refresco to drink, which went very well with the huge bottle of rum that the guys from the other volunteer house brought over! Also my housemates had organised a birthday cake, iced with "feliz cumpleaños Lizzie". I think in the end there were about 25 of us, and we all ate very well, with plenty of leftovers in the fridge for today. It was so sweet, because I received all sorts of lovely gifts too - a woven bag, a necklace and earrings set, a carved pineapple (!), a home-made CD of Latino music, a bracelet. I felt very touched by people´s generosity. And then of course, we had to go to Cafe Nuit (just for an hour or so) for a bit of a boogie afterwards.
So onto my stressful afternoon today: well, obviously in the way of the world any great evening is then balanced out by a not so fantastic day, so I´ll write it down and then forget about it (and I´m off to San Juan del Sur tomorrow morning for a little weekend away at the beach anyway).
Today was one of womens group sessions, and the one where we do the weekly accounts, working out how much each women has sold of her work, and therefore how much she earns. We all got off to a slghtly slow start this morning at home because firstly we were all a bit tired and hungover from last night. But also we had a water leak problem from under our sink, which in this heat meant that horrible water full of food particles was lying in the sun in a gully by our garden. To cut a long story short I had to get our friendly handyman and his assistant to clear out the blocked pipe and wash it all through, but the smell was disgusting, and then we had our daily water stoppage, so we had only our emergency water tank supply to use and it took ages to find any disinfectant (our cleaner uses only water on the floors, I think). And all the while no one could take an outdoor shower because of the men all around. So we got down to the office rather later than planned to work out the accounts. Also, we´d arranged that a lady was coming to today´s session to start teaching a sort of weaving/crocheting skill (which I´m trying to learn alongside the ladies - you should see my practice threads!) plus the English mother of a long-term volunteer was coming too to see how the group works as she could teach knitting at a later date.
But when these visitors turned up at the office we weren´t ready and were only just finishing the accounts and Jo and Fiona were still sorting out new beads to take to the jewellery-making ladies. So after about 20 mins of them hanging around, I suggested I take the two visitors up to the community centre and open it up and that Jo and Fiona follow in a few minutes. [I just felt uncomfortable that our visitors, who´d given up their time, shouldn´t have to hang around while we phaffed.] The trip up there involves a 10 mins taxi ride and then a 10-15 mins walk/scramble across fields along a rocky track. So I´m making comversation in a mixture of Spanish and English for my two comapnions.
We get to the community centre and open up and I get things sorted for the women. But without the keys (which Fiona couldn´t give me before, as they were stuck at the bottom of her bag) I wasn´t able to open up the cupboard in which we store materials, so I made another 20 mins of slightly difficult conversation with everyone, whilst unable to actually do anything. I felt so bad given that Margie was giving up her free time (as a local working person) to teach, plus it was giving Joan a very unprefessinal impression of what we do. Then eventually the other girls turned up and we got started with the crochet class. Despite the late and tricky start, what we actually did was good, plus we gave out new beads and did the accounts with the ladies. So the session went well (depsite me having not thought to bring any scissors to cut the threads - thus looking even less prepared then ever, although I suppose it wasn´t just me).
Afterwards Jo and Fiona were heading off on this afternoon´s bus to the beach (I prefer to take my time, finish everything off that needs doing and go tomorrow morning), so they dashed off and I locked up and then took our two visitors back to Granada. Cue yet more dual-language conversations (which I find quite tiring). Then on the main road, the first taxi to come along was one of the horse and carriage ones that always ply for trade in the main square. I have so far managed to avoid taking one, because the horses look so thin and unhappy and it´s generally not great. But somehow, perhaps because each of us was hedging around the sensibilties of the other and not wanting to seem too difficult, we agreed to take the horse and carriage taxi back to Granada. Which then mean a further spell of semi-translated conversation, whilst I could feel Joan sitting beside me getting more and more unhappy with the horse situation. We actually told our driver not to take on board more passengers when he tried, because it would be too much work for the horses. I also asked him not to whip the horses, and paid him an extra 10 cords to feed them something nice (which of course is unlikely to happen, but I felt the need to try). All of which was painful to sit through, plus the shame of being so amateurish in front of our guests (one of whom is connected to a La Esperanza coordinator).
So I´ve just had an ice cream to cheer me up, and now I´m off home for a long, cold shower... And then tomorrow is a new day. *deep breath*
The food turned up only about 45 minutes later than planned, but was such a delicious feast that it didn´t matter at all. We ate carne con verduras (sort of meat and veggie stew), gallo pinto (rice and beans), pollo (chicken), tostones con queso (plantain slices fried with Nica cheese on top), albondigas (meat balls), arroz (rice), frijoles (pureed beans), vegetales (vegetables), tortillas (home-made and fried), guacamole, ensalada (pureed coleslaw, sort of)... We also had a pineapple and orange juice refresco to drink, which went very well with the huge bottle of rum that the guys from the other volunteer house brought over! Also my housemates had organised a birthday cake, iced with "feliz cumpleaños Lizzie". I think in the end there were about 25 of us, and we all ate very well, with plenty of leftovers in the fridge for today. It was so sweet, because I received all sorts of lovely gifts too - a woven bag, a necklace and earrings set, a carved pineapple (!), a home-made CD of Latino music, a bracelet. I felt very touched by people´s generosity. And then of course, we had to go to Cafe Nuit (just for an hour or so) for a bit of a boogie afterwards.
So onto my stressful afternoon today: well, obviously in the way of the world any great evening is then balanced out by a not so fantastic day, so I´ll write it down and then forget about it (and I´m off to San Juan del Sur tomorrow morning for a little weekend away at the beach anyway).
Today was one of womens group sessions, and the one where we do the weekly accounts, working out how much each women has sold of her work, and therefore how much she earns. We all got off to a slghtly slow start this morning at home because firstly we were all a bit tired and hungover from last night. But also we had a water leak problem from under our sink, which in this heat meant that horrible water full of food particles was lying in the sun in a gully by our garden. To cut a long story short I had to get our friendly handyman and his assistant to clear out the blocked pipe and wash it all through, but the smell was disgusting, and then we had our daily water stoppage, so we had only our emergency water tank supply to use and it took ages to find any disinfectant (our cleaner uses only water on the floors, I think). And all the while no one could take an outdoor shower because of the men all around. So we got down to the office rather later than planned to work out the accounts. Also, we´d arranged that a lady was coming to today´s session to start teaching a sort of weaving/crocheting skill (which I´m trying to learn alongside the ladies - you should see my practice threads!) plus the English mother of a long-term volunteer was coming too to see how the group works as she could teach knitting at a later date.
But when these visitors turned up at the office we weren´t ready and were only just finishing the accounts and Jo and Fiona were still sorting out new beads to take to the jewellery-making ladies. So after about 20 mins of them hanging around, I suggested I take the two visitors up to the community centre and open it up and that Jo and Fiona follow in a few minutes. [I just felt uncomfortable that our visitors, who´d given up their time, shouldn´t have to hang around while we phaffed.] The trip up there involves a 10 mins taxi ride and then a 10-15 mins walk/scramble across fields along a rocky track. So I´m making comversation in a mixture of Spanish and English for my two comapnions.
We get to the community centre and open up and I get things sorted for the women. But without the keys (which Fiona couldn´t give me before, as they were stuck at the bottom of her bag) I wasn´t able to open up the cupboard in which we store materials, so I made another 20 mins of slightly difficult conversation with everyone, whilst unable to actually do anything. I felt so bad given that Margie was giving up her free time (as a local working person) to teach, plus it was giving Joan a very unprefessinal impression of what we do. Then eventually the other girls turned up and we got started with the crochet class. Despite the late and tricky start, what we actually did was good, plus we gave out new beads and did the accounts with the ladies. So the session went well (depsite me having not thought to bring any scissors to cut the threads - thus looking even less prepared then ever, although I suppose it wasn´t just me).
Afterwards Jo and Fiona were heading off on this afternoon´s bus to the beach (I prefer to take my time, finish everything off that needs doing and go tomorrow morning), so they dashed off and I locked up and then took our two visitors back to Granada. Cue yet more dual-language conversations (which I find quite tiring). Then on the main road, the first taxi to come along was one of the horse and carriage ones that always ply for trade in the main square. I have so far managed to avoid taking one, because the horses look so thin and unhappy and it´s generally not great. But somehow, perhaps because each of us was hedging around the sensibilties of the other and not wanting to seem too difficult, we agreed to take the horse and carriage taxi back to Granada. Which then mean a further spell of semi-translated conversation, whilst I could feel Joan sitting beside me getting more and more unhappy with the horse situation. We actually told our driver not to take on board more passengers when he tried, because it would be too much work for the horses. I also asked him not to whip the horses, and paid him an extra 10 cords to feed them something nice (which of course is unlikely to happen, but I felt the need to try). All of which was painful to sit through, plus the shame of being so amateurish in front of our guests (one of whom is connected to a La Esperanza coordinator).
So I´ve just had an ice cream to cheer me up, and now I´m off home for a long, cold shower... And then tomorrow is a new day. *deep breath*
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