I have found that my life in Nicaragua has gone through various phases - first there was the volunteer phase, when I mainly hung out with and connected with the other volunteers as I was first getting to know the town as well, closely followed by a brief traveller phase; then after some more volunteer time, I moved into the main locals phase, when I really put time and effort into building up my friendships and relationships with Nicaraguans here. But finally I appear to have moved into the ex-pat phase (I guess after 6 months in the country, I now count as one myself). I find myself invited on trips, out to dinner events and to visit ex-pat homes, and suddenly I am leading a weekly yoga class for another group of long-term residents. Now a whole new set of people greet me in the street. And I've had two job offers of a sort to stay here! Plus a couple of weekends ago with three friends I rented a car and drove around the "white villages" in style, as well as living it up in Managua for the evening... It was a nice change to the mud and poverty of the villages where I normally work.
Another change which I guess has added to the ex-pat effect is that I decided to splash out and treat myself for my final month in Nicaragua, and started renting my own house. No more cramped shared volunteer quarters - I have a patio and hammocks and even (as of this weekend) a water tank. That, plus the car battery power back-up system, have been coming in very useful with all the extended daily power and water outages we're now getting. I think it must be political, because there's enough rain falling every few days that it can no longer be a drought situation this rainy season. So, yes, a few changes in my Nica life for the final push. I can't believe I have just weeks to go... I'm already in pre-nostalgia!
Monday, July 2, 2007
Latest newsletter
Firstly this month, apologies that there are no photos. Yahoo photo mail has closed, and though I am normally surrounded by volunteers with lots of hi tech knowledge – this is the weekend so this month, sorry, it’s all in writing.
We will catch up on some photos next month, one of which will be Cesar in his new wheelchair which was built specially for him by the Children’s Wellness Foundation. Another would be of Maria Jose, a 12 year old girl in La Prusia who also suffers from Cerebral Palsy. Thanks to the efforts of our health volunteers she is now attending a special school in Granada. Victoria Metzger who has been volunteering with us until the middle of this month sent through $50 to pay for ortheopedic shoes to help her walking, and Mark Turner has donated $250 to have a three wheeled bicycle made that her mother will be able to ride with her. (Sometimes her mother has to carry her on her back from the highway where the school bus brings her to their house about 15 minutes walk away.) Thanks to Christy’s friendships with the mothers in La Prusia we were able to find out about a little boy only 4 months old, Christofer Urtecho who was born with a ‘club’ foot. He now has ortheopedic booties and early correction will mean a cure for this child so he will grow up walking normally.
We will have lots of pictures too from International Children’s Day which was celebrated in all the schools during the first week in June. The children all had a wonderful day with games, prizes, sports, dancing displays by the teachers and volunteers, and lots of good food to eat.
The end of school term saw lots of changeover of volunteers this month, lots of farewell parties, and a few tears as we said goodbye to Alan Cowburn, Charlie Rann, Liz Gage, Mali Kedward, Rena Papatheofilou, Vitoria Metzger, Sam Duncan, Francis Peterson, Emma Close, Rachel Evans, Colin Williamson, Mike Sims, Peter Marsh, Rebekah Ramsay, Nick Atherton, Johanna Holman, Jennie O’Grady, Amanda Brown and Juiane and Karsten Kruetziger, and Mario Calderon. Some like Colin, Liz and Johanna had been here for six months, some like Mario who had to leave early only a few weeks, but all played an important role in helping the children and communities that we work with.
New volunteers this month include two who have returned, Jiri Kaiser from Holland as well as Lauren Kjos from U.S.A., others are Bev Chan, Mary Pearce, Katie Randall, Sean McCarthy, Denny Pham, Carla Sanderson, Leslie Jamieson, Susan Shuller and Darrell Bushnell all from the U.S.A. (though Darrell lives locally), Jessie Grene from Ireland, Rosa Bransky, Alex Wipf, Becky Harrison and Cathy Mitchell from the U.K., Andrea Sousa from Portugal, Huikwan Tam and Hanna Koppenaal from Holland, Gonzalo Garcia from Spain and Esmeralda Contrera from Nicaragua.
Monique’s husband Hans brought more school supplies when he arrived to visit, Carla brought a big bag of clothing and toys with here, and Susan also arrived laden with things for the children and the community. Lauren brought $150 from one of her professors Dr. Claire Drummond. Alan gave us $200 from Peter and Margaret Cowburn, and $100 from Sue and Nara Pandey. Lizzie’s mother Rosemary Dipple sent through $300 for the dentists program, and the friends and family of Peter Marsh sent 110 pounds sterling. Rosa’s friend Tom Latter sent us $300. Colin’s parents Claire and Chris Williamson gave $200 to be used for preschool resources.
Former volunteers have been thinking of us too, which is wonderful to know that their interest in a Esperanza Granada continues – Romeo Kienzler who sent $25 and Mairin Hennessy who sent $250 were both here in the days when our founder Bill was still alive. We have his picture on the wall, and those of us who knew him still miss him. Things were never quiet when Bill was around.
A future volunteer Lauren Robson sent through $180 she had collected from family and friends. We also received another bag of beads for the women’s cooperative from Collette Nolan and a paypal donation of $50 from Joe Hurd.
An interesting visit this past week from a group of teachers from Georgia in the U.S.A. who had come to Granada as part of a journey designed to give them some experience of Latin American culture to enable them to better empathize with the growing numbers of Latin American students in their area. They had an interesting morning at an internet café with some of our high school students followed by lunch with them, and then Bev took them on a tour of La Prusia which they found quite moving. Paula Mellom and Brian Padilla were the organizers of this trip, and we hope to see more of their groups in the future. They also brought us some teaching materials, books etc.
Two important dates to keep in mind for July – firstly if you are in Nicaragua, on the 28th July keep the evening free for “The First Annual Jimmy Threefingers Wanted Dead or Alive Ride” – this will be a big event featuring Harley Davidson motor cycles leading a parade through the town and ending up at the club “Extasy” for a fun filled night. All the profits from this event will go to La Esperanza Granada. Another date to book – this time for a night in, if you are in the U.S.A. – when the Samantha Brown Passport to Granada program will be shown on the Travel Channel for the first time on 18th July. We haven’t seen the previews yet, though a lot of filming was done with our volunteers and in the school at La Prusia.
The painting on the community center, both inside and out is finished now – with extras this month Chris and Mick lending a hand, along with Becky who took up where Sam, Charlie and Nick left off. Next painting will be of the new classrooms at La Epifania, Mark has donated $350 to pay for the paint.
La Epifania is the school where we are currently hold a two week intensive learning camp (the last week of school and the week of term break) designed to try and bring some of the children who are behind in first and second grade up to the level of their peers and to help stimulate their interest in learning. Seventeen volunteers are taking part in this, and there are 24 children. More about this next month when it is completed.
So we have come to the end of the first term for this year – hardly seems possible (we have only two terms here). This year in ran a week later than previous years so that the children would still be in school for ‘Dia de Maestros’ or Teachers Day – pictures of those celebrations will hopefully be in next month’s photo link too.
Till then,
Regards, Pauline.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Donations please!!
This afternoon I came into the office to sort out some information for next week's dental visits, and for the different Children's Day celebrations we're planning at each of the four schools. Every volunteer gets involved with these half-sports-day, half-prize-day, half-party-mayhem no matter what other projects you normally work on.
Anyway, I've just been talking to Pauline, the long-term volunteer (she celebrated her second year in Granada last month) who manages the La Esperanza office and organises all the volunteers here, and apparently we have used up the remains of our dentist program funding, so we're now looking for new donations to keep it going. I have put forward some money myself, given that this has been one of my pet projects, but now I'm extending the opportunity to give to an excellent cause to all of you, my friends and family...
As a reminder of what La Esperanza is and does, you can see more details on our website at http://www.la-esperanza-granada.org/
And the donations page is http://www.la-esperanza-granada.org//esperanza/Help%20Donations.htm
So if any of you can join in and help it would be very much appreciated here, by the kids (OK, well many of them don't actually enjoy having teeth pulled or filled, but they will in the long run!) and by me too.
Love,
Lizzie
(P.S. Sorry about the lack of hyperlinks in this entry but the Blogger insert hyperlink function seems to be on the blink today - so you'll have to copy and paste these addresses into your internet browser.)
Anyway, I've just been talking to Pauline, the long-term volunteer (she celebrated her second year in Granada last month) who manages the La Esperanza office and organises all the volunteers here, and apparently we have used up the remains of our dentist program funding, so we're now looking for new donations to keep it going. I have put forward some money myself, given that this has been one of my pet projects, but now I'm extending the opportunity to give to an excellent cause to all of you, my friends and family...
As a reminder of what La Esperanza is and does, you can see more details on our website at http://www.la-esperanza-granada.org/
And the donations page is http://www.la-esperanza-granada.org//esperanza/Help%20Donations.htm
So if any of you can join in and help it would be very much appreciated here, by the kids (OK, well many of them don't actually enjoy having teeth pulled or filled, but they will in the long run!) and by me too.
Love,
Lizzie
(P.S. Sorry about the lack of hyperlinks in this entry but the Blogger insert hyperlink function seems to be on the blink today - so you'll have to copy and paste these addresses into your internet browser.)
Monday, May 21, 2007
Mango season and the rains begin
I'm just now holed up in an internet cafe waiting out a sudden rainstorm (and hence two power cuts that made me lose part of this entry) - the winter rainy season is finally beginning. But it's also mango season (you can buy a dozen small, ripe mangos for just around 10 pence) so I'm not complaining too much. Although it's so easy to eat a lot of mango (you can get a bag of peeled mango slices, about two mangos' worth, for 6 pence on every street corner) and apparently they have antibacterial properties, which are great until you eat way too many and they kill off the good bacteria in your stomach... Fingers crossed that doesn't happen to me.
At the moment I'm on a short trip out of Granada in the east of Nicaragua - travelling through the cattle highlands on my way to the Atlantic coast for a crazy music and dance festival called Palo de Mayo. I've learnt one or two moves for this dance, but it's so fast and mad that even my salsa-ing hips just can't keep up. So far I've visited small market cow towns and tiny tranquil pueblos, passing through stunning mountain scenery on the buses in between. Round here there aren't any volcanoes, although the land is still seismically active and the rocks are volcanic in origin, so the skyline is completely different to the dry, flat Pacific region studded with huge volcano cones. And it's relatively green too, although there have been such water shortages here, with the drought on (rainy season is way too late and still not as much as normal), that I've stayed in hotels without any water whatsoever. You learn to wash as and when you can... and not mind the sweat.
I had to pop in on the pretty village of Santa Lucia (my street in Granada's namesake) where I was befriended by a lovely family who took me in for the day, fed me, and the three young cousins aged 12 and 13 took me around all afternoon to visit their favourite spots. I met their friend Luca, who owns a piece of land up on the hillside and who showed me all his current crops (including the eponymous mangos). We then sat in his pristine front room for 45 minutes, trying to make conversation - i.e. I talked non-stop to fill the gaps because he wasn't the most conversationally-able (probably not getting that many visitors, especially from overseas). It was later that day that I headed over to the cow town of Camoapa, where I ended up in a restaurant/discoteca dancing ranchero, bachata and raggaeton with the local cowboys (everyone had either a seriously curved baseball cap on, or a stetson!)
Anyway, here I am now in Juigalpa: doing washing, catching up on internet correspondence and checking out the local museum, as well as eating fantastic beef and dairy products (yes, I'm still in stetson-wearing country). And tomorrow morning I head off on the bus to the river town of El Rama...
At the moment I'm on a short trip out of Granada in the east of Nicaragua - travelling through the cattle highlands on my way to the Atlantic coast for a crazy music and dance festival called Palo de Mayo. I've learnt one or two moves for this dance, but it's so fast and mad that even my salsa-ing hips just can't keep up. So far I've visited small market cow towns and tiny tranquil pueblos, passing through stunning mountain scenery on the buses in between. Round here there aren't any volcanoes, although the land is still seismically active and the rocks are volcanic in origin, so the skyline is completely different to the dry, flat Pacific region studded with huge volcano cones. And it's relatively green too, although there have been such water shortages here, with the drought on (rainy season is way too late and still not as much as normal), that I've stayed in hotels without any water whatsoever. You learn to wash as and when you can... and not mind the sweat.
I had to pop in on the pretty village of Santa Lucia (my street in Granada's namesake) where I was befriended by a lovely family who took me in for the day, fed me, and the three young cousins aged 12 and 13 took me around all afternoon to visit their favourite spots. I met their friend Luca, who owns a piece of land up on the hillside and who showed me all his current crops (including the eponymous mangos). We then sat in his pristine front room for 45 minutes, trying to make conversation - i.e. I talked non-stop to fill the gaps because he wasn't the most conversationally-able (probably not getting that many visitors, especially from overseas). It was later that day that I headed over to the cow town of Camoapa, where I ended up in a restaurant/discoteca dancing ranchero, bachata and raggaeton with the local cowboys (everyone had either a seriously curved baseball cap on, or a stetson!)
Anyway, here I am now in Juigalpa: doing washing, catching up on internet correspondence and checking out the local museum, as well as eating fantastic beef and dairy products (yes, I'm still in stetson-wearing country). And tomorrow morning I head off on the bus to the river town of El Rama...
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Latest La Esperanza news
So you keep getting the idea of what everyday volunteer life is like, and what we do at La Esperanza, here's the latest weekly newsletter from Pauline.
Dear All,
The first of the primary school excursions was held on Friday with grade 2 from La Prusia and La Epifania visiting Posintepe for a picnic. It was a great success and the children really enjoyed it, and the teachers are following through with questions about their trip to help make it a learning experience too. For the monthly news we would like to continue with what we did this month, putting a link to an album of photos. So anyone with some good photos of the children's excursions please bring them into the office and put them on the computer (mainframe one), and this will be the photo link for next months news.
Planning to do it each month, we will do one in the coming months of each school, health, womens working groups etc. and probably it would be fun to do one of some of the photos from a volunteer party.
Elba Zamora now has a basketball hoop and backboard which Nick put up. We want to do the same for La Prusia - they have asked for a full scale basketball court though and the quote Agosto got was $8000 so we don't think it is on our priority list.
Next week excursions are on Monday, Grade 2, then Wednesday and Thursday, Grade 4 - so it will be a busy week.
Big party last night to farewell Annabel who is travelling on to Cuba. Just one new volunteer arriving this week, Charlie Rann from Australia.
We had a visit from a former volunteer who worked at Las Camelias, Lauren Bloch - she arranged with Laura to go and visit the childrenat the school while she was here which was fun for both her and the children. Friends of former volunteers Shane and Andrew also visited Granada, Daniel Colins and Sarah Jane Caldwell. They went on the tour to La Prusia, and then gave us $100 donation. Shane and Andrew had taught English in the schools.
We had a cash donation too from Andy Pinker, friend of Julia Penny, who gave us $20. We received paypal donations this week too, $100 from Phil Smy, brother of Iain who brought us the vitamin tablets, and $150 from Robert Keddy, another Canadian. Robert is processing Nicaraguan coffee in Canada, Casa Silas Coffee, and has offered to give us $1 from each kilo sold.
Another cleanup session was held at the Community Center on Saturday - and we are going to start painting soon. Would like photo's please of the clean up and of the painting, plus putting the new cupboard in for the library as all of this work to the community center is being funded by a village in UK called Adstock, they want to form a sister village relationship with La Prusia. Any ideas on how we can help make this work for the people of La Prusia would be appreciated.
Mark is back in town once again. He brought with him some photos we had ordered prints of and these will be made into blank greeting cards to sell in the office - to help pay for some of the office costs. If anyone has a couple of hours to spare next weekend we could do with your help in the office to put these together, make the envelopes etc.
Good to see Colin back this weekend.
Hope to see lots of you at the Isletas this afternoon,
Regards, Pauline.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Lizzie is staying longer in Nicaragua!
Fantastic newsflash - I am staying extra weeks in Nicaragua. I just recently got the final confirmation from HarperCollins that I can extend my sabbatical by another 6 weeks, so I will be out here until later in July. All very exciting! This means I can finish the first half of the school year on the dentist program, and hand it over to the free Dentists Without Borders team who turn up in July. And the two women's groups should be fully independent, accounts-wise, by then too. At last that's the aim...
La Esperanza weekly news
Sorry for the lack of news recently - I have been very busy with the dental project (see below). But I'm soon taking off for a long weekend in the north of Nicaragua, for a bit of relaxation and travel experience...
Dear All,
Full week of school, which makes a nice change, at all four schools too. I notice that next Thursday the 26th has been circled on the school Calandario – though it doesn't say why, it would be a good idea to check in the schools. Also as Tuesday the 1st May is a national holiday – we should check if the schools are closed just for that day, or if they will in fact be closed for the Monday 30th April as well making it a really long weekend?
Sunday 6th May we will have our regular outing to the isletas – meeting down at Las Palmas restaurant at noon – I will put a reminder in next week. For those who are new – we have a free boat ride to one of the islands and then hang out for the afternoon at a small cheap open air restaurant, swim, relax etc. normally returning to Granada about 4 or 4.30.
We are full steam ahead on the dental program still now, thanks mostly to Lizzie's input. Also if any children are in need of glasses we will be able to supply them. As for adult reading glasses we have quite a number of pairs in the library.
This week we have have to say goodbye to Julia who has been with us for the past two months. Seems like she only arrived last week – but I have checked the calendar.
New arrivals this week are Amanda Brown from Canada, Alan Cowburn, Emma Close and Rachel Evans, all three of whom are from the UK.
We have had a couple of paypal donations this week, one for $40 from Chloe Sharpe from the U.K., and one of $100 from Jeremy Jensen from the U.S.A. In addition to this we had a visit from Jim and Jan Hainsworth, and Ron and Peggy Garvalia from the U.S. Jim very generously brought with him a new laptop for us – though it is not brand new it is completely reconditioned and so working like brand new – couldn't have come at a better time. The two families each donated $20 on behalf of their grandchildren, Jillian, Gwen and Anna Hainsworth, and Luke, Joe, Sam and Tony Garvalia. Plus they brought with them bags of stuff including school supplies and lots of things suitable for prizes for when we have International Children's Day celebrations.
Clay put on a very good presentation for the tutoring session this past Tuesday, and I believe that Laura will be conducting the next one – though we will need a date check on that one as it would be scheduled for the 1st May.
See you all through the week,
Regards, Pauline.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Global warming
Apparently the reason the scorpions are starting to come out and about is because we're now in the height of the summer months here in Nicaragua. And boy is it hot! If I thought I was sweating before that was nothing to what it's like now. I sweat morning noon and night... everyone suffers from nappy rash somewhere (mine is on my tummy for some reason), and anything cotton just gets soaked through so that after sitting in a chair for 5 minutes you always have a lovely sweat patch all over your bum. And the dust is quite something too. I'm actually just recovering from a sort of flu/cold sort of throaty/chesty infection that has had me in bed for a few days. This sort of thing is doing the rounds at the moment because of all the dust everywhere which goes straight to your chest, plus all the kids you're dealing with who always have some bug or other. And it was pretty odd having a fever when the air temperature is above body temperature anyway. But I'm very much on the mend now and I only had one sick day off work.
And yes, the title of this post is relevant, because the two-season (dry and wet) climate here appears to be in turmoil this year, possibly due to global warming. We had two torrential rainstorms last week (very unexpectedly), and my Semana Santa trip to Rio San Juan was also unseasonably wet and cool. All very strange... So please remember to use your cars less and recycle more, because what's going on in London and the UK is having serious effects even over on this far side of the world.
And yes, the title of this post is relevant, because the two-season (dry and wet) climate here appears to be in turmoil this year, possibly due to global warming. We had two torrential rainstorms last week (very unexpectedly), and my Semana Santa trip to Rio San Juan was also unseasonably wet and cool. All very strange... So please remember to use your cars less and recycle more, because what's going on in London and the UK is having serious effects even over on this far side of the world.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Scorpion attack!
As you become accustomed to living somewhere quite "exotic" you sort of forget that it is still a foreign environment with exciting and sometimes dangerous species around. And then out of the blue you suddenly come face to face with one that makes you remember where you are... So last night I came home a little after midnight after a quiet night just having a couple of drinks with friends at Cafe Bohemia, and was getting ready for bed. Then I looked over and saw something moving in my bed, creeping out from under my pillow - yes, you've guessed it: a scorpion, about 4 inches long, scuttling around on the sheets.
To my credit I didn't start screaming or anything too girly, but there was no way I was getting too near the scorpion. So I opened up my mosquito netting to the ground, to give it an escape route, and tried to nudge the pillows to make it want to leave. But the beast was having none of this, and scuttling in towards the wall side of my bed. And after about half an hour of vague attempts at scorpion extraction and generally pondering what on earth I could do, I gave up and slept in another room, in the bed of a volunteer who's away at the moment. I can tell you I had some strange, vivid dreams.
In the cold light of day it didn't seem like such a complete nightmare as it had at 1am, especially since I know that although a scorpion sting here is excruciatingly painful it's not fatal, or anything close. But I still had to rid my bed or room of the beast. So I put on long trousers, thick socks, carefully checked my boots for nasties lurking inside them, and then set about gingerly pulling off all the sheets and so on. And then 5 or 10 minutes later I felt something moving around under my right big toe INSIDE MY BOOTS!!!! In a matter of moments I had my boots off, and sure enough, curled up in the end was the scorpion, now half dead after me walking all over it for a while. We finished it off and buried it in the garden. Most likely it hadn't been able to lift up its tail to sting me, penned in by my feet - thank goodness. And apparently they cling on like crazy, so even when I banged my boots around to dislodge anything inside that wouldn't have worked. So I spent the rest of the morning a little shaken up and decided to treat myself to a really nice lunch in a very restful atmosphere... Now we've just got to hope there's no more beasties lurking around at Casa Santa Lucia (and check everything really carefully).
To my credit I didn't start screaming or anything too girly, but there was no way I was getting too near the scorpion. So I opened up my mosquito netting to the ground, to give it an escape route, and tried to nudge the pillows to make it want to leave. But the beast was having none of this, and scuttling in towards the wall side of my bed. And after about half an hour of vague attempts at scorpion extraction and generally pondering what on earth I could do, I gave up and slept in another room, in the bed of a volunteer who's away at the moment. I can tell you I had some strange, vivid dreams.
In the cold light of day it didn't seem like such a complete nightmare as it had at 1am, especially since I know that although a scorpion sting here is excruciatingly painful it's not fatal, or anything close. But I still had to rid my bed or room of the beast. So I put on long trousers, thick socks, carefully checked my boots for nasties lurking inside them, and then set about gingerly pulling off all the sheets and so on. And then 5 or 10 minutes later I felt something moving around under my right big toe INSIDE MY BOOTS!!!! In a matter of moments I had my boots off, and sure enough, curled up in the end was the scorpion, now half dead after me walking all over it for a while. We finished it off and buried it in the garden. Most likely it hadn't been able to lift up its tail to sting me, penned in by my feet - thank goodness. And apparently they cling on like crazy, so even when I banged my boots around to dislodge anything inside that wouldn't have worked. So I spent the rest of the morning a little shaken up and decided to treat myself to a really nice lunch in a very restful atmosphere... Now we've just got to hope there's no more beasties lurking around at Casa Santa Lucia (and check everything really carefully).
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Volunteering joys and despairs
I guess from my photos it looks like all I do is travel to tourist destinations and go to parties, but that's just because normally those are the places I take my camera. However, the week before Semana Santa (Easter week) I did manage to remember my camera for a meeting of the women's group - one of our best sessions yet.
So the good news for the women's group is that we're going to be trying something new to sell the handicrafts: an afternoon set up on a stall on the Parque Central (Granada's main square). Apparently we've been given permission by the vice president of the artisans who usually sell there (or so the boyfriend of one of the volunteers, who works there himself, tells us), but we also need to speak to the Mayor's Office. Anyway, come what may, assuming all permissions are granted and we can borrow the required table and chairs, Friday afternoon will see Fiona and I taking turns in supporting Mirna with the sales pitch! The bad news is that the reason we're taking this new step is because we have way too much inventory at the moment, and sales are starting to drop off after the tourist season peaked and now the number of visitors to Granada is starting to fall. The rainy season is not long off (in fact, we had a big rain storm at 6.30am this morning)...
This week has also been a bit troublesome for the dentist project. Yesterday morning, when I checked in with the clinic about our newly rearranged timetable of visits to fit in another one session per week from the school whose visits are paid for by the New Orleans Catholic Missions, it seemed there was a big crisis. After numerous phone calls to the clinic and its director we were asked to suddenly halt the school visits until we had an emergency meeting to sort out the accounts. That was all a complete frustration because actually, as of a meeting we had a fortnight ago, La Esperanza has been waiting for a bill to come from the clinic so that we can pay it. Just the usual Nicaraguan crisis out of an easily solvable situation! But we had our meeting this morning, sorted it all out (hopefully) and things are back to normal, with a few tweaks, as of tomorrow. But all the work I put in arranging the new timetable - visiting the schools, talking to the teachers and sorting out a volunteer helper schedule for this week wasn't needed after all. Oh the joys of volunteering... But never mind, we're back on track now, and I've just this afternoon finished the mammoth task of updating the spreadsheet in which we record all the children's dental visits and details of the dates and treatments. I think I deserve some cake and ice cream in celebration, so it's a good job I'm going to a volunteer birthday party tonight.
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| Women's Group at Las Prusias |
So the good news for the women's group is that we're going to be trying something new to sell the handicrafts: an afternoon set up on a stall on the Parque Central (Granada's main square). Apparently we've been given permission by the vice president of the artisans who usually sell there (or so the boyfriend of one of the volunteers, who works there himself, tells us), but we also need to speak to the Mayor's Office. Anyway, come what may, assuming all permissions are granted and we can borrow the required table and chairs, Friday afternoon will see Fiona and I taking turns in supporting Mirna with the sales pitch! The bad news is that the reason we're taking this new step is because we have way too much inventory at the moment, and sales are starting to drop off after the tourist season peaked and now the number of visitors to Granada is starting to fall. The rainy season is not long off (in fact, we had a big rain storm at 6.30am this morning)...
This week has also been a bit troublesome for the dentist project. Yesterday morning, when I checked in with the clinic about our newly rearranged timetable of visits to fit in another one session per week from the school whose visits are paid for by the New Orleans Catholic Missions, it seemed there was a big crisis. After numerous phone calls to the clinic and its director we were asked to suddenly halt the school visits until we had an emergency meeting to sort out the accounts. That was all a complete frustration because actually, as of a meeting we had a fortnight ago, La Esperanza has been waiting for a bill to come from the clinic so that we can pay it. Just the usual Nicaraguan crisis out of an easily solvable situation! But we had our meeting this morning, sorted it all out (hopefully) and things are back to normal, with a few tweaks, as of tomorrow. But all the work I put in arranging the new timetable - visiting the schools, talking to the teachers and sorting out a volunteer helper schedule for this week wasn't needed after all. Oh the joys of volunteering... But never mind, we're back on track now, and I've just this afternoon finished the mammoth task of updating the spreadsheet in which we record all the children's dental visits and details of the dates and treatments. I think I deserve some cake and ice cream in celebration, so it's a good job I'm going to a volunteer birthday party tonight.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Latest weekly La Esperanza newsletter
Dear All,
Hope that everyone has had an interesting week during Semana Santa. It has certainly been different than a regular week here in town, large crowds of people everywhere - of course I missed seeing all of the volunteers (though some did pass by from time to time).
We had another problem with school locks - this time it doesn't look like there was any robbery. Raul Planas was up at La Prusia and noticed that there was no padlock on the school gate; he informed Nigel who went and put a padlock of his own on the gate that same day - the key for which is now in the office.
New volunteers starting this week are: May Chappel from Spain, Juliane and Karsten Kreutzieger from Germany, Rebekah Ramsay from Australia, and Lucy Fratantoni from Italy. You will also meet Mali Kedward, from Wales, UK, as Mali is already staying with us, but this week will be studying more Spanish and starting with us the following Monday.
We received some donations this week - a regular friend Jason Moody came to the office with $100 cash donation, and Jenny Herring while in the office buying some of the women's goods gave us a $20 donation. Future volunteer Wayne Sprouse sent us $40 through PayPal.
I'm not aware whether the bi-weekly tutoring session is planned for this Tuesday, or not until next Tuesday - so suggest team leaders check in the office on Monday.
For the next few months we have yet another house for volunteers. Arnold Jensen who has been volunteering on the project of Casas de la Esperanza has returned to Holland for a few months and has asked that we look after his house while he is away, and had made it available to volunteers at the same rates as the other houses, which is really good of him as he has a mortgage to pay.
Now that the housing situation is growing to almost hotel booking proportions - to avoid confusion - I will put a small notebook in my shelf in the office (on the bookshelves) and can anyone who has any date changes please mark them in that book for me. Messages can get lost, and it is easy to forget with so many details - so please, if you are staying longer, leaving earlier, or want to put your name down to change room etc. If it has anything that relates to the houses please write it in that notebook for me and I will check it each time I am in the office. If you can't find the book make a note on the whiteboard please. Also can everyone in the houses please pay their rent this week either on Monday or Tuesday.
Based on memories of the first day after Semana Santa last year be prepared for anything in the schools tomorrow - from teachers meetings to total confusion - it will quickly settle down again.
Look forward to seeing all of you, if not in the office tomorrow, then at the meeting on Tuesday night.
Regards, Pauline.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Jan & Eva's leaving party
And since I'm doing a lot of photos at the moment, here are the photos from Jan and Eva's leaving party last month. I have to say it was the best Granada party I've been to (even including the Santa Lucia ones) - maybe because of the real mix of people who came. Jan and Eva had been living and volunteering in Granada for six months, and they rented a house in Las Camelias, one of the barrios just close to town where one of the schools we help is located. So many of the guests were local neighbours, school children and other Nica friends and family, as well as volunteers and other foreigners. It was quite an event, I can tell you...
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| Jan & Eva's leaving party |
St Patrick's Day Party
Yes, I made it back from the San Juan river trip - all went very splendidly well - and am as usual back in Granada thinking that I ought to put up some of the many photos I have taken recently. So, whilst I load up the photos I took on my trip (and it really does take hours quite literally), here are the pictures from our Casa Santa Lucia St Patrick's Day party:
As you can see, we really went to town with the decorations (and my goodness did we need help blowing up all those green, white and orange balloons). We also made a sort of green rum punch - I wouldn't ask what went into it to make it quite as vibrantly green as it was! Everyone who came had to wear at least something green. I think pretty much everyone managed that. And we even had 8 cans of Guinness kindly shipped in from the one Irish bar in Managua (apparently the only place in Nicaragua where you can get hold of it). It was probably one of our most successful parties yet and something close to 40 people came, with a pretty high proportion of Nica friends too. So all told, a very good way to celebrate with Fiona, my Irish housemate. The only party house damage was to my room door, when a friend managed to lock it with my keys still inside, so rather dramatically he had to kick in the door (or at least break the lock) so I could get back in. However, now our helpful household handyman Jose has subsequently repaired my door and I have everything back to normal...
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| St Patrick's Day party |
As you can see, we really went to town with the decorations (and my goodness did we need help blowing up all those green, white and orange balloons). We also made a sort of green rum punch - I wouldn't ask what went into it to make it quite as vibrantly green as it was! Everyone who came had to wear at least something green. I think pretty much everyone managed that. And we even had 8 cans of Guinness kindly shipped in from the one Irish bar in Managua (apparently the only place in Nicaragua where you can get hold of it). It was probably one of our most successful parties yet and something close to 40 people came, with a pretty high proportion of Nica friends too. So all told, a very good way to celebrate with Fiona, my Irish housemate. The only party house damage was to my room door, when a friend managed to lock it with my keys still inside, so rather dramatically he had to kick in the door (or at least break the lock) so I could get back in. However, now our helpful household handyman Jose has subsequently repaired my door and I have everything back to normal...
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Isla Ometepe part 2
Well, although I didn´t climb the volcano today (unlike the two couples with whom I travelled here - and only two people completed the hike, as the others made it just half the way up!) I did hike for 4 hours (up and down) to a nearby waterfall, partway up the Maderas Volcano. My guide was the hostal owner´s 12 year old daughter, Alma, who was much braver than me at the difficult bits. At one point we even had to go up and down one slope using a rope to pull ourselves up it was so steep and just earth, with no grip - a first for me. So I think I earned the grilled chicken supper that I´ve just been told is now ready for me... But before I dash off to eat, let me just say that tomorrow I´m starting the slightly more adventurous half of my Easter holidays, as I (hopefully) board the overnight boat to San Carlos, at the edge of Lago Colcibolca and the start/end, depending on how you see it, of the San Juan River going to the Caribbean coast. I´m not going that far myself on this trip, but I hope to have some interesting experiences in a new part of Nicaragua.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Semana Santa holidays
I´m like a broken record apologising for not having written any blog posts for ages, but I promise you I HAVE been very busy recently and therefore I DO have a good excuse. However, as of yesterday I have a week´s holiday from work for the Easter break, so I´ve come away for a little vacationing in Nicaragua. Yesterday I travelled (complete with hangover from the going away party for three departing volunteers the night before, so my rucksack packing was a little sketchy and sporadic!) from Granada to the twin-volcano island of Ometepe in Lake Cocibolca.
The island is a sort of figure-of-eight shape, with one volcano at the centre of each of the two circular parts. One volcano is still active (no eruptions very recently though) and throws out a bit of ash every now and again; the other (I´m staying on this side of the island) is dead, and the crater is a now a lagoon. I was thinking about climbing up it, but apparently it´s a gruelling 8-hour climb and I popped my volcano cherry last weekend on Volcán Mombacho near Granada (photos to follow, once I´m somewhere with a fast enough internet connection to download them)so I don´t really feel the need. To be honest, I just want to chill out here and rest up with some amazing views. I might hire bikes to go to the waterfalls, or saunter down to the beach and go for a swim, but otherwise I´m just happy sitting out in a hammock, swatting away the bugs and enjoying the break.
The journey here was fine, although I almost missed the 11.30am chicken bus from Granada to Rivas due to a last minute stop off at the office, trying to arrange who could cover the dentist visits for the Monday after Semana Santa (Easter week). But I did make the bus, had my rucksack thrown up on the roof (luckily it came on the same bus as me and arrived in one piece) and a very chivalrous gentleman gave up his seat so I travelled in some relative comfort the whole way. Next to me was an American teacher, part of a group of 4 teachers and 12 students on a 10-day trip to Nicaragua, and I felt for her with having all the responsibilities of looking after teenagers in this country! Then at Rivas I met a Swedish couple and an American couple also travelling to Ometepe, so we all squeezed into a colectivo taxi (yes, that´s five adults, plus five rucksacks, plus the driver in one car!) to travel 20 minutes to the port at San Jorge. We´d timed it right and only 50 minutes later the ferry for Ometepe was leaving (the big ferry rather than the smaller lancha boat, so the crossing wasn´t too rough given that this is windy season!). At Moyogalpa we waited just another hour (with a cold drink in hand) for the two-hour bumpy, dusty bus ride on unpaved roads to Mérida, where I had reserved accommodation at a hospedaje some other volunteers had recommended. It was then a 20 minute walk up a dirt track in the dark, with a five-year-old boy to guide us, and we made it here to Monkey´s Island ranch. So now I really am just chilling out and enjoying my little holiday time. It´s a charming rustic retreat (not luxurious, but clean and friendly) and I´m lapping it up...
The island is a sort of figure-of-eight shape, with one volcano at the centre of each of the two circular parts. One volcano is still active (no eruptions very recently though) and throws out a bit of ash every now and again; the other (I´m staying on this side of the island) is dead, and the crater is a now a lagoon. I was thinking about climbing up it, but apparently it´s a gruelling 8-hour climb and I popped my volcano cherry last weekend on Volcán Mombacho near Granada (photos to follow, once I´m somewhere with a fast enough internet connection to download them)so I don´t really feel the need. To be honest, I just want to chill out here and rest up with some amazing views. I might hire bikes to go to the waterfalls, or saunter down to the beach and go for a swim, but otherwise I´m just happy sitting out in a hammock, swatting away the bugs and enjoying the break.
The journey here was fine, although I almost missed the 11.30am chicken bus from Granada to Rivas due to a last minute stop off at the office, trying to arrange who could cover the dentist visits for the Monday after Semana Santa (Easter week). But I did make the bus, had my rucksack thrown up on the roof (luckily it came on the same bus as me and arrived in one piece) and a very chivalrous gentleman gave up his seat so I travelled in some relative comfort the whole way. Next to me was an American teacher, part of a group of 4 teachers and 12 students on a 10-day trip to Nicaragua, and I felt for her with having all the responsibilities of looking after teenagers in this country! Then at Rivas I met a Swedish couple and an American couple also travelling to Ometepe, so we all squeezed into a colectivo taxi (yes, that´s five adults, plus five rucksacks, plus the driver in one car!) to travel 20 minutes to the port at San Jorge. We´d timed it right and only 50 minutes later the ferry for Ometepe was leaving (the big ferry rather than the smaller lancha boat, so the crossing wasn´t too rough given that this is windy season!). At Moyogalpa we waited just another hour (with a cold drink in hand) for the two-hour bumpy, dusty bus ride on unpaved roads to Mérida, where I had reserved accommodation at a hospedaje some other volunteers had recommended. It was then a 20 minute walk up a dirt track in the dark, with a five-year-old boy to guide us, and we made it here to Monkey´s Island ranch. So now I really am just chilling out and enjoying my little holiday time. It´s a charming rustic retreat (not luxurious, but clean and friendly) and I´m lapping it up...
Monday, March 12, 2007
shopping Nica style
I've been meaning for ages to write an entry about the different places and ways to go shopping in Nicaragua (apart from those two Managua shopping malls). Basically it all depends on how far you want to go from your house for your groceries, and how much variety you expect to find. First there are the wandering street sellers, with enormous woven baskets on their heads, who sell fruit, vegetables, sometimes cheese, sometimes loo paper, or other random items. But it can be a bit risky waiting at home for a vendor to walk down your street, because I never know when they'll go past or what they'll have. You can pretty regularly rely on bananas, satsumas, onions, tomatoes and these local small green peppers, but anything else (of which melon, pineapple, papaya, carrots and avocados are currently the next most likely to be available) is just up to your luck.
The next closest spot for shopping is your local pulperia - a sort of corner shop which is actually someone's front room from which they sell stuff. These dot every street, and vary in size from two shelves to an entire room. They sell all sorts of handy items: tiny bags of washing powder, a few tinned goods, the ever-present gaseosas (fizzy drinks), perhaps some butter and yogurts, beer, nail polish, soap, instant noodles, crisps, etc. Some have a telephone service too. But they are still a family's front room, so the family will hang out on chairs, often watching TV, in or just outside the pulperia. [N.B. Sitting out on the street in your rocking chair of an evening, enjoying what breeze can be found is the very communal way people live here - and we join in at Casa Santa Lucia too.]
Then there are the supermarkets, of which Granada has two. Although calling them supermarkets in the UK sense of a very large shop with regular supplies is a little dubious. Stock is never very reliable, so if you see something you might want you have to buy it then and there, because it may never be back, or may take a month to reappear - for instance there has been no peanut butter in Granada for 3 weeks now. And I've only seen peppermint tea on sale for a 5-day period once. Today I went to buy chickpeas, to find that there are none, and who knows when there will be again. So you have to be flexible and just buy what you can when you can.
The same is true of the main market, in that you can only ever find things when they are in season and available locally. Apples are incredibly expensive (about one US dollar each) and are sold from special streetside apple stalls. They are one of the few imported items you can get here, and that would be why they are so pricey. So the market has line after line of stalls selling effectively the same stuff, and you can watch the seasons change as the produce on offer changes. Currently we're moving into the mango season, although it's still on the cusp. Also avocados are becoming cheaper and better. And of course the market is the main place to buy anything and everything else you might need for the home. If you can't get it in the Granada market, it can't be bought in town.
Actually, I went for a fascinating trip last Thursday morning (for work, for the women's group) to Managua's Mercado Oriental. Luckily I had a guide - the little old lady mother of one of our women's group members - who knew her way around because that market is ENORMOUS and a complete maze of alleyways, passageways and stalls for miles. There were even trees growing inside. We walked swiftly for at least 20 minutes straight through in one direction without getting anywhere close to the other side of the market. My guide was very worried about my security and told me not to bring a bag in case it got stolen (and every guide book going repeats the advice that it is full of pickpockets, etc). But having taken this advice, I really found I felt very comfortable there and was rather taken with the hustle, bustle and general craziness of the country's largest and busiest market (and not another foreigner in sight). The way it works is that people go there from here, buy up stuff cheap and then sell it on back in Granada. So the microbus back to town was stuffed to the gills with all sorts of random purchases. Even people who don't run market stalls or pulperias will pick up a few things whenever they go to the Mercado Oriental and then sell them on to their friends and neighbours. Everyone in Nicaragua needs to make a bit of extra cash on the side to keep afloat financially...
The next closest spot for shopping is your local pulperia - a sort of corner shop which is actually someone's front room from which they sell stuff. These dot every street, and vary in size from two shelves to an entire room. They sell all sorts of handy items: tiny bags of washing powder, a few tinned goods, the ever-present gaseosas (fizzy drinks), perhaps some butter and yogurts, beer, nail polish, soap, instant noodles, crisps, etc. Some have a telephone service too. But they are still a family's front room, so the family will hang out on chairs, often watching TV, in or just outside the pulperia. [N.B. Sitting out on the street in your rocking chair of an evening, enjoying what breeze can be found is the very communal way people live here - and we join in at Casa Santa Lucia too.]
Then there are the supermarkets, of which Granada has two. Although calling them supermarkets in the UK sense of a very large shop with regular supplies is a little dubious. Stock is never very reliable, so if you see something you might want you have to buy it then and there, because it may never be back, or may take a month to reappear - for instance there has been no peanut butter in Granada for 3 weeks now. And I've only seen peppermint tea on sale for a 5-day period once. Today I went to buy chickpeas, to find that there are none, and who knows when there will be again. So you have to be flexible and just buy what you can when you can.
The same is true of the main market, in that you can only ever find things when they are in season and available locally. Apples are incredibly expensive (about one US dollar each) and are sold from special streetside apple stalls. They are one of the few imported items you can get here, and that would be why they are so pricey. So the market has line after line of stalls selling effectively the same stuff, and you can watch the seasons change as the produce on offer changes. Currently we're moving into the mango season, although it's still on the cusp. Also avocados are becoming cheaper and better. And of course the market is the main place to buy anything and everything else you might need for the home. If you can't get it in the Granada market, it can't be bought in town.
Actually, I went for a fascinating trip last Thursday morning (for work, for the women's group) to Managua's Mercado Oriental. Luckily I had a guide - the little old lady mother of one of our women's group members - who knew her way around because that market is ENORMOUS and a complete maze of alleyways, passageways and stalls for miles. There were even trees growing inside. We walked swiftly for at least 20 minutes straight through in one direction without getting anywhere close to the other side of the market. My guide was very worried about my security and told me not to bring a bag in case it got stolen (and every guide book going repeats the advice that it is full of pickpockets, etc). But having taken this advice, I really found I felt very comfortable there and was rather taken with the hustle, bustle and general craziness of the country's largest and busiest market (and not another foreigner in sight). The way it works is that people go there from here, buy up stuff cheap and then sell it on back in Granada. So the microbus back to town was stuffed to the gills with all sorts of random purchases. Even people who don't run market stalls or pulperias will pick up a few things whenever they go to the Mercado Oriental and then sell them on to their friends and neighbours. Everyone in Nicaragua needs to make a bit of extra cash on the side to keep afloat financially...
Sunday, March 11, 2007
some photos
I am sitting in my regular internet cafe (where everyone knows me so well, of course!) on a lazy Sunday afternoon, nursing a slight hangover after double birthday celebrations last night. Both Johanna (one of my housemates) and Guillermo (who works in our office) had their actual birthdays yesterday, so we went out for dinner and then to Cafe Nuit - of course - and then on to Kayak, one of the late night bar/clubs down on the lake shore. Let's just say much rum was drunk and I got home this morning at 7am! Oh, to be young(ish) and having fun (I now allow myself a little gentle dancing every now and again, as my ankle seems to be improving)...
So, I realise that once more it's been a long time since my last post here, and that I'd better put down at least a few words. I have nothing super-exciting to say today, since life continues in its usual Granada way: with work, socialising, household stuff, cooking/eating, poker night, volunteers coming and going, and the occasional trip away (like an afternoon spent with Becca at the big handicrafts market in Masaya on Friday looking for birthday presents, or the regular volunteer boat trip to Las Isletas last Sunday). Perhaps the hangover is inhibiting my writing abilities too - yes, probably. I left a house-full of sore heads and tired bodies lying on the sofas and armchairs watching a film on cable TV (so hopefully the TV won't do its usual half-hourly regular breakdowns when we have to bang it so hard you think it might break to recover the picture, as I don't think anyone could cope with the noise).
Anyway, just so I have something to add here, I thought I'd link in some missing photos albums, which do have captions at least so even though they're out of sync with my posts (most are from Mexico), they should give you all something to look at.
So, I realise that once more it's been a long time since my last post here, and that I'd better put down at least a few words. I have nothing super-exciting to say today, since life continues in its usual Granada way: with work, socialising, household stuff, cooking/eating, poker night, volunteers coming and going, and the occasional trip away (like an afternoon spent with Becca at the big handicrafts market in Masaya on Friday looking for birthday presents, or the regular volunteer boat trip to Las Isletas last Sunday). Perhaps the hangover is inhibiting my writing abilities too - yes, probably. I left a house-full of sore heads and tired bodies lying on the sofas and armchairs watching a film on cable TV (so hopefully the TV won't do its usual half-hourly regular breakdowns when we have to bang it so hard you think it might break to recover the picture, as I don't think anyone could cope with the noise).
Anyway, just so I have something to add here, I thought I'd link in some missing photos albums, which do have captions at least so even though they're out of sync with my posts (most are from Mexico), they should give you all something to look at.
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| Torey's farewell night out |
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| Mexican sightseers |
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| Las Mariposas Monarcas en Michoacan |
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| Mexico City farewell dinner |
Monday, March 5, 2007
La Esperanza weekly newsletter
Here's this week's message from our office:
Seems like it's been a very long week. You will have all the news up the the end of February from the monthly so this is what has happened since - plus some things for the coming week.
Firstly we will have new volunteer Kyle Willets starting on Monday, and another new face that you will see in the office a little in coming weeks is Iain Smy who will be helping us with some computer organization. Iain, who is a friend of the organization for some time now has come down from Canada for a 4 month plus stay in Granada - and he arrived on Thursday night with 40,000!!! children's chewy vitamin tablets. This will give us enough for a whole school year. The district directora Margarita said that the food should start during March too, so we can then give the vitamins at food time and get the maximum benefit for the children, which will hopefully improve their learning capacity. This is one of dreams we have had for a couple of years to be able to give vitamins to all the younger children. Other good news is that the food this year is supposed to include vegetables as well as rice and beans.
We have also had donations of $100 from Denton and Terry Sparks from U.S.A., plus $100 from Nuria Terrigausa in Spain. Plus we have had lots of people bringing clothing in to the office, packets of crayons etc.
Nigel as of this week is fully in the role of Volunteer Coordinator, so he will be able to help with any ideas or plans you may have. Nigel and Christy organized a great day at the community center on Thursday with a group led by John Ogle, who completely cleaned up the yard there, and I believe it is now looking great.
Becca is working on some health clinics to be run at the schools and/or community center from two groups who will be here in the coming months and want to help us - these are both quite sizeable medical groups. We seem to be getting more and more enquiries of this kind which is great. We are starting this week with some children for eye tests with an optician too, and although we have had some donations, the eye testing is cheap, but if they all need glasses we only currently have funds for nine children to get glasses (though of course if we need some can come from general funds) but if anyone has some ideas that can help us more effectively help with eyeglasses please talk to Becca.
La Epifania had no school on Friday due to teacher training and I believe there will be no school there next Friday - but need to check on this. Elba Zamora had no pre-school on Friday. I know that we often receive short notice of when there will be no school or early closures - but could you please put it on the notice board in the office as soon as you know of anything like this. We may need to know for English teaching, School nurse, health team, builders going out to the school for repairs, promotion tours etc. So it is important please to make sure everyone has a chance to know.
The high school kids and lots of volunteers had a terrific afternoon on Friday at the Laguna. Seems like we need to have some more things of this kind to help motivate the high school children rather than just tutoring. When going to places like the Laguna though it is important that it should be seen as just individuals going with children as the organization doesn't have any kind of insurance or anything that would protect us, or more importantly help the child/family in the event of an accident.
Some hard goodbye's this week. Especially to Jan and Eva who have been here for six months - even though Jan has worked with Casas de la Esperanza for the past three months, Jan and Eva have been very much a part of La Esperanza Granada. It was Eva who really got us off the ground with Radio Volcan - plus both of them have been great team members, leaders, fundraisers, and good all round friends. Carolyn has also decided to finish this week, but has left some great things behind her, notably the volunteer diary which has greatly simplified my work. Carolyn will of course also be our star when the Discovery Channel shows Granada to the world. Carolyn did great work in promotion; Stefan is now going to take over doing the tours and helping with promotion. Another loss is Lynette who was working in all the schools with English - though she had to shorten her stay Lynette was great to work with and will be missed.
Next Saturday's library duty is for Fiona and Mike. This week Fenna and Lizzie went up with Doctor Patricia.
Today is Isletas day, and I believe a baseball (soccer?) game day too - good luck to our team, and for any I don't see at the Isletas, see you through the week.
Regards, Pauline.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
volunteering work
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...
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...
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!
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