Helluva Day

Writing this entry from my Kindle as I sit out on the back patio working on a fine Nicaraguan cigar. Liga Privada T52. Very nice cigar. Spent the morning roaming around Jinotega then met up with Jairo and Edrulfo. Oh, and before that, rectified the mattress problem by switching to a different room. Damn well bet I tested the bed this time. Here are a few pics of my ramble in Jinotega.

Anyways, after rendezvousing we drove out to Sasle. It's about a 40 minute drive out there, initially on a main road then down a progressive series of smaller dirt tracks until we arrived at Benita's rancho. Three cows were parked in the driveway if you can call it that. Benita is the community leader and, while we had spoken previously by a computer teleconference, it was still appropriate for formal introductions.

Now, let's back up for a second. For those of you who are somewhat new to this let me give you some background on why I am here in the first place. In 2014 I had finished my engineering masters and was looking for something to do with it. I found the Engineers without Borders group (EWB) and the RPI chapter of it. I became an active member of that group and took part in the Panama water project which implemented the rainwater collection and chlorination system which you may have seen before. We are currently winding down that project end in April of this year signed on for a new project in Nicaragua. This project was initiated by another NGO group called bridges to community. Bridges does not have a strong representation in the engineering field itself but is more interested in community development in particular education and medical clinics. The project that they had undertaken was to provide latrines for the community of Sasle. Eventually they found that they were unable to progress meaningfully with the project on their own and sought assistance. They were referred to EWB and the project was made available on the website. As we were in the process of winding down the Panama project we were looking for a new one and submitted our application for this one and it was granted. The group itself is formulating its plans and preparing for the initial visit this coming January and I am here simply to make an informal introductory visit to the community and to lay the groundwork for formal visit. And that's pretty much how I got to be here.

Jairo Zelaya - Bridges To Community

Edrulfo Rodriguez - EWB-USA - Northern Nicaragua Coordinator

So, meeting up with Edrulfo and Jairo we headed out towards Sasle and my introduction to Benita and the community. She is the leader of the community itself and, from appearances, has the largest and nicest spread there. We sat and made small talk over soft drinks and discussed generalities . After about an hour we climbed back into Jairo's truck and headed up to the school where the rest of the members of the committee would meet us. We arrived at the school campus to find a modern open airy school building with a state-of-the-art latrine facility for the students. After getting a look at the latrine building and the outside of the school we proceeded indoors where the members of the sanitary committee were waiting to meet me. They were about seven women and two men and we all sat down to introductions. While it was not my intention to use it as an icebreaker , in the moment, I decided that in addition to writing down their names I would also take their photographs so that I could put names and faces together . Not only would this be good for me but I could also then send it back to the EWB group the students could familiarize themselves with the people with whom they would be working in the future. This proved to be an excellent icebreaker as it was little bit awkward for everybody but made everybody feel more relaxed. After the introductions we spent about 45 minutes discussing our expectations and how to best go about exploring the communities needs.

Benita - My New Boss (Jefe)

The other thing that helped was a few gifts I brought. Most were school supplies for the students like an abundant supply of brightly colored mechanical pencils and some solar-powered calculators, but the unintentionally inspired gifts were a half-dozen small bottles of maple syrup and several boxes of maple sugar candies. These proved to be excellent gifts as they were quite appropriate for women. Not to be overtly sexist, but I doubt that they would have played as well to a bunch of rough-necked country farm men.
 Following this we proceeded to climb into Jairo's truck for an initial drive around the community. Again though it was not meant as a PR move I decided to climb into the back of his truck, which had a guardrail surrounding the back, with a bunch of the women from the committee. It seemed like the right move to make in the moment. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. It also sent the message that I'm willing to come into direct contact with their physical environment. We set off over a series of rough and rock strewn roads  (and I use that term lightly) to get a first-hand view of their community.

These Are Where We Will Be Building Bio-Digestor Latrines

We passed small plots under cultivation with corn , cabbage and here and there small groves of coffee trees. We are getting bounced around pretty roughly (after last nights mattress and todays bouncing I was really glad I always pack Tylenol and Naproxen) and were all laughing and making jokes about it. Things are going fairly well until clouds abruptly moved in and the first drops of rain began to spatter us. Being out on rough roads it was not as though we're simply going to turn around and head back home quickly. We are out there and we were stuck in the rain. The rain came down pretty heavily and soon we were soaked through and through. Actually, the rain proved to be a good thing as were all laughing and enjoying it. As this was happening two thoughts ran through my head: 1) I had to be insane to do something like this and 2), how in gods name was I so lucky to be able to do something like this? I felt totally alive and vitalized by being here and doing something like this. I realized that this is why Hemingway must've loved Africa. The raw energy of the land, its nature, and its people. How amazingly fortunate I am to be able to do things like this. Eventually we made our way back to the school and we all got out of the back of the truck. The women from the committee made their ways back home and I was able to climb back up into the cab with Jairo. We headed back to the main roads and as we drove to Jinotega Jairo and I discussed what we had learned and how we would move forward with this project into the future. We made my arrangements for tomorrow when I will meet Juan Carlos who is a member of the committee and is also a pharmacist at the local hospital. He is working the night shift this evening and will meet me tomorrow at the end of his shift and will drive me out to Sasle for another day. We got back into town where he dropped me off at the Estancia was able to change out of my wet clothes into nice dry ones. I made a quick series of text messages and then uploaded photographs from my camera to my computer. I then headed back to El Tico the cafeteria restaurant where I dined last night and had my evening meal. Once again starch was in abundance but slightly different . Tonight's fare included potatoes, spaghetti, two types of rice, and bananas. I made sure I got whatever vegetables and salad I can find and had my dinner. I then headed back to the Estancia where I picked up my tablet and my cigar and I'm now sitting writing this entry. It has been a very satisfying day. As I finish both my cigar and the entry there's only one other thing I feel compelled to write and that is this. On my previous excursions to Panama I have been with the group and with other English speakers and usually another person fluent in Spanish . We have been able to speak English amongst ourselves and also to share the translation duties. Being here on my own requires me to use my Spanish exclusively. There is no one else here to speak with in English and there's no one to help me if I can't find the correct words. It's been a very pleasant crash course in improving my Spanish . It doesn't get better than this.