May 19, 2008
I am writing this from above the Gulf of Mexico, during a flight from Houston to Managua, Nicaragua after an very fulfilling airplane breakfast, an egg pita sandwich, yogurt, banana, and orange juice. As a distraction from the movie that is playing, I thought I wanted to take this chance to begin the travel journal for the summer experience of living and working in Sabana Grande, Nicaragua. Located in the north west region of the country, beyond the city of Ocotal, outside of Totogalpa, near the border of Honduras.
With a 3:30am wake up call for a 6:00am flight from Columbus, I met the other heavily caffeinated UD students in Houston, Texas. From here, Daniel Hensel, Pete Kolis, Vince Romanin, and Matt Wills, and myself are traveling to Managua, the capital of Nicaragua (Lori Hanna will be joining us four weeks later in Sabana Grande). Susan Kinne, the director of Grupo Fenix, the program that we will be working through, will be meeting us at the airport. We will spend a few days in the city for orientation and from my understanding, this bustling city presents a stark difference to the rural village of Sabana Grande.
Vince will be living in Managua working with Sunni Solar, a business that produces solar panels for small businesses in rural Nicaragua. Lori, Daniel, Pete, Matt, and myself will be living in Sabana Grande researching Solar Autoclaves and Solar Box Cookers. Everyone has put a significant amount of leg work into their respective projects with research and presentations through out the semester. I will include links to the blogs of the other students as well, to provide the opportunity to learn more about the progress of their experience.
While the nature of my internship encompasses all projects of Grupo Fenix, I will dedicate the majority of my time to the development of the solar autoclave venture with Las Mujeres Solares. Dan, Lori, and myself will be researching the product development and the market of the surrounding health centers for distribution of the solar autoclaves. Other services that we are planning to provide include, business courses of Microsoft Word and Excel, and research for local conferences of renewable energy to present the solar autoclave and solar box cooker.
My main goal for the first few weeks is to create a complete cultural immersion experience. I will be living with María Antonia Centeno Velazque and her family, which includes three children in their twenties, two grandchildren, and a niece. Living with seven roommates in college, having so many people in the home will be comforting. I am looking forward to meeting everyone at the end of the week! From past UD students’ experiences have expressed the genuine and heartfelt hospitality of the host families within Sabana Grande. I hope that I am able to express gratitude that crosses the cultural boarders with María, her family, and others living within the village. Our flight will be landing in Managua soon and the butterflies are starting to set in. Here’s to the start of the summer adventure! Hope all is well in your part of the world, I look forward to hearing from you all!
- Anna
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