July 29, 2008
I can’t remember the last time I was more excited to see a mini bus than last Wednesday when the Solar Culture Course participants (including Kelsey!) arrived at the Solar Center. It is such a dynamic group of participants, from a ten year old brainiac to college professors, a physiological scientist to the founder of a Honduran NGO for orphans. All are eager to learn about the culture of Sabana Grande, and the immense progress of renewable energy projects in the community. The energy of this group has brought a great dynamic to Sabana Grande. I can’t count the number of times I have heard people say “se parace” (literally, you both seem the same) since Kelsey has arrived. The sibling resemblance has not changed since I left the US two months ago! Cherling and Masiel love having another older sister at the house and I really enjoy having someone here to share this experience. This morning we took a family trip to the well to teach Kelsey how to carry a water bucket. Maybe this will be an opportunity for me to pass off my well developed talent of bucket carrying to a rookie!
As exciting as it was to have the course arrive, this also meant that Dan Hensel and Matt Wills would leaving for the US. It’s incredible to think about the experience that we have all had together, autoclave testing, daily Spanish classes, new pet pigs and distributing candy to all of the neighborhood kids. It was wonderful to be working with both of them this summer and I look forward to keeping in touch this fall.
With the Solar Culture Course has come a change of seasons for Sabana Grande, called Veranito or “Little Summer.” There is a 4 week period beginning the middle of July and lasting until the middle of August in which the constant rain is halted and the days are filled with sun. After 9 weeks of clouds and rain, this is perfect news for autoclave testing. Lori, Dan, and Pete had a wonderful day of testing last Wednesday morning with temperatures reaching 150 degrees Celsius. Hopefully more to come over the next two weeks.
The days at the Solar Center never cease to amaze me. Just as we were getting back to work after lunch, there was a man walking his bike up the gravel path in front of the Solar Center. Curious, a group of us waited out front to talk. Ten seconds into the conversation, this man was sold as an inspiration to us all.
Oscar Cañon from Columbia
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July 27, 2008
Anna has been in Nicaragua since May. Here is a sampling of who she has been working and playing with. Click on an image for a larger view.
July 27, 2008
October 12-19, 2008
This course is an 8-day, condensed version of the Solar Culture Course, but focuses more on community development and sustainable lifestyle. It is open to everyone and offers working professional the chance to participate in a shorter course.
For more information about this workshop, email “info@grupofenix.org”. Or, if you speak Spanish, call Grupo Fenix in Nicaragua at (505) 278-3133.
July 26, 2008
January 5-15, 2009, Managua & Sabana Grande, Nicaragua
Come to the hills of northwestern Nicaragua to help build a dream. In the community of Sabana Grande, Totogalpa you can witness a wave of environmental change and perhaps see a transformation in yourself. This 11 day course allows you to be immersed in the daily life of rural Nicaraguans by living in homestays and working alongside locals in their vision to create a solar culture in their community.
This is a chance to engage your head, heart, and hands in the real work of the world. Discuss the theory behind both solar energy and the challenges of sustainable development with your instructors and other course participants over lunch. Spend your days learning from local community members how to construct solar cookers or install photovoltaic systems. Laugh along with your homestay family as you try to recall your High School Spanish or balance water on your head.
Course sponsored by Grupo Fenix, a Salud del Sol partner. Cost is $995. For more information about this workshop, email “info@grupofenix.org”. Or, if you speak Spanish, call Grupo Fenix in Nicaragua at (505) 278-3133. See link below for course brochure and information on travel, housing and local conditions.
July 24, 2008
These past few weeks, as I´ve explained, have fallen under Chapter 2: Lori´s Arrival. Now begins Chapter 3: Aftermath (Or, as Matt likes to think of it… Chapter 3: AfterMatt). This is the part where they fix all the damage we´ve caused.
Kidding! But we do hope to have left behind some projects and have made some impact on the community. As I sit and think about it, I am sure we have. We have taught them how to use computers and the Internet, both of which are huge. I taught the kids how to play Ultimate (I expect to see leagues when I return). Lori and I taught them how to properly set up tests and take data. Basically, Lori and I taught them the scientific method! Anna and Jessica have successfully started a new business at the Solar Center, called ACESol, which could really take off and create wonderful opportunities for the center. Matt built a cool cistern and gutter system to collect all the rainwater to use for the new gardens. Pete has been all over the place, providing help for everyone. On top of that, we all have pitched in to aid with all the other various projects going on here at the Solar Center. Yeah, I´d like to think we made a positive impact.
This past weekend I kind of took it easy, still just getting over my sickness. I went to ProFamilia, where I had an exam and consultation, and got some pills to kill off the parasites as I leave. I´m going to time my medication so that it carries over into as I´m getting home, so that I can be sure all the parasites are gone. I don´t want to be sick for 6 months after I get home like Lori was. I have been taking Cipro, which Matt described really well as the Atom Bomb to the war going on in your stomach… it takes out everything. In fact, I´ve been eating yogurt to get the good germs back into my stomach.
Actually, I feel that healthiest I´ve felt in… probably ever! I´ve lost a LOT of weight. I know it´s going to scare my mom because she´s going to think that I didn´t eat, but that´s not true. I ate more than I could handle at every meal, and just a few snacks here and there. The food isn´t exactly healthy, because a lot of things are fried. However, it helps that I had rice and beans, salads and soups, and heaps of fruit every morning for breakfast. Mostly, though, I think it was the controlled consumption of food. Rather than eating a lot of little snacks and meals, it was just 3 big meals a day, at 7AM, 12PM, and 7PM. Every once and a while I´ll get an ice cream or some chips in between meals, and I almost always have a coke or something too, but it´s still dramatically different than eating habits in the US. Finally, it helps that I have to walk 20 minutes every day to get to the Solar Center, then back for lunch, then back to work after lunch, then back home after work. Then, sometimes I´ll even return to the Solar Center after work, for various reasons, meaning I have to walk back home once again. It´s a lot of walking. And the work itself is excercising too. In conjunction, of course, is all the Ultimate and soccer I have been playing as well. Basically, I feel good.
Over the past week I have put together all my things that I am taking home, and given away my gifts and left the clothes that I am leaving to Tiende Verde. I am ready to go!
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July 22, 2008
In the past 8 weeks have been quite the experience. I am finally at a place where I feel comfortable and feel like I am truly living within the community. The first week here, it was easy to be taken over by the complexity of living in a new lifestyle, learning to speak a new language, becoming accustomed to the food, and how to be productive in the underdeveloped work environment of Nicaragua. What it means to be running on “Nica time,” always 30 minutes behind schedule. Because everything was new and different, everything seemed the same and very difficult to understand. In the time being here, I have come to understand Nicaraguan Spanish, a completely different dialect than other countries—for example, the Home Run Derby telecast with a Spanish-speaking commentator had to be dubbed with a Nicaraguan interpreter so viewers in Nicaragua would better understand. With much patience and practice, learning the language has also allowed me to get to know the people living in Sabana Grande. Even without completely understanding the language, it is very apparent that they have a welcoming personality.
Last week included another trip to Managua for meetings for Salud del Sol, with Dr. Orochena, the Director of Services Organization of the Ministry of Health for the Nicaragua (MINSA). The meeting went incredibly well and was very promising for the future development of the autoclave. Dr. Orchena reiterated our understanding of the need for the autoclaves within the clinic. It was encouraging to hear from the government how supportive they are with this project. Because the product is still in the research stages, he also gave directional support for what the next steps should be. It was a great start to the beginnings of a partnership with MINSA (read post).
Along with the approval from MINSA for continuing product research, we also met with student researcher, Onell Domingo Morales Cortez, from UNI (National Engineering University of Nicaragua) who has been writing his senior thesis designing an autoclave as well. It was fascinating to learn about how far his progress has developed. We also began the conversation with a chemistry professor about setting up a dual testing partnership with chemistry students from the UNI who are looking for a senior thesis. While the design clinic team at UD will be further refining the design of the autoclave, the students of Nicaragua will be researching an efficient way to indicate sterilization using local material. This is an important partnership for Salud del Sol to continue with the mission of researching appropriate technology for the autoclave project.
Along with meetings in Managua, I also had the chance to travel with Suni Solar, the solar panel installation company, to San Juan del Sur for a maintenance check for an installation. The installation was for a man from California operating a Sustainable Real Estate business on 450 acres of land in the mountains surrounding San Juan del Sur called NicaDev. It was very interesting to see the great efforts this man has taken to create a environmentally friendy real estate business.
The computer classes every Friday are continuing to be a successful. Many of the students are beginning to use this time to come and write emails that they can save to send at a later time. It’s encouraging that people are seeing the practical benefit of learning computer skills from the classes. Along with teaching basic computer skills, I have also been working with the women of Las Mujeres 
Solares to develop basic business skills in marketing and book keeping. Two women of Las Mujeres Solares, Frederlinda and Adelina, are involved with the sale of organic solar roasted coffee for Las Mujeres Solares (see photo of Adelina roasting coffee in a solar cooker). One of the best times for them to make these sales is during the Solar Culture Course which comes through twice per year. These two women organize the inventory, packaging and sales of any women who are interested in selling solar roasted coffee. The solar roasted coffee spends two days inside of a solar cooker, more depending on the amount of sun during the day. The women explained that roasting the coffee in the enclosed cooker keeps the excellent aroma and flavor.
This Friday, Lori and I were invited to the birthday party of Angel who was turning five years old. It was a perfect comparison to a 5-year-old birthday party in the United States, complete with a piñata, cake, pop, party favors, and a dozen kids hyped up by the sugar rush.
The volunteers that come through Sabana Grande are accepted as family by the members of the community. Since we have been here we have had the opportunity to work with two long term volunteers, CJ and Jenny Colavito who have been here for the past year. They have been incredibly helpful to work with, providing support for all of out projects and helping us to understand more of culture of Nicaragua. This past week was their last week in Sabana Grande, and was full of many good-byes. Part of the culture of Sabana Grande includes “Despedidos” or good bye parties full of music, dancing, games, skits, and tacos. It’s a great opportunity for everyone to spend an evening together and appreciate all of the work that everyone has done before the volunteers leave. It’s always fun to see how competitive the quiet host mom’s can be in the games.
This week the Solar Culture Course of Grupo Fenix will be coming to Sabana Grande, including my sister Kelsey! I am looking forward to the dynamics of having new people here to share in these same experiences.
- Anna
July 20, 2008
Daniel will be leaving Sabana Grande on July 25. Enjoy these pics of his work and play this summr. Click on image for an enlarged view.
July 20, 2008
Since my last update, Salud del Sol has had a lot happening. As you may have read on the homepage, we were able to get government blessings for our project. As many people have righteously expressed concern over whether or not the Ministry of Health would allow a solar autoclave into their clinics, I was so happy to finally receive this permission and support. We met with Dr. Orochena, the Director of Services Organization, and he was so enthusiastic about our project. He told us what our next steps should be, and he offered to be the liaison to other areas of the Ministry of Health. He will also emphasize sterilization questions in an upcoming survey of medical equipment in health care facilities in Nicaragua, so as to gain further support. Dr. Orochena also provided us with lots of much-awaited health clinic statistics to use in our marketing analysis. As Susan Kinne said, the Holy Spirit is watching!
The same day, Anna and I also had a meeting with Onell Morales, who did a thesis on another solar autoclave design and is currently working on yet another, and a chemistry teacher from the UNI who has some undergraduates interested in a thesis involving the solar autoclave. We brainstormed, and decided on two possible projects. One is to continue testing throughout the year on a few different autoclave designs and continuously correspond with our Design Clinic team at the University of Dayton. The other is to find an inexpensive, locally-available substance or something to verify sufficient time and temperature for sterilization, which I thought would be very relevant because they are chemistry students and we are not. These plans will all be verified before we leave Nicaragua.
Despite the huge successes in Managua, I’m really happy to be back home in Sabana Grande. It is so much cleaner, cooler, and more relaxed. Since then, we’ve been running tests during the day, going to soccer games after work, and usually watching the craze soap opera, Madre Luna, at night. We did some tests on the dry heat design with a ketchup bottle as a container, painted black on 1/3 of the side. It reached 124C, which is decent considering all of the clouds. We then switched to testing a pressure cooker inside of a solar autoclave. Unfortunately, while all around the pot has reached around 130C, the inside air has not broken 100C. Most days, it is cloudy more than it is sunny, and recently it has been raining the majority of the day. In fact, I heard it is a hurricane… is that true, and what’s its name?
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July 18, 2008
As I write this, I have 6 more days in Nicaragua. My feelings are… mixed. As I´ve mentioned before, I certainly am excited to be back home, for many obvious reasons. But I am also going to miss Sabana Grande. Especially the people. And especially one person.
The timing has worked well, however. I have completed our goals for the summer successfully. In fact, not just our goals for testing, but our goals for all of our projects for Salud del Sol. A success. The details of the results of the testing are being worked out right now in report form, and we hope to present that soon.
As far as life goes, I have finally gotten sick. My time has come, I suppose. But hey, I was the last of all the volunteers to get sick, and I didn´t get sick until my 9th week, rather than my first or second. I´d say that´s something. I did have a pretty bad fever though. Today I went to ProFamilia in Ocotal to get tested for parasites. Of course I probably have them. At any given time, it is pretty certain that every volunteer has parasites… you just don´t know that you have them. They usually don´t cause much discomfort and don´t harm you. Of course, some are worse than others, and I might just be one of the lucky ones. But it´s OK, I´m going to let them accumulate, and then take the pills before I leave and wipe the suckers out. Lori says she was sick for several months after she got home, and it was probably because she never got checked for parasites before leaving. After this whole conversation (which we had, of all times, over lunch one day last week), going to ProFamilia shot straight up to high on my to-do list.
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July 10, 2008
The past few weeks have been a wonderful mix of life in Sabana Grande, traveling Nicaragua to visit more of the country, and an abundance of meetings and communication in Managua. Coming to Managua feels a little like being thrown into a communication whirl wind. Living in Sabana Grande with the communication void can at times be counter productive, but in the same breath it is an opportunity to truly experience the life in rural Nicaragua and understand the lifestyle of the people that we are working with. It wouldn’t be appropriate for our work to be done in the same office environment as the United States, because if we were creating a business to exist in the United States then we would be failing to recognize the importance of appropriate technology with sustainable development.
The research for Salud del Sol has been going incredibly well. Lori was able to schedule a meeting with the Rotary Club of Ocotal, one of the branches of Rotary International. The overarching organization of Rotary International is the worlds first service organization with over 1.2 million members across the world. The meeting was a great opportunity for us to talk with motivated community members who have a vested interest in improving the lives of rural Nicaraguans. They were so excited that we were interested in their organization and were incredibly enthusiastic about providing support for the autoclave as well as the solar box cookers of Las Mujeres Solares.
We spent most of the meeting talking and laughing with the Rotary members, we sang the national anthem of Nicaragua in unison and were then invited to sing the United States national anthem solo! Afterwards one of the members asked for copy written in English so he would be able to learn the words. It was a wonderful gesture of cultural appreciation. Lori and I will be returning to the following meetings to give presentations on the autoclave and solar cookers that the Rotary Club of Ocotal will be able to use to seek additional support from their network of organizations.
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