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.
Great strides have been taken with the small PV Panel workshop of Sabana Grande, ACESOL, who’s name signifies “Adelante Con Energia del Sol” or “Moving Forward With the Energy of the Sun.” Last week we were able to attend a follow up meeting with El Centro Technico Vocacional of Ocotal. This school provides 300 students of all ages with vocational training in areas such as construction, sewing, cooking, typography, in a city with limited opportunities for employment, this is an incredible option. Lisandro Borjas, the director of El Centro Technico Vocacional explained the mission of this school through the quote:
“Si le das un hombre un pescado, comeria por un dia. Si le enseñas un hombre a pescar, comeria por todo su vida.”
“If you give a man a fish he will eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish he will eat for a life time.”
It was a profound contribution to our understanding of what it means to be working within the realm of international development. People cannot thrive in a system that forces them to depend of the foreign aid of volunteers. It is the responsibilty of volunteers to provide opportunities of growth for the people in the community so that they have the opportunity to support themselves and their family through out their life. Having this mentality while working with the slow development of the ACESOL has been crucial for maintaining motivation.
This past weekend a group of volunteers had the opportunity to explore more of Nicaragua through a 3 day trip to León, the think tank city of Nicaragua with the central university founded in 1813. In 1839 Leon became the first capital of Nicaragua and became home to the liberal residents of the country while the more conservative Nicaraguans settled in Granada. The capital was moved between the two cities until 1868 when Managua was settled on as a compromise and has been the capital of Nicaragua ever since. From visiting each of these three cities the strong cultural pride within Leon and Granada is quite apparent, while Managua has become the urban capital hosting the commerce of the country. It’s a blessing to have the opportunity to learn so much about the country through the cultural of each city. The wonderful part of visiting theses cities is most of the site seeing can be accomplished through walking tours of the city. We were able to see the Cathedral of Assumption, the oldest Cathedral in Central America built in 1740, as well as the local market, and the house of Ruben Dario, a Nicaraguan poet who was one of the greatest influences of Spanish literature in the 20th century.
Along with the site seeing, we also had time to go volcano boarding, which was a much more thrilling experience than I was expecting! It can be described as sledding down a mountain of black pebbles, riding a carefully crafted wooden sled, wearing a bright orange jump suit. The hike up the volcano took about an hour and the ride down was no more than 1:30 (or 1:10 if you are Lori Hanna, the fastest rider in our group!). During the ride down I was trying to enjoy the view through the spray of pebbles coming at the goggles, while also keeping balance to stay on the sled. It was quite the thrilling experience!
After the trip to Leon I stopped in Managua to catch up on work and meetings with Suni Solar and Grupo Fenix. I am looking forward to heading back to Sabana Grande this weekend to spend time with the people in the community. Hope all is well at home, thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers!
- Anna
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2 Responses to “Enthusiastic Support from Rotary Club”
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Hello honey,
You have accomplished quite a few amazing things the past few weeks!
I bet you really wished I was there to experience the volcano boarding!
The closest I will get to a volcano these days is singing with Jimmy Buffett’s “I don’t know where I’m gonna go when the volcano blows!!” ( A remnant from the 80′s when Mt. St. Helens erupted.)
Lori’s note reminded me of the song when she hinted that it was about time for the volcano you were on to erupt
Your sister will be there with a hug from me soon!
I pray that God continues to keep His eyes on all of you!
Much love,
mom
Please keep us informed of your progress with the solar cooking project by editing your page in the Solar Cooking Archive Wiki.
Thanks,
Tom Sponheim
Solar Cookers International