July 11, 2009
Lunch 
Nicaragua moment: This morning, a chicken laid an egg in my bed. It was raining and I forgot to shut the door to my room, so when I went in for my raincoat I had to chase all seven chickens from under my bed. But I missed one hen: the late big evil one’s girlfriend, who was sitting on my pile of dirty clothes on top of my bed. Don’t worry Mums, it was the dirty clothes pile. I swatted at her with my towel and yelled at her in Spanish (because they honestly don’t listen if I speak English). After pecking at my fingers she got up, revealing what would become my lunch. Delicious.
Thursday and Friday, Maria and I went down to Managua with Anna and Lauren for a meeting with the Jubilee House, who started an organization called Center for Development in Central America. As I understand it, a bunch of nice church people from North Carolina decided to help a whole lot of very needy people at once. They operate in a huge shanty town called Ciudad Sandino, where 170,000 people live with 80% unemployment. I cannot believe that people exist who could even comprehend that level of poverty, much less feel like they could make a difference to the people who live there. If you want more of an idea, the website is www.jhc-cdca.org.
The woman we met with was named Kathleen, and she had been living in Ciudad Sandino for 15 years with her family, developing the clinic. Whenever she spoke to her son, who was acting as partial translator, she reminded me so much of Paula Deen. Anyway, she showed us around the clinic and had great ideas for the autoclave. Even though the Jubilee House clinic already has access to enough autoclaves, she invited us to accompany one of the Ministry of Health doctors to a rural health center in a few weeks. There, she thinks we will be able to ask the nurses questions about current sterilization methods, patient load and the instruments used. It will also give us a chance to get some general first impressions of the autoclave. Although, the autoclave currently looks a little imposing. In fact, last night on the bus back to Sabana Grande, I asked a man if he could please pass me the “ugly apparatus with the pipes,” and he knew just what I meant, haha. Maria and I are working on another prototype, and maybe it’ll look cuter in a smaller version. We can only hope .
Also, Maria and I got to stay at Dona Claudia’s house with TimandJim. This was especially exciting because Dona Claudia also owns a bakery, so we had the best pastries of all time for breakfast on Friday. And, Dona Claudia’s mother is an amazing cook, so Maria and I were really spoiled. It seems like the parts of the weekend that didn’t involve the autoclave were spent eating. Ice cream, chocolate cake, pastries, pizza (twice!) and rosquillas. It was amazing.
Yesterday, we met with Susan Kinne and the researchers from UNI who are also working on the autoclave research. It was a great help to be able to ask questions like “Where can I find copper tubing in Managua?” and, “What kind of shiny material do you recommend for the solar oven?” We also exchanged emails, so we will be able to communicate the results of our testing as well as set up researchers for when Maria and I return to the US.
Finally, Susan and some of the coordinators from UNI are coming up to the Solar Center on Monday, so Maria and I get to show off the insulated parabolic Franken-Cooker. We have decided to try using the inside of chip bags as our first reflective material for the parabolic, so I have all the women in Adelina’s house eating Nicaraguan Doritos, called Ranchitas. They have decided to help me out by eating however many bags I buy, for research purposes, of course.
I think that’s all for today. I’ll make sure to post the results of our first temperature tests with the parabolic. Wish us luck!
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What an amazing experience to see this part of the world. I am enjoying your blogs immensely and feel educated by your experiences. Will you be raising chickens when you return home? It appears you have gotten used to fresh eggs! You remain in my prayers.
HI Erin,
Loved your egg story and update on the autoclave. All of what you are doing is so interesting. All is fine here. Missed you at Marlene’s birthday party.
Love, Aunt Carla
Hope your trip is still going well. Sounds like you have been doing some really neat work. Has your Spanish been improving too? What a great experience!
I saw our new biomechanics lab last week. The walls are all up and I was able to pick out some furniture. It is very exciting. There is a big student workspace so if you want to help out in the spring (I hope!) – you will have a desk!
When do you leave Nicaragua?