Learn to make Nacatamales with host family. Check.

Improve Spanish. Check.

Learn to carry a bucket of water on head. half Check.

With hands. Check.

Non profit status for Salud del Sol. Pending…

After an amazing experience in Nicaragua, I am well on my way to the “next steps” in life and what that entails, including more development for Salud del Sol!  I learned more this summer than I ever thought possible, about the people, culture, development work, eco-engineering, and how to practice sustainable business development.  The time spent in Nicaragua was a juxtapose between the slow paced life style of the relaxed culture and knowing that time was limited and trying to create as many successful projects as possible.  The last few weeks of the trip I traveled with fellow Salud del Sol member Lori Hanna and my sister Kelsey to various meetings with NGOs and other potential partners for Salud del Sol.

Exciting development with the product research came from a meeting held with Susan Kinne, Director of Grupo Fenix, Dr. Richard Komp, creator of the autoclave project, Chemical Engineering students from the National Engineering University and their professor, Lori and myself.   We spent a Friday morning brainstorming about how to continue the product research of the autoclave in Nicaragua.  Salud del Sol has a focus on the importance of appropriate technology with of product research.  That being said, it is incredibly relevant that we are able to collaboratively conduct research with teams in Nicaragua.  As a result of this meeting held, we have set up to continue communication with a research team of chemical engineers who will be testing one of the current autoclave designs and making adaptations to another for further research.  Look for more information about these developments within the project section of the website!

One of the more exciting emails that I recieved last week was an announcement from Susan Kinne that Las Mujeres and Grupo Fenix had been selected as recipients of the SEED award and $25,000 of business support services for a year!!  This is such an incredible opportunity for everyone involved with the organization!  The women and their partners are at such a critical point in the development of their organization.  The passion and dedication are there, the women have shown this with the time invested in building the Solar Center workshop and the countless hours they have all spent constructing Solar Cookers.   They have such impressive dreams of surrounding the Solar Center with a campus of projects in renewable energy– a Solar Restaurant to feature their wonderful cooking, a store to sell the various dried fruits, coffee, and other solar products, and an enhanced PV workshop where they will be able to increase manufacturing of PV panels.  This fall, I am looking forward to staying involved remotely with the development of Las Mujeres Solares and the realization of these ideas through the support of the SEED award!

This past week Lori, Dan, and I, along with other ETHOS students and UD faculty members had the opportunity to join together and reflect on the experiences this summer over a wonderful dinner held in Kennedy Union on UD’s campus.   It was inspiring to hear the stories of other student participants from this summer and how far UD’s service learning experience can reach.  From the water pump systems in Guatemala to delivering water to remote villages in Cameroon, I was so impressed with the work that my peers had participated in this summer and the depth of their cultural immersion. 

Along with the ETHOS dinner, this trip to UD also allowed me the opportunity to work with faculty within UD’s School of Business to develop a partnership with the ETHOS program in the School of Engineering.  There is such a natural fit between the work of Engineers and Business students.  My presence this summer in Sabana Grande working along side of the engineering students with the research and development of the autoclave venture and other projects with Las Mujeres Solares was a testimony to the possibilities that can arise when students are working together with integrated studies!  Hopefully this will set the path for future SBA students at UD to have similar experiences through the ETHOS program.

After a visit to UD and a few weeks of debriefing from the experience this summer at home in Westerville, Ohio, I have packed up and moved to the east coast!  This Wednesday I will begin working with a management consulting firm, The Center For Applied Research (CFAR), in their Cambridge office.  CFAR is based out the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and works with a wide variety of clients in many different industries, a mix of non-profit and for profit work.  I will be working as a research analyst on a variety of projects.  It is an incredible opportunity and I really looking forward to learning more about the east coast culture of Boston! 

Along with this exciting opportunity, Salud del Sol as a whole is working to complete the neccessary steps to become a non profit organization.  While Dan, Lori, and myself were in Nicaragua this summer, Lauren Dokes, the Director of Finance, made huge progress towards completing this task.  Now that we are all state side we have an opportunity to continue this project.  Doing so will be a great step towards the development of Salud del Sol and increase our ability to work with our partners in the US and Nicaragua!  Check back for more information about this work.

Hasta Luego.
- Anna

I´ve had some good time spent with my host family. Heyling and I went on an excursion to Dipilto, where a holy site called La Virgin de La Piedra is. It was a beautiful area, frequented by many pilgrims. And I had so much fun riding in the back of pickup trucks and eating bananas and peanut butter with Anna, Pete, and Heyling! I also got to go to another Noches Segovianas in Ocotal with my family… Adelina, Heyling, and Alexandra came this time. We got dinner on the street, then watched the show. Alexandra was ecstatic, because she rarely gets to leave Sabana Grande.

We were at work one day, when a guy stopped at the Centro Solar on his bicycle. He was a year and 21 days into his bicycle trip from Alaska to Columbia, where he´s originally from. That´s right… 24,000 km into his trip. He goes 70 to 100 km a day, drinking 7 liters of water a day. When asked why he´s doing it, he said, ¨algunas personas tienen sueños, pero se quedan sueños,¨ or ¨some people have dreams, but they remain dreams,¨ but not his!

The Solar Culture Course arrived while I was sick, so I missed out on a lot of time with them. I did get to witness, or actually, just hear the reunion of Anna and her sister, Kelsey. Lots of squeals! The course participants are so great… really interesting people, from all walks of life. I have been able to join them in some activities. We all went to Somoto Canyon last Sunday, an amazingly beautiful place to hike and swim. During the week, we all took classes from Dr. Richard Komp, a solar energy expert from Maine who is a technical advisor to Grupo Fenix. He taught us all about his passive solar, off-the-grid house in Maine (which of course got me really excited!), followed by a lesson on photovoltaics. These classes were all-encompassing, providing information on everything from the sun to the Roman Empire!

Tuesday night was our Despedida party, as well as that of the course. It was the best despedida I´ve ever been to! It included lots of dances, songs, and games by gringos and Nicas alike. Jessica, Anna, and I really put ourselves out there with a dramatic interpretation of Total Eclipse of the Heart, which is a song also well-known in Spanish. Pete taught the Cotton-Eyed Joe dance–so fun! My sisters and others danced, we all ate, and the members of the community beautifully thanked all of us for our contributions.

Anna, Kelsey, and I spent two days in Managua. We had an amazing meeting on Friday with Onell Morales, his advisor chemistry professor, and three students from the UNI, as well as Richard and Susan. We outlined all of the current autoclave design choices, discussing all of them in technical detail and providing improvement suggestions. We made decisions as to the future, as well. The UNI students, as their theses, are going to work on the lunch tray model improvements, as well as adding reflectors to the pressure cooker model, and doing experiments on both. We´re going to stay in contact regarding progress in both Dayton and Managua.

Friday afternoon, we got a tour and meeting with the Jubilee House (http://www.jhc-cdca.org/jhc.html), a community development organization in Ciudad Sandino. Ciudad Sandino is a city full of people displaced from around Lake Managua by Hurricane Mitch. 15,000 people without homes or jobs, with sweatshops going up around it–strategically placed so as to force hopeless people to work there, and likely come out poorer than they started. We got to see the area, as well as a tour of their two clinics. We talked with their nurse and lab tech about their sterilization needs, and had a great overview of this amazing organization. We learned a lot, and Jubilee House is highly interested in helping us to test an autoclave prototype.

Saturday, we met with Will Burke, a guy who works with a women´s group in Nicaragua to sell their dried fruit in the U.S.  It was really insightful, and encouraging for the work we´re doing, as well as for Las Mujeres Solares to be able to sell their dried fruit and even crafts sometime in the future.

I´m in Leon right now, waiting for a meeting later today with ProMujer, a microfinance institution that also provides some healthcare services. In the meantime, we spent the weekend on the beach Las Pañitas, soaking in the gorgeous rainbows, waves, and sunsets full of lightning. The estuary in front of our hostel acted as a fast-moving, winding river as the tide went out–fun to ride in and try to swim against. Highly recommended if you ever travel here… the hostel is called Barca de Oro.

If I don´t get a chance to write again before coming home, I hope that you all have a great week, and that I get to see you soon!

- Lori

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

This past week has been nostalgic, seeing the Solar Center through the eyes of the Solar Culture Course participants who are experiencing everything for the first time. It brought a new wave of motivation to once again hear about the accomplishments of Las Mujeres Solares, the hours they have spent researching the solar cookers and the time spent building a place to grow as an organization. Knowing I will be leaving Sabana Grande brings everything into perspective; the necessity to experience every day to the fullest, rising early with the tortilla makers and working late with the solar cooker constructors. It’s not every summer you have the chance to spend three months living in Nicaragua.

Hasta luego!
- Anna

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!

So it is now Thursday night, the night before my departure! As sad as I am to leave Sabana Grande and my work, I really excited. To get home. Eat Chipotle. See the Dark Knight. Watch LOST. Pet a healthy cat and dog (key word ¨healthy¨). Sit in a couch (there are NO couches in Nicaragua! Come to think of it, it is pretty hard to find a really, really comfortable place to sit). Go to a nice bar. And, of course, see my loving family and friends. I´ve missed you guys.

My flight leaves tommorrow, Friday, morning at 6:50AM. It will be another early morning, but that is more than fine by us. We get into Houston for a couple hours, and then I think I get into Cleveland at around 5PM. I´m not sure on that, but in any case, I´ll be home tomorrow night. I´m excited to turn on my cell phone in Houston! Heck, I´m excited for a lot of things.

Second to last thing: I expect to speak a lot of Spanish when I return. Those ¨involuntary fillers¨ such as ¨entonces¨ (meaning ¨then¨), or ¨pues¨ (meaning ¨well¨) , or, my favorite, ¨¡Ay!¨ (meaning ¨¡Ay¨), which I´ve picked up from Dayana. I think it´s her favorite expression cause she uses it a LOT. Also, completely on my own accord, I´ve appeared to have picked up an English accent as well. Instead of yelling ¨Hey!¨, I yell ¨¡Oy!¨. I like that one too. Anyway, so that is something to be aware of in my speech.

Finally, I´d like to say that, due to popular demand, I will continue blogging just a little longer. I had originally planned to write one more reflective blog after I arrived home, but now I have had several people tell me to keep going. So, one thing I will blog on is the project I hope to do with my father when I get home: build a solar cooker. My father does not know yet that I plan to do this with him, and he is going to get a big surprise when he reads this. However, I think he´ll be pleased. I think it is a nostalgic way to take a piece of Nicaragua back with me (I now have the instructions and the knowledge on how to build a real solar cooker), as well as a memorable way to spend some time with the family. After we build it, I thought it´d be fun to try and use it in concordance with the new solar cooking cookbook I have and try to cook a meal or two.

Ok, so I think that´s it! My last post from Nicaragua! Next time I work on the Internet will hopefully be in my home study in Ohio. Wish me safe travels. And thanks for following along with me so diligently. Sincerely, I have felt your presence with me here in Nicaragua. So thank you.

Oh, and parasite medicine turns your pee into color stuff that would make glowsticks jealous.

Pace y Salud,
- Daniel

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 friendly 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

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?

Computer classes have continued to go well, including more adults. We’ve even taught a special class to the community teacher a couple times. There’s a program called TypeFaster that has come in handy for teaching typing. In fact, I let my mom and sisters use it when I have my computer at home at night if it has batteries. Although, everyone is much more inclined to listen to music in iTunes or look at my pictures. I took my sisters and a friend into town last Saturday to set up email accounts and use them. It was fun, and I think they’ll keep using it to keep in touch!

At work, besides testing, I’ve been forging ahead on a Spanish and English brochure for Salud del Sol. It will be really handy when we meet with interested organizations the first week of August.

There was a Canadian Priest who said Mass on Sunday. He was really crazy and animated, and I actually remember him from last time. He travels around periodically to all of the Churches to say Mass and bless the Eucharist. I don’t think anyone around me could quite follow all of his Spanish, but he’s really fun to listen to.

Monday was my first Tienda Verde… a store where the women can shop once a month, using their hours or money to buy donated goods. A kid around my age, Joel, bought your glove and baseball, Joey… I know you wanted to know . Tuesday was the despedida party for Matt, Dan, C.J. and Jenny. There were a lot of games, including pin the tail on the donkey, and a lot of cultural dances and skits. It ended with tacos…mmm!

My family has not had lights all week because there hasn’t been any sun to charge their solar system, so we’ve generally been going to bed pretty early, after a good conversation under the moonlight.

Thursday, I taught a class on how to do temperature testing with a DaqPRO system to some highschoolers. It was a good first overview, and they were pretty interested in helping us and other volunteers with further testing. We also put in an order this week for a miniature solar cooker to try a different dry heat model. I ordered a big Fresnel lens online, 40cm x 40cm, to see how much it could heat up a really small cooker. We’ll have to hope it arrives, unbroken.

Friday, Anna and I were invited to a little boy, Angel’s, fifth birthday party, because we both have younger sisters who were also invited. Another volunteer had bought a piñata and a cake, and it was really fun even though it rained the whole time. Lots of music and dancing. The kids are significantly calmer about piñatas here… even offering each other their candy they gathered. Friday night, the Canadians invited us to SkyDancing Discoteca in Ocotal, which was really fun dancing.

Yesterday, a group of us climbed Cerro Grande, my favorite mountain that I watch every night in our backyard. It was quite a steep, muddy climb, but there was the most gorgeous view from the top that made it all worth it!

Then, last night, we ate at Alejandra and Marcio’s house to say goodbye to C.J. and Jenny. They fly out tomorrow, after volunteering here together for a whole year! I’m really sad to see them go…they were so helpful and fun! But, so goes life… people pass in and out, and we can only appreciate the moments we have.

- Lori

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.

This past Tuesday was our desperdida, or going-away party, for CJ, Jenny, Matt and myself. This is fiesta in the solar center, where all the women and their families get together, and make the volunteers play games and stuff. We had to do pin the tail on the donkey, carry-an-egg-with-a-spoon-in-your-mouth-and-run, and whatnot. It was fun. I was not, however, expecting to graduate. Indeed, towards the end, we all had to walk and recieve diplomas saying we worked at Grupo Fenix! It´s going on my wall.

Once again, I have to apologize because my time spent here on this blog was short. However, I have people waiting for me. I do plan to write at least one more blog before I leave, and one final one once I get home. Oh, and I leave for Managua this coming Thursday afternoon, and then my flight leaves for Houston at 7 in the morning. (Whew, I just got chills thinking about returning to the States!)

Next time, I hope to talk a bit about visas and passports, gifts, goodbyes, parties, my final work and thoughts, and Dayana. Until then, carry on!

-Daniel