María del Carmen Gomez is 53 years old and lives in Sabana Grande, Totogalpa, Madriz, Nicaragua, with her two sons, one grandson, and three volunteers (as of July 2008). She likes to prepare food and to create new ideas for foods to cook. She dislikes it when her food creations don’t turn out well.

Doña Carmen has habitually been involved with volunteer groups. First, she did gardening and other work with IMPRHU (El Instituto de Promoción Humana). Then, she began to work with Las Mujeres Solares and Grupo Fenix, which is when she began to accept volunteers into her home. At first, she wasn’t accustomed to hosting foreigners, especially preparing food for them. But she has had a lot of practice and is now completely comfortable. Over the past three years she has hosted thirteen Grupo Fenix volunteers, one SoyNica volunteer, and five IMPRHU volunteers.

She really likes hosting volunteers because of how much it contributes to the welfare of her and her family. By hosting volunteers, Doña Carmen has paid off loans for many house improvements, including a new room, a table, and a bed. In addition, the extra income helps out with purchasing food.

She enjoys taking care of visitors and has learned so much about the foods they like and their sometimes strange mannerisms. The only difficult part is when they get sick, especially because she has to take care of them without getting sick herself. In addition, she has a hard time if the volunteers refuse the medicine she has to offer.

When asked about how much the volunteers help her out with household chores, Doña Carmen says she does not ask them to do any. “They aren’t very good at washing,” she adds. However, if they ask to learn to carry water, wash clothes, or cook gallo pinto or tortillas, she will teach them and let them practice.

Contact Doña Carmen by sending an email to lasmujeressolares@saluddelsol.org.

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