Managua – Costa Jill

Bringing Water to the Nicaragua – A Land of Glitter and Poverty

img_1247-300x225-5089589 — Cathedral in Managua

I’m taking a break from my memoir ‘Life and Deaf ‘ to tell you of my latest adventure volunteering with El Porvenir.

Bob and I arrive in Managua on a prop plane from Costa Rica to participate in our third volunteer ‘brigade’ with the NGO El Porvenir. Our guide Jimmy and driver Jose drive us through town and fill us in on life in Nicaragua. Things have changed drastically since our last volunteering experience with El Porvenir over three years ago. Many historic buildings have been torn down, a la Orwell’s “1984” or barred with tall chain-link fences topped with rolls of barbed wire. Christianity still reigns leaving the oldest and most honored ruins, the colonial cathedral, with its moldy scarred stone walls still standing firm, etched in cracks and blown out glass, token statues left standing as sentinels to the past.

img_1249-300x221-8358748 — New waterfront in Managua

Rosario Murillo, president Daniel Ortega’s flamboyant wife has cajoled the government into spending lots of money sprucing up the main streets of the capital with massive metal ‘Trees of Life’ all brightly electrified at night to make her city shine with false prosperity. On the shores of Lake Nicaragua, the old downtown is being totally renovated as a tourist destination. After the great earthquake of ’72 the town center was moved inland. The newly rebuilt waterfront restaurants and docks are painted in intense primary colors, planted with spindly swaying palms, and strategically placed benches touting the Sandanista propaganda “Follow us making positive change in Nicaragua.” Of course you must be a member of the party to experience the prosperity.

img_1257-300x285-1687568 — Chavez and Tree of Life

The Ortega extended family reputedly owns a huge percentage of the foundry, electric company, casinos, hotels, etc.. Rosario wants everyone to know what a great modern city Managua has become under the rule of her husband and the guise of the Sandanista Party.

Just off the main streets and the waterfront and on into the countryside the masses live in poverty, many in shacks made of found materials and black plastic. Most have electricity brought in on a frayed wire, and their non-potable water comes from a pipe outside on the street. According to Wikipedia “48% of the population in Nicaragua live below the poverty line, 79.9% of the population live on less than $2 per day.”

img_1246-222x300-5017309 — Sandino and Jill

We arrive at our Hotel Loma del Valle. In contrast it’s a beautiful colonial-style hotel in a clean colorful, securely barred residential neighborhood. The streets are meticulously absent of the stray dogs and mountains of trash common in the rest of downtown. Security guards sit watch on almost every corner. Orientation includes a brief political history, an overview of our project – installing three latrines and a washing station at the primary school in a small farming community of Las Delicias, general protocol for health and security and a ‘meet and greet’ with our six fellow volunteers.

Next: Working to build latrines and a washing station in the farming community of Las Delicias.

“The Arrival not the Journey Matters.”

p2060689-300x225-7137257 — The changing face of Nicaragua

Bob and I are on our second trip to Nicaragua, this time to contradict T.S. Eliot’s quote, “The journey not the arrival matters.” We are building three latrines and a hand washing station at the primary (and only) school in the little pueblo of Casas Viejas. Our first trip to Nicaragua was a joint venture with Water for People and El Porvenir. On our second trip Bob and I are going it alone with El Porvenir. Since our Costa Rica life borders on Nicaragua and the hotly contested Rio San Juan, we’re a bit anxious, but mostly excited to help our El Porvenir neighboring villages with their basic needs.

My partner, Bob Burnett, has come up with a great way to help those in need and have a wonderful vacation tour at the same time. Here’s his letter about our trip appearing in the Tico/Nica Times this week.

Dear Tico Times:

Nicaragua is the large, mysterious country that lurks across Costa Rica’s northern boundary from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Río San Juan currently divides the two nations. I wanted to learn more about Nicaragua by seeing it from the inside.

For $1,020, not including travel to Managua, I found a ten-day, all-inclusive tour to a rustic village called Casas Viejas in Matagalpa, about two hours north of Managua. Included were all meals, mostly home-cooked, an interpreter, guides and transport. The package also included a night at Selva Negra Resort, which features a German menu; tours of Managua, Grenada, Masaya, Matagalpa, Dario; three nights in Managua; and the chance to work.

El Porvenir sponsors tours that let people like us expats in Costa Rica, and others, express our feelings toward helping out our neighbors in need. My group of four volunteers helped villagers install a waterline, a basin sink and three latrines at the elementary school in Casas Viejas.

When the work was finished, residents threw us a fiesta, with speeches, music, dancing, poetry and a stuffed piñata. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Their homes of adobe, wood and brick reminded me of homes that Costa Rican campesinos used 30 years ago.

Catelina and Marcos from El Porvenir shepherded us through the whole trip, from pickup to departure, to make sure we were safe and comfortable.

Accommodations are basic, but we always had hot water and air conditioning at night. Work was hard, hot and dusty. I carried Hemingway’s “The Green Hills of Africa” with me, and the Matagalpan landscape looked just like his descriptions of east Africa.

A tour like mine, with its many options, can satisfy people who like a taste of the “hardy life” and might be curious to know more about our northern neighbor.

For more information, see www.elporvenir.org. p21008651-300x225-1570900

Sitting on the porch Of Chepita (our cook in Casas Viejas) and Jose’s (our village crew chief for the project) house, we hatch our dream of starting a little tourist retreat while eating wonderful typical food and enjoying the cool breezes and gorgeous view of the valley below. From left Catalina- our guide, driver and cook, Jill-volunteer, Marlon our El P leader, Connie-volunteer, Chepita-cook, daughter, Jose-village chief, front Bob-volunteer

Next post – The vision materializes.

p20606921-300x225-1394696 — Bob and Jill in Managua

Nicaragua – The Good, Bad and Ugly

p3020169-300x225-2735749 — Riding the roads in the back of the truck

A few statistics on Nicaragua:

· $1028 – Second lowest per capita income in the Americas

· 48% of population live below poverty line

· 30 – 40% of homes have a woman head of household

· President – Daniel Ortega – Sandanista Party – for the 2^nd time.

Two of our traveling companions, one from the U.S. and one from Nicaragua, are political history buffs. During our many hours of traveling to and from our survey sites we had plenty of time for lively, interesting, informative discussions on the history, culture and politics of Nicaragua; the latter being incendiary, difficult, multi-faceted, dangerous, murky. What’s the truth? I’m not sure. I can only give you my observations.

p3010116-300x225-9623331 — Fighting rooster atop ring-legal in Nicaragua

In the isolated countryside, life goes on as it has for 100’s of years. There’s no time for anything but surviving in the simplest manner. Lack of money, jobs and transportation keeps subsistence farming alive. The simple homes of either handmade clay bricks or gleaned wood are clean.

Our survey was to inspect the condition and use of the latrines (installed in the last two years) and the older water systems in the area surrounding El Sauce. If the results are good, the Water for People funding will continue. And they were.

· Almost all households were headed by women.

· All agreed to allow us to view the latrines and answer questions about use and cleanliness.

· All latrines were clean and most decorated.

· All the people we talked to were friendly, open and educated in water use.

· No households had indoor water or plumbing.

p3010071-300x225-2417365 — Public school-one teacher for 150 kids

The exception was in public institutions – both schools and health clinics. The older latrines, not installed by El Porvenir and WFP, were in bad condition, generally not functioning. There were few if any supplies or books. The buildings were rundown and in need of repair. When I asked about the sad conditions, I was told that education and health care were free, but the government “won’t put its money where its mouth is.” And “Since they’re “free”, the government won’t accept private funds when offered.” What?

p30201951-300x225-2139093 — Unusable school latrines

When we returned to Managua, the political center of the country, the contrast was extreme. Nothing like the bucolic countryside filled with simple hard-working people. That’s the next and last story from Nicaragua.