Nicaragua

Following the morning rains, the sun beat down upon the local baseball pitch where the festivities were held. Makeshift gazebos and shanty stalls lined the field, selling various local foods, jewelry and of course, plantain. 

Thinking outside the box: that’s what the communities in Northern Nicaragua, with the support of Progressio’s development workers, Alex David Zapata, Galo Muñoz and José Elizalde, have been doing for the last four years.

On Saturday Casa Gastronomica celebrated its near completion by throwing a party. While the lively music of a local band played in the background, local artisans sold their beautiful handcrafted jewelry and a generous selection of corn based canapés were passed around. In between traditional dances performed by local children dressed in flowing white dresses trimmed with blue embroidery, the crowd raised a glass to all the Progressio volunteers who have contributed towards the development of the restaurant.

Nicaragua has given the world several well known authors, among them a famous poet Ruben Dario; however a surprisingly big part of population is not literate or does not appreciate written word. Reading books is not perceived as a rewarding past time and the newspapers can be seen more often in the latrines than anywhere else. Bookshops are aimed at the tourists and have books mostly in English, German, and other European languages. The reason for such neglect of literature is very simple - education has a low social value and not everyone manage to even graduate from secondary school.

The fourth week of our stay in Nicaragua is coming to an end and the halfway of the project is clearly visible. During this time we worked along the national volunteers and professionals, attended fiestas and indigenous celebrations, and met many people along the way. 

The final week of the Progressio programme was very different to the time before. All projects came to an end and we had to say goodbye to many amazing people we met here.

Casa Verde is a sick house this week; almost everyone has come down with some form of ailment. From parasites to bacterial infections or just the common cold, it’s safe to say that the plethora of pills, rubs and rehydration sachets we all packed into our luggage 9 weeks ago have now come in handy. The expense of doctors and medicines has given us all cause to be grateful for the usefulness of the NHS (and our current medical insurance), and a little understanding of why traditional medicine is still a huge part of Nicaraguan culture.

The halfway point of the project came and went, and this landmark encouraged everyone to think about their personal achievements, contributions to the project, and maybe even unfulfilled expectations they previously held. After such considerations it was decided that increased community involvement and awareness of our voluntary work would benefit both the project and us as well. Although some people in Mozonte knew quite a lot about Progressio, there were still a lot of people who were unaware why we were there!