This week, we met the beneficiary families who received a vegetable patch during the previous cycle (11). Within the weekly programme, there are built-in activities to ascertain more about the community of La Sabanita, for example, we asked the families some questions in order to know more about how the vegetable patches were functioning, so that we could continue improving the project during this cycle.
After the great induction week and getting to know the Nicaraguans in our group we drove to Masaya. While joking with the Nicas on the bus on the way there, they pointed out the huge Masaya volcano and national park that we were driving past. The size of the volcano was so unexpected that all of the UK volunteers thought that they were looking at a large ridge, when in fact it was just one side of the crater. After passing the national park we arrived in Masaya, which is different to Managua in so many ways.
After spending the whole of Sunday and Monday getting to know the other UK volunteers, I was very excited to meet the Nicaraguan volunteers for the first time, but I knew that the language barrier was going to be a huge issue. At first, meeting them was a little awkward, particularly as my Spanish is pretty restricted at the moment. It took me by surprise when the girls came in for a kiss on the cheek as a greeting, the general touchy feeliness of the Nicas was a bit of a culture shock for me, but after a few days of it I think I’m finally starting to get used to it.
After doing some last minute fundraising and packing, we left for Nicaragua on Sunday. After only 22 hours of busses, planes and waiting in airport security, we had arrived. Stepping out of the airport into a hot and humid night was the moment that it finally clicked that we were in a very different country to sunny England.
The night is closing on my Progressio ICS experience. I flew out to Nicaragua; completed lots of projects; made many friends; came home; attended my cycle’s returned volunteer event; and have even gone some way to completing my action at home. As the hardened Progressio ICS veteran that I am, I shall impart some pearls of wisdom regarding that dogged first hurdle: fundraising. You have limited time, a fundraising officer breathing down your back, and a seemingly insurmountable amount of money to raise (£1500 in my case).
The last week in the community is the hardest for all the volunteers, saying goodbye to the place where they’ve had so many special times, so much laughter, anger and anxiety. So the cycle is coming to an end and it’s time to say goodbye to the people you now care about.
Progressio ICS ha sido para todos los voluntarios una experiencia que no se olvidará. Algunos han aprendido a cavar, a ensuciarse, a lavar llantas, a voltearlas y hasta decorarlas, como dicen Progressio ha sido una escuela para muchos.
We started the week of 8 June very joyful and highly, as we celebrated World Children’s Day in the school of La Sabanita. During this event we held speeches on the environment and recycling. We organised games for the students trying to leave them with some knowledge about how to look after the environment and how to divide waste into different categories (organic, inorganic and recyclable). The celebrations ended with two piñatas and lively music.
The children enjoyed themselves thoroughly, having had their faces painted and taken part in several rounds of skipping.
Esta semana la lluvia llegó a la Sabanita, trabajamos entre lodo, charcos y mucha lluvia para terminar huertos. Como el nombre de nuestro grupo Colibrí, no dejamos de hacer pequeña acciones para generar grandes cambios.
The days go by and the rains have yet to come. We may be approaching the end of the first month of winter, but rain has still not arrived in La Sabanita. For the farmers this is bad news, but for the volunteers, the delay has allowed us to make progress on the seven vegetable patches being constructed in the homes of this community’s neediest families.
