To arrive in La Sabanita and visit the community of Romero Cerda is to come face to face with the reality of life for a huge number of Nicaraguan families, where poverty lurks in the very foundations of people’s homes.
Neglect of the elderly and the need to do something about social exclusion is evident. The volunteers have seen this up close.
Our welcome to La Sabanita
The volunteers arrived in La Sabanita full of enthusiasm and ready to get acquainted with the place in which they will be working over the next eight weeks. With this in mind, they set out visiting various communities, so they could become familiar with the area and identify the range of problems they will be dealing with, such as waste and the lack of waste disposal.
Progressio ICS volunteers in Nicaragua (cycle 11) are taking stock of the situation in La Sabanita, where we will be working for the next eight weeks, and have begun setting out plans to reduce the effects of deforestation and support rural development on the ground.
The UK and Nicaraguan volunteers met for the first time at Ipade. For some, the excitement of meeting their new teammates meant that they could not sleep, but on 21 April, the waiting came to an end and the meeting turned out to be fun. Games were played, and you could see the interest we all had in getting to know one another.
Often with first impressions, when we do not know someone, we make assumptions. We create wrong ideas, especially when we meet people that are not from our country, our culture and that do not speak our language.
Last night I found myself surrounded by the Nicaraguan volunteers, awe struck by my inability to fuse a simple rhythm with basic movement of my limbs. Despite step-by-step instructions, my awkward fumblings didn’t come close to Salsa (neither could I consider my Bachata a success). However, it has been a week of encounters just like this that have allowed us to overcome our inhibitions and become closer.
Over the last few weeks, I have stumbled upon several articles discussing the value (or lack of thereof) of sending young people to volunteer overseas. As an employee of Progressio, an international development charity that sends 18-25 years old to Africa and Central America, I felt I needed to dig into the issue a bit more.
I brush my teeth twice everyday. Firstly, I fill a glass with transparent, clean and cold water and let it rest on the washbasin. Secondly, I grab my toothbrush, spread the bristles with plenty of toothpaste and place the head under the tap spout. With my left hand I turn the handle anticlockwise and, mesmerised, observe how the silky stream of water runs for two seconds. Immediately after, I turn the tap off, take the brush to my teeth and enjoy the cleaning process. When I am done, I rinse my mouth using the 150 ml of water contained in the glass.
What is international development? I would consult the internet for a clean-cut answer, but, unfortunately, in my modest Nicaraguan host home, we haven’t got Wi-Fi, or any kind of internet connection for that matter. Instead, I will try to summarise what exactly international development is from my own experience in this lovely country.
The previous weeks have, without doubt, been very challenging for the UK and national volunteers. Tiredness was notorious, some even took advantage of the lunch hour to sleep. It was an intense journey, but, in Group 2, we managed to surpass our aims.
Yesterday, we concluded our weeks of work in the community of El Pochote. We have made our respective reparations, like the securing of the aerators, closing the remaining gaps in the chambers and replacing the off-point locks.
