It is fair to say that Parcila and Nicaragua as a whole is very different to the UK in a number of ways. Having spent over a week in our new community and homes, now is a good time to address how Parcila actually compares to the UK and to our expectations and preconceptions, with perspectives from each of the UK volunteers.
El amor y calidez humana que encontramos en la comunidad es grandioso y nos anima cada día a seguir adelante trabajando en pro del desarrollo de Parcila para ver un cambio sostenible a lo largo del tiempo. Nos hemos organizado en equipos de trabajo y hemos coordinado con las familias beneficiarias la entrega de 477 plantas frutales (limón, naranja, mandarina, mango, nancite, mamon, naranja agria y tamarindo) con estas plantas estamos contribuyendo a la reforestación de Parcila y seguridad alimentaria de las familias.
Día lunes, en esta semana hemos logrado alcanzar un propósito grande, ya que siempre a primera hora recibimos la clase de inglés para practicar un poco y entender el idioma de los británicos. Además, visitamos una familia para trabajar en un huerto familiar.
Día martes, trabajamos en varios grupos y organizamos una recolección de basura en la comunidad para mejorar el ambiente de esta.
Los participantes del ciclo 16 comentamos cada una de las experiencias que hemos vivido en las semanas anteriores donde nos sentimos muy activos, participativos y unidos como grupos, cada voluntario/a realizó cada una de las actividades que les corresponde con mucho entusiasmo y compromiso.
More often than not, days at Jacinta and Roger’s house start at the early hour of 4:30am when my new nemesis, the rooster, decides to try and out-sing his barber shop quartet. For the next hour, I struggle to get back to sleep as the remaining farm animals begin to rise and also continuously check the mosquito net is firmly closed. At 6am its time for the much enjoyed early morning workout, and like most other days we have an audience. The locals watch on fascinated by the way we exercise on the floor to blaring music and attempt to do pull-ups on a tree branch.
This week we were lucky enough to be able to visit one of a few farms surrounding El Bramadero that uses organic farming techniques, thanks to a last minute change of plan to our schedule. The trip to the organic farm was organised courtesy of our local partner organisation ASOMUPRO, giving us a great opportunity to learn and understand how an organic and sustainable method of farming can be adopted in our community in El Bramadero. A short bus ride away and a steep hill climb brought us to Herminio Gutierrez’s farm.
El día viernes 22 de julio realizamos una charla sobre la agricultura sostenible en el parque del Bramadero. Se estuvo hablando sobre la importancia de usar abonos orgánicos los cuales no afectan tanto la naturaleza como a nosotros los seres humanos.
Hugged by mountains,
Kaleidoscope of green.
Oh tranquillity!
Misty hillside and....
a flying cockroach.
Uproar of laughter!
Winding dirt road,
Mother Earth's majesty.
Black charging bull.
Written by ICS volunteer Salma Hussain
In total, I have been in Parcila for four days and in a vain attempt to process this unique, at times bizarre, but undoubtably life changing experience, I have compiled a list of random observations. In no particular order, these are the things that have struck me most:
- The journey to Parcila from Managua is truly breathtaking, with a panoramic view of lush rolling hills on all sides. I was so engrossed that I barely noticed the need for a sports bra, a fact that became increasingly obvious as the road became more and more precarious.
After finally meeting as two full Progressio teams at 6:30am in Heathrow Terminal 2, both the Parcila and El Bramadero groups set off across the Atlantic, landing tired and jet lagged in the Nicaraguan capital Managua, a full 24 hours later. Understandably it didn’t take long for everyone to fall fast asleep at our accommodation for a few days of orientation before travelling to our community.
