ICS Nicaragua

This week we all experienced our first earthquake. Out of all of the things I thought I’d experience here, an earthquake wasn’t one of them. It happened late at night when most of the group were in bed. A few of us were up talking on the porch when the conversation was interrupted by the earthquake’s tremors. It’s not like anything I’ve experienced before but the instant it happened we knew it was an earthquake, so we stood up as if to move together to safety but then found ourselves at a loss of what to do. What do you do during an earthquake?

It’s the end of week eight and in the space of two weeks of construction we have more or less finished building the eco-stoves. Construction came after a frustrating six weeks of waiting for materials, but because of the wait we have achieved most of our project objectives in this time. It’s a nice day to sit back and reflect upon the past eight to nine weeks of being in Nicaragua, and with only the water filters left to construct, our dreaded flights home seem to be looming ever closer.  

En el marco de la celebración del día Mundial del Medio Ambiente, promovimos una campaña de reforestación en Parcila, acompañada por una charla sobre los efectos causados en el medio ambiente y las condiciones de vida de la población por la deforestación. En total plantamos alrededor de 400 árboles en la zona de Santa Cruz. 

Volunteering is a widely-held diverse activity that allows people to give to a range of causes whilst also gaining knowledge and life experience. Since taking a shared elective in ‘Community Volunteering’ three years ago at university, I have become curious as to what motivates a volunteer and why volunteering is so fulfilling. The most obvious motives are altruistic (doing something for others) and egotistic (looking for self-gain). However, there are also motives such as social obligations, a need to acquire an understanding of the world or a need to act and express values.

Una experiencia muy buena para mí fue haber ayudado en el reclutamiento de los nuevos voluntarios nicaraguenses, que se estuvo llevando a cabo el día jueves 26 de Mayo por Melida, Patricia y Doña Ninoska. Mi rol del día fue comentar como había sido mi experiencia con Progressio hasta ahora y motivar a los candidatos a poner mucha atención al proyecto que estamos realizando. También tomé fotos de cédula de identidad y ayudé a pegar papelógrafos para que miraran los roles que se realizan en este programa.

Much like our own mothers at home, the women in El Bramadero have much to contend with on a daily basis. We often fail to recognise the numerous tasks that our mothers accomplish with much consideration for their family and little for themselves. Doña Epifania, the host mother of Isabel and I, is a perfect example for such behaviour.

Dropped off - in the deep end,

Our escort gone clean round the bend.

I turn and face this brand new place,

Edging forward at the slowest pace.

For they’re at the door and huddled together,

Wanting to see the brand new face

Of the newest addition to their family.

I introduce….. they smile,

Dictionary translations take a while.

I was far out, beyond the reef. 

Without any of my technology,

And the iPhone must stay on flight mode,

So I’ll talk to these people in their humble abode

Nicaragua is home to outstanding natural beauty and an incredible array of wildlife indigenous to this area and protected in national reserves. Unfortunately, it is also known as one of the most impoverished countries in the Western Hemisphere. In an apparent attempt to abolish their financial troubles, the Nicaraguan Government has signed a contract with Chinese telecommunications billionaire, Wang Jing, to build an oceanic canal from the Pacific to the Atlantic (similar to the Panama Canal), but also cutting through Lake Nicaragua.

Once I hurtled ever on

Twisting here and thither

Once I rumbled and I rolled

Once I was the river

Now I gurgle and I gasp

Where once I rushed and roared

As cattle steal a thirsty gulp

Which I can ill afford

Once great men observed and wrote

Each one doubting never

That while man stumbles and he fails

I’d go on forever

They dreamed of all I’d oversee

With nature’s right divine

To watch unmoved and unperturbed

The unfurling grand design

Will we say that we were right?

When millions flee drought-ravaged homes

And we turn them from ours, will we say

That wind turbines are an eyesore?

Will we say it would not have worked?

Should floods become as part of our seasons

As the first greens of Spring, will we say

That solar was unreliable?

Will we keep our priorities?

If political differences one day succumb

To the instinct of survival, will we say

“Well, what about jobs?”

Will our doubts not subside?