Tropical Storm Mathew

I´m having a great day, so I thought I´d write a blog about it!

Tropical Strom Mathew has hit Nicaragua hard. So hard in fact that they thought it might even turn into a full blown hurricane. Luckily though, Nicaragua is having none of that. What that means for me though is that parts of my house are flooding, all of my toilet paper was soaked ahh and my hand washed clothes are refusing to dry.

But, I promised good news right? Hear goes . . .

1. I purchased a super gangsta electric burner in Matagalpa this weekend (my last one died, mind you it only cost me $10). Anyway, this burner is made of a metal base, a clay top and visible wiring spiriling into the center. I have to pull the plug out of the wall to turn it off. And, as you can guess absolutely no way to change the temperature. But, it works and cost less then $2. Check that out!



2. I´ve started a youth group in a community about an hour outside of the city in an agro community named Datanli. I have about 40 some youth that meet up every other week, we watch movies and documetaries about health, gender, domestic violence etc. and talk about it. They are great and I´m having a fabulous time working with them. Hopefully this will make into the new year.

3. A woman from SILAIS (the Ministry of Health´s main office for the Dept . of Jinotega) came into my office last week. She wants to start a pregnant womens group in the outskirts of the city, with me! I´m pumped. Finally fabulous work is coming my way on a semi regular basis.

4. I found out that cut up tomatoes, olive oil, salt & pepper, cumin and chile is out of this world.

5. Last Friday I had a health fair for the local university, focusing on HIVaids. We had games, posters and banners, condom demos, speakers, the HIV rapid test and the opportunity to give blood to the Red Cross. The fair was amazing (especially because I was given 3 days to plan it). And I donated blood.



6. Mmm I haven´t showered in 3 days. Se fue el agua.

Realizing dreams.

I’m having some trouble completing all of these things I would like to do here in my site, Jinotega. So, I think I’m going to write them out here on my blog. Maybe knowing that you all are reading this and expecting outcomes will give me a little bit of umph.

Here goes . . .

- HIVaids billiards tournament
Giving little ten minute classes on different topics of HIVaids in btwn each round.
Prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd donated by local businesses

- A garden of Marango (a super nutritious plant) in the Casa Materna
Teaching cooking classes on how to use the leaves of the plant
Keeping up the garden and maybe giving out seeds to the women when they home. Maybe they will do this in their communities!

- Starting a reading circle at Circulo de Amigas
Read fun books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Get kids excited about reading

- Program and have a two month work shop on sexual and reproductive health with the girls from Circulo de Amigas

- Start a Hotline on Sexual and Reproductive Health in Jinotega
Create a survey for teenagers finding out what kind of phone service they have, what they know about sexual health and if they would use this kind of hotline.
Get a phone company to donate a phone with unlimited texting
Run the hotline via text
Train individuals, hopefully teenagers/20 somes to continue to hotline
Run another pilot program in a small community in Chingandega
Spread this to all departments of Chingandega

- Write a grant and actually get money to sponsor an afternoon at a local high school on Dec 1st on HIVaids
Get money
Have a day workshop for the teachers of a local high school and teach them about HIVaids and how to teach their classes
The next week have the teachers all teach the same class to their students on HIVaids
At the end of that week have a school wide fair and a competition between classes or students on what they learned
Give everyone T-shirts
Have some fun activities too!

- Teach yoga to the pregnant women in the Casa Materna

- Have a basketball or soccer tournament in the city with education about sexual health
Bring in kids from communities outside the city
Find a sponsor to give jerseys to the players
Get youth to help organize and present the information

OK, there it is. Now I’m going to get it done.

Public Transportation in Nicaragua.

Yesterday I met up with another PCV, Cassandra, so we could travel together on our way to Robyn’s site, San Rafael. We were going to a Nica prom!

The bus we got on, a yellow school bus from Illinois that had previously lived in Honduras, was packed with people. I mean three people to a seat, people squished together in the isles, people sitting on top of the bus and Cassie and I sitting on bags of corn and rice in the far back. Typical.

We struck up a conversation with a woman (sitting on a sack of rice next to us) who had known the previous business volunteer in San Rafael. They had taught a small business class together in a local high school. This woman was great.

The man standing above me thought he wanted in on the conversation too. Soon enough we found out he was a Policeman from Managua on vacation visiting his family in San Rafael. He was pleasant enough. In fact, maybe even a little entertaining.

And then . . .

He pulled out his phone and took a picture of me! It didn’t even seem real. Really, did you just do that?

So I said, “did you just take a picture of me? What are you going to do with it?”

He says, “people here in Nicaragua are the most reliable, safe and friendly. We never have problems. Nicaragua is safer then Guatemala.”

“OK, so what are you going to do with that picture?”

No response.

“Give me your phone; I’m going to delete it."

Hesitantly he handed me his phone. I deleted the awkward picture of me, sitting on a bag of rice talking to the woman across from me. Then, I gave ut back to him.

DALEME UN PESO . . .

Here in Nicaragua it is common, no expected that you keep your front door open when guests are over. This is even more important when you (a female) are being visited by a male. Who knows what could be going on behind shut doors? So, as a foreign woman in Nicaragua I usually abide by this social rule. When my few male friends do come to visit, mainly David, I keep my windows open and I keep my doors that way too.

But, with front doors open comes any number of lovely experiences. First off there are heartbreaking starving street dogs that come in search of food. They are skin and bones with inflamed sagging nipples (you just never know how many litters they’ve had). Second, small children usually end up sitting on your door step. They usually need a bath, have tangles in their hair and have a sack full of corn or beans in one hand, “daleme un peso.” Give me a peso they say.

Give me a peso? What will you do with that peso? Where do you live? Where is your mother?

Give me a peso? NO.

I know a peso is not much. In fact it is about 5 cents U.S.A. The thing is, I don’t really have the money to give every kid that comes to my house a peso. And, I know where some of them live, their mothers and their grandmothers.

Tell me this, how many of my pesos do you buy street fireworks with?



Daleme un peso.

Nope.