HIVaids Health Promoters . . .

Finally a meeting!

Late last year I organized and put on a huge youth camp focusing on HIVaids. I think it was a great success. For the cherry on top a group of kids who attended the camp decided to form their own health promoter group. They were super motivated after the event, went out and recruited members and formed their own group of health educators, 30 in fact. We have been coordinating schedules and trying to work around the coffee picking season, the school schedule, and the fact that I am leaving at the end of March.

Well, it finally worked out and we had a great first meeting.

This group will be in great hands. While I leave at the end of the month I am passing the group on to Julie, an English Peace Corps Volunteer, and her wonderful counterpart Marjorie. They are amazing women. Both were formally trained last year in the Northern Regional PEPFAR Conference. I know they will be great mentors. Good luck ladies!

Half Marathon in Nicaragua!

FIFTH ANNUAL HALF MARATHON/ 10K

I ran my first ever half marathon! While this is exciting on its own right, this was also my first ever running competition. Woot woot. Before I started training last August I don´t think I had run more then 3 miles in one go. Now, I´m running 13+ miles, in the hills of Nicaragua.

 A guy painting the starting line 30 minutures before the race starts. . .

Team Half Marathon! Around 40 volunteers across Nicaragua came to participate. Most ran the 10k.

The start line.  

Two and a half hours from the end! We did it baby!

Fat Tuesday- The Celebration

Fat Tuesday rolled around and Madgalena invited me out to her house to celebrate. And, did we celebrate! This is my kind of event.

Julie´s host family lives out in Datanli, a small city (really, a small road out in the campo) located  30 minute bus ride out of town, and a 2km walk from the highway. Magdelena is Julie´s host mom. She is really a wonderful woman.

This tuesday, a pretty important part of the year for Catholics, she taught us how to make "buñuelos." These are basically corn, cheese dough balls, deep fried and dunked in cinnamon and sugar. YUMMM!

Magdelena showing us the ropes.

Cutting up "dulce," or a big cube of cane sugar. This will be the syrup we put the buñuelos in.

Julie breaking up a pound of cheese. This gets mixed in with 2lbs of cornmeal, "maseca," 2 eggs and a bit of water.

Nathan, a local Ag volunteer, watching the work being done. I know he´s waiting around for the final project.

Julie, Magdelena, Oliver (her son) and myself making the dough balls.

Getting ready to deep fry the buñuelos.

Dumping them in sugar and cinnamon.

Oliver eating up our hard work.

SO WORTH IT! 

Jenny came to visit and . . . we hiked to the cross