Now that we’re all back up to date with my month home leave
in December and my Peru trip with Tina, I can finally start blogging about my
time in Nicaragua again. It’s already
February, I’ve got 7 months to go before I officially COS my Peace Corps service. And there’s still so much more to do!
The last two weeks of January I mostly spent settling back
into site, like cleaning my dusty, moldy room that had been closed up for 6
weeks (I told Gloria to please open my window while I was gone and turn the fan
on to get some air circulation in there, but it wasn’t enough cause the room
still stunk when I got back). I had a
lot of groceries to buy since I had eaten most of my food and thawed out my
fridge before I left. A week after being
back in site I had to go back to Managua for an ECPA Task Force meeting. ECPA (Energy and Climate Partnership for the
Americas) is where we volunteers get our funding for the improved oven and
stove projects, and I’m one of the volunteers on the committee. Our meeting was mostly to catch us all up on
plans for the coming year, since it’s our last year receiving funds for these
projects. The committee also organizes
and teaches ovens and stoves workshops for other volunteers so they can learn
the technologies. I’ve helped with two
workshops in the past and will help with at least one more this year.
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| Chia plants |
This last week I accompanied my former host dad, Don
Pantaleon, to his chia plot, where he’s been growing the plants for the first
time. Chia has become a very popular
crop in recent years in Nicaragua, with a big US market that is buying it
up. I had told Don Pantaleon late last
year that I was interested in going out to see his plants so I could learn more
about it and maybe help him find some contacts in the States to sell it
to. I had never seen chia plants before,
and having only ever really heard of it before as the famous “chia pet”, I
thought it looked like long green grass, or like wheatgrass, for all I
knew. The plants are very different, it
turns out. They’re really pretty, with
soft green leaves and long stems, and the day I followed him out to see them
they were starting to flower. The plants
form long pod-like stems with little delicate purple flowers on them, and once
all of the pods mature, they cut the plant at the base, stack them all together
to dry, and then shake the dried plants to remove the tiny grey seeds. Apparently, I found out, it’s the seeds they
sell, not the plant. I didn’t know that
chia seeds are such a hot commodity right now in the States, but he tells me
that there’s a big market for them amongst the organic health food scene and
for medicinal purposes. Have any of you
back home seen or heard of chia being the new thing? I saw some bags for sale at Ross when I was
home for Christmas, but that’s the only time I’ve seen it there. If you guys know of a reliable buyer in the
States who’s looking to buy organic chia direct from Nicaragua, let me
know! I know a guy who grows it J
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| Don Pantaleon showing me where they cut the plant to harvest it |
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| Chia flowers blooming |
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| Bras for sale! |
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| Gloria, Nayelis and some neighbors showing off their new buys |
Before I had come home for Christmas my mom had collected
various “gently used” bras that her family, friends, and co-workers had donated
to send with me. I brought back 76 bras
to my site and put them up for sale for all the ladies to come by and try
on. American bras (whether-or-not
they’re actually made in the USA) are a hot commodity in Nicaragua because
they’re well-made and last much longer than the typical cheap-o bra sold
here. So I sold them cheap at 20
cordobas each (less than $1) and made $60 in total selling them all. I sold 71 bras in the first morning
alone! The ladies came running from
everywhere once they got my text that the bras had arrived and were ready to
go, and man, they sold like wildfire! I
was lacking heavily in A and B cup sizes, since most of the bras my mom had
collected were C cups and above (the biggest one was a 38 G! And I sold it, but it wasn’t easy). Most women in my site are petite and
smaller-chested. So if any of you have
smaller bras you’d be willing to donate and mail me, respond to this posting
and I’ll e-mail you my mailing address.
The money goes to a good cause, I assure you. I’ve been saving all the bra sales money plus
the money from all my clothes and shoes I sold last November. In total I’ve raised 2,700 cordobas ($108)
towards a future community project. It may
go towards a Club Las Estrellas activity, or the swine husbandry project, or a
community health fair that I’m also trying to organize.
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| Women buying donated bras |
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| Gloria's brother helping me make cement planchas for their improved stove |
I’m in the process of getting my previous projects and
activities back up and running. The
community bank that I left to close their yearly cycle in December didn’t end
very well apparently, ‘cause one of the members didn’t pay back her loan and
now owes everyone money. So I had to go
visit her personally and see where she was with that, then planned a group
meeting to try to figure out how mediate this issue. She has two weeks to pay her loan back, so
we’ll see how that goes next weekend. I’m
also meeting with two families about building their improved stoves. This is a frustrating project that I tried to
get going last year, but so far no one has wanted to build one yet. I think they’re dragging their feet on buying
their own materials (although they require way less materials than the ovens
do) and they’re afraid the stoves don’t work, so I’m in the process of trying
to convince people to give it a try.
That’s hard to do when they’ve been cooking a certain way their whole
lives. But as of this week I’ve got two
biters, so hopefully by the end of this month they’ll have a new stove in their
houses.
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| Neighbors helping me make the chimney for a stove |
I’m also working on getting the girls’ youth group, Club Las
Estrellas, formed again. This week I
sent 6 of the girls to a 3-day camp that Peace Corps volunteers and a Nicaraguan NGO put on every
year called Camp G.L.O.W. (girls leading our world), that focuses on teen
health and self-esteem issues. Last year
I sent 4, so in total there are 10 girls from Wale who have participated in
this camp. My hope is that once they
return next week that we can discuss some of the issues they learned during the
camp and make a project out of it, like teaching other girls in the community
some of the same topics. Other
activities I’d like to continue with the club include more baking classes,
animal biodiversity charlas, and maybe a youth community bank, so they can
start learning the important habit of saving and spending their money
wisely.
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| My girls starting their weekend at Camp G.L.O.W. |
As for the swine husbandry project, that may be slow to
start. The MAGFOR animal health
inspector that helped me a lot last year has been moved to another department
and replaced with a new guy, who I have yet to meet. Hopefully he’ll be as helpful as the first
guy! I’m trying not to get too over my
head with new projects that require funding, seeing as I only have 7 months
left. It’s hard to get a project
organized enough in the first place to even start asking for funding for it, so
I may have my work cut out for me.
Keep tuned in for more soon. . .
~Sarah~
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