I have just returned from Nicaragua where I was doing a volunteer project with 15 other students.
We flew from Calgary to Houston to Managua and from there we drove in mini buses to San Juan Del Sur. The drive from Managua to San Juan was about 3 hours long. The roads there are not even comparable to the roads here. They have potholes the size of smart cars. Drivers will swerve to miss them so sleeping is not really an option because when they swerve you question whether you are about to go over a cliff or run into a wild dog.
San Juan Del Sur is a beautiful little town but unfortunately is turning into a touristy place for gringos (Americanos). I say unfortunately because there is nothing more that I hate than when a really poor country or community is exploited when Americans come in and develop 5 star hotels leaving the poor even worse off. None of the money they make goes back into the community. It is really sad. Those living at the bottom of the hill, in respect to the 5 star hotel, do not have water running or electricity running 24/7. The hotel does. We lived with families and were able to experience somewhat how they live everyday. Granted we did live in the 'nicer houses'.
The communities we went to were pretty bad. They did not have running water and had to get their water from a well that is most likely contaminated from their latrines. We were told not to drink the water or we would get sick. They did not have proper stoves with ventillation which made respiratory disease huge. The picture below is a photo of one family's stove. Notice that there is no chimney here. So all the smoke from their fire goes up into the air of that house. There is no proper ventillation. Imagine standing in front of a campfire in an enclosed space three or four times a day. This is exactly what was happening for these people. Which explaines the respiratory diseases.
The experience was quite humbling because I recall whining about my little one bedroom basement suite when all they had was the house pictured here.
Their latrine looked like the outhouse pictured here also. To the left of the latrine is where we were building a composting toilet so their water wells would not become contaminated.
The circumstances we walked in upon were very sad indeed but they had to be the most humble people I have ever met. One community in Capulin bought the lot of us (16) fruit to eat on our lunch break. At the end of the day when we were leaving their community for good they thanked us for what we were doing for them and we danced on their front lawns. it was pretty fun.
With all the hard work we did have fun there. We went on a boat ride from hell that consisted of a beautiful sunset.
The hell part arose when it became darker and the winds were muy fuerte (very strong). So there we were riding in this boat in the dark of night with the strong wind and firehose like spray coming off the waves and straight into those on the boat. I did not want to go swimming because I would be cold on the way home. So much for my plan. Everyone on that boat was drenched. Others were enjoying it a little too much. By the end of that ride the a few of us were not impressed about it and suggested that they not do this again next year.
The trip has changed me in many ways. Ways that I am not even aware of yet. I know that I see things differently, like running water. I try not to waste it. I will admit that I enjoy being able to come home with the assurance that my water is running and I can go to the bathroom but I also know that somewhere else in the world there are people who go without. I love the assurance of knowing that when it is really windy a piece of my roof will not fly off. I am gratful for everything that God has blessed me with in my life and I hope I never forget this experience and what it has taught me. I realise that even though I am blessed in many materialistic ways these people are blessed in ways that others cannot see and when they do see how those others are blessed they themselves are humbled by it.
