House Building Trip

Blog Nov 4, 2022

It rained all day at times in buckets. Although it is end of rainy season with climate change nothing is totally predictable. Luckily we did not have a busy agenda.

We had a meeting with NPH (Esterling NPH Garden Coordinator), Jimmy E. (our agronomist) and the rest of the team. We had planned a garden project for NPH 2 years ago but due to covid and bad weather it was only partially implemented. Money to date was accounted for and problems with coordination and communication were discussed. To date a field of Grenadines have been planted in 1750 square meters and are growing well at 4 months. Harvest time probably 6 to 7 months. They require a certain dedicated care and irrigation for the upcoming dry season. Jimmy has taken over the supervision and partial care of the project and it was important he educate the farmers looking after this particular crop. As an example some of the plants got washed out or overwatered during rainy season and subsequently had to be replanted or protected with sand bags. A further plot of similar size will be planted shortly (tomatoes and bell peppers) and with available irrigation should be profitable crop at harvest during the dry season. They have two worm boxes (vermiculture) supplying some of the fertilizer so overall the project is going well.

Jimmy will also help Esterling with the marketing and they should sell well. The fruit is like melon, sweet and great as a juice drink. We also envision planting some ground cover like melons under the grenadine to keep down the weeds and rotate that crop yearly to restore the soil...As a teaching project we would like to start a small garden near the schools to be cared for by the students.

The other garden projects we have started in the villages are doing well but without Jimmy’s dedicated attention could well flounder. He gains respect from those he works with and is a good leader but not bossy.

The end of a rainy day as we took off our muddy boots.. Doug

Thursday November 3, 2022

Today was fun!! We were a little late leaving the casa as Dr. Doug & Janice had an early morning zoom meeting. That finished, we were off to the worksite as usual. Upon arrival Janice and I went to the market to purchase piñatas and candy for the NPH school children. The plan was to pack them this evening and spend time at the school tomorrow. HOWEVER we received a message from Jimmy informing us that the school will be closed tomorrow, in fact they were leaving at noon today. So our plans very quickly changed. We left the men at the site while we flew quickly back to the school. We found the 130 children waiting for us. We got the piñatas packed and the party began. Everyone had fun dancing around in a circle to the music while the children took turns whacking the piñata. The kids LOVED it!! Janice was invited to join in the dancing fun. All 8 grades participated in 5 piñata dances. What a whirlwind!!The candy was not the only highlight – the kids also had much fun with the broken piñata pieces after they were opened. Although...... there were a few kids who entertained themselves trying to converse with me and my very, very limited Spanish. They seemed to be laughing at me a LOT. A very delicious, nutritious lunch followed then the kids went home and we were again headed back to the worksite.

Edgar’s casa has come a long way since the day we first arrived but there is still much to do. Edgar will have to continue after we leave this weekend. They hope to move in by December.  It has been nice working with Jhonny and all of Orlando’s family. Today we even had the oldest brother Efrain. We met his wife & daughter too. So cute!! I had fun with the baby. Language barriers weren’t quite as much of an issue. LOL.

During the time that I’ve been here I’ve been watching the crops while we drive. The rice is turning colour. It should be harvested in December sometime. The sugar cane is just coming into head (the flowering on top.) I’m assuming that this means it won’t be too much longer until it’s harvested. It’s very tall. Curiously papaya fruit grows on the trunk of the tree, each from it’s own stem in groupings of 7 or 8.

It’s always good to experience another culture. I have enjoyed Nicaragua – the people, the culture, the weather, (even the rain)  and the landscape. I will miss it when we leave.

Hasta luego Kim

Blog Nov 2, 2022.

It rained in the night and we awoke in the am to a cloudy day. We set out in our usual fashion to continue our build. But it sputtered rain and at one point in the am the rain came down in buckets, chasing us under the trees or any other shelter available. Luckily it only lasted a few minutes and we were back in the saddle in no time. Janice, Doug, Stephen and Edgar made a trip to the Nandaime hospital to see what role they feel we should play going forward to support the medical community. The hospital head and obstetrician welcomed us warmly and together we reviewed the years we had worked with the hospital and helped provide them with equipment.

They expressed the need for help especially in Maternal Health Care and were very interested in the supplies we hope to ship in the container in March of next year. Their ultrasound machine for abdominal and obstetrical Ultrasound (we have sent down 3 over the years) has bit the dust and since they do about 10+ deliveries per month, a new one is badly needed. We will try to source one for them in a portable style so that they can take it out to their clinics in rural areas. They now have a truck outfitted for that purpose. We were also able to provide some funds to allow them to buy some angiocaths. Their standard of care requires then to use 2 -14 or 16 gauge IVs for each patient in hospital for delivery and they had just run out. We were able to provide them money immediately to purchase 200 more catheters so they did not have to send patients away to another center. They are drawing up a list of further needs for us to consider. They are also running a prenatal program at the hospital this Saturday to which were invited. Overall it was a very pleasant and helpful meeting in our role moving forward.

We then headed back to the construction site just in time to help with a cement pour. Through this we managed to joke and work as a friendly team with everyone knowing their role to help. Anna and Carlos (Edgar's wife and youngest son) showed up to help. Anna was no slouch and was poised at one point on a ladder pouring cement into the forms.

Today is the Day of the Dead in many Latin American Countries where everyone honours their dead relatives. Many quit work at noon and go to the gravesite with flowers. Flowers for sale lined the streets. In some communities they even have a street march. One anniversary to honour all our dead relatives makes sense and is an important day for them.

Today was another busy day at the job site. We continued with forming more of the top of the walls and pouring that and the support columns with concrete. I was the lucky one that got to run the cement mixer, and it turned out to be lots of fun. We also made 6 more rebar cages for the back porch where the support beams for the roof will be. The work is heavy and tiring for sure. We were happy to welcome Kevin and his mom back today. Kevin had been off sick. They have been a big help. Its been amazing to spend most days with Orlando’s family in a different setting, so very special.
The building is definitely taking longer than expected, even though the bottom half of the house had already been started years ago. If all goes well then the roof installation can start in a few days.
As we drive along, we are seeing the workers out in the field planting sugar cane by hand.
Oh, I almost forgot. Our critter sightings at the jobsite today were an iguana and a tortuga. Glad there weren't any snakes. Oh and a cute monkey named Larry.
Hasta mañana
Janice

Descanza

Blog Oct 30, 2022

Sunday a day for sermons but not from this author this time! A few of our members attended their respective churches via Zoom, on this our well earned day of rest. Then our co founder and constant super organizer Janice finished up some financial book keeping and we were off at 11:00 for a trip through the beautiful country side to a National Park Mount Mombacho.

On our personal day all our costs are paid for by ourselves and so we pooled our money together at the current rate of 1 U.S. for 35 cordobas and paid for a trip up the mountain to an elevation of 1150 metres (3500 feet)!!  Thank goodness no one suggested we try walking up and instead we traveled in a four wheel truck up and up and up with cooler and cooler much appreciated temperatures. At our destination near the inactive volcano we then had a 1.5 hour hike around the open volcano with a wonderful guide that showed us the wonderful views of Granada, Lake Nicaragua and Laguna Apoyo and the countryside.

Our guide was also quite gifted in explaining all the plants, trees and flowers and in some cases the medicinal benefits of some and those not to touch or eat if you wanted to remain healthy!!

Tomorrow we are back at the work site bright and early to remove forms, install new ones and be ready for a concrete pour on Tuesday

Respectfully submitted

Stephen  

The community center we built in February

Village visits

Blog Oct 29, 2022

Well we said goodbye to Dave and Makayla yesterday. They took off to the airport at 2:30 am. By now they should be safely back home and back to a comfortable routine. We will miss them. Dave was a hard worker with a sense of humor and Makayla was willing to try anything and brought a fresh smile to every day.
We visited two of our projects today in separate villages.
First we went to Casa de Piedra where we had drilled a well. Unfortunately the well was vandalized and then robbed of the pump on two occasions. They caught the perpetrators, compensation has been made and repairs should be started soon.
They have their water committee in place and have worked out the financial arrangements to sustain the operation going forward. It should work out in the end.
While we were in that community of 26 families we assessed its overall well being and felt it would be a good community to refurbish a building, start a sewing program and discuss maybe starting a farming project. They seemed enthusiastic to the ideas. They also asked when our eco friendly Stove Project might start as they have been chosen as recipients and we hope to do so within 6 months pending Rotary Global Grant approval.
The other community of San Luis that we visited was a slug fest to get to as the 20 km of roads had been damaged by recent flooding. However we made it and found both the Community Center we had refurbished and the well system we had drilled were working well. The well was providing water to houses, the school and Community center up to 2 km away. They are proud of their community center and are planning to move their sewing program in there soon. They did request some tables and chairs.
A successful day overall and another day in paradise.

This morning we left the casa at around 6:00am. We were hoping to have another big day of pouring and brick laying. We were graced with a couple more workers today, Jose and Orlando, the younger brothers of the guys we are working with. This morning started off on a fast start but by 11:00 we had run out of things to do because it was too close to lunch to start pouring. We took a bit of an early break. I went with the driver to pick up the food and got to see Eva, the cook from the last trip I went on. It was nice to see her house, meet some of her family and to say hi to her again. The food was delicious and right after lunch we began to pour concrete and worked hard lifting heavy buckets until 4:00. It was a day full of fun and laughing. I finally was able to lift a bucket of sand onto my shoulder. We arrived back home at 6:00 and had supper and now I am packing as it will be my last night here. My dad and I are leaving at 2:30 in the morning tomorrow as I have school and my dad has work. This trip has been a blessing for me. It was a nice break from school work and classes and good to get back to doing some physical work, and a lot of it.  I am happy that I could go on this trip to experience another culture and working with another culture, as well spend some time doing something for others. 

Makayla

Thanks to Dave Meinen Contruction for your donations and time spent

building Edgar's house. Safe travels back to Canada. We are going to miss

you.

Janice and the COMMIT team

A Hot work day

THURSDAY October 27, 2022

Another day in paradise! Following on the heels of the wedding last night with all the good food and ambiance of a lovely evening, our day started in contrast this morning. Once again in our work clothes we rose early for yet another grueling day in the trenches. This message will be short as everyone is exhausted. We were down 4 workers so we definitely worked our fair share. The framers continued to build forms to be filled while the rest of us worked on filling in some of the floors in the different rooms. Lots of slugging crushed stone and raking it level. It was pretty funny watching several of us amateurs trying to wheel the heavy loads of crushed stone across the house.  It definitely went much more smoothly after we laid a path of boards as a sidewalk. After lunch the pouring of the cement began. It seemed that using pails was going to work better than wheelbarrows for this part of the pour so everyone took their turns hauling very heavy pails full. I have to say that none of us were very clean for the drive home. Ha Ha. It was a day that we were glad to see finished. The weather is very hot and difficult to work in. I don’t know how many gallons of water we drink each day but it is a lot. Tomorrow will be much of the same I believe. I think we will all come home with more muscles, even Dave who is used to this kind of work. However it is very satisfying to see the house taking shape. Edgar and his family will be very excited to have a place of their own.

More Hard Work

Today started bright and early at 5 am wake-up, breakfast and on the road by 6 am. Yesterday had been spent forming 2/3 of the house and pouring concrete for half the day. We had rented a cement mixer which made the job much quicker. When the concrete was mixed wheelbarrows would be lined up, ready to be filled and brought to the wall being poured. We got to be experts at getting the right consistency of concrete- not too runny and not too firm. The recipe? One and one half pails of water, 3 buckets of gravel and 6 buckets of sand, together with one bag of concrete completed the mixture.
Today we spent the morning stripping firms and scraping concrete off of them, putting up more blocks, making a few more rebar cages and filling the ground with gravel to level the floor for pouring. Good progress was made.
The highlight of our day was witnessing the marriage of Bryan Reyes Parrales and Dina Zelaura. What a beautiful, happy couple. It was such an honor. The supper was delicious and we enjoyed meeting more of their extended family.
Another day well spent.

Janice 

Time to pour concrete

COMMIT Blog Oct 25,2022
Just like a sermon I will discuss my impressions in three areas - the work, the country and this hard working dedicated team of volunteers.
Here, like back home, the supply chain is problematic. A sheet of plywood was $71 US dollars and only available as number one paintable on both sides which we needed for forming. But problems aside, through perseverance our framer from Mitchell (a real Godsend) was able to get over half of the framing needed for today’s cement pour. The nicest thing to see was how both of the main organizers Dave and Manuel contributed their knowledge in the situation resulting in a better solution!! Not my way or no way! Once the framing was done we were ready for the pour of the lintel and boy did everyone work and perspire in the 30 plus humid afternoon but so efficiently that within 3 hours our pour for the day was done. What a crew of hard workers all 13 of them: 5 from our team and 8 of our Nicaraguan friends.
This is the end of the rainy season so lots of rain but thankfully only at night so far but lots of it so that the fields are quite wet and I guess part of the reason there are fields of rice as well as bananas, sorghum and even passion fruit. It is quite humid but thankfully we do have fans in our rooms and intermittent air conditioning in our truck that transports up to 13 sometimes! 8 in the open air box today. On our travels to the work site we pass hundreds of individual stands selling bananas, fruit, honey pop, all trying to make a few cordobas. You can’t but marvel at all the laundry in each yard and the whiteness of the school children's uniforms.
Our team of volunteers is an eclectic mixture of young and old, male and female all with one purpose: to try and make things better for those we are working with. Each of our members have their own particular skills that together make important contributions to the end result. For that, this particular member is most appreciative.
Respectfully submitted

October 24th

Monday, October 24th
What a crazy and busy day today. We lost power in the night and so woke up to no electricity or lights. Luckily for us there is a gas stove so we still got a hot breakfast and even coffee and tea. Makayla stayed back to work with the English teacher in the different classes at NPH and the rest of us jumped into the truck to head to the jobsite. We picked up Jhonny in Nandaime and drove along, enjoying the 45 minute ride to Rivas. Much time was spent by Edgar getting quotes for roofing materials and by Dave trying to find wood for forming. Our plan was to have everything formed up and ready to pour tomorrow, but unfortunately we were competing for use of the one ladder so had to work on other things in between. Doug and Edgar left for a meeting with the mayor of Nandaime and another man higher in the government while the rest of us stayed back to work. The meeting went well and we were promised their help and support to get the container through customs without a hitch. We hope to send it in March so that it is here for our end of April trip back to Nicaragua.
More rebar cages were made and we finally left closer to 5 pm. The drive was made fun with the laughter and joking in the back of the truck. It has been amazing getting to know Orlando’s brothers and father in a different setting. The sky was stunning and we got some fun shots. When we arrived back at the Casa, to our dismay, the hydro was still not back on. Thankfully Dave has data so some of us were able to talk to our families anyways.
We enjoyed another delicious meal, this time by candlelight with Jimmy Espinoza, our agronomist. He talked to us and shared the many ups and downs the farmers had experienced. One really big challenge is getting out to the remote villages during the rainy season. We hope to ship an ATV down so that Jimmy can get to where he needs to go to check on the project.
Everyone cheered when the power came back on at 8 pm, so here I am, quickly writing a blog.
Hasta mañana
Janice

Granada

We went to Granada today for business and pleasure. Our first stop was the Rotary Club of Granada or more specifically the president’s house. He explained the difficulty he was having with the water project partly due to COVID and difficulty with the Rotary site. He is trying to get back on so he can take the course and be recertified. No club in Granada has been given the letters to handle money so this remains in limbo as well. It is frustrating because we are doing an eco friendly stove project with them and we have spent hundreds of hours on writing up the Global Grant and it is now stalled.

Hola from Nicaragua October 23, 2022-10-23
Sunday. A day of rest. The team took a well deserved break from our physical labours and traded them in for a day of typical tourist adventures.
Immediately following yet another delicious breakfast we piled into the new air conditioned van to spend the day in Granada. Our first item on the agenda was to meet with Gustavo from the Rotary Club of Granada to discuss the ongoing well projects. Both Grenada and Stratford are on the same page as to how to proceed. Everyone is wanting to get started on the eco stove projects soon. Thank you Edgar for your much appreciated translations during this meeting. With the business part finished Gustavo generously served us ice cold chocolate milkshakes made with the cocoa beans grown in this country. YUMMY!!
Next stop – Central Park. A bit of a wander through the courtyard followed by a visit to Immaculate Conception of Mary Cathedral Church, a beautiful building that was at the moment celebrating mass so a tour of the church itself was not available for us. However we were able to climb the many, many, many steps up the circular staircase to the bell tower. What a view from the top! Janice decided that half way up was her limit so she continued to watch the service from the upper balcony. In the bell tower we were successful in stopping Steve from attempting to ring the bell!!
Continuing our travels down the street we found the oldest church in Central America, built in the 1500’s, now a museum and inactive church. Across the street at Casa Azul, we met the loveliest couple who invited us into their home. We learned a lot of local history from them and realized how much they do to help their community. After purchasing a couple of beautiful teak trays from their small shop we left a donation to aid with their mission work.
Pizza for lunch followed by a boat tour of the islands in Lake Nicaragua. Jorge, our tour guide was so very full of both local and national information that I can hardly retain it all. Very wealthy foreigners as well as locals and aboriginals live on the individual islands. One of the islands is inhabited solely by monkeys!!
A quick tour of the chocolate factory completed our day. Arriving back home at the casa, another great supper, and we are all ready to again begin our building labours in the morning.
Hasta Manana
Kim

Saturday, October 22

Laguna Apoyo was under construction which made it noisy and busy, even more so than usual, but it was still beautiful to see the lake and experience the culture and atmosphere. We had a couple drinks at the restaurant and listened to some beautiful and loud music and saw some dancing. Then we headed back and had a good supper and now we are relaxing and socializing.

Makayla 

October 21st

October 19

October 19th and 20th

This is a catchup for yesterday. Another busy day was spent bending saddles for the rabar, tying rebar, forming and pouring concrete, plus building more walls with the concrete blocks. We left by 4 pm so that I could do the boarding passes for the team and email them to Doug to print off. When trying to type and then comb my hair, I noticed that my hand wasn’t working quite right and was very swollen. I guess that must be from bending metal for two long days in a row. 

Today was spent doing the finances and shopping for the team. Unfortunately the computer part was made more difficult by a brownout and no internet for most of the day. The rest of the work group still went to the job site so it will be exciting to see the progress made today. 

Edgar and I will be on the road in a few hours to shop at PriceMart and to pick up the team. Can’t wait for them to arrive. Many more hands will make the work go even faster. 

Buenas noches 

Janice 

Another Busy Day

We had another busy work day today. Unfortunately Bismarck was switched out with another driver so we were down a worker. Thankfully Orlando’s dad joined us so we weren't down two. Bismarck was certainly missed and it required me to take over his job. I bent hundreds of saddles for the rebar, while others assembled and tied them together. My arms got quite the workout and my hands are a mess lol. I gave my gloves away to someone else that needed a pair so it was bare hands for me.
As more blocks were laid the walls got higher which was very encouraging. Things are starting to take shape and I'm excited to see the finished product at the end. So happy to be able to help this family who have been trying to build this house for over five years now.
We got spoiled once again for lunch when Eva made ceviche and it was enjoyed by all. Can't wait to see what Alba has on the menu for tonight. We certainly are eating like kings. The food has been amazing.
Time to study my Spanish and work on my homework. It's been so much fun practicing with everyone down here. Everyone has been great with correcting me, which is what I need. Stay warm everyone in Canada.
Buenas noches
Janice

Monday, October 17th

As this day comes to a close I can say, "another workday under the belt". Last night's torrential downpour left the road to the visitor's Casa a muddy mess. The truck slid and fishtailed as we drove through the property of NPH, and I was thankful when we finally came onto more solid concrete.

After our pickup in Nandaime I got a big surprise at Orlando’s house. He would be coming with me for the day as he had the day off school. I hadn't been able to see my godson yet because he had been recovering from a bout with chickenpox. It was amazing to see how much he had grown again and to be able to spend the day together.  We made good progress with assembling and tying more rebar, plus we started building up a few more walls. After an 11 hour day, we were exhausted but pleased with the progress.  Another hot, but successful day in Nicaragua. 

Buenas noches 

Hasta mañana 

Janice 

Saturday work day

A brown out last night for over three hours made it difficult to get to sleep. Thankfully the power came back on around midnight so that the fans would work. I had an early wake-up call from my mom who forgot about the time difference.
After another delicious breakfast we were on the road again, picking up Maria, Jhonny and the boys again. Alba hitched a ride with us, as well as Mirna. Much easier and quicker than taking the bus.
Edgar's son Bryan and his fiance joined us so we had many hands to do the work. I tried my hand at bending the iron into stirrups today for the rebar which was quite hard to do. Maria, then Dina helped by holding and moving the iron while I bent it into shape. Once we got the hang of it we were like a well oiled machine. There were hundreds to make and by the time we finished, my hands were aching. We then assembled the rebar with the stirrups and tied them off. Meanwhile the boys mixed the concrete and literally poured it by the bucket into the forms. Lots of work was accomplished with a delicious lunch made by Eva who lives just around the corner from the jobsite.
I need to confess that Edgar had to take me to buy jeans. I only had shorts with which was a huge mistake. By spraying my legs with mosquito spray I was able to ward off all the bloodthirsty mosquitos, but it did nothing for the pulga, a flying black insect with a nasty itchy bite. My legs must have over fifty bites on them, arg. The jeans helped immediately and two pair were bought at a second hand store for six dollars. What a find!! Thanks Edgar! Team, bring pants to wear at the jobsite, you'll thank me.
The highlight of my day was giving out the knit dolls made by Rita M. These children live at the dump with their families and were absolutely thrilled to receive a toy. Thanks Rita for all of the time and love that you put into these precious dolls. They will be treasured I'm sure.
Now for a rest. Stay warm everyone, here it's over thirty degrees Celsius.
Hasta mañana
Janice

Day 2 on the jobsite

Thursday, October 13th

COMMIT

I made it to Nicaragua safe and sound after a long flight with Avianca through El Salvador. My seatmate ended up being a friend of a mutual friend which was pretty cool. I was picked up by Edgar, our country liaison and friend and we made the long drive back to NPH along almost deserted roads. There is a lot of road work being done and we saw crews working in the middle of the night by spotlights. They have to work when they can during the rainy season. After unpacking my two hockey bags, I finally crawled into bed at 4 am Canadian time. 

My wake-up call came much too early, but lucky for me Nicaragua is 2 hours behind which certainly helped. After an amazing breakfast and catchup visit with Alba, Bismarck and I were on the road by 9 am. We stopped to pick up Jhonny and two of Orlando’s brothers, Yamil and Kevin. 

Our drive to Rivas was uneventful, especially because most of the trip was on paved roads. None of the devastation from Hurricane Julia was visible but I learned that towns like Nandaime were hard hit and are in the midst of repairing roads and finding other accommodations for people who lost their homes. 

We arrived at the jobsite and got right to work. Twenty meters of gravel had to be moved to another spot on the property. Wheelbarrows were filled by Jhonny, Yamil and Bismarck while Kevin and I wheeled them to the dumping spot. My wheelbarrow was definitely never as full as Kevin's. It was heavy work, especially in the 35 degree weather. 

Leaves were raked, branches picked up and dirt leveled before we started on the outhouse.  After digging a hole we placed the concrete base and toilet on. Some posts macheted off trees and black plastic nailed on completed the look. Tomorrow we will fill in the blocks that are already laid with concrete and put on the horizontal rebar. We headed home, tired and dirty but excited to continue with the work.  

Other than being stung by a scorpion here at the Casa shortly after arriving home, we had a great day. Ouch that really hurts.

Hasta luego Janice