Last day in Nicaragua

I just realized that I didn't write about my last day in Nicaragua. Joy, Peter and I headed to Managua to get our covid swabs done bright and early. Other then going to the NEW military hospital, instead of the OLD, everything went off without a hitch.

After arriving back at the NPH home, I was met by Melissa, and was able to share a letter and gift with her that her godmother had sent. Edgar arrived shortly afterwards and we headed to Nandaime to tie up some lose ends and to visit our dear friend and translator Jhonny Flores at his home. We miss working with our translators and pray that we can very soon in the future.

that's all folks

Janice

Vet Day

Today we were up bright and early as people arrived at five am to wish Joy a happy birthday. Edgar and I then headed out with Ginger the cat and picked up Katherine and Veronica and three female dogs. Our destination was the vet clinic in Jinotepe. Ginger was less then happy with her car ride at the start and not having a cat carrier made it a most difficult experience. The dogs in the back remained much more calm, although had they known their fate, they would have jumped out at the first opportunity.

The surgeries hit some snags when they discovered that Leia had endometriosis, which they removed and Flaka had a very large uterus and huge puss filled cyst which also needed to be removed. The vets were very gentle and gave amazing care to the animals. They said the surgery saved Flaka's life as the infection would have killed her. Thanks again so much to our generous donor. This has improved the quality of life for these animals and prevented unwanted pregnancies and babies that would have needed to find a home. The dogs and cat will need some recovery time and we have some great people here willing to do that work. Although this wasn't per se COMMIT work, I still wanted to mention it. 

Cora is the president of the CAPS water committee, as well as the leader of the sewing co-op. She is also the one who stores all of the machines, tables, and material, so would love a room designated for that.

This is Marta, the treasurer of the CAPS water committee and proud mama to two beautiful boys. They promise of a sucker got the little guy to pose for a picture and he happily went on his way afterwards with his sweet prize.

The pink Spanish building that our team hopes to renovate in January. This can be used as a medical clinic. The sewing co-op would like a room built out back of the building.

Agriculture Project

The agriculture project, started by COMMIT January 2019, has proved to be a huge success. Originally 10 farmers were chosen in the village of Nandarola and an agronomist hired to oversee the projects. Since then 7 more farmers were added to the mix for a total of 17 active members. COMMIT had the opportunity to meet with some of those farmers today to see their accomplishments. They proudly showed us their crops and even shared some of the produce with us. Here is an account of some of our meetings.

The first orchard we visited belonged to Pedro. He was up the mountain working in the bean fields so one of the other farmers showed us his crop of passion fruit. Pedro was in the second group of farmers added to the project and already his plants are flourishing well. They shared that having the passion fruit is such a blessing to the village as they now drink this instead of pop, a much healthier choice for sure. Passion fruit sells in the market for 20 cords per 3 pieces of fruit, although most of the farmers up until now have used it for personal use or shared with family and friends. In order to have a healthy crop the fruit needs lots of care. Pests like animals digging around the roots, insects, butterflies and worms keep them busy protecting their plants and fruit. Pedro works at the Nekupe resort 8 hours a day and comes home to work in his passion fruit orchard and also in the bean and corn fields. These people are extremely hardworking and everything is done by hand, no machinery.

Our second visit was at the home of Yolanda who was also in the second group of farmers chosen. She also works in the fields up the mountain daily and cares for her crops in addition to her worm box. The worm box is made of wood and lined with black plastic. Dung, molasses and 2 kg of worms are added to the box and it is covered up. The worms need careful attention daily to make sure they stay healthy and keep producing the rich, black compost and the worm urine which is used as a fertilizer for the plants. Each worm box produces 200 lbs of compost every 25 days and a 2 liter bottle of liquid fertilizer per week. The farmers of Nandarola hope to eventually produce enough fertilizer to sell as it is much sought after on the coffee plantation. Yolanda proudly showed us her bags of red beans that she had harvested, in addition to the corn which was the first crop grown in that area. Afterward we were treated to delicious cornbread made with that corn, what a treat. 

Siriaco and Francisco, two of the first farmers, have been amazing mentors to the new group of farmers. They each have two worm boxes on each of their properties and they are producing well. We learned that 7 more worm boxes are needed for the new farmers and that each box costs $100 which includes the wood, plastic, worms and molasses. 

Our next stop was to visit Elieth who is also growing passion fruit on his land. His crop of fruit was started from shoots from the original plants. Elieth joined the team with the second group and is the proud dad to a 15 and 5 year old. Elieth shared his frustration of trying to grow an orange tree as the neighbor pig runs over as soon as they leave and digs around the roots of the tree. He hopes to thwart this behaviour by extending his existing cactus fence around his entire property. Elieth’s crop is growing well and he has already picked 300 pieces from his vines. Elieth is one of the farmers needing a worm box to produce his own fertilizer. 

We then met with 10 of the 17 farmers to discuss any needs or issues that they were having. One thing noted was that these hardworking nationals work well together as a team. They shared that they were so happy to be able to show one of the Canadians supporting them all that they had been able to accomplish with Jimmy and Edgar’s support. Francisco stressed that they were thankful for the new skills that they learned through Jimmy’s expertise and hope to continue learning. They are extremely happy to work together with COMMIT as a team.  The farmers hope to harvest crops of peppers, tomatoes, squash and pumpkin in the next 45 days. 

To start a beehive production- two of the farmers have perfect, remote plots of land which would make them both good candidates for this project. The bees are African bees and need to have hives away from houses, school, large animals which could knock the hives down and people. African bees if disturbed could swarm and be quite dangerous

The village of La Viege was added to the farming project in April of this year. They have 9 hardworking farmers in this group who have been growing passion fruit as well. In the 6 months since then, they have already harvested some fruit, some of which we enjoyed in a delicious drink. Two of the families have a worm box so 7 more boxes are needed for this village as well. Seven of the farmers are women and 2 are men. The families shared their joy in being included in this project and asked for COMMIT’s continued support for the future. They were such a sweet group of Nicaraguans who seemed genuinely happy to meet someone from Canada. It was an honour for me. 

Yolanda shows off some of the beans that she harvested from her crop up the mountain. Many hours of sweat labour go into preparing the fields, planting and harvesting the beans, all done by hand.

Pictured here are 9 of the 17 farmers in Nandarola. The rest were unavailable as they were harvesting their crops. From right to left: Francisco, Alvaro, Siriaco, Modesto, Luis, Chamorro, Elieth, Ana and Yolanda plus Edgar in the red shirt and Jimmy in the back

La Viege's farmers- right to left: Julia, Vidam ,Toño, Arelis, Erlinda, Maria, and Maira. Although quite new to the project, these hardworking farmers have had excellent success with their crops.

El Jabillo Well Inauguration

Today we headed to El Jabillo, another very remote village located up a mountain. We had been unable to get there a few times due to the torrential downpours. The journey up the moutain was quite slow due to washouts and we proceeded with great caution. Edgar is an amazing driver and I am so thankful for his help getting to where I need to go. 

The village of El Jabillo is made up of 115 homes, spread out even further up the mountain. Up until now they had gotten their drinking water from a river or shallow dug wells which really was not safe to drink. Many people got parasites and developed other health issues because of this.  Due to their need for safe, clean drinking water they were chosen by the mayor of Nandaime to receive a drilled well. The new well has an electric water pump located at the community center and the water tower and tank were installed further up the hill to make use of gravity. Sixty five of the 115 families received piping to bring the water into their homes while the rest did not due to where they live. We discussed the possibility of installing a water tank further up the hill with another pump to get the water to that tank. Gustavo will do a study to see if this is even an option. It would be so nice to get the water to everyone to make their lives easier. 

The well inauguration was similar to the other villages, with the piñata of course being the highlight of the day. It is always fun to see the children scramble for the candy once someone is successful in breaking it open.  The CAPS committee in El Jabillo is down to one member after the others quit, so they will have a village meeting and vote to choose someone else to fill the four spots left vacant. 

Thanks to all including the Rotary club of Granada and Edgar for making this well project a reality. It was humbling to hear the people say how happy they are to have clean, safe drinking water. 

Five sinks were purchased on the way home for the villages of El Jabillo, San Luis de Manares and El Jabillo for the schools and community centers. 

Saturday, September 18th

Today was a very special day. Nine years ago I met a shy Nicaraguan teenaged boy, who was part of the NPH family. Jimmy Garcia worked with our medical team, translating for the doctors and nurses.  Ever since then we have worked with him yearly and have seen him grow into an amazing young man, thoughtful, kind, gentle and self giving. Today I was honored to be able to witness him being married and to share in his and Tania's special day. Wishing this special couple the Lord's blessings and an amazing future together.

Returning yearly to the same area has blessed COMMIT and its members with many amazing friendships. What an incredible experience.  

Friday, September 17th

Today was a day full of meetings and markets and reports.

We had a virtual meeting with the director of the school board which includes 80 schools to find out their needs and to ask permission to do our projects at the school. The meeting was over the phone as she was at home sick with covid. 

She was excited that we had purchased a printer with wifi for them plus extra ink for it. 

We explained our plan to do a school competition between the schools in Nandarola, La Vigie, La EnRamada, El Dorado and Casa de Piedra. We will visit each school and play a bingo game with them to explain the importance of recycling and not burning plastic. 

Each school will participate in a challenge to collect the most recycling in the next few months and will win a school prize. In addition to this there will be top recycling prizes for grades 1-4 and 5-8. She was totally on board with this and said that something similar had been done in the past years ago by the government. 

Each school will receive an eco-friendly stove to cook lunch meals at the school. Trees will also be planted at the schools and will be looked after by the school children as part of the project. The director questioned who would get the supplies for the roof needed to be built over each stove. This will be looked into further by COMMIT.

We also discussed the schools' needs such as text books by Nacho, and will look into which schools still need a printer. All in all a very productive meeting.

We also had a meeting with Gustavo to discuss the process for getting the electricity hooked up to our wells drilled recently. It is a long and lengthy process which includes getting a deed to the land where the well is drilled, getting a certificate from the mayor, taking that to the firefighters (bombaros) who need to do an inspection and taking the certificate from them to the electrical company which then does the actual hookup. We are stuck at the land deed part, so…. Some waiting is involved. We are praying that things start to move along and we can get some things accomplished. 

While in the town we went to the Mercado Nicaraguense (Nicaraguan Market) to get some prices on pails with spigots for the people in the villages where we drilled wells and also some prices on pots. Each family that receives an eco-friendly stove will also receive new pots for their stove so that they have a flat bottom to work better on the stove.

Looking forward to tomorrow- Jimmy Garcia and Tania will get married in Rivas.  My first ever Nicaraguan wedding, so excited and honoured to be able to witness this. 

Buenos noches Todas, Janice

Seven dollars each for the water buckets with spigots. Each village that received a drilled well but no piping will receive enough for each household

Thursday, September 16th

Today was a sad day for me as my sister Cathy headed home to Canada. It was so amazing having her here and showing her around this beautiful country and introducing her to my friends. I am going to really miss having her here. Safe flight sista.

After seeing Cathy safely to the customs doors, I went to see about getting back the toothbrushes and toothpaste taken upon entry but I didn’t have the correct paperwork. So, off we went without one toothbrush.

Our next destination was the people's market in Managua to buy food for the NPH home. We parked and met up with the NPH bus - and hopped on to join Louis, Katherine and Karina. The market was bustling with people also buying things for their homes. I was amazed to see how strong the workers were that slugged our loads of stuff to the bus. One young man threw a hundred pound bag of rice onto his shoulder like it was nothing and was loaded up with two more sacks of rice - yes, 300 lbs, I was in awe. The list was long but we were able to get most of the needed supplies - 20 cases of milk (leche 12 per case), 500 lbs of rice (Aroz), 10 barrels of oil (Accite), 10 big packs of toilet paper (Papel Higienico), 6 sacks of detergent (Detergente 12 per sack), 20 boxes of masks (Mascarillas - 50 masks per box), 17 Face shields (Caretas - 40 needed, 17 found), 15 liters of 70% alcohol for mixing with hand sanitizing gel, 16 liters of Gel Hand sanitizer (Sanitizante), 10 liters of liquid soap (Jabon Liquido) and 10 liters of clorox bleach (cloro). Marlon was very happy to receive this gift from COMMIT in lieu of payment for us staying here at the home.

Our next stop was a medical supply store to get more equipment for Nandaime hospital. It was quite fun shopping to help fulfill their wishlist. We were able to get four more adult manual blood pressure monitors, plus two large adult manual blood pressure monitors and two pediatric with bonus baby cuffs.We also purchased 20 oximeters, plus 4 infrared thermometers. The hospital still has 120 boxes of masks so we didn’t get any at the moment. Still to purchase are face shields, hand sanitizer and disposable gowns. When we delivered the precious items to the Nandaime hospital, the director was overwhelmed with thanks. Thanks to everyone who has donated to COMMIT for making this necessary gift possible today. 

Back home to NPH for a delicious supper and a room alone, miss you already Cathy.

Hasta Pronto Janice

Wednesday, September 15

Today was a very busy day, finally. I still can’t believe that it’s Cathy’s last full day here, boy am I ever going to miss her.

We started off the day by calling a hospital supply store in Managua to see if we could get the needed supplies for the Nandaime hospital. Unfortunately today is a national holiday, so all we got was a quick quote, no shopping in Managua for us. Not to be undone, we jumped into the truck and drove to the town of Jinotepe, in the opposite direction of Nandaime. Out of the truck we hopped and began our walk to find a pharmacy that had what we needed. It was a maze of streets, with people milling everywhere and to be honest, it didn’t take long for me to get disoriented. Lucky for me I had my very own GPS with me, Cathy. We found a pharmacy that had 17 of the 20 needed thermometers and after obtaining a decent price we were on to the next pharmacy. The town of Jinotepe has at least 10 pharmacies. We found nothing at the next few stops and then found 3 more thermometers, four blood pressure monitors (manual) and 10 face shields. Nothing anywhere else so we headed to Nandaime hospital to deliver our stash. We will need to complete our shopping tomorrow when the stores are open in Managua. 

We arrived at the hospital and met up with our young doctor friend Maria- she is doing really well and told us that she is working in the hospital in Jinotepe and helps out when needed at the Nandaime hospital. Dr. Saborio and the director were really thrilled with the items bought today, with a promise of more tomorrow. 

Onto our next stop which was to deliver 3 computers to the Educational office in Nandaime, to be used in the adult learning center. We loved seeing the smiling faces that our gifts induced and left knowing that people would benefit.

Our last stop of the day was to bring the sack of beans to Orlando’s house. His mom and brother Kevin were there this time, but the dad was away. We were able to see the trees planted for the reforestation project which appeared to be growing well. While I was out back taking pictures, Cathy was out front charming the baby Adrianna. She happily let Cathy carry her around and wouldn’t come to me. All I got was the kitten. Lol. 

Time to pack and get ready for Cathy’s departure tomorrow. Eva has once again outdone herself with supper- cordon bleu chicken. 

Hasta pronto "Janice

Shopping in Jinotepe at the Pharmacy

Hospital Visit

Today dawned bright and early for us as we needed to be on the road at 6 thirty am. We headed to Managua to get Cathy's mandatory covid pcr swab done for reentry into Canada on Friday. The results are promised by 4 pm.

Our planned excursion and schedule for the day needed to be adjusted last minute again to, you guessed it, the rain. The torrential downpour yesterday has left the routes to some of the more remote villages impassable. Today we had planned to go to Nandarola but were told by our contact there that we wouldn't get across the river, it was raging. So with that news, we quickly made new plans.

A quick stop at the Masaya Market, some haggling, but not too much and we were on the road with our treasures. Yes family, we have some surprises for you all. 

Our next destination was Granada to pick up my hammock. Unfortunately Tio Antonio's was closed due to it being Independence Day, a national holiday here in Nicaragua. The streets of Granada were overflowing with people driving and many walking home from the parade festivities that we had missed. 

After a quick call to the hospital we were able to arrange a meeting with the sub director of Nandaime hospital, Dr. Saborio. He shared a list of urgent needs for his staff and himself. They are short of PPE - masks, sanitizer, shields and disposible gowns. Some of their other top priority needs are manual blood pressure monitors, pulse oxymeters, and thermometers. They need at least 20 each of these items for their home visit teams. Granada hospital is the covid 19 hub in this region and they are overrun with patients. Due to this fact, Nandaime hospital, as well as others in the region have formed home care teams of doctors and nurses who make daily home visits to these patients with covid. They are trying to manage these sick people at home. And so you see, getting the needed supplies is paramount to keeping them safe and getting them through this crisis. Dr. Saborio has shared that almost every staff member is doubly vaccinated against covid- either with the Astrazeneca vaccine or the Russian Sputnik V. COMMIT plans to shop for these much needed supplies in the next few days and donate them to the Nandaime hospital. 

Back home at the Casa we did some computer work and sorted some t-shirts. We also fought off some wasps that had started to make a nest in our printer- annoying critters for sure.

Janice

Monday, September 13

Today was spent at NPH. Change of plans due to a tire on the truck blowing and all four tires needing to be changed to new ones. Due to the fact that it is wet everywhere, Cathy and I decided to do our workout in the casa. So 60 rounds of the courtyard gave us a five km walk with lunges, squats, etc every km. You have to learn to be flexible.

Cathy worked at printing off and laminating an environmental bingo game which I will use in the schools next week. We plan to do a competition between the seven villages receiving ecofriendly stoves, to see who can collect the most recycling. The school that wins will receive a soccer ball for each child and other sports equipment- maybe soccer nets. We need to see what they would want as a prize. 

My job was much dirtier - Peter and I took everything off the shelves in the bodega and cleaned away two years of filth and catalogued what is in there. The bodega is now clean and looks amazing and organized - I love that kind of a job - the best part is seeing the finished product. 

Anyways, time to clean up. Tomorrow we need to go to Managua to get Cathy's covid test done for her flight back to Canada on Thursday and then we'll be off to Nandarola to see the progress and discuss new agriculture project possibilities.

Janice

Last nights rain as it was letting up.

The weekend- September 11-12

After another very rainy night, we woke up bright and early to Eva's amazing breakfast. After a walk along very muddy roads, we were on our way with Edgar to the people's market. While waiting for our huge bags of rice, beans and corn flour and our vegetable oil, we met up with a lady from Nandarola. She came running over to us and said hi, I wonder how she saw us in the crowd of people, could it be our blonde hair lol?  As we walked to the truck afterwards a small boy asked me if I wanted to buy any plastic drinking cups, Not really needing any, I bought 2, then thought oh why not, and bought another 10. I would donate them to Orland's family.

Our next stop was at my godson Orland's house. What a reunion, it was so exciting to see him and how much he has grown. Gifts for the family were handed out and the look on Orlando's face when he got his Canada sweatshirt and cap was priceless. I also had the opportunity to meet the cute baby of Efrain and Cindy, what a little doll. While there I had a good look at their house foundation. The foundation is made up of blocks set along the ground and the floor in their house is dirt. The house is beside a ditch which is used for water for the rice fields. Okay, now imagine when it rains hard, which it has been doing, the water in the ditch overflows, right up to their house and flows right on in. I feel so badly that they have to live this way and hope to do a fundraiser to give them a concrete floor and new foundation when I return to Canada - $2000 is needed for this. 

Afterwards we headed to Rivas and picked up Edgar's wife Ana and one of his sons Bryan to take them out to lunch in San Juan del Sur. Time for some relaxation and rest. San Juan had very few tourists but it was so nice to see the beautiful beach and enjoy some time with friends. 

Hasta luego, Janice

Some of Orlando's family. Right to left, Efrain, Cindy and their baby, Janice and her godson Orlando, Cathy and Jose

Enjoying lunch in San Juan Del Sur at the Vivian restaurant on the beach with the Avila family. They are our very special friends and we couldn't do without the hard work of Edgar.

Friday, Sept 10- San Luis de Manares

We woke up this morning tired and sleep deprived. The reason? A scorpion in our bathroom, which I almost stepped on in the night. When I realized what it was, I quickly ran and got a shoe, the closest one was Cathy’s, sorry sister. Trying to squash it was difficult and so when it ran towards me with it’s tail raised, I did what anyone would do, I screamed. Unfortunately this brought Cathy rudely out of a deep sleep and into the bathroom at a run. By this time he was dead and brave Cathy picked him up with toilet paper and sent him to his watery grave. We discovered that there was a hole in our screen on our window which Peter King fixed for us. Thanks Peter for making our room scorpion proof, at least we hope it is. About 7 years ago I was stung by a scorpion, and let me tell you, it was not a pleasant experience. One I definitely do not want to repeat.

We enjoyed another delicious breakfast, made by our amazing cook Eva. Marlon, the director of NPH ate with us and we learned of the needs of the NPH home and where we can share some of our donations. 

Our destination today was San Luis de Manaras, a village that COMMIT adopted years ago. We had previously drilled a well there but it never really worked very efficiently and it wasn’t deep enough to serve the whole village. COMMIT/ Rotary Club of Stratford in partnership with the Rotary Club of Granada decided to drill another well in a different location. More money was sent and the people received a new well with an electric pump and water tower, plus many homes received piping to their homes. Such an amazing thing for these people.

Today we drove to San Luis, along roads in better condition than the ones we traveled yesterday. We arrived to a small crowd of people and picked our way over to the well, trying to avoid the really muddy spots. Everywhere is mud, even here at the orphanage. It poured rain nonstop last night which certainly doesn’t help. This has made going for walks difficult and both Peter and Joy have fallen on the slippery, moss covered path. 

The inauguration was similar to yesterday, with speeches, a pinata and signing of the deed. I might have been quicker reading my speech in Spanish today, but that may just be my imagination. It’s humbling how the people respectfully listen to me try to speak their language, even though I am sure I mispronounce things. They even clap at the end, either because they are glad I am finished or that they understood part of what I was trying to say. It is helpful to have Edgar there as my coach, quietly correcting me if I go astray. 

Howler monkeys could be heard, rumbling in their loud throaty voices, both on our drive and in the village of San Luis. The drive along the forest road was breathtaking with the huge canopy of trees and foliage dwarfing the path. We watched for snakes but thankfully didn’t see any. Neither Cathy or I are fans of them. 

As I sit here writing, thunder can be heard in the distance, with the promise of another wet, rainy night. I guess it is the rainy season, so what can we expect?

Till tomorrow, hasta luego

Cathy and Janice

Our first well inaugurations

Today was an exciting day for our team. Edgar came to NPH, and after I attended the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Stratford and Edgar corrected my Spanish speech, we were on our way to two villages to inaugurate their well and water systems.  

We stopped in Nandaime to pick up Jimmy Espinoza, COMMIT'S hired agronomist and our friend. The road to Nandarola was made especially difficult to navigate due to the torrential downpour of last night. The way was extremely muddy, with many áreas flooded out and no road visible in the large puddles. Thanks to Edgar's excellent driving and our four wheel drive truck, we made it safe and sound.  Even the river was passable, which isn't a given after so much rain. 

We arrived to a few people waiting for us at the community center in Nandarola and watched as more and more trickled in. A speech was made by the Rotary Club of Granada’s lawyer, by Gustavo, the president of the club, the leader of the CAPs which is the committee in charge of the well and by Janice - a member of the Rotary Club of Stratford and Co-leader/founder of COMMIT. Gustavo shared that he received a call from Dr. Doug Thompson two years ago, to ask for assistance with drilling wells in 4 villages and piping water to two that already had a COMMIT well. After much work getting the required information in each village, we were approved for a district grant from Rotary International to begin our project. Drilling was started almost half a year ag,o with 5 villages getting a well in the end and two having water piped to their homes. 

Nandarola was one of the villages that received an electric pump, water tower and piping to their homes. This has made getting water so much easier. We were treated to a delicious lunch prepared by the women of the village. We were entertained by the kids doing the pinata dance and doing their best to be the one to break it open. The screams of joy and rush in for the candy was heartwarming to see. After pictures at the well and a viewing of a working tap in a home, we jumped into the truck to go to our next inauguration.

Our visit in La Vigie turned out to be a totally different experience. Just as we were about to start, the skies opened up and blessed us with a healthy dose of rain. We are talking downpour. Everyone rushed under an open veranda, squeezing into every available dry spot. Even so, we had to share our space with several turkeys, chickens and a few dogs also trying to escape the wetness. Trying to understand what was being said was difficult with the deafening pounding of rain on the tin roof. Finally it slowed down enough for the speeches to continue. Afterwards we were asked to go to the well to get some pictures with the beautiful plaque. This turned out to be a very humorous walk as the clay/dirt ground had turned into a mire. Edgar and Jimmy helped me slip along to the well and by the time I arrived, I had at least 3 inches of mud on my Birkenstock sandals. Never mind that I had a pair of rubber boots in the back of the truck, something that should have been on my feet.The guys helped me back to the truck and I changed into my boots and washed my sandals at the well. Cathy in the meantime had been ushered over to a home for her fourth meal of the day, even though she was full from the meal in Nandarola. Cathy being the sweet girl she is, didn’t have the heart to tell them she really didn’t need any more food and ate it anyways. Bless her soul

We drove back to Nandaime and on the way, stopped in the river to wash our boots and shoes. We shared some laughs there for sure. Arriving back at the Casa, we were told that supper was ready at the church and it was time to eat again. Off we rushed, with dirt everywhere and enjoyed some more Nicaraguan cuisine. 

It is pouring rain again as we write this, so rubber boots it is tomorrow. 

Janice and Cathy

My inauguration speech

Buenas tardes a todos y todas

Es un gran honor estar aquí en nandarola para celebrar la inauguración de la red domiciliaria de agua en su comunidad. La fundación COMMIT y el Club Rotario de Stratford creen que el acceso del agua potable limpia y segura es un derecho humano básico. Estamos muy contentos de poder hacer esto una realidad para su comunidad con los beneficios que le brindara para su salud. Agradecemos a nuestros donantes en Canadá, a Edgar Avila de NPH, al Club rotario de Stratford. el club rotario de Granada, su presidente Gustavo y también la alcaldía de nandaime especialmente al alcalde Roger Acevedo por ayudarnos a hacer esto posible.

Ha sido un placer colaborar con ustedes y esperamos poder seguir trabajando juntos en el futuro con su comunidad.

Orando que las bendiciones del señor jesucristo y que Dios este con todos nosotros

Well and water tower on La Vigie

Granada

Today was business mixed with fun. Both Cathy and I were up at the crack of dawn, Canadian time that is. I woke up at 3 am, which made it 5 am in Canada. I can't wait to get on Nica time. It is extremely hot here and Cathy and I both often feel like we are melting. It certainly is going to take some getting used to. 

We were on the road at 8:30 am to try and make our 9 am meeting at Cafe Sonrisa in Granada. This cafe is run by an amazing man named Tio Antonio who is a well known figure in the city. He has taken deaf and blind children off of the streets and given them work in his cafe and a job making his beautiful, high quality hammocks. They have also recently been recognised as a university for the deaf and blind, teaching both braille and sign language. His project hit a snag when they were devastated by a fire that destroyed his building almost 2 years ago. They have been able to renovate approximately 60% of the building through donations, but are still in need of more help. Tio Antonio's hammocks are being sold online due to the pandemic and no tourism. Selling these hammocks gives them the money to slowly continue with the renovations. If you would like to help, please contact one of us for more information. 

We met with two of the Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Granada, Tio Antonio and Gustavo. Gustavo shared that the new well drilled in San Luis, to replace the one improperly drilled 5 years ago, will provide more people with water. This well was drilled on a new, donated property and is closer to the school. Some houses have received piping to their homes and there are also some water stations set up for those further away to get their  water. He also shared that the people in all of the six villages are extremely thankful to the Mayor of Nandaime, COMMIT, The Rotary Club of Stratford, and the Rotary Club of Granada, for providing them with safe, clean drinking water. Well inaugurations will take place the next week in the afternoon. I see from the schedule that I am on the itinerary to talk, so I had better get my speech prepared. Due to the fact that the water needs to be rationed, each family in select villages will need to adhere to a strict schedule as to when they are allowed to use the water - most about 3 hours per day. Even in this, the people are thrilled for the gift of water. Buckets will also be handed out tomorrow as well and teaching done on good water stewardship and hand hygiene. 

People in the communities have received teaching on how to manage the water, about paying for the electricity and also water consumption and making sure that there is enough water for everyone. We will continue with this teaching tomorrow and the next days going forward. The community members of the water project in each village need to meet with the mayor to get the deed to the land where the wells were drilled. And hopefully getting the electricity hooked up to run the pumps will be done soon.

The highlight of the meeting was when the Rotary Club of Granada presented the Rotary Club of Stratford with a stunning hammock, made in Rotary colours. What an amazing gift.

After our meeting concluded, we walked over to the main park in Granada to see the sights. You can't visit this beautiful city without going for a tour. Granada is one of the oldest cities in Central America and will be 500 years old in 2023.  As we approached the row of horses and buggies lined up along central park, both Cathy and I stated that we would just walk around the city instead of using the horses. Edgar however reminded us that this would be income for that driver and that there are next to no tourists in the city or country anymore. So, instead of walking on by, we carefully inspected each set of horses and found a pair that looked to be well fed with shiny, healthy coats. Our driver took us around the city at a slow pace and showed us the many beautiful sights, including lots of churches.

Our next stop was the "mercado" the people's market. It was off the beaten path and was a warren of stalls and people milling around selling their wares. Our mission was to find 6 pinatas for the well inaugurations and after much wandering, we found the perfect items. The fun part was trying to get them all, plus us into the truck. Do you know how much room a pinata takes up? We looked like a clown car, driving along with pinatas everywhere, including on my lap in the front seat. Scout from Paw Patrol, took up most of the room, with my face squashed against the seat, in an effort not to damage the merchandise. Cathy was packed in the back like a can of pinata sardines. We managed to get them back to NPH, with only a nose missing. 

On our way home we stopped in Katarina, to enjoy the breathtaking view of Laguna Apoyo. Cathy was able to score some cute souvenirs for her five grandchildren and we were off to NPH where we forced hundreds of candies and suckers into the bodies of the pinatas. What a job, thank you Eric for your help. We can't wait to see the children's faces when we arrive with these candy filled wonders. 

After a very delicous supper, made by our most amazing cook Eva, we wound down for the night, with hopefully a better sleep on the horizon. 

Hasta Manana, Cathy and Janice

Our meeting at Tio Antonio's' with two members of the Granada Rotary club- Gustavo and Tio Antonio

Travel days

We left Stratford September 6th and after a 22 hour layover arrived safe and sound in Nicaragua September 7th. Getting through customs was an experience as usual, with my hockey bags of donations receiving a thorough search. We met up with Edgar, our country liaison and friend, who safely navigated the very busy streets of Managua, with people selling food items, juice in bags and even puppies. I won't lie, I really wanted to buy the adorable, fluffy Acia/husky puppy with beautiful blue eyes, that was shoved through my window onto my lap. Only $160 US nd he would have been mine. But I didn't come here to buy a dog so I reluctantly gave him back. Hopefully he finds a good home along with the two tiny puppies also being sold.

As we drove along on our way to our home for the next few weeks, we soaked in the sights and sounds around us. The wafting smell of smoking fires along the roadside and the breathtaking scenery affirmed that yes, I was really back in Nicaragua, after over a year and a half of absence. So happy to introduce my sister Cathy to my friends and the work we have been able to accomplish here in our villages. So happy to be back in my second home. So now we roll up our sleeves and get some things accomplished.  Stay tuned for more.  

Janice