Of Sharks, Solar Ovens, y Mas!

Last week I visited the communities of San Diego and Portreritos. The two towns were part of a large solar pump project that was started back in 2007 to bring water to both communities. Unfortunately, the project is at a halt at the moment due to confusion over who is responsible for its maintenance, and technological issues. Most houses are running off of the traditional national electricity supply that was brought to them just two years ago, and which they have to use sparingly because of costs.

Going forward, AsoFenix and its partnering organizations will work on an individual basis, house by house, to install solar panels and/or solar pumps as needed. This is a good lesson to learn about what challenges can arise when doing this kind of work, that sometimes human nature and technology don’t make the best pair. It is a relationship that must be approached with creativity and flexibility!

That balance has been attained with a couple of houses in the area. One house in San Diego has its own panels on the roof. In Portreritos, shop owner Irene Gonzalez-Gonzalez (yes, she has the same name repeated in her last name) has the luxury of a gas stove fueled by a biodigestor, as well as the ability to bake with her solar oven. These technologies are VERY cool!

The biodigestor (above, top left) is made of a large thick plastic green bag with two tubes into which the biomatter, mostly cow dung, is fed into it. In order to “digest” correctly, it must be absolutely airtight and waterproof. The gas that is created is then fed into the kitchen through a metal tube. As you can see (middle) it lights a stove pipe, much like the kind we are all used to in the U.S. This is a BIG deal, very fancy and advanced, compared to the open wood fire stoves made of earth! And that cardboard box of “YUMMIES” that you see is actually a solar oven that traps the heat of the sun with an arrangement of aluminum and glass. So, no matter what the season- rainy or dry- this family can bake and cook without needing to cut down so many trees, make themselves sick from the smoke it produces, or risk burning themselves with the kerosene.

I had a great time up there seeing all of this, and of course I also worked on my tortilla skills (below, a tortilla NOT made by me, toasted on the pan). I also admired the many cute pigs and puppies. I have decided that the pigs are my favorite- they are very comical, snorting with every movement they make it seems, and just big dirty grunting machines. 

      

                                           

But, I must tell you a bit about the conversation I had with my host father for the night, Arsenio. He is the father of Lineth, one of the young journalists I am working with, and a remarkable person. Arsenio grew up in the life of "pobreza" (poverty). Both of his parents were orphans who received no sexual education growing up, so as their struggles to make ends meet grew, so did their family…until Arsenio was one of 16 children! Some of them went to school, perhaps until the 4th grade, while others did not. Arsenio was lucky enough to complete 4th grade before going to work with his father in agriculture and construction. By his early 20's he had met his wife Isabella. While he sowed the fields with his hands for pay, his mind focused on how he was going to provide a better future for the family he planned on raising. "My kids were going to go to school, and from that, they were going to be able to make a better living for themselves."

So, he worked hard, saved money, and set his mind on bringing a school to his community. He contacted the ministry of education and asked that they send a teacher to the community of San Diego. Then, he and other men from the community got the materials together and built a school where that professor would teach…Eventually, the ministry of education gave them cement blocks and other more sturdy materials to enforce the structure, and they built the small school that now sits across the way from Arsenio's house, and which all the children of San Diego go to. All of his children have not only gone to primary school, but also continued to secondary school in the nearby town of Teustepe. One of his daughters is a even a teacher in the community! The oldest child is his 26 year old son, yet to be married or have a girlfriend, but Arsenio is fine with that- he knows that it takes a lot to make it in life, and he wouldn't want his kids getting involved in more than they can handle.

Instead, I imagine they are inspired by their father, who has had to persevere and work very hard to have what he has now- 4 sons, 3 daughters, a house on a hill with a little passion fruit orchard, a plot of land to cultivate beans, corn, rice, and wheat, some pigs, chickens, dogs, a cat, and electricity to bring running water, light, and cellular phones to their lives. Though he identifies himself as poor- repeating “somos pobres” multiple times during our conversation- his wealth in courage, character, ambition, wisdom, and strength have trumped all in the face of challenge, overcoming any lack of formal training in life beyond the basic mathematics, history, and grasp of literacy he learned in 4th grade.

In order from left: wheat, walls of the house, rice

Nicaragua has a relatively perpetual deficit of employment opportunities with a lot of jobs operating on a temporary basis. Thus Arsenio, like many, has had to occasionally make the dangerous and illegal journey to Costa Rica for temporary work from time to time. This requires taking a motor boat, or “lancha”, full of other job seekers to the northern most point of Costa Rica, then walking for countless hours around a cliff side in order to avoid the border guards. This is all done without much aside from the clothes on their back and a deep well of determination to outlast what little water and food they can carry with them.

During one such journey, they motored right into a pack of sharks (“tiburones”) swimming in a line just a few feet from the sides of the boat. QUITE SCARY! Thankfully, they motored right past them without issue, but when the motor died out about a half a mile from the shore, they were forced to swim at the risk of drowning (not everyone gets swimming lessons here), or a run in with another pack of "tiburones." Regardless, Arsenio made it. Exhausted, thirsty, and hungry, they refueled and rested at a friend’s house before setting off for the hike around the cliff. Ultimately, the struggles paid off in the form of a month long gig working construction, and he was able to return to San Diego with much needed funds.

Today Arsenio stays local with enough business selling his crops at the markets of Nicaragua to support his family. When he is not in the field, he keeps an eye on the world beyond him through his collection of maps and a world atlas that was gifted to him by a visiting Spaniard years ago. He proudly showed it to me and remarked on the size of the countries are, how beautiful they were, or what interesting crops they have. I asked him where he would like to go in the world, if anywhere….His response: "Texas." Texas was his answer because he’s heard that they have very good agricultural practices, ways of planting seeds that he’d like to learn. He is a farmer, through and true!

Until he gets to Texas or a Texan comes to town and shows him how it’s done in the “lone star state,” Arsenio will continue to share the techniques he knows best with his sons as they work in the field together. Though his sons are all currently farmers, they are educated farmers with the guidance and example of their father to help them navigate challenges as they come. I am glad to be part of the education of Lineth, now 20, so that she can continue to progress and hopefully live a more empowered and prosperous life....My hopes are that she will be able to get a higher paid job with her computer skills, and provide an even better life for her family when she has one! For all of this, I am thankful and in admiration.