Day Two: Supply Hope and Nica-Agua

Que fantastico segundo dia! We rode to Supply Hope, a non-profit organization to focuses on micro-franchises and they have a one major micro-franchise, called Mercado Fresco. Supply Hope has 12 Mercados Frescos all throughout lower income communities throughout Managua.  Ricardo and Claudia who introduced Supply Hope and the idea of micro-franchise. Mercado Fresco is geared towards providing healthy foods to lower income areas of Nicaragua. Along with providing fresh food, Mercado Fresco offers sanitary products. Ricardo explained to us how cheese, for instance, is put in the same trucks with pigs, then the cheese is being put on the floor, near farm animals and lots of trash put the floor. It is incredible how many of the low income communities find it acceptable. I can’t blame them though; it’s expensive to go outside of the area and why bother traveling when the cheese is nearby. 

The idea of a Micro-Franchise is interesting. It's having a business plan and enlisting someone who seems to be qualified enough to maintain and follow the plan. There is training that has to occur in order to understand business transactions along with understanding the needs and importance of proper nutrition and sanitation when selling. There also has to be space between franchise stores, or else they would cannibalize, meaning that they would be competing against each other. In order to run a store like this, it is imperative that customers understand why they should purchase these goods as opposed to the junk food or dirty produce that's nearby and easier to access. 

We traveled to what used to be the dumps and we met Margaret, who runs 1 of the 12 Mercados. We saw fresh produce and I was pretty hungry, so I definitely would bought something from there had I had cash on me. It’s just a travesty that in Nicaragua and especially in Nicaragua, there are a lot of adults with diabetes. This is attributed to the dieting. A typical Nicaraguan with a lower income, purchases a soft drink and chips for breakfast. It’s cheap and it’s fast, so why not? And a lot of the markets in the area usually only have junk food and soda. It’s nice to have these kinds of snacks every now and then but to have it every morning is definitely going to cause harm in the long run.

I’m very thankful for just having options to eat whenever I am back in the states and it’s an incredible job that Supply Hope is doing. Ricardo explained that this is definitely a project that will take time. Along with selling this fresh produce, it’s also imperative to educate the people to understand why eating fresh produce is beneficial and why all that junk food can harm you. Margaret explained how bad her living conditions were awful. These houses might lack insolation, air conditioning, and doors but before, this area used to be a dump. A landfill. Los Chachareos as our driver mentioned. After our goodbyes and a few pictures, we parted ways and were on our way to Tola.

After a two and a half hour drive, we arrived in Tola. There we met Jon Thompson, who ‘wears several hats’ in the community. He graduated with a degree in history and then received his masters in social work. He started off as a volunteer that would go a few times a year to help but then He has his non-profit, Comunidad Connect, and he also works for Guacalito De la Isla. He really wanted to bring more to the children. He mentioned that you can’t exactly force something on a different type of people but you can expect that they need education, health and water. So he decided to bring both of his main ‘hats’ together to provide water filters for children and provide a medical post to help those already sick. In Nicaragua, 40% of infant mortality is attributed to diarrhea. Along with diarrhea, people in the community often get UTI and other preventable diseases, all of which clean water can fix. However, Jon mentioned that he went to a conference and asked what was the most important thing about the water filters that are being provided to people who need access to clean water. The answer was not how many filters but how to maintain, how to use, and how to keep healthy and avoiding contaminated water. He then was inspired to create a project called 'Nica Agua".

Jon then took us to see one of the families who owned a water filter. In this community, service is a huge aspect of maintaining. For families to receive filters, they must take a course in health and also learn how to use the filters before actually getting the filters. Then, they must complete hours of community service. Jon and his non-profit also follow up on the families who receive these filters. We then went to a family who owned a filter. It’s crazy how back in the US, there are these expensive filters that are 50, 100, 200 bucks and our tap water, for the most part, is drinkable. Water is so precious and here in Nicaragua, it’s extremely hot and humid, people need water constantly.

The woman of the household was named Felipa (Had a huge laugh about that!) and she explained to us how wonderful and useful the water filter (the blue bucket shaped item) was. She said that the overall living of her family has increased and that she uses it for everything. She was incredibly sweet and thanked Jon for his tremendous effort and determination in aiding everyone around the area. Jon was really humbled and definitely content in staying humble. After she had told us the benefits that the filter and Jon brought to the community, we walked around the house, and then we were on our way to San Juan del Sur. Seeing her face light up with joy and pride in having Jon around was truly amazing. Just goes to show the gratitude that one can have for a lifetime.

We drove through San Juan del Sur and we found ourselves at a hotel called Maderas Village, David Grossman’s hotel. We dropped our bags and after a long and hot day, we walked over to the beach to cool ourselves with some ocean waves. We watched the sun sink into the sea as the grey clouds came closer to us.

Nicaragua: Day 3

“Inspirational” is one of the many words I can think of to describe my third day in Nicaragua. After arriving in San Juan Del Sur day before, I had a chance to meet with Alanna and Jennifer Tynan, two sisters who founded the Latitude Project, briefly in the Hotel. When I saw them at first, I had a very little knowledge about their work with the Latitude Project. After a minute or two conversation(s) with both of them, they told me and Dr. Sama that they are taking us to a community tour next morning.  

While we were on our way to the community tour, Sally (GLOBE Fellow), my Spanish teachers in this trip, told us how these two sisters would spend half of the year in Canada working in two or three jobs to fund their projects in Nicaragua. As Sally was telling us about their story, I saw both sisters picking up people in their van from the road and dropping them off to their destinations, as people in that community lacked adequate transportation. When we arrived in the village, Alanna and Jennifer first took us to a pre-school that they built couple of years ago. It did not take me a long time to see the strong attachment of these two sisters to this particular community. While we had tough time interacting with the kids in the school, it seemed like most of the kids embraced both sisters as if they were their own family members. From the visit to pre-school to our last visit at a small house in that village, Alanna and Jennifer Tynan’s strong bond with the villagers were on full display, as they were checking up on their roof projects, and making arraignment to bring government funded lunch for students from another town. In one instance, for example, they stopped by a house to see how a new born baby and mom were doing.  

As we were walking around the village, we saw the positive impacts of these two sisters on this particular community. They not only had the roof projects to protect villagers during the rainy seasons, but they have been working tirelessly to improve the health and education in that village. The Latitude Projected invested money on sanitation, especially building latrines, to reduce the chances of preventable diseases, such as diarrhea. Not only are they are building those things, they coming back to these villages on their own to follow up. If I recall correctly, Dr. Sama asked them how secure they feel doing such projects around different communities in Nicaragua on their own. In reply, one of the sisters said that they feel very secure and the people in the community would never let anything happen to them. It was really amazing to see how these two young women from Canada connected with the people in a rural village in Nicaragua so well.

It was really inspiring to see the commitment and dedication of these two sisters to make a difference in the lives of many Nicaraguan. They could be anything they want to be in Canada, yet they chose to come to a rural village in Nicaragua, which is very much disconnected from the outside world, and help underprivileged people. I don’t think anything other than the word “Inspiration” would be a right to describe my third day in Nicaragua.    

Day 3 San Juan del Sur y Latitude Project

Last night I spoke with Jennifer, one of the Latitude sisters the other being Alanna, and she told me about what their programs that they have implemented. The Sisters are all about changing the perception of charity and NGO. Jenn stressed the idea that in order to run a successful NGO, the first step has to be about listening to the needs of the community. That is exactly what the Sisters have been doing they have community meetings and in these meetings the priority are given to the worst issue. For example with the community we visited, the Sisters built a pre-school then they went onto reroofing some homes and putting up Latrines.

This particular community is home to about 450 residents, the houses are generally spread out there are a few that are close to one another. The dirt roads paved the community and were decorated by feces. The animals in the community are free to roam as they choose. The people in the community normally hitchhike to and from town or they go on horseback. The community is isolated from the other communities and towns. The horses in Nicaragua only cost about $200 dollars which is relatively cheap.

The preschool had about 30-40 kids which were shy around us. They were not used to visitors and seeing so many some kids were overwhelmed. We gave the kids stickers and some school supplies we bought. Following the preschool we visited some of the homes in the community. First we went to Big Mamma’s house and checked in on her mattress. She said that with the new mattress she has been having rich dreams. Next we walked 15 minutes up the way to another house. This house had barbwire and flowers planted in front at the entrance. This house was so clean and well kept. We had the delight of meeting a 9 day old baby. Her name is Emily and seeing her really bought joy into my heart. The family was very proud of their house and all they had. The Nicaraguans are proud and embraces everything that they do have. It was very grounding to not only see how happy these people are but also the work that the Sisters have done for their communities. The Sisters take care of 10 communities and they fund the program 100%. Jenn and Alana spend half the year in Nicaragua and the other half home, in Canada, to raise money. The Sisters are currently staying without any cost to them at the Maderas Village.

After the visit to the community we visited the Jesus the Merciful Statue which is on top of the hill in San Juan del Sur and we concluded the night with some authentic Roman Italian pizza. 

Day 2 Managua y San Juan del Sur

We kicked off the morning with breakfast I am making note of this because it was very tasty. Not only was it fresh but also organic. The pineapple was white and not yellow like we are used too back home. The other fruits were very sweet especially the banana. The yoke of the egg were a little more orange than yellow and I was very excited to be able to have them over easy.

Following breakfast we went to supply hope and had a crash course in micro-franchising the speaker Ricardo was very passionate and very welcoming. He then took us to visit Margret who is running one of the micro-franchises called Mercado Fresco. Mercado Fresco supplies organic healthy foods to the locals. The food is not only nutritious but also very affordable the families in these low income communities usually purchase cheap goods from the junk foods ridden botega. 

After we drove for two hours to Tolas we met with Jon Thompson and he introduced us to Nica Agua which is a water filtration program. The filtration is done by these clay pots which look like flower pots. We visited Felipa a user, community leader and advocate of the Filtron. She said since using this filter there as been better cooking and stomach issues have ceased. Her home is filled with animals from piglets to ducklings. She is a huge fan of the Filtron. 

He also runs Communidad Connect linked here: http://www.comunidadconnect.org/ which has a number of different programs. The one that stood out me the most is the Sustainable Tourism. This programs allows for people to come to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua to do volunteer work. This is an inexpensive way to give back. Most impressive is that the money raised from this cause is used to run the rest of the Communidad Connect programs. 

At the end of the day we drove up to Playa Maderas which is the hotel that David Grossman built with his partners. The hotel reminds me of those picturesque Fiji homes, but on land instead of on water. The homes with the straw roofs. We did not waste any time and headed down to the beach. The tide was very strong and being a weak swimmer I stayed close to the shore. Its hard to describe the beach and even harder to describe the emotions that consumed me. None the less it was a sight to see and somewhere I would like to return too. 

Day 4

Yesterday we met with Peder Kolind of Carita Feliz in Granada.  He told us about his projects, including an innovative housing project.  In order to live in the community of houses that Peder built, residents had to follow five rules.  The first was that they cannot beat their wives.  He said that wife beating could sometimes be a bragging point in poor communities, and he will evict any residents who partake in this practice.  The other rules were that you cannot mistreat your children, you cannot keep pigs, chickens, or other unsanitary animals, you have to pay your mortgage on time, and you can’t throw trash on the ground.  He found that when residents follow these rules, the people end up much happier and have a better sense of community.  Another project was a kindergarten.  This school welcomes any child regardless of family income, and offers resources to help them succeed.  We visited the school, and were very impressed with it.  The students were taking a computer class and learning to type from age three.  Others were doing zumba and practicing for a dance show they would be presenting to their parents the next week.  The students here were so excited to see us and wanted to talk and take pictures with us.  We gave them school supplies and they presented us with a poster of 250 of the children.  One of the most impressive things that Peder told us is that he tells students starting in kindergarten that he will support them all the way until they are doctors or lawyers or whatever they wanted to be as long as they studied.  This gives students motivation to study as they see a real means to change their lives and become successful.

There are so many good people doing so many good things in Nicaragua.  It is inspiring to see their dedication to helping others working to better the lives of others.

We spent the rest of the day looking around the beautiful colonial city of Granada.  We actually ran into Peder again on the street later, and he recommended a great restaurant to us.  We saw the Cathedral, where there was a celebration going on with fireworks and music.  We ended our day with a swim in the hotel pool, a perfect ending to a perfect day.

Day 3

What a humbling day.  After breakfast we left with Alanna and Jennifer Tynan, sisters, friends, and founders of The Latitude Project.  They took us into a rural village south of San Juan del Sur, where the houses are very spread out and the people have very little interaction with others outside their village.  We started at a preschool, where the children were very shy.  Because they do not see many visitors or people from outside their village, they were reluctant to speak with us.  They eased up when we gave them all Mickey Mouse stickers, and we gave the teacher some school supplies.  We continued on the dirt road to visit a family that had received mattresses through The Latitude Project.  This family houses many visitors and families in the community who need help, and they had been sleeping on a wooden table.  The family was very friendly and excited to see us.  It is obvious that Alanna and Jennifer are well-liked in the village for all that they are doing.  Everyone gets very excited to see them, welcomes them into their homes, and even send children after them to ask them to visit.  We visited another two families who received new roofs through The Latitude Project.  We met one mother and her nine-day old baby girl, who was asleep.  We were so moved to see how these people had so little, but took so much pride in what they did have.  The outsides of the houses were painted with flowers and animals and the insides were incredibly clean.  We walked up to the well and found that there was an man inside about 20 feet deep, digging it deeper.  It was incredible to see this process, and how hard people have to work to get water.  The community was working together, with one man digging inside the well, a few people pulling up the buckets, and another moving the dirt and rocks away from the well.  As we were about to leave, we found out that the government program that delivers rice and beans to schools for lunch had skipped the village this week.  This meant that the children would not get a meal the next day.  Alanna and Jennifer were nice enough to offer to pick up the food from another village and deliver it in the morning.  Everyone was very thankful, it's no wonder these women are well-liked.

We walked away from this village saying that we wouldn't complain about anything ever again.  The village was so poor, but nobody was unhappy.  Everyone joked and enjoyed themselves, despite the heat and the poverty.  It was a great experience for all of us.

Day 2 in Nicaragua

Yesterday was another great day.  After breakfast we headed to Supply Hope in Mangaua, a non-profit organization that is researching and developing income-earning opportunities through micro-franchises for the under-employed citizens of Managua.  We had the opportunity to visit a woman named Margaret running a Mercado Fresco through Supply Hope, a type of small supermarket that offers fresh healthy foods in the low-income neighborhoods, where people typically eat junk food because that is all that is available to them.  The woman running the supermarket looked to be in her early 20s and had four children to feed.  Previously, she had worked in the trash dump collecting recyclable materials.  People working in the trash dump typically earn less than two dollars a day.  In fact, 80% of the population in Nicaragua typically lives under this poverty line.  By allowing women like Margaret to operate Mercados Frescos, not only is affordable, quality food made available to these low-income communities, but wages also increased for these operators from two dollars a day to seven dollars a day.

The Nicaraguan people are so friendly, at the end of our visit to the Mercado Fresco, Ricardo, our guide from Supply Hope, offered to show us around Managua when we return on Saturday.

After that visit,  we were on our way south.  We had another visit with Jon Thompson, founder of Comunidad Connect, another non-profit organization operating in Nicaragua.  Jon taught us about water filtration, its importance, and the dangers of unclean water.  He told us that 40% of infant deaths are from diarrhea, which is often caused by unsanitary water and is easily prevented.  To fight this, Jon's non-profit runs a program called Nica Agua (clever name!).  This program offers people water filtration buckets in exchange for two days of community service.  This combines the social goal of public health with community needs.  Nica Agua also provides education on the importance of clean water and how to maintain a filtration system, and has a very good success rate in convincing people of its importance.

We then visited a family who was using a water filtration bucket.  Felipa, the head of the home and mother of the children, was incredibly friendly.  She welcomed us into her humble home and told us how much clean water had helped her family.  She even told us that her mother was 96 years old, and would be more susceptible to illness from water, but was healthy.  She showed us her animals including chickens and chicks, pigs and piglets, and a cow.  We had so much fun seeing the different animals and speaking with Felipa, who also showed us her mango tree and offered us mangoes.  It's amazing how people who have so little are willing to share with us what they do have and are so selfless.

We ended our day by checking into our hotel in San Juan del Sur.  STJ Law Alumnus and our guide David Grossman owns the Maderas Village and was nice enough to offer us rooms here.  We swam in the Pacific Ocean, which is delightfully warm and extremely powerful.  The beach is so beautiful and we had a great time.

I really can't describe how overwhelming this experience is.  I've never seen so much poverty, but I've also never seen such a spirit of giving.  There are so many inspirational people helping out here trying to better the lives of the Nicaraguan people, and the low-income citizens themselves are willing to help others.  I'm really enjoying this trip, and think that this is an incredibly valuable and rewarding experience.