La Carpio

While I currently am on somewhat of a vacation, as I have no class until November 5 when Conservation and Development begins, I have been keeping plenty busy with D.C. job and internship searches for the spring, and more than anything with advancing on the projects that I am coordinating in La Carpio with my UPEACE classmates.

I've been involved in La Carpio (a poor marginalized community outside San Jose, at the site of the national dump) since visiting it the first time with my Food Security class in January. A group of us from the class decided that we should follow up with the community after conducting interviews with a number of families who left quite an impression on us, due to their determination, spirit, and willingness to share their sometimes heart-breaking and often inspiring stories, and also for the extremely challenging conditions in which many of them lived, dealing with extreme poverty, lack of services, issues with migrant status, and the environmental hazards of being surrounded by two flood-prone rivers and a dump that receives over 700 tons of garbage a day. Since March we have been holding meetings with CODECA, La Carpio's community development council, with the goal of collaboratively developing a number of initiatives aimed at addressing some of the community's key issues, such as environment and health, stigmatization by the national media, and food security.

As the only student from that group remaining at UPEACE this semester, I have been working on getting together a group of motivated new students who want to commit to working in La Carpio throughout the academic year, and to advancing with the food and environmental security initiatives which are the projects that I am heading up. Having recently contacted an environmental consulting company that is very interesting in lending their services to our projects, and having finished writing a proposal for a grant that would fund much of our work over the next year, things are really starting to move along. Yet there is much work ahead...

In addition, I recently published an article on La Carpio as a paradigmatic case of the structural and cultural violence that exists in Costa Rica in UPEACE's Peace and Conflit Monitor.

Please check it out:

http://www.monitor.upeace.org/innerpg.cfm?id_article=547

Anniversary in Granada, Nicaragua

When David and I left Bluefields we headed immediately to the gorgeous colonial city of Granada to spend our one year anniversary together. I'd heard so much about Granada- one of Nicaragua's hottest tourist destinations due to the well-maintained colonial architecture and relative prosperity of the city, in addition to the nearby lakes and volcanoes- and desperately wanted to visit it before leaving the country because it is so different in just about every way from Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast, and I was admittedly ready for a change. Costa Rica has no comparable cities either, so Granada was a must-see.

When we arrived in Granada ready for a relaxing couple of days of wandering around the area before heading south to Costa Rica, we found ourselves in the midst of a wild and crazy party (I believe it was the city's Fiestas Patronales) that included a parade with lots of horses, floats, blaring music, and scantily clad bleach bottle blond Nica women, in addition to thousands of people decked out in cowboy gear with Cerveza Tona in hand. We spent one rather overwhelming day watching the parade and drinking beers in the central park, but decided to take off the next day for an adventure outside of town and away from the chaos and crowds. We rented a pair of bikes and made our way down a rough dirt road to Laguna de Apoyo, which is a crystal clear lake in the crater of a volcano, surrounded by jungle. It was amazing! The water was so warm, so clear, and the sounds and colors of the jungle so vibrant and beautiful. Having gone on bikes rather than taxi, we ended up on a side of the lake that we had completely to ourselves. We spent hours soaking in the lake and did some hiking around in search of monkeys, toucans and the like, which I heard but never spotted. However, on our bike ride back into town, we did see a group of at least two dozen large green parrots fly over us squawking their heads off.
When we arrived back at our hotel in Granada we both had sore butts and sunburns, but felt great- exhilarated and happy. Being our anniversary and all, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner out on the town. We were sure we'd picked out one of the nicest restaurants in Granda, but were pretty disappointed (thanks a lot Moon Handbooks!). The whole experience was at least entertaining. We had typical Nicaraguan food masquerading as Spanish cuisine, while serenaded by a band that included one extremely out of tune guitar and a lead singer with a penchant for cheesy renditions of Latin pop songs. After a bottle of wine we could do nothing but laugh at the situation. Ahhh...Nicaragua. Such a special place. You really never know what to expect.

Final Days in Monkey Point (back in August)

David with the 2nd-6th graders up at the wind turbine for a class on renewable energy.


Teaching a class on renewable energy to the first graders.



Teaching with bE's model wind turbine.



Some of the girls and me after a great class on sustainable development.


David showing off the lovely stone path that he made to our house (those damn cows and the rain made the walk home quite interesting)

So I thought I'd go back and start filling in this blog, which unfortunately hasn't been updated in over two months. David and I kept pretty busy during our final days in Nicaragua with blueEnergy, what with writing reports, discussing strategy for getting batteries into Monkey Point, defining future community relations strategy, and saying our goodbyes. On August 16 we took off for a few days in Granada and then home to Costa Rica. Since then we've been in classes and have been keeping busy. But now that we are approaching October, I decided it was time to update this thing! So here goes...

Our final days in Monkey Point were pretty awesome, despite the usual turmoil in the community, a few rare sicknesses, jealous monkeys, a dead guy washing up down the beach, a drug chase nearby, a couple of drunken community members, big wig politics coming in to talk about the construction of a mega-port, highway, oil pipeline, and dry canal in Monkey Point, the theft of cookies, oatmeal, and a hammock from our house....and well, why go on? Monkey Point is a crazy place, yes. Daily life and work there was often extremely challenging, sometimes depressing, sometimes scary, often inspiring. Above all, great people, great food, great beaches, and such an amazing yearning for education and progress amongst most community members. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, in so many ways. I miss it!
Despite spending the last couple of weeks there with painful oozing skin ulcers and a few days with strep throat, while trying to keep up with our work, I was so sad to leave. During those final weeks we continued with all of our classes (literacy, English, environmental and energy education) and work with the Energy Commission. Our classes with the kids on renewable energy were particularly fun. It was frustrating to have to leave knowing that with maybe 2 more months in the community the efforts toward literacy and increasing the community's understanding (and sense of ownership) of the renewable energy project could have been so much more effective. Our time there was too short. However, I do think we had an impact.
David and I spent our last week with blueEnergy in Bluefields writing reports and guidelines for future energy volunteers, trying to strengthen bE's community relations in general and ensure that our work in Monkey Point would set a precedent. No other volunteer had ever spent such an extended amount of time in a community or done such significant work (most volunteers going to communities do mainly technical work, often the community relations work has lacked in organization), and we wanted to encourage bE to build on our experience with volunteers working on the social aspects of their projects in the future. We also wanted to ensure that all of our work (and the work of the Energy Commission) on getting batteries into homes in Monkey Point wasn't in vain. We're still in touch with bE on this subject, and it sounds like the battery project is coming along. 10 households will be eligible for a micro-credit loan from ADEPHCA for a subsidized home battery package that will enable them to light their homes and run a black and white TV, as long as they make a small monthly payment each month in order to charge the battery with the community's wind and solar power at the charging station. David and I are both helping bE with this project remotely from Costa Rica. As happy as I am to be back in classes and at our beautiful home in El Rodeo, a part of me wishes that I were able to spend more time in Bluefields and Monkey Point in order to see this project through.

Snapshots of Life in Monkey Point

35 Days in Monkey Point

David and I returned to Bluefields on Friday in a dugout canoe with a 15 horsepower motor, which meant 6 hours of queasiness traveling up the coast from Monkey Point. It was definitely strange to arrive back in the city and find our senses overloaded by the amount of cars, people, garbage, noise, and stuff after 35 days in the bush plus 6 hours on the sea. And while there are some perks involved in being back at Bluefields (comfy bed, fans, cold beer, ice cream, delicious dinner and dessert parties with the other volunteers), I'm missing Monkey Point and am anxious to get back. However, we're making the most of this week by not only catching up on email and blogging, but also meeting with blueEnergy staff, figuring out what our strategy is for introducing batteries into the community for home electrification, meeting with the micro-credit organization who will be helping people to purchase the batteries, meeting with the Rama and Creole Territorial Government, working on reports, giving presentations, buying supplies for the next three weeks in Monkey Point, etc.

So what did we do in Monkey Point for 35 days? Sure, there was plenty of coconut eating and beach time as one might expect, but our first month in the community was actually quite busy with classes 7 days a week on literacy, English, the environment, and energy, plus our work with the Energy Commission in advancing with the energy project and ensuring that the energy system is benefiting the community in an equitable way. There have been frustrations, challenges, big laughs and huge rewards. I think that my happiest moments have been in the literacy classes, in which I have seen many students make huge leaps forward. The thirst that people (both children and adults) have for learning is amazing! Until the 80s (post-revolution) secondary education was illegal on the coast, and even today very few people have studied at all, many kids spend years in first grade (the education being so poor and the classes so few and far between that they never learn enough to pass), and it is rare that a teacher spends much time at all in isolated communities like Monkey Point. So having classes 7 days a week, rain or shine, is something new in Monkey Point and something people love! It's also an excellent way to be taking advantage of the power from the blueEnergy system- holding night classes everyday, in which at least a couple people from every single family are present. The benefits for the community are huge, and we're all enjoying ourselves. Of course it's frustrating to know that once we leave for good (August 7 or so), the community teacher will promise to take over our night literacy classes and continue teaching environmental education, but will probably not end up following through. He's overloaded, has health problems, and likely doesn't want to take on more work on a volunteer basis when he already makes a tiny salary. However, even if our classes aren't continued past August, I have seen enough progress in the first month that I feel confident in saying that we've made an impact. Lilian, a 28 year-old mother of 4 who never studied a day in her life until recently, has told me that she can feel her mind opening up more and more every day. When I arrive at her home in the mornings for private classes (in addition to the night classes that she attends), she is always out on her porch early with her books, studying on her own and eagerly awaiting our class. Every student in my class can now write his or her first name (up from less than half when we began classes) and many are writing their full names. Even if there are a couple who still don't know the vowels, I'm happy to know that when I leave, everyone in my class will be able to sign his or her own name.

The challenges of living in a poor rural community full of ethnic/racial tensions have of course been plentiful. The Father's Day party which David and I helped to decorate and prepare for with the children (this was one of my favorite afternoons!) ended up with two drunk men getting in a machete fight. While we have been safe and healthy, 3 of our chickens disappeared within the first two weeks, likely stolen. Luckily one hen who lays a blue egg every morning remains. Thank you to the thieves for leaving the only egg-layer of the 4 behind!

Perhaps the biggest frustration for us has been the difficulty of holding meetings with the Energy Commission. While they all arrived fairly punctually (within an hour of the starting time, which is normal) for our first weekly meeting, and expressed to us how eager they were to move ahead with the project and begin home electrification via batteries, only the two members of the Commission who currently have direct benefit from the system in the form of light in their homes have bothered to attend our other meetings. Of course I have begun to understand why for some, a sunny Saturday afternoon is better spent planting quiquisque than meeting with a couple of gringos who may or may not follow through with their promises to help provide energy to homes. We are lucky to have two committed members of the Commission at this point, and it seems likely that once there are other beneficiaries in the community (people who have light in their homes from the blueEnergy system), there will be more people truly interested in working with the Energy Commission.

There is so much more to say, so many stories to tell. It's been quite the adventure so far. In order to keep things short, I have decided to sum up a few other aspects of my time in Monkey Point in simple numbers:


Number of days in Monkey Point: 35
Average hours of classes given daily: 3
Number of pictures taken: 881
Number of times I have been spied on by a monkey while in the outhouse: about 30
Number of sea turtles seen bludgeoned to death: 1
Number of lunches in which sea turtle was served: 1
Time which must pass after the scheduled starting time for a class or meeting before people begin to arrive: 30-60 minutes
Number of days in a row without sun: 4
Number of mice who invade our house at night: sounds like at least 10
Feet scaled by yours truly on a coconut tree: just 5 or 6
Feet scaled by the average child on a coconut tree: 30-40
Average amount of hours spent in a hammock per day: 2
Average number of times that David and I go swimming in the ocean per day: 1.5
Number of households interested in purchasing batteries to electrify their homes: 20
Average number of Energy Commission members (out of 6) who attend our weekly meetings: 2
Number of times I was in contact with the world outside Monkey Point: 1 (via radio)

Goodbye Bluefields!

It's finally that time- we're leaving Bluefields for Monkey Point tomorrow! The past 48 hours have been totally hectic with last-minute meetings, shopping trips, and packing. In spite of the exhaustion I'm very excited for the trip. We have so many plans for the stay in Monkey Point- teaching, organizing, empowering, and just living with people, learning from them, and giving back what we can. It's going to be awesome!
I'll miss the yummy meals at the blueEnergy house, the air-conditioned office, the cold beer, the camaraderie of the fellow volunteers, and the Bluefields culture that I'm coming to love more and more. Yes, this city is an interesting, lively place. But what can compare to living in Monkey Point? Beans and rice fried in coconut milk, fresh fish, johnny cake, swimming, beach soccer, mangoes, not to mention the work we'll be doing with the Energy Commission and in the school. We're going to be busy! But it's going to be a good, fun busy. I can't wait!

So goodbye to Bluefields, the blueEnergy office, workshop, and volunteers. Goodbye to cars, loud music, cold beer, ice cream, pavement...the good and the bad... See you in a few weeks when we're back for a quick break.

Rondon!!!

I had some serious cabin fever until the miracle of rondon at Eloise's house occurred on Sunday. The blueEnergy house/office in which I generally spend 20-24 hours a day was just getting a bit old. I was going stir crazy! I can't spend that much time in front of a computer, sitting in a plastic chair, or in my bunkbed with the fan blowing on me, even if I am reading the final Harry Potter without going crazy! David and I have been going on the occasional run recently, which has helped. But its quite hard to motivate to run when its 80-90 degrees out from 8 am - 8 pm, or pouring down rain and the teensiest bit cooler. And of course the Palo de Mayo festivities have shaken things up a bit in the city. Its been fun attending the parades and concerts, seeing a bit of true Bluefields culture. But the festivities also meant that the streets have been even more packed than usual, with more drunk men and even louder music than usual! Of course that's Bluefields and I appreciate it for what it is. However, I was getting grumpy and needed a change of pace, and Sunday's lunch at a beautiful and quiet home on the lagoon cured me!

Julie (a fellow community relations volunteer here at bE) and a Spanish friend Monica went early to Eloise's house with red snapper, prawns, coconut, and lots of breadkind (plantain, yucca, quiquisque, and other starchy vegetables) to begin the long process of preparing rondon, a traditional coconut milk-based stew that is now my favorite thing about Bluefields! David, Seb, Charles, and I arrived later in the afternoon to find them still working hard- grating the coconut, preparing the fish, peeling shrimp and breadkind. Its a long and arduous process! But before long Eloise had everything stewing in a pot over some charcoal and we all retreated to the porch overlooking the lagoon with Toña and Flor de Caña. We lounged, chatted in Spanish, English, Creole, and French, drank in the view of the lagoon and jungley cays, and enjoyed the breeze coming off the water. I hadn't felt this good since we got back from Monkey Point!

When the rondon was ready Eloise served us each up a heaping bowl and we dug in. This has got to be the best meal I've had in Central America so far! The rich but not too rich coconut milk broth, the surprisingly flavorful and firm breadkind, the red snapper and prawns, and the smoked meat which Seb had brought along and added a wonderful flavor, was altogether amazing! It was so nice to be with friends on the water, eating good food. Its something I've missed. Sort of brought me back to my days in Peru, where Sundays were all about sharing huge plates of ceviche and beer with friends on the waterfront. I love food culture! Particularly coastal food culture... Its the most delicious!

So I've now fallen back in love with Blufields and am feeling better than ever! Getting away for the day and spending it in such a lovely way was more refreshing than I could've imagined. Just one more week here at the office and I'm now really trying to make the most of my time. Preparing materials for classes on energy and water and sanitation, shopping for supplies to last us 2 months in isolated Monkey Point, getting trained in the Yo, Si Puedo literacy system which David and I are going to be teaching, finishing up a report on the water situation in Monkey Point, figuring out a million little details (logistical and other), and of course taking the time to be in touch with friends and family who I'll be unable to contact throughout the remainder of the summer.

Hopefully we'll be leaving for Monkey Point on Monday, June 9th. I can't wait! Give me the beach, the jungle, mango trees, and fresh air!