To the Hills!

Hi everyone.  You're still here huh?  I must admit that I don't have this blog thing down yet and I think this is kind of a bad rambling mess...but hopefully it will get better in time.

Well alot has happened in the last week but I'm probably not going to talk about it all because I'm lazy.  Maybe tomorrow I'll finish the story.  For now I think I'll just focus on my recent trip to Candelaria.

Our trip started out pretty interesting to say the least.  We were orignally supposed to take a bus from Managua to Teustepe, the capital of the municipality in which Candelaria is located.  From there we planned on switch buses to get to Candelaria.  Due to some logistical errors however, mainly me not knowing what was going on and Calvin not paying attention because he was trying to get my bouncy ball out of the drainage ditch without contracting some deadlly disease, we missed out bus to Teustepe.  We later caught another bus but by the time we got to Teustepe the only bus to Candelaria had already departed.  Fully prepared for a 4-5 hour hike we instead were lucky enough to stumble across a Lechera (milk man) who was driving past Candelaria.  For 50 cents each we hopped in the back with 4 other Nicas (plus one picked up along the way) and proceeded on an hour and a half ride on one of the worst roads I've every experiened (this was two weeks after the government did MAJOR work to fix it up).  Needless to say it was fun.

As for Candelaria itself, I don't think any amount of words or pictures can adequately describe the life these people live.    It is simply something that you have to experience. I'm not an accomplished traveler by any means but I have visited over 10 countries in Europe and several Latin American one's at that.  All I can say is that in all my life this is the only time I have every experienced culture shock in any form.  It is a way of living I couldn't have prepared myself for.  Image turning the clock back a couple hundred years (minus a few modern gadgets like radios and semi-normal clothes

).   The houses are all made of mud/adobe/rock and usually consist of a 15x15 living room and 5x10 kitchen and a 10x10 bedroom for the entire family.  Among the residents of the house are any chickens, pigs, dogs, etc which feel the urge to walk in.  Laundry is done daily on a rock located somewhere in the yard and a shower consisted of going around to the side of the house and pouring a bucket of water on your head.

It's a hard life, there's no denying that.  The family gets up before dawn and the men head to the fields while the women begin there daily chores of cooking, cleaning, laundry and watching the kids.  Cooking is done on an indoor wood stove which means the women must breath in most of the smoke produced by the fire.  The men are  usually gone until nearly dusk working in their fields of corn and beans, often for over 10 hours.  Candelaria is one of the first towns in the city to get electricity which means they can afford to have 1-2 flourescent bulbs to light their home.  Refrigeration or any other more power consuming process is out of the question.  By 8 or 9 pm we were getting ready for bed so we could be up by 4.  Their lives are definately still controlled by the movement of the sun.

Nonetheless, the people are very happy and welcoming.  The simplicity of their lives relieves them of the stresses so often associated with our "progress."  So long as there is enough food and they are healthy, they really are content with their situation.  In fact everyone I talked too would not change their place in life in order to move to a large and "dangerous" city.  They welcome the advantages of technology so long as it does not fundamentally change the lives they lead or the safety and security they feel in their community.  While I believe they appreciate the work we do I no longer in any way feel that I am saving anyone.  Instead it is a simple exchange of services.  In return for pumps and electricity they will bestow upon me a model of simplicity and connection to the earth and to eachother.  A perspective when I feel that life is too busy, too hard or too stressful.

My family for my stay was a riot.  The father Apolonio, and his wife La María, are very patient, welcoming and fun people.  Which is good because they have to handle 5 little ones ranging from 3 to 15 years old.  At this point I must thank Calvin for retrieving my bouncy ball.  That and family pictures were all that got me through the first night when my spanish was literally non existent and I was in complete shock of the world I had entered.  By the end of my 4 days though I felt like I had 5 little brothers and sisters and I can't wait to see them again.  Thankfully though I will be moving into a new house, with my own sleeping space, as their living room wasn't the most convenient place for any of us.

Finally, we did manage to get some work done, believe it or not, as we finished Asofénix's first every biogas digestor, capable (we hope) or producing enough methane gas for cooking through the digestion of cow mierda.  Afterwhich the mierda is steralized and can be used to fertilize fields or gardens.  We also conducted a survey in the nearby town of Sonzapote of 50 houses on their use of water and general health, this will allow us to determine the impact of the solar water pump we will be installing in the village this fall.

Wow.  That's a lot of words.  And I really feel like I left a lot out.  Hopefully it's not too boring and I'll post pictures tomorrow to spice it up.

Saludos,

Dave

Bienvenidos a Nicaragua

One day under my belt and it has been pretty quiet, albeit interesting.  Darling, our roomate/unofficial cook made a delicious breakfast of rice, beans and bananas.  A tasty lunch of rice, beans and some sort of meat.  And finally a delicious dinner of rice, the same meat, and cabbage.  I think I'm going to have a pretty steady diet.  She's a great cook though and puts up great with my horrible gringo spanglish.

My home away from home is very much what I expected.....:).  The entire structure is made out of cement and cinder block.  There is no hot water (thank God...who would need it down here) and our stove is a propane two burner camp stove.  We do have a very nice patio and even two working computers.  I share a rather large room and bathroom with Calvin and I really think I can get used to the two inches of foam padding laid over plywood planks which serve as my bed.  All in all I find it pretty cosy and think I'll grow into it.  The pink walls throughout most of the building can only help...right?

I managed to get out into the city a little bit and even went on a quick bus trip.  I really like the bus system here.  It's composed of brightly painted school busses driving down the street with men standing in the door screaming at you to see if you want a ride while the bus driving honks at almost everyone he passes to get their attention.  It works though.  Although the only system we have right now for getting around is to know the general direction you want to go and find a bus going that way.  There are numbers and supposedly they mean something so I'll need to spend a day getting lost so I can figure it out.  You can't really complain when a fare costs the equivalent of 10 cents.

I also met Jaime, the director of Asofenix (who is also very tolerant of spanglish).  He seems like a very nice guy and from what everyone has said is very fun to be around but is also very busy.  Hopefully my spanish comes along quickly so I can communicate more effectively with him.  It was decided after some communication and hand gestures that my trip to the embassy and initiation to the city could be postponed as Calvin is going to Canceleria tomorrow to finish installing a biodigestor and it would be a great opportunity to go with him and meet the people in the village. So no rest for the weary, I'm on my way out tomorrow morning for 3-4 days of ditch digging and village living.  I'm very excited but also very nervous as I feel that all lifelines and support systems will be taken away from me as I leave Managua.  No internet or phone, no looking up words I don't know.  It feels like the deep end but I guess I have to learn how to swim sometime.

Cheers for now.  I'll be back on Monday to hopefully have something more interesting to report.

There is no moment of delight in any journey like the beginning of it

Hello to everyone,

Thank you for visiting my blog.  I'm very excited about upcoming year of work and perhaps you are as well.  I thought I'd start with a little background about who I am, who I'm working for and what I'm doing.  I'll try to keep it short and give you resources if you're really interested in more information.

As almost all of you know my name is David Hauth.  I recently graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Aerospace Engineering.  I had always known that I wanted to spend time after graduation traveling and using my education to help those who didn't have the resources, education and opportunity afforded me.  The past year or so I have also become very interested in renewable energy the the opportunity it affords us as a society and myself as an engineer.  I'm excited to have the opportunity to do something I find interesting and worthwhile, which is a needed and necessary part of our future.

With these goals in mind I stumbled across Green Empowerment, a Portland based organization that partners with local NGO's in operating throughout central america and the Phillipines.  Green Empowerment's model is based on helping developing poor rural areas in both environmentally and economically ways.  Environmentally, in that they work to develop sustainable and renewable sources of energy for poor rural areas of the world that have little, or no, access to electricity or potable water.  Economically in that they insure these comminuties have the ability and desire to maintain and care for these systems with community based funding and planning.

One of Green Empowerment's closest partner NGO's is Asofenix.  Asofenix is a Nicaraguan based NGO run by it's director Jaime Muñoz, who has over ten years of experience in the renewable and social development field.  Operating primarily in the state of Boaco, Asofenix has a proven record and extensive experience primarily in solar water pumps and other solar installations.  They have also moved into new work with the recent development and installation of biogas digestors for use in cooking and fertilizer.  Asofenix also has developed close relationships with other NGO's in Nicaragua, such and Blue Energy, and is using those to transition into both micro-hydro and small scale wind systems.

The main projects that I will be working on with Asofenix involve a regional development plan for the San Jose de los Remates municipality in Boaco.  The plan calls for two micro-hydro plans as well as several solar installations and possibly a small scall wind.  This development is not scheduled to start until December of this year and until then I will be primarily working on a solar water pump installation in the town of Son Zapote.

If you care to know more information about either Green Empowerment or Asofenix you can browse GE's website at www.greenempowerment.org.  Asofenix does not currently have a website but it currently being worked on.

(Warning to all readers.  This section of the post was in part written at 5am in a sleep deprived state of delirium and hallucination....unless the young woman across from me really does have green and pink hair.  Then it's just delirium.  Also, it's a little sentimental for you teary eyed folk.)

As I sit in the airport watching tropical storm Fay make its way towards Miami (where I happen to have a layover) while I wait for my flight a lot of different thoughts are circling my head.  Mainly I'm realizing that in my 2 hours of sleep induced stupor this morning I forgot to eat breakfast.  I'm hungry.

In between my intermittent hunger pains I keep reflecting, of course (this wouldn't be a good first blog if I didn't), on the family and friends who have gathered these last few day to wish me well and show me off.   My reflection led me to realize that yup, I'm pretty lucky.  It's almost stupid how lucky I have been in my economics, health and loving family.  I'm pretty much blessed across the board and for some reason the other shoe has never dropped.....did you hear that Hurricane Fay.....it has never dropped.

In all seriousness I can't begin to explain how grateful I am to my home, and by "home " I of course mean my family and my friends.  The words of love, support and encouragment I have received have been everything I needed and more to help keep me committed to this year and my experience in Nicaragau.  I remember an NPR episode of Prairie Home Companion in which Mr. Keillor wisely observed that it is often our family and the metaphorical "foundation" they represent that allows us to build our lives and explore the world.  It is the knowledge that no matter how turbulent, adventurous or ambiguous our lives become we can always, and I mean always, go home.  Home is constant and continuous.  Home, and everything it represents, has always been there, is there, and will always be there.  Paradoxical as it may sound, it seems as though it is through the planting of our roots that we are able to grow wings.

Thank you.  They say home is where the heart is and I want you all to know that my heart is and always will be with you.

I think I will leave it at that this morning (mom you can take this opportunity to grab a kleenex).  I'll finish this post later, hopefully from the comfort of my new Nicaraguan residence.

>>>>>>>

So I made it safe and sound to Managua (that other shoe never dropped).  Sarah and Seth Hayes and Calven Helfestien who is a volunteer through Engineers for a Sustainable World, met me at the airport.  Us four gringos then took a quick tour of the city before going to dinner.  I have been many places and to many cities in my life but nothing can quite compare to what I have seen so far.  The difference is not that it is chaotic, many metropolises are chaotic.  I think the difference was that the chaos of other Latin American or European towns has always felt like a very cultural disorder, almost cultivated and prized by the people who live there.  Here it seems a much more basic and an unavoidable reality of existence.  Why, I don't know.  Maybe just because there is more trash in the street, a lot more run down buildings still being used for business and shelter.  Maybe it's because the horse and buggy that just went by my window is already a normal and noncommittal occurrence.  Maybe because we drove for 30 minutes in one direction and the bedlam never ended.  This is definitely the poorest city I have every visited and it feels as though the people recognize and are willing to do whatever it takes to survive.  I must qualify my observation by stating this was just the impression I got from one night of driving around and I am no anthropologist.  But the poverty is in your face and unabating.