This morning I wandered over to Dona Carmen’s for a breakfast of rice, beans, eggs, and bread. On the agenda for lunch: crispy lizard. I figured it was time to add another entry and update you all on things here in
El Menco, Nicaragua.
First of all, the lizards are about the size of huge iguana’s and live in holes in trees. I’m not sure exactly what they are, but they’re basically like a grey iguana, without the really long tails. She says she boils down the whole lizard and then mixes the meat with corn. I opted out of crispy lizard corn surprise.
Kai and I have been back in El Menco for a little over a week. We had a great trip to Costa Rica for Christmas, and visited friends that we haven’t seen for years. We also took a trip to Monteverde, the cloud forest where I lived the summers of my 18th and 19th years, and taught environmental education. The place still takes your breath away, despite many developments for tourism. Kai was very excited to be in the rainforest, as we saw monkeys, sloths, tarantulas, and so on. We hiked in three different forests- two cloud forests and a lower rainforest, and took a night hike. Overall the trip was very refreshing. It was a big privledge just to be able to travel there, as many people in Nicaragua only dream of going to Costa Rica. The relationship between these countries is very similar to that of the United States and Mexico. Costa Rica is one of the richest nations in Central America, and Nicaragua is the poorest. Many people in Nicaragua enter Costa Rica in search of better paying jobs, mostly for wages that are not acceptable to most Costa Ricans. Thus there is tension between the countries, as well as racism between the citizens. Costa Rica has done more to tighten their borders over the past few years (sound familiar yet?), and now they require that anyone entering have a valid passport, while other countries only require a national i.d. I read in the paper that over Christmas, over 630 Nicaraguans were caught illegally crossing the border. I have no idea of the penalty.
We arrived back in El Menco on the 3rd of January, to hear news that a 7 year old boy had been killed in an accident the day before. He had been sitting on a wooden cart with his father that was loaded with watermelon, pulled by two huge cattle. A watermelon fell off and the boy went to catch it, and fell under the wheel, which crushed his skull. People went running to the health center, which was empty- the nurses were out on vacation, but the boy had died by the time they got there. That same day they had a service, dug a hole in the cemetery, and buried him. When I arrived, the mood was somber, and some of the kids were sad, but life continued as usual, and more carts rolled through the streets either driven by little kids, or with kids riding.
Several days after arriving in El Menco, we headed into Managua to meet with Neyda, the Project Coodinator to discuss next steps for the ANF and the Millennium Village Project with El Menco. We stayed at the Managua Backpackers, and were told that we’d be picked up the next morning at 8:30am. At llam Neyda called and said that she wouldn’t have time to meet until 3pm. By 11:30 we were picked up and went to the office. 3pm passed, and finally at 4:30 Neyda came and talked for about five minutes to explain that she didn’t have time, and that she really couldn’t make decisions on some of the proposals until the Executive Director, Alvaro, communicated with her. He had been on vacation for the holidays. It was too late to get a bus all the way back to El Menco, so we paid for another night at the hostel. I understand that it isn’t personal- they had 30 people flying in from their largest donor the next day, who were staying for 3 days of events. It was simply poor timing. Nonetheless, it affects me in the sense that in some ways my hands are tied. I have been awaiting approval for many proposals, and it is hard to return to the community without answers.
I did get approval for funding for a Youth Encuentro to be held here next Saturday, and now we are working out some of the details. Next week in general will be busy, as we’ll celebrate Kai’s birthday on the 17th, the United Nations are coming on the 18th, (that’s the plan anyway), and the Encuentro is the 19th. On the 20th, Sunday, we will head back to Managua and prepare to leave early Tuesday morning for the United States. So little time, when there is so much more to do.
Another big event for the project is that the group of leaders here formed an official organization, named the Committee for Sustainable Development for El Menco. The elected a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer. It was very important for them that they have representation from each of four sectors, which they accomplished through nominations, and a democratic vote. I am very hopeful for this group, and at the same time very fearful. This is the first time in their known history that they’ve organized into a group with representation from all sectors, and I worry that without support, they won’t have anything that they want to talk about at meetings, and the group may dissolve. The next time they may attempt to organize, it may be very difficult.
This is perhaps the most crucial part of the fellowship- ensuring that your work is sustained, and any projects are followed up on. I am hoping to see some action on behalf of the ANF for this, as I meet with Neyda again this week.
I am sorry to say that my digital camera is broken, perhaps for good, so you will all have to suffice with words. We will continue to write long after we are back with any updates on the project.
Much love,
Elizabeth and Kai
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