Ay, que calor

You'd probably be surprised to know that, despite the intense heat and humidity (that's totally kicking my ass), we actually have been working and getting things done down here. I visited Paz y Vida, one of the three women's housing projects that I'm working on, Saturday morning for an hour or so. They meet about once every couple weeks now but set up a special meeting in order to get acquainted with Alli and I so that we could start our work with them. About 30 members that will potentially live in the community met us on their land, where they have a small structure that provides shelter from the rain and sun but not much else. The construction has yet to begin and they have a long way to go before its a completely functional community. Its been in the works for about two years now and its surprising that they're still so motivated.

This picture shows their land, which they just recently divided into equal plots on which each family will have a small concrete home with indoor, potable, running water, a kitchen, bathroom, and the like.

After we introduced ourselves and spoke a little about the projects we'll be working on, we split them up into groups and handed out nice little cards we made so that they could think together of some ideals and goals for their future community. While there were the obvious answers like running water, good lighting, and places for children to play, we were also surprised at the number of people who solely wished for a safe place where they could live in harmony, unity, and peace and work with one another to overcome their many challenges. After they shared their goals and ideas for their community with the group, they had a nice little presentation for us where a few of their daughters danced along to typical Nicaraguan music. It was cute.

Yesterday we had the day off and Pedro, Alli, and I went on a little trip to the nearby Volcano, Mombacho. It's a fairly decent size and only took about an hour and a half to hike to the top. Although most of the area around Granada where I'm living is pretty dusty and practically infertile, the volcano almost always gets rain and has a cloudforest at the top, which is basically a small rainforest. It was beautiful, much more luscious than the rainforest surrounding the Mayan ruins in Tikal.

At the top there are a few paths that circle the craters that were once the volcano's main outlets for its hot, sulfery, greatness. Now they are just breeding grounds for tons of beautiful trees and other plants. Beyond the crater you can see where the land drops back down to reveal the beautiful Lake Nicaragua and the hundreds of small islands that surround the penninsula near the edge of Granada.

We're meeting tomorrow first thing in the morning to visit the other two communities we'll be working with, El Fortin and La Solidaridad, both of which have already begun construction but still have many squatters and many people living in extreme poverty. We'll just be meeting the community members tomorrow, then planning workshops for next week on women's health, gender equality, and overall community cohesion. It should be quite the experience.

Wish me luck. Hope to hear from you all soon.

All the best,

w