the start of summer

1st November was officially the start of the summer here in Nicaragua, it's raining less and the sun is stronger than it was, though until January we are in the "cool" months of the year. Excitingly as well as oranges, lemons, mandarins and other tropical fruit, my family have the most enormous avocados growing in their garden...at least double the size of anything you will see in Britain so I am tucking in. I have also discovered this plant...
...which you may recognise from your bathroom!

My work now has something of a routine as every Tuesday and Thursday I help run a kind of youth project with another volunteer, Robin. We have the use of a "community centre" really just a room with some tables and chairs in a nearby town and children and young people can drop in to play table games, ping-pong or games outside such as football or volleyball. It's a very informal setup and at times a little frustrating as the two of us struggle to maintain control and structure when 30 kids turn up at once. But we are starting to build relationships with some of the regulars and gain their trust and a bit more discipline!

It's not the work I expected to be doing with San Lucas but I'm starting to realise I have more important functions to fulfil that solely working in a technical capacity. I have also had the opportunity to visit the local hospital to pray for patients there as well as a care home for the elderly just a bit out of town. This was quite challenging in some ways. There is a real stigma attached to sending your relatives to a home; whereas here it is often seen as the best solution, in Nicaragua it sends messages of worthlessness or lack of care. When church group go to hold a mini service or serve lunch they want to say "we value you, we care - God values you, he cares," and it was a privilege to accompany a group of women from my church in this work and speak with some of the patients. The only slightly panicky moment was when one of the old men got me round the back of the neck and tried to insist that I kiss his lunch-smeared lips. Luckily, I managed to escape...

Power

There will be presidential elections next November and campaigning has already started. Buildings, as well as bearing big painted adverts for washing powder, juice and bread align themselves politically for one of the three presidential candidates. It will be an important election; who will gain power in this small, often struggling but always dynamic country.

For the voters, the power to choose is often not that simple as political alignments sometimes come with tangiable economic or material benefits and political ideology is tainted by memories of unrest and corruption from all sides.

In the rural communities where we work, powerlessness rises to a new level. Small scale farmers are powerless to do anything as torrential rain destroys their harvest. Those with no land of their own are at the mercy of large land owners to rent them plots on rolling six month contracts. Many wait on government officials or others like San Lucas for help to build latrines, secure safe water supplies, repair apalling roads or provide adequate roofing materials. Poverty, lack of education, lack of access to healthcare and other servies coupled with a difficult natural environment mean that the potential for people to help themselves and move forward is stinted.

I have also been exploring the reality of domestic violence here in Nicaragua. According to one study 48% of women have been the victim of some sort of verbal or psychological abuse and 27% have suffered physical abuse. 69 women have died so far in 2010 at the hands of the partner or ex-partner. San Lucas is trying to open up discussion and provide education on this subject for community leaders. It's a really difficult problem to tackle as attitudes and patterns of behaviour are engrained at a national level. I have come to understand that abuse or maltreatment is always about power and control; power of the strong over the weak in a cycle that constantly reinforces this contrast. The issue really hit home when I discovered that one of my Nica friends is living in an abusive relationship. It has been good to be able to talk with her about this but when self-confidence is so beaten down acting decisively against the violence is difficult. In some ways I also feel powerless to help.

Over the past month or so I have come to understand a little more of the feeling of powerlessness; when plunged into a new culture, with a language that you haven't fully mastered and a whole set of unwritten rules that you don't yet understand, you can feel completely at the mercy of others. It is hard to not to be able to contribute as much as you wish to, to express yourself accurately or to acheive measurable goals.

In all this I am reminded of a passage that stuck out for me before setting off for Nicaragua:

2 Chronicles 14:11 'Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, "LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you." '

We know that God uses us in our weakness, when we have no option but to call on him as our strength. It is also good to be reminded that we, as humans, are ultimately not in control. So I will continue to pray for Nicaragua and powerlessness that I see here, and that even though it might be hard to evaluate, that I might be used amongst it.

a day in the life : work with San Lucas

9am Into the pickup to drive about 30 mins out of the city to a community called Santa Jertrudis. After "International Hand-washing Day" last Friday we are visiting one of the rural primary schools in the area to teach this along with teeth-brushing and basic hygiene.

10am The school building is pretty rundown, there is one latrine which is relatively clean but some of the children don't like to use it as there is little guarantee of privacy. It is clear that not many kids realise the importance of clean hands and almost no-one brushes their teeth regularly. Doctora Reyna grins and scrubs showing everyone how it's done.

12pm After we finish at the school all the children are given lunch but as more have turned up today than normal there's none left for us. We drive back to La Conquista, the main town in the area and buy tortillas and quejada (similar to cottage cheese) and sit outside the health promotor's house to eat.

1.30pm Aha, now things start to get interesting; four of us are going to visit the newest community that San Lucas supports. El "Banco de Tierra" or "landbank" has been set up to allow families to purchase their own plot of just over 2 hectares to farm and to live on. Problem is, at the moment the roads are so bad the only option is to go "en moto"...


3.30pm After riding through muddy ruts, across rivers and up boulder-strewn slopes we dismounted to make the final river crossing on foot (boots off, water to the knee) as the valley would be too steep for the bike. Most of the people involved in the Banco de Tierra live on this side of the river with a small group we walked another 40 mintues to the nearly 70s hectare that the bank comprises. It was really great to see the land starting to produce crops; rice, yucca, mangoes, wheat and plenty more. Many of those involved are Christians and there is a great witness in how God guided the founding of the land bank and the buying of the land.

5pm A chance to pray together at the top of a hill at one end of the bank. It was great to see such positive things happening in the lives of the families here. There is still plenty of work but there are also willing workers and real vision to move forward. One of the areas I might get involved in is the design of a gravity driven water system with water pumped from a nearby well to a tank at the top of this hill...I am feeling slightly nervous as everyone talks excitedly abou this prospect.

6pm The sun has gone down and we really should leave but Don Gilberto's offer of cafe con leche (hot milk and instant coffee) with onion biscuits cannot be refused.

6.30pm By the light of mobile phones we retrace our steps to the bikes; up and down muddy slopes in the dark, shouting for help when we lose out way and then back across the river, this time with shoes as we can't see to avoid the sharp stones. It's a relief when we can start the (sometimes tempermental) motos and use the headlights.

7pm One bike is stuck in the mud... it takes the 3 men considerable effort to heave it out (I hold the helmets and pray). The rest of the journey is uncomfortable, slightly scary but thoroughly exhilerating as we bump along back to the city.

8pm Home to a concerned Nica-family. There is no signal where we were so I have been out of touch all day. I am bruised, aching, slightly scratched by the vicious barbed wire that is in use everywhere and very tired...but happy!

photos from Masaya market

The price of beans & un nuevo sobrino

Good news and bad news from Nicaragua. The good is that my Nica-sister-in-law gave birth last Friday to a beautiful baby boy, my Nica-nephew (sobrino) Josías (Josiah). I felt very privaleged to be taken along to the hospital only hours after his birth to meet him and I'm plaesed to say that both mother and baby are doing well. The maternity unit at Jinotepe hospital is an exciting place at the moment - very full - and families are allowed to stay at the bedside. Quite a different experience to the order of British hospital wards!

The not-so-great news for Nicaragua is that due to massive loss of crops in the recent rains the price of frijoles (red beans) has reached record levels. At the moment they are selling for 20 Cordobas ($1) a pound whereas normally they cost maybe 5 or 6 C. Frijoles form a staple part of the diet of almost every family for breakfast, lunch and dinner and they are a subsitence crop for many families, including those in the communities that Fundación San Lucas works with (more on this to come). The season to plant is almost over as from December onwards there is very little rain so farmers are anxious to plant more right now. There are two problems with this; firstly a lack of quality seeds at a reasonable price, and secondly the distict possibility of more heavy rains in October which would ruin a new crop and waste all the expense and effort of planting it. However, if nothing is planted now there will be no seeds for the next year.

There is no easy solution to this situation and it is especially difficult when in an advisory role, such as those San Lucas sometimes are. I am learning that this is the sort of problem that Nicaraguans have faced time and again over the years and there is somewhat a feeling of resignation over bean prices. Everyone here is waiting to see what will happen in the coming year.

Lake Nicaragua

flooding in Nicaragua

Just a quick note about the weather here... As previously mentioned it´s raining lots; more than usually and for the past few days without ceasing. Where I am living this means that the roads are being damaged as mini rivers of water run down them and the occaisonal tree has fallen around town but for many parts of the country it is much worse. Some parts of the atlantic coast have been washed away and in other places whole communities evacuated. As ever it is those already living in the most extreme poverty that are worst affected. You can see more info at http://www.laprensa.com.ni/ granted it is in Spanish but the pictures alone give some impression and I think there is a bit of video.

Nicaragua : colourful buildings, friendly people and plenty of rain

It is winter in Nicaragua and in my first few days here I have become aware that this means, with absolute certainty, getting wet. It rains not only at night but periodically during the day and with such force that the rain in Scotland is comparably only ever a light shower! Postcards of Scotland have created quite an interesting discussion point, and everyone has agreed that it is a very beautiful country but questioned why we choose to paint our buildings such pale colours. There must be a good trade in paint here as buildings are all brightly coloured inside and out with shops distinguished by the adverts painted on thier frontage. Its a very cheerful sight!

It´s my fifth day here and I´m settling into Nicaraguan family life with my new Nica parents and siblings; Fatima, Clara and Lisbeth all live in the house and are around my age so it has already been great to get to know them and how life here works if you are a twenty-something girl. Emanuel and his heavily pregnant wife live next door and each house has ample land with pigs, chickens and fruit trees...I think there is also a family farm a bit further away on which my Papa and Emanuel work. I feel very blessed to be part of this family and they have already gone out of their way to make me feel welcome; even to the point of making me coffee without sugar which is almost painful for Nicaraguans to do!

I have been introduced to the family church (their building is painted bright orange) who received me very warmly. It is very active and each night something different happens. Yesterday I went along with Fatima to a Bible study group for some young people in a little town down the road and was encouraged to see the interest and attention they gave the topic. I will enjoy gettin to know these teenagers a bit more.

Nica spanish has put me rather to the test, my language is in general at a fairly good level but tuning into the Nica accent and local words is hard work. I often am left feeling a bit helpless in conversation, yesterday one of the teenagers even resorted to her few words of English to try to get the point accross. In time I will improve, for the moment I will accept that smiling, looking confused and laughing at myself are all very necessary.

Until soon -for now I´m off to buy an umbrella!