Volunteering in Nicaragua

Central America Part III

Help solarize a school in rural Nicaragua!

Nicaragua is a Central American nation, between the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean. It borders the south of Honduras and north of Costa Rica.

Our initial decision of traveling throughout Central America came after receiving a volunteering opportunity with Grid Alternatives in Nicaragua. We started our journey in Guatemala. Made our way down to Costa Rica in the hopes to see monkeys and sloths (We know how that went…) and ended in Nicaragua.

I first heard about this volunteering opportunity, after helping Grid Alternatives with a project in Richmond, California. Grid Alternatives is an organization who's mission is to make renewable energy accessible to low income communities. I try to volunteer every time I can, and given my passion for travel, this seemed like the perfect opportunity for me.

The Project

July 22-30, 2017

Our mission: Solarize a school in rural Nicaragua.

10 of us volunteers signed up from all over the world to travel to El Regadio, to work alongside with community members on the solar system installation for the local school. Given that the community doesn't have power, electricity at the school not only served the students but it now allows for members of the community to charge their phones and any other appliances they may need. And now classes for other members in the community can be offer in the afternoon.

El Regadio

El Regadio is located in the central mountains of Nicaragua. It is a rural community where the coffee plantation is their main source of income. Homes are constructed by cement and aluminum roofs, and they have latrines as their bathrooms located outside their homes. Some homes have power, and when I say power I mean only light bulb or two around the house that is powered by small solar panels.

This experience definitely opened up my eyes, and gave me a whole new perspective of the world. Though I had been exposed to rural communities in my previous volunteer work, I had never been fully immersed in the community and I am so thankful of that. And thankful to the families that opened up their home to us.

Waking up in the mountains, surrounded by nothing but nature, was truly breathtaking and definitely a great way to start the day! The people in El Regadio ...oooofff! They are the most wonderful people I have ever met in my life. They are kind, caring, welcoming, extremely happy, honest, hard working and overall amazing.

Our Journey

Day 1

Day One: At our arrival to Managua in Nicaragua, Kelsey from Grid was waiting for us. We were taken to our hotel in Managua where we would be meeting the rest of the group before departing to El Regadio. Our first night was a mix of emotions, I was a tad nervous, and anxious. I am generally shy, so it was a bit hard for me to open up right away. Coincidentally one of my childhood friends and his wife had also signed up to volunteer, so I didn’t feel 100% out of place. Everyone was extremely nice, and came from all around the world. Little did I know, working with this group would forever change my life.

Day 2

Day Two: After orientation, we packed our stuff and headed to Jinotega. This was our first stop! Jinotega is a small town located in the north central area of Nicaragua. It is about 3 hours from Managua and 2 hours from El Regadio.

At our arrival in Jinotega we got settled in our hotel and headed out to explore. The weather was extremely hot and humid. I didn’t even have to walk to start sweating. As we were looking for things to do around the town, someone in our group pointed out a cross at the top of the mountain. At first I was wondering what he was pointing at, but then I noticed he was pointing at this place is called “El Cerro de la Cruz”.

Because it wasn’t hot or humid enough… we all decided it was a good idea, to embark on this 45 min uphill hike with nothing but stairs. If you would’ve asked me I would’ve preferred a nice smooth trail with tennis shoes on instead of sandals. If you ever do it, bring water and proper shoes because it was extremely hard doing it without it. Once we reached the top, the view was stunning, and worth all the effort and million of steps.

Day 3

Day Three: We finally made it to El Regadio! We were all excited and anxious to meet the families. Everyone was expecting us at the school. As we all pulled up by the school, the kids rushed with excitement to say hello. I have never felt so welcomed! What a great feeling! After orientation, we met our host family. Maribel, our host mom lived with her husband and two daughters, and had her third daughter with her baby come up for the week to meet us.

The first night our host mom wasted no time, and taught us how to “palmear’ which means how to make tortillas with the palms of our hands. We also made fried plantains, and ate that for dinner. Turns out I am a good cook! Palmear was really hard, I could not get the tortilla to actually look like one. But I was good at cutting and frying the plantains. What a yummy meal!

Getting into bed was quite interesting to say the least. I know I sound spoiled but I have never missed my bed as much as I did this first night. We slept in cots with a net around us to avoid getting completely eaten by the mosquitos! Looking back it wasn't too bad.

Day 4

Day Four: Working at the school was a lot of fun! Even though 4 days ago we were complete strangers with our group, we learned how to work together very quickly. When we were assigned our tasks, we were split into multiple groups. I got to be part of the roof group, that meant I had to install the solar panels on the roof. Some other folks, worked on the wiring, while others worked on the transformer.

Day 5

Day Five: Aside from the family living with us, we also shared the house with a momma duck, its little ducklings, a chicken, and its baby chicks, who would come wake up us every morning. I know! Super cute! Well on this day, my sister and I woke up to get ready to go to work. Our host mom had made breakfast for us, which consisted of eggs, tortillas, plantains, AND CHICKEN. Why am I yelling CHICKEN? Well that morning the chicken that woke us up was no longer there... it was on my plate!!! My heart shattered, and I could not believe our home pet was now on my plate. I tried to eat it, and I know to some this might sound ridiculous, but I just couldn’t get the courage to eat the chicken.

After a full day of work we could finally start seeing progress, and noticed how some of the wiring was almost done. The panels were installed on the roof, so our group was able to split up and help others with tasks.

At the end of our shift, we all headed over to our neighbors house to learn how to make tamales. Those tamales were made to celebrate the end of the project.

Day 6

Day Six: Last day of work! Woohoo! We were near the finish line. By lunch we only had a couple of missed wires we needed to fix before we got everything working. We are overachievers and did such a great job together. We finish the job a bit early, which gave us the opportunity to go take a tour over to the coffee fields and learn about the plantation. At night we all gather together at the school including the families and kids. It was pitch dark, as there was no electricity in El Regadio.

The countdown started...10...9…8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 Lights at the school came on! For the first time the school had power inside and out! Go team!! To celebrate we ate the tamales we had prepared the day before and had a small dance party!

Day 7 Goodbye

Day Seven: Our last day at El Regadio was hard. Saying goodbye is never easy especially saying goodbye to the families that became our own in a span of 4 days. Sadly, we had our final celebration, said our goodbyes, packed our bags and made our way to Selva Negra.

Resting in Selva Negra

Day 8

Day Eight: We made it to beautiful Granada. Granada is a Spanish colonial town near Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America. Want to know a fun fact about Lake Nicaragua? It is a fresh water lake (that’s not the fun fact) that has SHARKS living in it! Mind blowing right? Scientist found that somehow sharks were able to swim up the San Juan River all the way from the Caribbean. Bull Sharks, which are the sharks that reside in Lake Nicaragua are a unique species and they are able to adapt and live in fresh waters. Luckily we didn’t get in the lake!

Day 9

Day Nine: One more stop... Lago Apollo. This was our final stop before making it back to Managua. Lago Apollo is a crater lake, where you can relax in the warm water and even kayak or paddle board if you wish to. Here we shared our final thoughts and experiences. Once again we said our final goodbyes and headed back to Managua.