Wednesday, 08 July 2009

• I Dig Nicaragua; Do You?

  
  

  During one week of my summer vacation, I did more physical labor that I ever had in my entire life. I read and studied for education sessions and got extremely sweaty and dirty out at the farm.  I did all of this in Nicaragua on an alternative spring break with the American Jewish World Service.

  Waking up to the soft strumming of our tour guide’s guitar and the smell of fresh huevos rancheros and handmade fresh hot corn tortillas breakfast was the perfect way to start the day.  Splashing the hot sauce all over my eggs, I didn’t realize that Nicaraguan hot sauce was way hotter than the hot sauce that we get here.  But, it was still delicious.  

   
  

  In the hot Central American sun and 100 degree weather, we picked up hand-made shovels and pick axes and began digging.  With local Nicaraguan farmers by our side, we worked together to build a cistern, compost piles, and cleared an area for a new irrigation system: one of Nicaragua’s very first organic farms.  Due to Nicaragua’s climate, farmers can only produce crops for half the year-during the wet season.  This irrigation system is a must-have so that the workers could continuously grow crops to support themselves even during the dry season.  This way, they can produce and export the tea, wine, herbal products, and juice year round.  All of which, was made on the same grounds that we worked on. After about five hours of work, a meal of rice and beans, and freshly squeezed chilled watermelon juice, we were ready for even more adventure.

  We visited a local hospital, school, marketplace, a culture show, and tourism hot spots, where we really got a feel for the country.  After spending time in native people’s homes (which were literally made of planks of wood hammered together with no floor), seeing malnourished animals roaming freely everywhere, and experiencing the physical labor that they endure everyday, you would think that the locals were struggling to survive.  And they are, but, they are some of the greatest, most hardworking people I’ve ever met.  They’re not jaded by the fact that Nicaragua is the second poorest country in this hemisphere, but they are inspired to work hard, and improve the standard of living of Nicaragua.  While Americans may be petrified to seek treatment in their hospitals, or shocked by how different their education and lifestyle is from that of ours, we all have the same goals in common. 
  

   
  

  Everyday, we all had a mandatory educational session. Each session hit upon different topics, including poverty, microfinancing, organic farming, fair trade, etc.  These educational sessions reinforced what we were learning and seeing with our own two eyes every day we were there. Whether it was holding a scorpion that we found while shoveling, or pulling a marañón right off the tree and tasting a fruit that is nothing like any fruit in the US, or just trying to communicate with the Nicaraguans with funny hand gestures, we all had a great time and did things that we never would have thought to do otherwise.

  I had one of the best experiences of my life, and certainly something that I will never forget.

  • 6:07 PM
  • 888 Views
  • 14 eProps
  • 7 Comments