Even though my six-week experience in El Sauce, Nicaragua in the summer of 2009 happened almost two years ago, it feels like it were yesterday that I was sitting in our oficina for the first time, being handed a list of possible projects to work on, and deciding what I wanted to be involved in while there. The programs I worked on, the people I got to know, my host family, and excursions to other parts of Nicaragua all amounted to one of the greatest experience in my life. My time in El Sauce taught me so much about the people and culture of the area, but it also taught me a lot about myself and has helped me to focus in on what is really important in life.
Below are some highlights of programs I was involved in.
Ecotourism project:
One program I was involved in was an ecotourism project. I worked with the ecotourism cooperative Los Altos de Ocotal-El Sauce, which is comprised of members from Ocotal’s mountain communities of Las Minitas and Cerro Colorado. It had recently been given a $10,000 grant in early May, 2009, from the Millennium Challenge Corporation which allowed it to have the means to really get started.
One of the main projects I was involved in was the planting of a garden around the newly-built restaurant for the use of the ecotourism cooperative. Before planting the garden, I met with a Peace Corps volunteer who taught me basics about plants and gardening techniques for the type of climate I would be working with. When I attended my first cooperative meeting, we created a “garden group” of about 8 people that would be involved in designing and planting the garden. In order to get a good idea of what to aim for with the garden, we took a trip to the city of Estelí to a restaurant called La Casita which has a beautiful, large garden surrounding it. We got great ideas of what kinds of plants would work well and the style that would be good around our restaurant. Then we proceeded to a nearby nursery where we purchased beautiful flowers and trees which we planted in our garden the following week. The trip was a huge success, and afterwards, the planting process really made me close with the members of the garden group. I felt my time with them was worthwhile and that my opinions on what plants to buy and where to plant them were definitely taken into consideration- so much so that at times the members formed an idea and proposed it to me asking specifically if I thought it was a good plan. By the time the garden was finished being planted, the members were calling me “Amandita,” which made me feel like my opinions were truly valued and that I had been accepted into their community.
Another major part of the project that I worked on was evaluations of potential host families. Kellan, Irene (a Peace Corps volunteer involved with the cooperative) and I walked around to potential host family houses and evaluated them based on how ready their houses were to have guests stay there. These evaluations were not only informative for the cooperative, but they also taught me a lot about life in the mountains. I got an up-close-and-personal view of the real living conditions of these people and was amazed by the generosity they showed despite their lack of many things which Americans consider essential to everyday life. We then reported our findings to the cooperative at the next meeting so they could make an informed decision on which houses were most ready for tourists and would therefore be given new mattresses, pillows, blankets, and other supplies necessary for a tourist to stay comfortably.
After about four weeks of involvement in the program, the other 7 volunteers from New York and I stayed in Ocotal with the potential host families that I had interviewed, and we basically acted as guinea pigs of a weekend stay that the cooperative planned for tourists. We did everything a tourist would be able to do: we took a guided hike up to a great look-out point where a mariachi band serenaded us, we took a tour of a coffee farm on horse-back, we learned how to make tortillas, and we stayed with a host family. It was one of the most amazing experiences I had in Nicaragua because I was able to see what I had been working on be put into action, not to mention getting to know the amazing host family I stayed with and their day-to-day routines.
Yo Sí Puedo:
Another program I was involved in was an adult literacy program called “Yo Sí Puedo.” The “Yo Sí Puedo” program is designed for Nicaraguan adults that never had the opportunity to attend school as children because they had to work in order to help sustain their families. It is a chance for them to become literate and learn what they would have learned in school. For this program, I traveled every afternoon to a nearby village called San José to work in a classroom of level 2 “Yo Sí Puedo” students, which are adults learning the equivalent of about second or third grade materials. I helped the teacher go over materials in a book provided by MinEd, the Ministry of Education, which included reading, science, and math.
Before and after class, I also had the opportunity of tutoring three different students in their homes who couldn’t make it to class because they had to watch their children or because they had to work during class time. One of the women I tutored constantly told me how thankful she was that she was given the chance to learn and to have somebody like me to help her achieve her goals. Her passion for learning was truly amazing, especially given her circumstances- she was a mother of three whose husband had gone to a different country to find work and would hopefully return with money to help better their family. I really felt like I was making a difference in her life, and her thankfulness and drive made a difference in mine, teaching me to appreciate things that I often took for granted.
English Class:
The last project that I regularly participated in was the advanced English class taught by Yacarely and Kellan. English class was a perfect end to every day- a group of adults ages 17 and up gathered to learn English by doing fun activities, hands-on games, and singing songs that really made them practice their speaking, reading, and writing skills. English class was so fun because of the games and funny things that were said, but also because the students were there because they truly wanted to be, and helping them to learn was very fulfilling. They wanted nothing more than to learn English so that they could be exposed to greater opportunities in their lives, and I wanted nothing more than to see them be successful in their goals. After 6 weeks I could really see a difference in certain students, and I also grew very close to the people in my class. They are the people that I still keep in touch with today, even after almost two years, and I can’t wait to see them again someday.
My six weeks in El Sauce was one of the most amazing experiences in my life, and I am proud to see what has been happening since I’ve left. I love telling people about my time there, and I can’t wait until I return some day. I know that everyone who visits El Sauce will feel the same overwhelming sense of welcome and adventure that I did, and will leave knowing that they have found a new family in a little village in Central America.
-Amanda Sopchak
May 17, 2009 - June 27, 2009
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