Clowns and trip to the Dentist

Two of last weeks work highlights couldn´t have been more different. One brought tears the other smiles and laughter.

Our health team are currently implementing a dental programme with the help of a significant donation for this purpose. There is no access to dental care for the majority of Nicaraguans and combined with little public health education and the fact that the general Nicaraguan diet has a crazily high sugar content the childrens´ teeth need significant attention. I helped out last Thursday with another volunteer taking a group of 6 children to the dentist. For some of them it was a fairly traumatic experience being their first time in the dentists chair. In they went full of beams, out the came with swollen cheeks, red eyes and spirits highly bruised! Poor things. I expect most of us at least had our mums or dads with us for our early visits and these little mites had to do with the consolation of an international volunteer and a long dusty walk home. Still, all good in the long run, eh?

Later that day whilst in the office a French couple who are clowns came in asking if we would like them to come to the schools and entertain the kids for a day, no need to think on that one. Driving though the streets of Nicaragua with two clowns in the back of my pick-up certainly drew some stares and you can well imagine the screams as we arrived at school. ! I don´t think I need write more as the pictures below show for themselves how the day passed. (if ever you want to see the pictures larger just click on the image)












Finally a month and a half after the start of term the food has arrived at school. I believe the food comes as part of an aid package from the Japanese through the Nicaraguan government and it is most needed. One of the problems both teachers and volunteers face is a significant lack of attention by some children. The thing is however that it´s quite common for some of the children not to have eaten all day and they are simply hungry. This meal is often their only decent meal of the day. Now all they have to do is bring their plastic bowl and cup and they can have a full belly and hopefully be able to study a bit better too!

General Update

The last two weeks have flown by, so much so that now sitting down to write its somewhat of a blur.

A highlight was certainly the goodbye party two weeks ago of Jan and Eva a Belgan couple who had been here 6 months or so. They lived slightly away from Granada in the community of Las Camelias and had thoroughly integrated themselves within the community. What made this party better that most was that a good majority of the guests were Nicaraguan: teachers, students, villagers and it was a welcome change to get to socialise with them rather than just work with them.

I am in the picture above (Left) lunging for the piňata whilst party guests (Right) look on amused. More to follow on piňatas in later blogs.


There was no school last Friday as the teachers had a training day so a group of us took advatage of the long weekend to go to Ometepe. Ometepe is an island located in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, formed by two large volcanoes and their overspill (one of which is still active). If you have not yet done so have a look on google earth to see where I and Ometepe are (there is a link below). Life on Ometepe is a million miles away from city life in Granada, very laid back and highly atmospheric. Out on a walk on our last day I met Esperanza and her two sons Domingo and Leo and after about an hour walking together they kindly asked me back to their house for a drink. It's really nice to now be at the level of Spanish where I can meet people in such circumstances.

It's not all been about partying and relaxing, plenty of work has gone on. I think I will save the "what I do" for an other time but I do have to tell you about last Monday. Every Monday we hold a orientation for the new volunteers, which as Coordinator I am responsible for. Part of the orientation process is to take them to see all the projects we work with. Normally one of the directors drives us but she was busy so 5 minutes before going she jangles her keys a me saying "can you drive?" and off we go with me at the wheel of a clapped out 4x4 driving for the first time the pothole ridden streets of Nicaragua. This might have been just about enough for the new volunteers to handle but then half way into the trip we are waved over at a police checkpoint and that where the fun started. This was all a bit deja vu as a similar thing happened the first time I was here but when asked for passports this time I was pleased to have mine with me as did all the others, so I thought we would be on our way. Passports however weren't enough. Car documentation was then requested, err nope, there wasn't any. Then getting as bit more serious, my driving license was requested, err nope aswell. Now very serious faces and discussions of serious illegality and the need to pay an outrageous fine. Uncle Nacho however was able to talk his was out it explaining with an overly smiley face that we were a voluntary group working here in Nicaragu and they might like to show us some slack in this instance. They did finally let us go (I think I might have heard a collective exhale of air from the voluneers in the back!) but only on the condition that the only volunteer in the car who had his license with him drove. Poor guy, just arrived in Nicaragua, nearly arrested and then made to drive. It certainly made for an interesting day!

High School trip to the Laguna

Donors to La Esperanza sponsor about 50 or so kids through high school/secondary school and as a motivational trip last week we took them all to Laguna Apoyo, a volcanic lake reputed to be the deepest in the americas, close to Granada. Organised chaos would be one way of describing the day, from the outset on the quite ridiculous and dangerously packed pick-up above to the end making sure we had them all home. Of the 50 kids only about 5 could swim so as you can imagine it wasn´t the most relaxing of days. Many had never seen the lake before so were doubly excitied so it was quite remarkable that we had only one near drowning!

Not a bad way to spend a day at work.