Never would I have imagined--- seems to be a reocurring theme

I am going into my last week in Nicaragua and officially have hit the one month mark until I return to the worst job market in US history. Never in my life have enjoyed the work that has been accomplished over the past- what is it now-- almost 9 months. I can no longer imagine employment that involves a desk and computer. My hands and body have since been yielded useful and skilled. The ultimate test of this excursion has landed in my lap with full force here in Nicaragua all the way in the North Atlantic Coast, boarding Honduras along the Río Coco and just a few hours away from the Carribean Coast.

I have been working with a fine compañero named Noel. He is the son of a well respected Miskto woman Doña Florencia, who has been leading the charge in Waspam and the surrounding communities on violence against women, indigenous rights and overall systematic injustice that is seeping through the cracks of every institution in this region. This is truly a place where the grassroots leaders are really working from the ground up--- because for the most part, it is not a job or form of income, it is a way of life, a necesity, a survival mechanism, because lord knows many of the organized institutions are not working for the people--for the most part anyway. Noel started out as my interpreter and has since been invigorated with the challenges this project faces and has been my faithful compañero since. Walking hours in the hot sun, helping mange the community onslought of questions and discussion, running around like crazy trying to find materials, machines and manpower to get this job done-- yes Noel is a rockstar.

At this point we are heading into my final week in Waspam and we are prepared to finish the week with 5 working wells in Kisilaya. We have successfully completed a skill building workshop in water and sanitation, well management and organizing water committees. We also wrote a water manuel in Spanish and Miskito which will be distributed this week. With the folks in Kisilaya, we have cleaned 5 wells by hand-- which means that one poor soul is sent down into the well to scoop up the debris and dirty water while the rest of the barrio heaves on a rope, dump the contents and begin again. Now the real test will be to see if the organizing, capacity building and resource implemenation will serve the purpose, or will everything crumble a week after my departure? With Noel´s continued presence and the support for the community leaders that are apart of the Wankgi Tangni Women´s Center, I will maintain a steadfast positon in tree position with fingers crossed on both hands (the yoga pose TREE maintains a position of focus and foundation for continued growth) and hope for progress. Once Kisilaya has maintained their water committees and regular maintanence, we will move on to the next phase that includes rainwater catchment. There are a few people that are already using unprotected rainwater systems, which basically just means is it is an open system that can be easily contaminated. That is a great start-- and most of all, the woman using this system is my favorite person in all of Nicaragua. Doña Patricia of Kisilaya, quite possibly once of the most patient, loving and respectful persons I have every met. She is the perfect foundation for furthing the goals of the project- which is the establish skills in water management and creat sustainable water autonomy. For now atleast, the goal is the just get water in Kisilaya and after this week, I hope to be able to write in the next entry with success.

Photos will be posted separately