Third and Fourth week in Nicaragua, Masaya (Catarina & Niquinohomo)

We already have a month living in Nicaragua, and the real work has actually began. The group of 25 students from three different colleges, University of Maryland, Duke University and Georgetown University, now has been divided. We were divided into smaller groups of eight and nine. One group went to Matagalpa, one to Leon, and we are in Catarina/Niquinohomo, Masaya. I had the luck to stay with an awesome family that lives in front of the central park and next the Catholic church in Catarina, Masaya. They are caring, friendly, and lovely. I could not complain about them. The only thing I complained about for the two weeks I lived there was the bells ringing at 6:00am, 6:30am, and 7:00am everyday. Then, I guess because I was complaining about it, it got worse. During the two weeks we were there, it was some Saint's celebration. So, they began to bring serenades at 4am and fireworks for about four days in a row. It was really interesting, to the point I considered going to take down those bells by myself. I am joking. But it was funny that the day we were leaving they took down one bell because it was broken and did not sound too strong, according to I do not know whom because I could hear them loud and clear EVERY morning.

































The night life here is not as good as in Granada, and that reminds me that I was supposed to tell you a little more about the fiestas in Granada. As I promised in the last post, I was going to tell you a little more about the night life in Granada. La Calle la Calzada is a street that was designed for tourist. It is about three blocks street with bars of all type. You can find from a typical American bar with AC, chicken wings, and American drinks to a typical Nicaraguan bar where only locals go. If you are brave enough, you will go to El Centralito. If you want to be surrounded by other foreigners, I provably will find you at Oshe’s Irish Bar. The customer service is terrible everywhere. Unless, you become really close friend with the waiter. Then, the customer service will be better for you, and the rest of the people will have to wait until your group is done with their orders. All the drinks are really cheap here, maybe that’s why we see so many foreigners. Two Mojistos cost about $C50 (Cordobas), which is about $2 or less, depending on the bar and exchange rate. Then, they have local and national beer, which cost between $C25 to $C45 ($0.90 to $1.75). There is also Floor de Caña, La Gran Reserva, rum which cost about $C100 the 5 year ½ litter, and $C200 the litter. However, it all depends where you go. I just have been checking all the menus because I wanted to give you averages of the prices of the drinks here in Nicaragua. I went dancing to a few places where I heard Merengue. I try to teach how to dance Merengue to some of my friends, such as Chunwoo, Njeri, Lauren, Surendra, Tu-Anh and Maria. Some of them were able learn some steps, but some of them were really bad at it! I am just kidding. They were fast learners, and we had a great night. Now that I am in Catarina, I miss the group that I just to hang out with in Granada. Nonetheless, we already went dancing to Luna Llena, here by El Mirador de Catarina. We had great time. Then, we went to El Mirador in the middle of the night, and it had an AWESOME view. 

Since we got to Catarina/Niquinohomo, we have been working nonstop. Our group of eight was divided into two groups. Each group trained an Assesora (a woman from a near by community), which will be working with us. They will be helping us to reach rural communities. They learned how to do the technical eye exams for presbyopia and more information about other products, such as energy saving light bulbs, water filter, and solar lamps. Also, we did two campaigns for eye exams in two communities. One was a rural community in which handed out fliers house by house and posted fliers in Pulperies (small stores). The other community was Catarina, in which we also handed fliers and did a Perifone. Perifoneo is a popular way of advertisement which consist of a truck with speakers really loud playing the ads. They drive around the main streets, either in the morning around 8am and at night around 5pm to 8pm. Perifoneo is used to invite people to come to events or to announce when some has past away. (Fun fact, Perifone is done at all hours, so if someone passes away at 3am, you will hear for sure a truck at 3am announcing it and inviting people to wake.)

   

 






We also have done a lot of marketing research on the products we have on different places that we want to enter, so I have had the opportunity to talk many people. Some people gave us really helpful information, other people gave us life lessons, and others gave us history lessons about the Somoza dictatorship. Most people did not know how our products work, but once you explained them, they would get this big smile on their face. They would tell us how helpful the products sound. For example, we have a solar lamp that it is charge with four hours of solar light and last for about 8 to 10 hours. The solar lamp also charges cell phone, so this one would cost $C500. For some people, it is too expensive but others tell us that with payment plans they would easily get them. Social Entrepreneur Corps always emphasis on the lack of access these people have to the products we bring. Therefore, I am really happy that I am here in Nicaragua making a difference in the lives of others.

 We also did business advising with two small businesses. My friends did an Artisan Bamboo store, and my group did a hostel. We did business consultation on how to be more efficient, customer services, and the 5 P’s of Marketing. We provided them with marketing tools, such as e-mails, business cards, brochures, websites, logos, slogans, etc. It was satisfying to see the happiness in the person’s face when we turned in our deliverables. We were glad to know that when we leave, they will be able to continue to grow with their businesses because we have given them extra tools.
Now, we are in Leon, another important city in the history of Nicaragua. We are working already with two more businesses and will tell you more about it in my next post.

Second Week In Granada, Nicaragua

This is our second week, and we are still sweating!

We have being learning more about MicroConsignment and what is it about. MicroConsignment

focus empowering people by educating them on how distribute the products. Also, MicroConsignment focus on reducing risks for social entrepreneurs by allowing them to take products on consignment that will improve the lives of people in the communities. For example, myopia is a problem among elders in many rural communities of Nicaragua and other developing countries. With right pair of eyeglasses, the lives of these people can improve significantly. So we train a local person, a Social Entrepreneur, and they go the communities to educate them about the issue they face. Then, we provide them with the product, in this case the eyes glasses, so they can bring them to the communities. This way the people in the rural communities can get the glasses from her or him at a much lower cost than they would in the city. Sometimes it is not even about the lower price, but it is about them not knowing about the eyeglasses. Therefore, the Social Entrepreneur has to do the presentation and the eye exams before offering the eye glasses, those who have myopia can get the eye glasses right there. Those who present other issues with their eyes, they get a referral to other clinics or hospitals. From all the eyeglasses they sell, they get a percentage and the rest of the money goes back to organization to be invested again in the same product or a different one. There are also other products, such as water filters and cook stove that maintain the heat better, reducing the amount of wood they use to cook. There is going be the introduction of solar lamps to communities without electricity this summer. (I will let you know how it goes, later.)

All these products again, they are brought to the communities by a Social Entrepreneur who has received training before getting the products on consignment. Here is a TED Talk by Greg Van Kirk if you want to learn a little more about MicroConsignment.

 

On a less serious note, we finally had some free time to go out this weekend. We went to La Laguna de Apoyo, which is in between Masaya and Granada. We also visited Los Pueblos (the White Villages) Niquinomo, Diriomo, Diria, Catarina, and San Juan de Oriente.

They call them Los Pueblos Blancos because the house used to be made of clay. They would paint the houses with quicklime, so they would look white. It is said that in the villages was practice witchcraft; therefore, sometimes it is called villages “of the witches” as well. Now, the cities are known for their intense artisanal production of pottery. We had the opportunity to go to a ceramic shop, and we try (emphasis on TRY) to do some pottery and fail miserably. Nevertheless, it was really fun. They explained us that they bring the clay from mines, which are about two kilometres from Catarina. Once at the shop, they mash the clay dancing bare foot for about three hours because this way they give life to the clay. Then, they proceed to make the different ceramic. They also use different seed, sea rocks, and bamboo to polish the ceramic. The artisanal oven is heated to 900 degree Celsius for the last step on the creation of the ceramic. It takes about fifteen days to complete a batch of 250 ceramic. If you want to see more about their ceramic Click Here, they also ship ceramic to anywhere.

Also, I have been drinking all kind of natural juice. Lets begin with: Mango juice, Tamarin juice, Chilla/Chan with lemonade, Ginger with Coyolito home made Ice tea, Cevada, Linaza with lime (and something else) Ice Tea, Papaya Smoothie, Melon juice, Passion Fruit juice, Melon juice. I had some tropical fruits too! such as Mamey, Zapote, Mamones, Guanabena, Guaba, Papaya, Mango, and Coconut. I have been enjoying all the fruits and juice here. All the host families that we are staying with have been AWESOME with us. They have been taking care of us, giving us tours of the city, and helping us with everything we need.

 

I will let you all know more about the night life on my next post.

Hay mucha fiesta!