March 14 Perspective

Awake. Refreshed. Ready for Nicaragua.

The team gathers in our hotel lobby, and we're greeted by Rotarians who share with us our itinerary. It seems like we are doing everything as a group, even vocational visits, which will be interesting.


Our hosts for the morning are Gonzalo and Mayte, from Companeros, who take us to a very poor neighbourhood where they are doing numerous projects. Their primary focus right now is a water project that will supply 200 homes/lots in a slum with fresh water.  They also are working on building 16 houses for families most in need, and community murals to add culture and texture.

 

They use volunteer groups, many from Canada, and local labour (paid & volunteer) to dig the trenches where the pipe will go. We tour a school they've done some projects at, and we're off for lunch. The volunteers and community leaders gather midday to get out of the heat. There are a few musicians, so I join them and we lift the spirits of the group. They sing 'Three Little Birds' with me, and I have goose bumps.

Thanks to Alicia for having such an awesome vocation. We all wish our time here was longer.

We collect our bags from the hotel, and we're off to a new hotel. We stop on the way at a large lake with volcano islands, and Mark releases some energy on camera:

Roberto (a Rotarian) drives us to Leon, and on to his beachfront hotel, Suyapa Hotel. It's another beautiful, rather unpopulated beach. We're next to a surf school, and beach volleyball court. We'll be spoiled here until Friday.

Mark's camera is out for the sunset, while the girls soak in the view. We enjoy a large feast...Doug has a gorgeous lobster plate, and Mark goes right for the whole fish again.

Roberto heads for home, and we enjoy a night of reflection, cigars, and some cards. There are some great debates on the projects we've seen so far, that value in investing into local (Canadian) projects versus global projects, and the target demographic for Rotaracts and young Rotarians.

There's lots of laughter. The camaraderie of travel is wonderful. It's nice that we all get along, and enjoy similar discussions and adventures. We've met a few previous GSE members, and there are definitely some difficult group dynamics that can occur. Count us lucky. Thanks to all involved who put this team together, we're a cohesive unit.
Bedtime. Every (save me) wants to be up early tomorrow. Kim for yoga, Mark to shoot the sunrise, Alicia to run, and Doug to swim. It will be interesting to see who actually gets up at 5ish.

CGD