February 14th, 2016

Somewhere in Nicaragua

Not a soul was in the water this morning so I waited until later to shoot photos. Still, I found an empty ocean. I guess everybody was eating lunch?

Or, more likely, Turbo and Nacho threw an epic party last night so everybody had to rest. Depsite the small waves, the southern beachie looked peaky, fun, and empty!

Changing gears, we are at the school in between gates. We are stoked to share our third and final community service project before the busy season starts! Keep scrolling down.

Here’s the situation: every month, the school receives rice, beans, and oil from the government. However, the school does not have a kitchen so the parents must collect the food, cook the gallo pinto, and transport it to the school. During the process, many dibilitating problems arose so Kaite and I thought of a solution…

A “fogon” is wood fed brick oven that many traditional Nicaraguan familes use. If that’s what the families are accustomed to, why not build one at the school?! Another perk of the fogon is feeding the kids at school. Unfortunately, many impoverished locals do not receive the meals we are accustomed to. If the school is feeding kids, hopefully more ninos will attend and focus better. With their completed degree, they can seek higher paying jobs to raise their standard of living and drive the local economy.

Even better, why not reach out to local construction companies? NSR, Katie, and I owe a tremendous thank you the Horizon Group, Jeff Soderlind, Tony Longobucco, and Mauricio Targa. They supplied the construction materials for us to build. Thank you Horizon Group for your donation to the community and facilitating the project!

A couple of bulls decided to ditch their Valentines Day date to help the community. Unfortunately, we already had plenty of helping hands so we told them to enjoy their dinner and movie.

Meet Katie W, otherwise known as La Flora. She is the English teacher for the locals in our community and she is always ready to help the community. Katie, thank you for your ideas, planning, and execution of today’s project!

We will watch how the parents, teachers, and kids use the oven to see if a full kitchen is in their future. For now, let’s start small, get the entire community involved, build it well, and make it pretty!

The foundation of cinder blocks was laid and it was time to cement the first piedra cantera to the base. The piedras act as a floor because the wood will burn on top of them and send the heat upwards.

All that heavy lifting requires a water break. In Nicaragua, we call it a “fresca” break and drink out of plastic baggies. Jose Luis and Katie had a clugging contest. Chugging warm carbonated beverages in the tropic heat was not on my agenda so I happily documented the event. By the way, Jose “Chepe” Luis won.

Marvin, the guy about to smack me with the spatula, was an incredible help. Although we had nine engineers on site (some of us less qualified than others), Marvin was lead man, built a rock solid oven, and always smiling.

Next up: the grill top. In this contest, tying your side of rebar the quickest, Katie won.

Alright, almost done! Stick with me here. We cemented the grill top to the base. These grill tops need to hold large pots of rice, beans, and water for 50 students.

Complete! Marvin used the extra materials to make an oven on the bottom to bake bread and store wood. We all agreed that is the best, sturdiest, and most beautiful fogon in the entire Tola region!

Let’s not forget who helped make this project possible. Thank you Hacienda Iguana, Don Jaime Wheelock, and the Iguana maintenance crew for supporting our project, donating your time, and giving back to the community!

Sometimes (most of the time, right Mom?), we need a woman’s touch. Katie wrote: made with love for the kids.

One more time, a gigantic gracias to Nolan, Leonardo, Johnny (not pictured), Andres, Jose Luis, Marvin, and Katie W for taking their day off to build the fogon! Muchisimas gracias por todo, especially the laughs and jokes!

Alright friends, a big thank you to y’all for checking out the report and have a good week! Thank you again to NSR, Horizon Group, and Hacienda Iguana for the help. Hasta en la manana amigos!