Glitter, Teeth Brushing and Fruits & Vegetables

Part of Aso Fenixs work is to provide capacitations/workshops in the communties where we have done or are completing projects. The capacitations touched on the following areas: environment, reforestation, health, agriculture, taking care of your water source, renewable energy, social development (gender equity, self esteem and conflict, and family violence) and community development (how to organize and support projects). We are almost finished with a potable water project in a village called Son Zapote, where I had the opportunity to give my first capacitations in Spanish this past week. We spent a week in the community giving the different capacitations.

I did four health related capacitations during the week, three with adults and one with children. The themes were germs (what are germs, how they spread and how to prevent getting sick from them), family hygiene (using a latrine and why, hand washing, teeth brushing, etc.) and nutrition (what the body needs to be healthy and plate proportions). I planned several activities with each capacitation in order to help people better understand the topics. I used glitter to give them a visual on how germs spread, which they seemed to really enjoy. They had to identify from drawings all the ways germs can spread and how to prevent germs from propagating. The capacitation for the kids I used a tooth model to show how to brush your teeth and they got to practice. We also practiced washing our hands while counting to 20. For the nutrition capacitation I used pictures of foods and then we talked about what nutrients the body needs every time we eat. Then they had “plates” they had to put the food in the correct area of the plate in order to know how much of each nutrient they should eat every time they eat. Through this exercise they were able to identify what they were lacking in their diets, which were fruits and vegetables. The idea is that now that they have a reliable source of water they will be able to grow family gardens near their houses in order to increase their vegetable and fruit intake.

The people were very receptive to the material, but I was a little disappointed more people from the community did not show up (only 25%). We changed the schedule twice trying to accommodate to when the people could come, but in the end it did not seem to help out that much. However, it was a good reminder to be flexible and open for change. Overall it was a great experience; I enjoyed being able to share some of my knowledge and also building more relationships in the community.

What Are We Up To?

Life here continues to keep us busy. Since the learning groups left in the beginning of January we have been busy working on renewable energy projects. We are finishing up a potable water project using solar panels to pump water from a well to two large tanks to store water for the community. Each house will have a faucet, which has access to the tanks. Previously, the people had to go to the well and carry 5 gallon buckets (on their heads) to have water in their houses. We will be finishing up the project by the end of this month including capacitations on: renewable energy, family hygiene, the environment, reforestation, agriculture, nutrition, and gender equity.

We are also working on another project installing solar panels for electricity in individual homes. The community we are working in does not have a road and is an hour hike (up hill), so all the panels and equipment are carried by horse or on peoples shoulders. This is a micro credit project. The families have up to 3 years to pay back the systems and choose how much energy they want (30, 50, 80, 100, 120 watts), which each costing differently. We trained 6 technicians in the community to be able to provide maintenance and help us with installations. We will be finishing this next week.

We installed two different drip irrigation systems using solar panels to pump the water. Teustepe, the area where we work, has a 6-7 month long dry season where there is no work (planting), so these drip irrigation systems are a way for farmers to have a harvest year round for consumption and profit. The drip irrigation system is a relatively new idea for Aso Fenix and Seth has been a able to help develop the system.


We will be starting two micro hydroelectric projects in two different communities the end of this month that we will be working on until through the end of May.

Looking Back Over This Past Year

Life here in Nicaragua is so much slower paced than in the states, which has helped me to focus more on my relationship with God. In this past year I have learned things about myself and about who my God really is. Growing up in a christian church I had heard various times that God loves us, what I did not realize was that his love is measureless and what that means in my life. There is no measure to God´s love, there is nothing I can do to make him love me more or less, his love is never changing. Once I realized this it was freeing, I wake up every morning knowing I am loved and through this non-judgmental love I learn to trust him more and more. All God wants from me is to love him because he first loved me, there is nothing more God wants then to restore his relationship with humans.

Something I have never liked was the fire and brimstone approach, which is why I never wanted to evangelize, but this is not what God intended. If God's focus is to restore our relationship with him shouldn't that show how important relationships are to God? The gift of his love is what should draw people to his side and that is how the great commission should be done and not on a soap box, but through relationships. After being here for a little over a year I can see that is why I am here, to build relationships. We can never know which relationships God will use therefore, we must invest in all of them and remember to always prioritize relationships over everything else in our lives.

Smiles and Clean Hands

With our first learning tour in December, I had the opportunity to do two capacitations (trainings) on hand washing and teeth brushing with the kids in Bramadero. I prepared everything for the two different capacitations and the students from the group from Cal Poly, were able to lead the capacitations. We did activities like reading a story about both topics, had several crafts relating to the topics and then hands on learning exercises (washing their hands and teeth brushing on a mouth model). It worked out good for me to be able to go around and observe instead of leading the workshop since it was my first time doing these capacitations, so I could see what worked well or needed improvement. One of the students was able to get some toothbrushes donated to hand out, so each child that participated was given one. Also, we were able to give out small toothpastes to each child from Seth's parents church in South Dakota.

The kids really enjoyed the entire workshop, but I thought it was mainly because it was something fun to do. A couple weeks after we did the capacitation we were back in Bramadero and several of the girls were at our house and they said "Sara, can I wash my hands?", I said, "yes, of course." They begin washing their hands and telling me how to wash tier hands "you need to scrub your fingers, wrists, and the front and back of your hands for 20 seconds". During that same visit in Bramadero, I was with another child who had food in his teeth and I told him he needed to brush his teeth and I had the opportunity to review how, why and when we need to brush our teeth. Later that same day I saw that child and he made sure to show me he had brushed his teeth. It is always rewarding to see people beginning to change for the better, but for me it is the most rewarding to see a child take hold of something and make changes.

I will be doing my first capacitation with adults in February in a community where we recently installed a potable water system using solar panels. They will be over hygiene, germs and how they affect our health and nutrition (what we need to eat to be healthy). I am looking forward to sharing some of my knowledge in order to help them improve their health. I am greatful God is using me in this way.

The Bramadero Slumber Party

During the last group when we were in Bramadero I had the privilege to have three girls from the community stay with me in our house. Seth head to return to Managua to bring up more supplies and drop off one of the group members in Managua. I was planning on staying by myself, but Jaime, my boss, suggested it would be better if someone stayed with me. It is not that it was unsafe, but more culturally a woman would not stay in a house by herself, so he suggested someone from the learning group or a girl I knew from the community stay with me. So I decided it would be a great time to have a slumber party. Three cousins stayed with me, Catie (8 years old), Berta (7 years old) and Jacinta (10 years old). They were so excited, partly because they got to sleep on mattresses and also they could stay up late (past 8 pm) and play with our games/toys. We colored, took silly pictures and had fun talking. We have two beds, so the two little ones slept on the smallest mattress and the older one, Jacinta, slept in my bed. The next morning they all helped sweep the floor and straighten up the house...I don't think they wanted to leave, but eventually their moms began to call them and they went their separate ways. That night before heading back to our house I saw all three girls and they asked me if Seth was back because if not they were ready to stay with me again...Seth had returned, so no more slumber parties.
It was a lot of fun and will always be a special memory for me.