Day One:
We have been in Nicaragua 4 nights and three days. It has been an amazing adventure so far. We have moved from abject poverty to the height of luxury (albeit eco-luxury with no hot water and lots of stairs to climb). What I’m saying is that Nicaragua is amazing!
I don’t think I can do a social media twist on this – other than the fact that I’ve been tweeting the whole trip so far – so instead I will just share my experiences and impressions. (Regarding tweeting – I can’t use my phone, or get a wireless signal, but I was able to use the 40404 text function to tweet!)
Flying into Nicaragua was incredibly beautiful. We arrived at 9PM, so the sky was completely dark and the city literally sparkled. It’s not like flying into LA or New York where the city lights give a hasty murky glow. Because the city itself is lit by so many different kinds of light – electric, gas and even fire stoves – it looked like a sheet of black velvet set with sparkling golden and white sequins – the shore outlined in darker black. I know that sounds poetic, but I don’t know how else to impart the poignancy and power of this beautiful city.
Customs was quick and easy, and all our luggage arrived safely. I had a moment of dis-orientation when I looked out the window and saw hundreds of faces pressed against it – like a bad Star Trek episode. But they resolved themselves into excited relatives and hotel drivers – one of whom found us – and we were off to the Brandt Hotel. At $60 a night, perhaps a bit over-priced for Nicaragua, but included the friendliest staff, internet and as much breakfast as you could eat in the morning.
In the morning, after pan (bread), huervos e jambon and the best coffee I have ever tasted (and Mom knows I am NOT a coffee fan) Marlyng from the NGO Proleňa picked us up at 8:30 AM (to avoid Managuan traffic). 
She drove us up to the tree nursery they have in Leon Vierjo, which grows almost a million seedlings that are then planted both by the organization and locals. Marlyng is actually a mechanical engineer, but she had the best English, so was volunteered to be our guide for the day. I am not sure if she enjoyed it or not, but she as a most gracious and knowledgeable host. I suppose as an American I assume everyone learns English as a second language, forgetting of course that Nicaragua and the US have not always been the friendliest of neighbors. (However the American dollar is widely accepted here and the people are very good at math figuring out the exchange rate down to the closest cordoba!) If you ever plan on visiting Nicaragua, bring lots of $5 and $1’s. Almost everything costs 100 cordoba or less!
The Proleňa nurseries were smaller than I imagined, but it was explained that it was dry season so they were not growing many seedlings right now (The trees they grow are Eucalyptus, Neem and something that looks like a banana tree with no fruit that has very hard wood!). What impressed me very much was that many of the trees were planted on working ranches and farms, providing shade for the people and animals, while the animals were able to eat the weeds and fertilize the trees! We wandered around a 3 year old Eucalyptus farm with a few horses, some goats, chickens and an old bull with no horns!
After seeing the nurseries and a few farms we were taken to a local cantina where we were treated to the most amazing local meal of beef with chimmichurri and fried yucca. And of course a Fresca to drink.
After lunch we went to another of the nurseries, this one run by Don Juan. 45,000 tiny seedlings rested in their plastic bags under the shade of a single tree. Another 400000 of slightly older seedling were placed under the shade of an old banyan. There were some locals in their horse drawn carriage (with car tires) picking up some trees to plant on their land. The trees usually sell for 5 cantos (20 cents) in the dry season and 20 cantos (one dollar) during the rainy season, but because fewer trees were planted this year, they were donating the seedlings for free to whoever would pick them up and plant them.
After touring Don Juan’s nursery, we traveled back down to Leon where we were taken to see Proleňa’s eco-stoves. These are small wood burning stoves that essentially cut wood consumption by three quarters and double the capacity to produce (tortillas, nacatamels, sopa). One lovely woman, Maria fed us nacatamales she had made that day. She is the sole provider for her entire family – all who live in what we consider a tiny shed. 
But she was the most open, warm and loving person I had met. Ready to share her food and so proud of her stove. She explained that next week she had to go to the hospital in Costa Rica because two years ago she was diagnosed with cancer, but she had faith and new that God would keep her strong. She wanted the people who support Proleňa (in the States, that is www.treeswaterpeople.org) to know that the eco-stoves not only changed her life, but the lives of her neighbors and neighborhood. She asked that we continue to support them and held faith that God would keep this project alive. Whether you believe in a Christian God or not, her faith was powerful and beautiful to behold.
After visiting Maria we drove on the octagon-brick roads to a slightly better area of town (still abject poverty to those in the US). Estella was the young woman we met there. She said that the eco-stove had allowed her to “expand her life”. She makes tortillas for a living, and the old wood burning stove she – and almost every other rural Nicaragua uses – produced so much smoke that she had severe lung and eye problems. In
two years, with the eco-stove, she was able to double the production of Tortilla’s – but more importantly, the lack of smoke from the new stove meant she got her eyesight back, and easier breathing. She lives with her young daughter and older grandmother. They could breather too. Now the only smell form her home is the delicious tortillas – of which she makes 400 – 800 a day!
Finally we went to Proleňa itself where we were shown the different models of eco-stove. From the one person stovetop, to the pizza oven. They are also developing a charcoal stove and had just sent 100 into the community that day for testing. Their “lab” was a largish table, with a few stoves, and some temperature measuring devices. Their desire is to create a lab like they have in Brazil (where marling went to train). But as the head engineer, Leonardo explained, these are the conditions that people will be using them in. Outdoors and in little to no shade.
Marlyng pointed out that at first the people of Managua had a hard time believing the stoves could work because they could not see the flame – but they solved that issue with a small door.
They do not simply give the eco-stoves away. They sell them at a subsidized rate of $30. (They take $85 to build). Companies like www.treeswaterpeople.org donate funds to subsidize the remaining $55. It is amazing to see how a single small stove, costing less than $100, can change not only an individual’s life, but a whole community. And eventually, because so much less timber will be used, perhaps even a country’s landscape. And let’s face it – with less rainforest being cut down – perhaps our environment. That might sound like a single butterfly flapping its wings, but to see the immense change that has already been made in a relatively short time (Proleňa has been in business for 12 years in Managua) one can really get a sense of change occurring. Don Juan said he did this because he wanted to see the mountains covered with trees again. Marlyng said the reason she did it was for stories just like Estella’s.
And that was only day one!
