Day Twelve

Today was another awesome day. It was a little more relaxing just because we felt like we knew Rolando and Noemy a lot better, and we sort of knew what to expect with Rolando (but really you never know what to expect).

He told us a little bit about the women’s group that teaches sewing yesterday, but today we actually got to go to San Juan los Planes (an impoverished community on the volcano) and meet the people in the community and some of the women in the group. We stopped and talked to two different women in the group; Vanessa and Ofelia.  Vanessa let us in her house and she told us all about learning how to sew, and how much it has impacted her life.  Aside from the incredibly horrifying, 3ft tall rooster we encountered, it was amazing to see that the government is helping out women like Vanessa, because normally the only money she could make would be harvesting coffee beans a few months out of the year.

Vanessa and the shirts she made!

Tiffany's "Get that rooster away from me" face

After talking to Vanessa, we got back in the truck to head further up the Volcano to Ofelia’s house. This was quite the adventure. To get to her house you had to drive up a ‘road’ (more like a skinny path) that was extremely bumpy and treacherous, not meant for Rolando’s little truck. But after lots of bumping up and down and laughing really hard, we made it to her house and were able to hear how the women’s group has influenced her. She told us that it didn’t just help her individually, but it really helped San Juan Los Planes create a better sense of community, and it also gave her a lot more friends and connections. Because they all live so spread out, it is difficult for them to have ‘friends’ or ‘girl time’ because normally they are working or caring for their familes all day; but this sewing class gives them a time to get together in the community center, talk, learn and make friends! It was so great to see that one little project that was focused on just sewing at first had SO many effects that they didn’t even plan on (lots of money for the women, sense of community, friendship, new connections).

It was so impressive to hear how much work Ofelia has put into this women’s group. She has POLIO and she used to walk a mile down the volcano five times a week to teach these women! Now it is down to 2 or 3 times a week, but still! It was hard for her to even walk around her house, I can’t imagine how painful it is for her. It really shows her commitment to the group, and commitment to LEARNING. She loves being able to teach these women a skill because then they can be successful and teach more women, and the cycle will continue.

Ofelia and her diplomas!

Ofelia showing us how she sews the skirts

Ofelia's Nephew

Of course we picked up lots of people on the way down the volcano!

Before we left the volcano Rolando took us to El Boqueron; the mouth of the volcano where it previously erupted. I didn’t want to brag to any of the other girls on the trip because I knew that everyone wanted to go…..but Tiffany and I were pretty excited!  Rolando, Noemy, Tiffany and I parked the truck and started our hike up the volcano. It was SO foggy today that you could barely even see in front of you! Walking through the trees on the way up the volcano was amazing; it was a little eerie but it was beautiful.

When we got to the top it was so foggy that we couldn’t see any part of the crater; we were literally in the clouds. Rolando, being his easy going self, just sits down on the bench and says, “Oh, just wait 10 minutes,” and Tiffany and I just rolled our eyes. But sure enough, 10 minutes later it was clear and we could see the whole thing. It was great just to take an hour out of our day to sit and wonder at the beauty, and have sometime to just think!

For the end of our day we got to sit down and chat with Pati, Manuel and Richard who are three students from the volcano who are currently attending the University of Central America. It was so awesome to hear their individual stories about how bad the schools were on the volcano, and how unprepared they were; but they all worked really  hard to get the scholarships, and now they are all the first ones in their individual families to go to college! They are so excited and proud to be at the university and it makes me think about how much I take for granted. I hate that in the United States it is assumed that high school students will go to college because we don’t treasure it at all; we forget how lucky we are to be accepted or to get a degree. In the US, you now need to get a masters or PhD to impress people. I also think about how accessible it is for us in the U.S., and almost anyone can go with the right grades, but these kids who go to the UCA feel like they had their dreams come true by going there.

Rolando, Richard, Manuel, Pati, Tiffany, Myself

Over the last two days I learned a lot by working and talking with Rolando. He was so kind to everyone we met, and was always willing to lend a helping hand. I was really impressed with how natural it was for him to help someone, and how he didn’t care if it made us late our not. It really showed me that if I don’t stop to look for great opportunities then I’m never going to find them! I plan out so much of my day that I don’t even ALLOW for spontaneous or unexpected things to happen, because I always have control of my time. I am so glad I was placed with Rolando and I’m sure that it was God’s doing, because he was exactly what I needed to get me excited about helping, and able to loosen up a little bit before I head home! =)