Tica Rain

Costa Rica to Nicaragua

The bus for Nicaragua leaves in about an hour. I am scheduled to arrive in Granada at around 9pm. I could not make it to the morning bus because last night I had my first taste of “Tico” hospitality: a bottle of Flor de Caña, some guitar tunes, and a bunch of new friends.

San José reminds me a lot of Arica, the border city with Perú in Chile. It is funny how, although this place is so far, it feels the closest to home that I’ve been in a long time.

 

Everything in San Jose has that familiar taste: narrow streets, small shops, fruit carts, colorful clothes, sweet baked goods, and cold cheap beer. Flashes of memories from the days when I was a flight attendant in Chile come to my mind. With a “slight” change of scenery (from desert to jungle), even the air smells the same.

The people here are friendly and respectful, honest and happy. It seems a little weird to me that nobody has tried to rip me off by giving me change in colones after using dollars. Although one should pay attention to the exchange rates (about 500 colones per dollar), it has been nice to not have to be suspicious every time I get the bill.

 

It is raining again. It rained all night last night. It is a nice steady rain, not too cold or hard, just a nice warm rain that washes the streets of San José and seems to purify the souls of the people with every drop.

Como el rap de la abuela, ahora en español.

Sábado 12 de Noviembre de 2011

El transfer del aeropuerto me recogió a las 4 de la mañana. Me dirijo a Costa Rica y Nicaragua con una maleta rosa, una mochila y dos cajas que contienen un tremendo castillo inflable. Este último paquete es una donación para un programa de mujeres en Nicaragua.

Hace un par de meses, uno de nuestros voluntarios, Russ Blacker, participó en un programa de Micro Finanzas en Granada, ayudando a un grupo  de dueñas de casa a empezar un pequeño negocio que pudiera sustentarse a largo plazo y que eventualmente generara suficientes ingresos para mantener a sus familias.

El grupo estaba compuesto por Lola, Cristina y Liliana. Hasta entonces ellas habían estado fabricando piñatas en un pequeño taller organizado por una cooperativa comunitaria, las cuales vendían entre familiares y amigos sin mucho éxito. Durante su estadía, Russ les enseñó a organizarse, manejar dinero y comercializar su producto, pero por sobre todo, él iba con la idea de generar un plan de negocios que les permitiera convertir el pequeño taller en una empresa de fiestas y eventos.

Con este objetivo, Russ intentó obtener un pequeño crédito, sin embargo la empresa no estaba constituida adecuadamente y la institución de microcréditos no pudo otorgarles este beneficio. Entonces decidió conseguir donaciones, y entre dineros que ofrecieron sus padres y una donación dejada por otros voluntarios que habían estado hace unos meses en Nicaragua, creó un fondo que sería utilizado como una bolsa de préstamos.

La idea era que este dinero sería usado para comprar un castillo inflable, el cual podría ser rentado para fiestas infantiles. Con las ganancias de este negocio, las mujeres deberían pagar el préstamo y reutilizar el dinero para nuevas inversiones que ayudaran a desarrollar la micro empresa. Lola, Cristina y Liliana firmaron un contrato y se comprometieron a devolver el dinero, así como a hacer crecer el negocio.

Ya que el castillo inflable se encontraba en Estados Unidos, alguien tenía que llevarlo hasta su destino final. Y así es como hoy me encuentro llevando este inusual paquete desde Denver a San José y desde San José a Granada.

 La labor de Russ fue más que difícil. Tuvo que lidiar con un sistema extremadamente burocrático, una organización sin recursos y los problemas personales de los individuos que participaban en el proyecto. Todo esto en sólo cuatro semanas a velocidad centroamericana…un verdadero desafío. Ojalá que toda sus dedicación valga la pena y logre cambiar un poco la vida de estas esforzadas mujeres nicaragüenses. Mi avión está por partir. ¡Aquí voy!

Denver to Nicaragua

Saturday, November 12^th, 2011

The shuttle picked me up at 4 in the morning. I am heading to Costa Rica and Nicaragua with a pink suitcase, a backpack and two boxes containing a giant bouncing castle, which is a donation for a project started by Russ Blacker, one of our volunteers in Nicaragua, a couple months ago.  Russ worked for four weeks at a microfinance program in Granada to help a small group of housewives start a business that could sustain itself over time and generate enough income for the women to support their families.

The women’s group was integrated by Lola, Cristina and Liliana. They had a small workshop where they made piñatas and sold them later, mostly to friends and family. Russ not only taught them how to commercialize their product, manage money, and to get organized, he created a whole strategy where this organization could turn their work into a full party service.

Russ tried to get a micro loan for the project, but since they were not well organized, the financing institution couldn’t grant them this benefit. Instead, Russ got a donation from his parents and other volunteers that had been in Nicaragua earlier this year, and with this money created a loan that would have to be repaid and reinvested in the same organization for future projects. He bought a bouncing castle that could be rented out for children’s parties and made Lola, Cristina, and Liliana commit to the progress of their business.

Since the inflatable jumping castle was in the United States, somebody had to take it to its final destination; that is how I ended up traveling with this uncommon package from Denver to San Jose to Granada.

Russ’ task was far from easy. He had to deal with a bureaucratic system, an underfunded organization, and the individual problems of the people participating in it; all of this in only four weeks at Latin-American speed…a real challenge. Hopefully all his dedication will pay off and change the lives of these hard working Nicaraguan women. My plane is about to leave. Here I go!!