The city of Esteli
My sister´s class
My neighbor helping me make some jam
My first pinata
A Sandinista political rally
The Papaya farmerOctober 25, 2008
Howdy! I apologize for so long in between writing but these weeks have been busy and the internet frequently goes out in Esteli. Last week we went to our final tech day in a town named La China. We spent the day speaking with various producers about how they started and managed their now successful agribusinesses. One man was a papaya farmer who worked with a grant from USAID to receive training on greenhouse management and papaya plantations. He began with only a small amount of land but now has a fairly large sized field of trees, selling to large markets all over Nicaragua.
We also met a man who man who worked with worm composting. He started out very small using just work boxes, but as he earned enough to build a new house, he turned his old one into a massive system of worm boxes. He can sell the worm fertilizer for about five dollars a sack, not much but a hefty profit margin considering his only inputs were the worms, which he only had to buy once because they reproduce like crazy, and fresh cow manure, donated from a local feed lot. The fertilizer is also the most rich looking dirt I seen in Nicaragua.
The final producer was a lady who started mong bean production when she was living as a single mother in a plastic house. She worked with her family to produce the mong beans and then transported them to Managua to sell to Chinese and Korean restaurants. She worked her way up, eventually paying her way through business school. Taking out a $6000 loan to buy a truck, a loan she paid back in six months, amazing. She now carries produce from other producers in her community and sells to the largest supermarket chains in the country. It was incredible to hear her tell about her life and how much she had over come. She has been the only woman producer I have encountered and by far the most innovative, very inspiring stuff.
Training has been flying by. I will leave my training town on the 17th of November and swear in on November 24th in Managua, apparently we will be on national tv! This Tuesday I will find out where my site will be. I requested the cool mountain highlands, some really neat communities, so yall pray for me not to get sent to the western lowlands where I will bake away to nothing. After we find out on Tuesday, we will travel for a week long visit on Friday. Needless to say I am excited and anxious to find out where I will spend the next two years.
How bout them tar heels by the way, and its not even basketball season yet, wow! I miss yall lots and hope you are well. I have gotten surprisingly few letters so how bout we step it up folks.
Austin Turner, PCT
Voluntario del Cuerpo de Paz
Apartado Postal 3256
Managua, Nicaragua
Central America
Much love
austin
Howdy! I apologize for so long in between writing but these weeks have been busy and the internet frequently goes out in Esteli. Last week we went to our final tech day in a town named La China. We spent the day speaking with various producers about how they started and managed their now successful agribusinesses. One man was a papaya farmer who worked with a grant from USAID to receive training on greenhouse management and papaya plantations. He began with only a small amount of land but now has a fairly large sized field of trees, selling to large markets all over Nicaragua.
We also met a man who man who worked with worm composting. He started out very small using just work boxes, but as he earned enough to build a new house, he turned his old one into a massive system of worm boxes. He can sell the worm fertilizer for about five dollars a sack, not much but a hefty profit margin considering his only inputs were the worms, which he only had to buy once because they reproduce like crazy, and fresh cow manure, donated from a local feed lot. The fertilizer is also the most rich looking dirt I seen in Nicaragua.
The final producer was a lady who started mong bean production when she was living as a single mother in a plastic house. She worked with her family to produce the mong beans and then transported them to Managua to sell to Chinese and Korean restaurants. She worked her way up, eventually paying her way through business school. Taking out a $6000 loan to buy a truck, a loan she paid back in six months, amazing. She now carries produce from other producers in her community and sells to the largest supermarket chains in the country. It was incredible to hear her tell about her life and how much she had over come. She has been the only woman producer I have encountered and by far the most innovative, very inspiring stuff.
Training has been flying by. I will leave my training town on the 17th of November and swear in on November 24th in Managua, apparently we will be on national tv! This Tuesday I will find out where my site will be. I requested the cool mountain highlands, some really neat communities, so yall pray for me not to get sent to the western lowlands where I will bake away to nothing. After we find out on Tuesday, we will travel for a week long visit on Friday. Needless to say I am excited and anxious to find out where I will spend the next two years.
How bout them tar heels by the way, and its not even basketball season yet, wow! I miss yall lots and hope you are well. I have gotten surprisingly few letters so how bout we step it up folks.
Austin Turner, PCT
Voluntario del Cuerpo de Paz
Apartado Postal 3256
Managua, Nicaragua
Central America
Much love
austin
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1 comments:
The picture of that little boy in school with the bewildered look on his face is awesome...I think your best one yet.
Glad to hear all is well -- keep up the good work.
Love,
Mason
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