"So as you all know I am working on a latrine project to finish up my 2
years here in Nicaragua. We've (the community and I) been working on
this project for the last 8 months; researching the community and
potential beneficiaries, writing the proposal, defending the proposal
in Managua and educating the community on personal and communal
hygiene as well as the use and maintenance of the latrines.
Through all of this I have worked closely with the members of the
community, the Mayors office, the office of tourism, a Costa Rican
firm that is constructing the road from Managua to San Carlos, and
the Ministry of Health. Peace Corps awarded us a Humanitarian
Assistance grant for the maximum allowable amount of $10.000. The
community is required to contribute 25% of the total cost as a way to
demonstrate involvement. The community of San Carlos has donated 32%
of the total amount to this project through manual labor, reduced cost
of materials, cash gifts and major transportation (from Managua to San
Carlos)."
Implementation:
We've decided to break the group into two. We are going to construct 12 latrines first (those that live on the first main road) and then 15. Which means we are bringing materials to the neighborhood two times (a longer process than I ever thought!) and then constructing in two fasces.
Day 1: Group A: Bringing Iron, nails, cement, and sand
No big deal right? But we are talking 72 bag of cement...120 lbs of nails...and 480 buckets of sand.
We started small with the cement. I saw on the bag that it weighed 42.5 so I thought no big deal. And then I picked it up. Immediately fireworks started going off in my eyes and I thought- I am going to die. Unfortunately Dona Maria (a 75 year old woman that weighs less than a hundred pounds) just picked up one of the bags as if it were filled with feathers. So I walked, little by little, until I made it the 20 yards to Dona Marias house. I was pretty embarrassed at my poor performance. Later on that night Cartucho informed me that the bag was 42.5 kilos, so approximately 100 lbs. Now I am proud I made it that far without falling over.
And the sand. Oh the sand. Each house was given 40 buckets of sand. We (the women) all stood around and watched the process for the first house. It involved putting two buckets of sand (each weighs 30+lbs) into a bag and carrying it the house. Luckily we were able to change the process by carrying the buckets, bucket by bucket, to the house which allowed us to help with process. Needless to say, those buckets were still pretty heavy. The best part of this was that we decide to go house by house- if I help carry buckets of sand to your house, you need to help me carry buckets of sand to my house. It worked really well and we were finished in a couple of hours.
Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. I didnt take many because I was making sure the first day went smoothly, but here are a couple.
My BFF in 30 de Mayo
Dona Maria.
Here she has "verguenza" because of the previous pic 
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