The past eight weeks in Nicaragua have been a whirlwind of incredible experiences and events. I have come to love the Nica culture and the town of San Juan del Sur. I?ve experienced a lot of firsts here in San Juan. First, time in a Spanish speaking country, first time surfing (not a successful venture), and first time seeing a volcano. There are many others, but I think I will hit a few highlights of the past eight weeks.
A day of Manualidades in Managua
Save the Children is an international organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of children all over the world. Save the Children Noruega has a documentation center in Managua (http://www.cedocsavethechildren.org.ni) that houses information on human rights and rights of children and adolescents. It also provides information on atrocities and conflicts that have greatly affected children. On the 29th of June, I attended a conference of 33 librarians from 19 different libraries in Nicaragua. After some Nicaraguan dances and some comedy sketches, our very own Haidy and Ruth took over and taught this group some very elaborate crafts. They taught them everything from elaborate gift cards to flower shaped boxes made out of foam. It was fun to watch even the old men get excited about the crafts.
Libraries take many forms
I have been traveling with the mobile project Tuesdays through Thursdays on their regular visits to 27 schools. It?s still fun to watch the kids crowd around the bins of books. One of my favorite moments, however was when the library truck could not make it up the hill to the school. Instead, two of the librarians walked up the hill to the school, gathered the children with their books and brought them back to the stand we had set up on the side of the dirt road. This time we did crafts from the back of the truck and the kids looked at books while a herd of cattle passed by. To me, it was the genuine form of bringing library services to all and it brought me back to when I would sell lemonade on the side of the road.
Library in La Libertad
La Libertad is a village of approximately 100 people in the mountains only accessible by horseback or motorcycle. With some people from the water project, I mounted a horse for the first time in many years and set off for La Libertad. As we rode through the mountains I again realized that I am in one of the most beautiful places in the world. All around us we could see green mountains and valleys and in the distance was Conception, an active volcano on the island of Ometepe. When we reached the village the children followed us into the school and stared at us expectantly. When I asked if they liked football, suddenly the kids were grabbing goals and the ball. The assigned all the girls to one team which was a mistake because they were good. After I kicked a ball around with them for awhile, some of the kids took me to the library. Housed in the home of one of the woman in the town this small library reminded me of my first day of my public libraries class where we talked about a library in New Hampshire. One woman in the town would carry five books form house to house and exchange the books that were there. Just like this, La Libertad has no policies or formalities. Everybody knows everybody and which books everybody has at a give time. No need for an automated system or even library cards there. Just a love of books!