Nicaragua- Trip and Celebration for Completion of El Trapiche Water System

On Thursday, December 1, 2016 I took off from Boulder with two friends from Rotary Club of Boulder Valley, John and Maud Kenyon, for a 10 day trip to Nicaragua. This was our second time there and the principle reason for the travel was to help the village of El Trapiche, near Jalapa in the north of the country, celebrated the completion of the rebuilding of their water system. Our Rotary

Club had provided funding and successfully applied for a Rotary International Global Grant to partially cover the costs of the project. After that we planned to see other parts of the country that we had missed on our previous trip. John, our photographer, would chronical our adventure.

We had originally visited the area in the spring of 2014 to participate in an inauguration ceremony to commemorate the finish of another water project in the small, nearby pueblo of Pasmata. As was done later in El Trapiche, BV Rotary had partnered with Boulder Friendship City Projects (FCP) and the area residents to finance and build the system. While there at that time, the local FCP

representative, Karla Pozo, introduced us to the impassioned Water and Sanitation Committee (CAPS) for El Trapiche. They explained to us that their antiquated, gravity-fed water system no longer worked well. It also was not designed to adequately supply the needs of a population that had increased many times  over to the then present 2000 inhabitants. FCP was already committed to the project and we agreed to see if we could find Rotary financing to cover the first two phases of the work; rebuilding the dam and replacing the downhill mainline pipe and pressure breaking boxes. FCP would try to fund phases 3 and 4, building a new collection tank at the base of the hill and establishing a network of piping from the tank to the individual homes. 8 Rotary clubs, District 5450 and Rotary International would end up donating $38,925 to this project.

Travelling with us was local resident Greg Bowles, an American who is married to a Nicaraguan and is also on the FCP Board. Greg has been involved in projects in the Jalapa Valley for at least 10 years and, in addition to being a very good traveling companion, is knowledgeable about all things Nicaraguan. On this trip we decided to forego riding on the cramped local buses and had Greg arrange for a car and driver.


We first stopped off in the town of Ocotal to lunch with the members of the Rotary Club there. This small club had acted as the required "Host Club" for the El Trapiche Rotary Grant. The meal was hosted at the Hotel Frontera, owned by member Maximo Ramos, and spirits were high due the end of a long, and sometimes difficult, grant process. They shared with us the very impressive marble plaque they had ordered to commemorate the endeavour.

That evening we checked into our old friend, the El Pantano Hotel in Jalapa. The next day, Saturday, December 3rd, we met up with the valuable Karla Pozo to visit a couple of potential future projects in the Jalapa area. Both Siuce and Santa Cruz are, like El Trapiche, small, but growing hamlets, spread across the side of a mountain. Unlike El Trapiche however, their sources of water are not secure. Siuce's present system is makeshift using hoses and is contaminated with the residue from the cultivation and processing of coffee. Santa Cruz' challenge is that their water supply volume is not adequate, especially the past few years of drought. Here for video.

Between ourselves we decided that we would need an engineering study of the two settlements' potential for reasonable solutions to their water problems before there would be any consideration about moving forward in any search for funding . We'll see if this gets done. This evening we arrived late at the home of Orlando Zeledon, who we first meet earlier in the year when he visited Boulder Valley Rotary. He and Marlon Matute have an interest in starting a Rotary Club in Jalapa, which would greatly assist us in writing future grants in the valley. They appear enthusiastic.

Next day, Sunday, we headed up in 4-wheelers and later on foot to inspect
the high-up source of water for the village of El Trapiche. With us was all of the Ocotal Rotary Club, the El Trapiche Water Committee and FCP representatives Karla and Greg.
The long, steep, narrow and slippery foot trail gave us great appreciation for
how difficult it was for the people of El Trapiche to just reach and carry equipment and materiel (think bags of cement, heavy steel pipes) to the dam construction site. And, that was before the back-breaking labor of digging the repository pool, removing boulders and where possible, burying the main pipeline.


Back down the mountain we visited the new holding tank and viewed the temporary holder for the plaque. Later all had lunch at the home of one of the CAPS members.

The afternoon was dedicated to the inauguration ceremony itself at the local primary school. Attendance was light, as no meal was offered because the $450 required was beyond the budget. Speeches were made, hands were shook, a raffle of 5 each picks and shovels was held and certificates were handed out. All and all, a good end to what sometimes seemed like an endless project. Here for video.

This concluded the "business" part of the trip. We now headed off to visit the old colonial towns of Leon and Granada, long the political polar opposites in Nicaragua's many centuries of civil wars.

"Liberal" Leon, founded in 1524, as was Granada, is located north of the capital city of Managua. Streets are narrow and crowded. We spent Monday night there, as I was ill for part of the time, I only got a chance to walk around the central area on Tuesday morning, including a visit to their art museum and impressive cathedral.

Tuesday night we stayed at Greg and his wife's spread south of "conservative" Granada. They recently moved in and Greg has what appears to be an endless list of projects he hopes to accomplish there. On the way to Greg's we did look down at Masaya Volcano to see molten lava.

Granada sits on the bank of massive Lake Nicaragua, with broader streets than Leon and a more prominent foreign presence. Only a morning there, but I was impressed with their museum, especially the display of the newest thing, Nicaraguan "primitivista paintings."

Wednesday afternoon we flew across the country to Nicaragua's Corn Island off the east coast in the Caribbean. This rustic jewel was perfect for us. No fancy resorts, just small outfits with cabanas. The dark skinned population speaks good English (the island was colonized by English pirates and escaped slaves from the British Caribbean Islands) and the Spanish that is taught in schools.

Two days there, with a lot of rain that took little away from our enjoyment of the experience, and back to cold, late autumn weather in Boulder, Colorado.

My Greatest Hits

This is a compilation of experiences, accomplishments and adventures that I have enjoyed and from which I have derived pleasure and satisfaction.

* My Children

Despite the less than perfect marriage of their parents, Timothy and Kerry have turned out to be wonderful people with loving spouses and children, successful careers and happy lives. Truly, nothing is more important to me.

* My Granddaughters

And of course my perfect children have produced perfect children themselves. Annabelle, Kiki and Mackenzie are attractive, active and very bright. How fortunate am I.

* Working summers while growing up on my Uncle Lavern and Cousin Edwin's Michigan farms. 

I did this for several years in my early teens. Mostly I remember long days of bailing hay followed by simple evening pleasures such as swimming and fishing. My greatest enjoyment came from feeling I was making a contribution.

* Reading

I am seldom without a having a couple of books in progress, usually one each fiction and nonfiction. My son Timothy is the same way and his daughter Mackenzie shows some interest as well. I feel it is like being able to live not only your own life, but others as well.

* Peace Corps in Venezuela 1966-68

This two year plus experience was a seminal event in my life in that I was exposed to people I admired and found that I could reasonably compare my self with. Plus, it was a great adventure.

* Learning Spanish 

I have finally reached a level in Spanish where I feel I can communicate freely. I make errors all the time, but I am generally understood and can usually follow along in most conversations. I was not satisfied with the effort I had put into learning this language when I lived in Venezuela and have continued to work at it off and on, most successfully taking courses online with WebSpanish.com.

* Rugby 

  - Playing: I have often said that I was never more alive than when I was playing Rugby. It

was love at first sight when I first was introduced to the sport at Cal State LA. I was only a fair player but stayed with it until I turned 60.

  - Rugby Tours: I have been fortunate to have participated in Rugby playing tours to Canada, Mexico, the UK, Chile, and to continental Europe many times. Traveling to these foreign lands with groups of friends have been wonderful experiences.

 

- Rugby Friends: As I moved quite often for a number of years, joining the local club was a wonderful way of finding new friends in new cities. Today most of my friends are from Rugby and we all share a common bond that is greatly valued.

  - Rugby 7's: For many years now my friend David Cunningham and I have traveled once a year to various stops on the International Rugby 7's Tournament circut. We have now seen the competition in San Diego, Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Wellington, NZ and Vancouver, Canada.

* Travel

I have always enjoyed and put a lot of value on traveling. Although I did not make it to Europe until my early 40's, I have been back many times. I have also been to most of the countries in Latin America, but only New Zealand and Hong Kong in the Pacific. Here at home I have visited every state except Alabama and Delaware.

*Rotary

Although I joined Rotary fairly recently in 2013, it has become an important part of my social life. Especially since I sold my business I have been able to say yes to many of the club projects and, the more you put into something the more you get out of it. I was proud to be named 2015-2016 Rotarian of the Year for the Rotary Club of Boulder Valley.

 - El Trapiche Grant: One of the reasons I joined our particular Rotary Club was that they had a history of involvement in an area of interest for me, Latin America. Because of this I ended up writing a grant for a small village of 2000 inhabitants in northern Nicaragua to redo their water system.

* Colorado Affordable Health

I created this business from my kitchen one step and client at a time. After 11 years of steady growth and income, I was able to sell it and enjoy a post-employment lifestyle.

* Living in Boulder (and the Northwest and New England)

It has been my very good fortune to live in some wonderful places. At the top of the list would be the two years I lived in New England, with all its history, color and charm, my 12 years in the green, beautiful Pacific Northwest and my now 25 plus years in picturesque Boulder, Colorado.

* Euchre

This card game was first taught to me by my Coy Grandparents about age 5 when they visited us in Southern California from Michigan. Years later it is the card game I play with my Rugby friends In fact we have literally played this over much of the Western World.

Big Rugby Weekend- Chicago, November 4-6, 2016

Five friends, Hunter Glasscock, Jim Dunckley, Mark Adolphson, Dave Cunningham and I had an epic weekend in Chicago. We had tickets to see the New Zealand All Blacks play the Irish National Rugby team on Saturday at Soldier’s Field as well as the USA National Side against the New Zealand Maoris on the prior evening.

This big “Rugby Weekend” was made even more special as we were able to catch the tail end of the Friday mid-day parade to celebrate the Cubs winning their first baseball World Series since 1908. 

It was said that six million fans crowded into downtown to enjoy the event. We mostly encountered waves of people, dressed in Cubs jerseys, leaving the gathering as we were trying to find our J. W. Marriott Hotel. Hunter, as always well prepared, was there in the lobby with five poured beers.

Lunch was eaten at Berghoff’s Restaurant (Thanks Dolph) where we were introduced to their litre jars of German beers.

The USA vs. Maori match was one-sided, as we lost 7-54, but I felt our boys did OK. They handled well, dominated the lineouts and controlled the ball for long periods. However, they could seldom penetrate the Maori defense and their errors were too often converted into NZ points. The weather was warm (exceptionally so for November in Chicago) and we limo’d (thanks Hunter) to a late dinner at Portillo’s, famous for their hot dogs.

Saturday dawned warm and clear and this time the streets were filled with mostly green Irish Rugby shirts and an occasional Black NZ jumper. Late breakfast was double cheeseburgers the Billy Goat Tavern, hallowed Chicago ground. 

After a few more stops to warm up, including back to Berghoff’s, we made our way to the big All Black/Irish match. These two teams have been competing since 1905 with the Irish never winning. Of course the team from “the land of the long white cloud” was favored by 24 points. But, the day favored the boys in green, as they too were able to shrug off a losing skein of over a century and come away with a well-deserved victory 40-29.

We then headed out to Wrigleyville to soak up the atmosphere, down car bombs (thanks Dave) and eat deep dish Chicago style pizza (who paid for that, Dunck?). We somehow got back to the hotel and had our return flight the next morning.

Good Rugby, food, drink and fellowship. I could not have asked for more.