Hola mis amigos!
Today marked a
significant occasion in Nicaragua's long history of political turmoil.
Nicaragua celebrated the inauguration of their President, Daniel Ortega, or as
we like to call him, Danny. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, two of the most infamous leaders in the
world, joined in on the celebrations here in Nicaragua. Unfortunately, due to
the large rallies and possible dangers that could result from Ortega's
inauguration, we decided to change our travel plans and leave the country's
capital of Managua sooner than we had originally planned. We were unable to
witness any major events in Managua because of the possibility that we may have
not been able leave the area.
We started our day off with a visit to the Universidad Americana (UAM), which is the school that our Nicaraguan peers attend. We listened to a presentation given by Ricardo Terán Terán, the co-founder and managing partner of Agora Partnerships. Agora is a non-profit organization that invests human, social, and financial capital to accelerate the growth of high-impact entrepreneurs in the developing world. The organization works with small and growing businesses (SGB), which are commercially viable businesses, typically with 5-250 employees and strong potential for growth. It was really fascinating to learn about Agora since they are not a micro-financing organization, but still deal with entrepreneurs that impact underdeveloped communities.
We started our day off with a visit to the Universidad Americana (UAM), which is the school that our Nicaraguan peers attend. We listened to a presentation given by Ricardo Terán Terán, the co-founder and managing partner of Agora Partnerships. Agora is a non-profit organization that invests human, social, and financial capital to accelerate the growth of high-impact entrepreneurs in the developing world. The organization works with small and growing businesses (SGB), which are commercially viable businesses, typically with 5-250 employees and strong potential for growth. It was really fascinating to learn about Agora since they are not a micro-financing organization, but still deal with entrepreneurs that impact underdeveloped communities.
After the presentation
ended, we watched a brief video clip created by one of the UAM students about
UAM and their international programs. We then got together with our group
members from UAM to work on our projects for each of our assigned
entrepreneurs. It was really interesting to see the campus layout structure,
which was very open to nature.
The next stop was one of
Nicaragua’s major banks, Banco LAFISE Central for a tour of their main office
and a presentation about their experience in the micro-financing sector. We
toured the building, seeing the different offices designated for each
department as well as the cafeteria where all the workers can go to eat lunch.
We noticed an abundance of art including large paintings and sculptures
throughout the building, which are bought from galleries such as Codice:
Galeria de Arte Contemporaneo y Artesania Nacional. One thing that really stood
out to us was the number of female employees that worked at the bank. There is
a great deal of gender equality, with a higher female to male ratio. We then
listened to a presentation by a few of the bank employees, including one of the
sons of bank owner and president.
In their presentation,
they briefly discussed their current charity program with MIT of distributing
free computers and setting up Wi-Fi connections for primary schools in
extremely impoverished areas of Nicaragua. So far, LAFISE has helped distribute
over 22,000 computers throughout Nicaragua and has already seen improvements in
drop out rates as well as student attendance rates. They first select the
school, Internet in school, and then work with local Internet companies that
donate their Internet service to the schools. They then bring teachers to the
bank in order to train them on how to use the computers for their teaching
programs. After the presentation, LAFISE treated us to a nice lunch. We sat
with the President’s son and other employees where we discussed more aspects of
the LAFISE bank. At the end of our lunch, the President and owner and the
General Manager came to greet all of us, which was actually very surprising.
It’s not very often that company CEO’s and bank owners actually make an
appearance for groups of students. Before we left, we each received gifts from
the bank, which included a hat, a water bottle, and a pen, all branded of
course, with the LAFISE name.
Our last stop in Managua
before making our way to Grenada was the Masaya Volcano, which is Nicaragua’s
first and largest National Park. As soon as we arrived to the volcano, there
was a very strong smell of sulfur in the air that made it difficult for
everyone to breath. We climbed up the steps to the top of the volcano to better
see the depth of the actual crater. There is also a wooden cross at the top of
the volcano put there centuries ago by the people to appease the Gods and keep
the demons from escaping the volcano. Our friend from UAM said that the volcano
is known as “the gates of hell”. We didn’t stay at the volcano for too long
because it became too difficult to breathe after awhile. Before we left the
Mayasa Volcano, we quickly walked through the museum in the National Park. I
thought it was a really interesting contrast to the museums back home in D.C.
The museum consisted mostly of pictures and models of the different volcanoes
and nature in Nicaragua.
When we finally got to
Granada, the difference from Managua was instantly apparent. Just from the
cleanliness of the streets and the absence of visible slum housing and the
bright and colorfully painted buildings. The city definitely has a historic
colonial Spanish charm to it. Our hotel, Hotel Con Corazon is really beautiful
with a very cozy and earthy atmosphere and feel to it. There are hammocks
hanging in the main as well as a big wooden swing. One of the best aspects of
the hotel is that it works with local artisans to help sell their products and
they also incorporate artisan products in the hotel décor.
Our dinner in Granada was
definitely one of the best experiences so far just from the bonding and
memories that we made. We all headed out to the main strip where all the
“gringos” go to dine. We ate at El Zaguan, where we were able to enjoy
listening to two guitarists playing and singing Spanish songs, while we waited
for our meals. The best part of dinner was when we asked the guitarists to
serenade Lily with a Spanish love song, Besame Mucho. She was very moved by the
song of choice because of the nostalgic feelings and memories.
We had an interesting
walk back to the hotel. First, we saw a fairly large dead rat in the middle of
the road and then we saw a man passed out in the middle of the square. We were
worried that he was unconscious or worse until another concerned passerby came by
and noticed that he was snoring. A couple of us had leftover food from the
restaurant, which we were planning on giving to any children or people that we
thought would eat it. As we were looking for people, we walked by two older
women who began shouting at us asking and reaching out for the baggies of food
in our hands. After handing them the food, they asked for our bottles of water
to drink with the food.
We ended our night on a
calm note with everyone just hanging around the hotel. Overall, it was definitely
one of the best days we’ve had so far, but we’re all really excited and looking
forward to getting to San Juan del Sur in a couple of days.
