After breakfast at Camino Real Managua this morning, we
traveled to UAM to meet with our project groups, as well as our partners from
UNAN. After working for a few hours and finalizing brochures, business cards,
and other presentations, we had the pleasure of listening to a presentation by
Ricardo Terán of Agora partnerships about impact investments. Having never learned
about impact investing before, I was extremely interested in the type of
business Señor Terán does, investing in companies and projects that will yield
both financial and social returns. This presentation represented many of the loyal
business owners we have met in Managua, who seek not only to make a profit but
to help create a better life for their communities here.
After lunch, our friends from UNAN,
including our dear translator and friend Alber, were very excited to show us
around their campus. It was very fascinating to see the differences between
their university and ours at home in College Park. Some interesting sights to
see on campus included a statue of an Aztec calendar and a farm full of turtles
and iguanas. A faculty member from UNAN explained that just as the iguana
species was about to go extinct, UNAN decided to breed them to keep the species
alive. They currently have a large number of female iguanas with one male to
continue breeding, including many younger ones that live in a separate area.
After breeding and growing to a certain age, many of them are sold to farms and
later eaten, especially during certain Nicaraguan celebrations!
At the end
of our tour at UNAN, we got back on the bus to return to UAM and finish working
with our projects. When it came time to show off our work, each presentation
was very impressive and the UNAN groups seemed pleased and grateful to have
worked with us. Certificates were presented to all of our dear UAM and UNAN
students, which prompted many tears from Lily and many thanks to Jane. Then,
Jane with her huge heart presented two of the groups, the water purification
team and flash bracelets team, with small monetary donations courtesy of our
fundraising through Maryland. Everyone was extremely grateful, including us,
and again Lily cried. Our little ceremony was very heartwarming and we all
finished our work in Managua feeling proud.
Dinner was
at Donia Haydee’s, a local hacienda restaurant with local food. We devoured
“sortito,” a family style local dish that was absolutely delicious. Some of our
new friends from vínculos, an organization created in partnership with UNAN,
joined us for dinner. We were all entertained by a few street kids dancing and
playing drums, which we later shared some of our food with. As we finished
dinner, and our last night out in wonderful Managua, the guitar player came to
serenade us, and our Lily could not help but cry once again. The night ended
with all of us living out the true Nicaraguan saying of “barriga llena, corazón contenta,” meaning full stomach, happy heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment