X-ray Ten: The final word by Sam Malvern

As Phase Two drew to an end, X-ray Ten started to see noticeable results of our hard work over the past few weeks. Our days began early; we met at 7.45am for morning energizers and project briefings. Each day we alternated the groups so half went to Las Palmas to work on the museum and the other half stayed in El Terrero and worked on the community centre.


The Las Palmas team caught the 8.15am bus and took the 30-minute journey to the museum site. Whilst we were there, our work involved collecting rocks of all different sizes to help the foreman construct a wall to go around the museum. We used wreaking bars to pull out the biggest rocks embedded in the ground. It was hard work in the hot Nicaraguan sun but as a group we hve seen the wall grow from the beginning and can all really appreciate how much time, effort and skill goes into building a stone wall. Some days it was hard to get enthusiastic about collecting rocks but during our break times we kept ourselves amused by befriending the local dogs! John in particular grew very attached to “Rocky” who coincidentally fetched small rocks when you threw them for him.

The museum at Las Palmas

In El Terrero we were helping to build a community centre for the local village. At the beginning of the phase it was hard to picture what it would look like – but a few weeks of hard labour and the centre is really beginning to take shape. In our time we cleared the area, formed a foundation and finished the phase by laying bricks – which hopefully the next group will finish.

On-site planning meeting for the new community centre

We have all had the opportunity to learn new skills – such as mixing cement and brick laying as well as having the chance to practice leadership skills and team building by having a Day Leader in each group to ensure we got the most out of our working day.


After work, we taught English to the local school children which was fun and rewarding. They were so enthusiastic to learn which was really refreshing and made it easier to teach. We spent the last afternoon with our families – playing cards and practising our Spanish (with the help of our phrasebooks!) – then we all met us at 5.30pm at the hill to watch the beautiful sunset whilst we had our daily review. Not a bad way to end the day.

Sunset reviews in El Terrero

At the weekends, we watched a local baseball game and even learned some traditional Nicaraguan dance moves. One weekend we were lucky enough to visit Esteli where we stayed with JC’s family – one of our Host Country Participants from Nicaragua. We had a tour of the city, visited a tobacco factory and went to a local restaurant for lunch, as well as cooking Nicaraguan food for ourselves. It was really interesting to compare city and village life in Nicaragua.

Coffee culture

As a group we all had a fantastic experience living in a Nicaraguan community and became very attached to our families who all seemed so grateful for our work and enjoyed getting to know more about our culture as much as we enjoyed living in their culture.

The X-ray Ten team

Next: The Final Word from X-ray Nine