Chris Morris takes us on a tour of El Coyolito in beautiful Miraflor:
It's the third and final phase of Expedition 10F and Romeo 5 have been tasked with the momentous challenge of building a community centre in the village of El Coyolito – a developing community located in the heart of the Miraflor Nature Reserve.
Echo 5's hard work clearing and leveling out a building site in the second phase has enabled Romeo 5 to jump straight into construction under the expert guidance of project manager, Don Mario. The project has been welcomed throughout the community as a means to facilitate different types of meetings and gatherings that allow interests and concerns to be heard.
Up until now, El Coyolito hasn’t had a place dedicated to holding meetings and social gatherings. If a meeting needed to be held, the only practical place is the local school, but this becomes problematic as it takes eight days for the Ministry of Education to provide authorisation. According to El Coyolito's president, Don Leopolodo, “The community centre will allow meetings and gatherings to be coordinated quicker and more effectively in conjunction with the needs to the village”. With this in mind Romeo 5 have been hard at work mixing cement, laying bricks and immersing themselves in the local culture.
As well as building the community centre, Romeo 5 has been spending time with the community by taking part in local activities and living with different families:
The Gonzalez and Altamirano family
Shibs and I have been living with the Gonzalez and Altamirano family and have been getting stuck into cooking, fishing and learning Spanish. Karen has been their family host and has kept them well fed on rice and beans while carrying out her normal housewife duties. Her husband is a young farmer and has been showing us how he cultivates corn, beans and tomatoes. Also keeping us busy has been Karen’s four year old daughter who has been keen to learn English and test our Spanish.
The Uriel and Rugama family
Rose and Robbie have enjoyed experiencing close quarter living whilst staying with the Uriel and Rugama family. Elvin has been their host and has welcomed them into his family with open arms. He is the church spokesman and a farmer who grows tomatoes, peppers, corn and beans on two different farms. His wife is a housewife and they have four children who have been keen to show Rose and Robbie their guitar skills.
The Iglesias and Medina family Cecilia and Andres have had a long walk each day from the build site to their house, but the pay-off has been getting to live with Don Leopoldo – the president of El Coyolito – and his family. Cecilia and Andres have learned how to milk the president’s cows and have enjoyed listening to the family’s collection of classic UK 90s hits. As the president, Don Leopoldo represents the community in front of the government (charity and voluntary), donating organisations and state institutions. However, this role is voluntary and to earn a living he also has a farm where he rears cattle and grows tomatoes, onions, potatoes and corn. His wife is a housewife and he also has three sons who live away from home most of the time.
The Rugama and Inglesias family
Helen, Jeca and Ana have been very popular while living with the Rugama and Inglesias family, as they have been staying just opposite the building site and have access to a unique western style toilet and shower! As well as these luxuries, the girls have enjoyed having Tonya as their host, who serves mouth-watering food and is always keen to invite the girls into her kitchen for a chat. Tonya is a housewife and has two daughters, who both study in the local school. Her husband works for a construction company in the US so she is often very busy, but always makes time to rustle up a tasty snack for the girls and even for the whole Romeo 5 team at times.
The Iglesias and Rodrigez family
PMs Gitti and Zoe have been living close by to Helen, Zeca and Ana with the Iglesias and Rodriguez family and have been warmly welcomed with the kindness of their host, Dora. It's not surprising Dora’s hospitality has been first class, as she is well experienced in housing eco-tourists who visit El Coyolito. She is also a housewife and has one son and one daughter who both study at school. Just like Tonya’s husband from the Rugama and Iglesias family, Dora’s works for a construction company in the US, so she too is a very busy housewife. However, it is clear from the PMs feedback on her vegetable soup and fruit yoghurt that she is very accomplished at what she does.
With a lot of hard work and team effort we made great progress throughout the phase:
Day 1-3: The project kicks off in Esteli with a briefing from El Foro – an organization that manages projects throughout the Miraflor Nature Reserve – on safety and a few ground rules while living and working in El Coyolito. Then it's a short bus journey to the village to meet families and to scout out the building site Romeo 5 will be working on over the next 15 days. With introductions to families over, the Venturers and PMs are left to settle into their new homes and to tackle language barriers that arise. Work starts the following morning with Romeo 5 straight away getting stuck into cement mixing, brick laying and leveling out the floor of the community centre. The next day sees real progress made with more of the same work and there is even time for a tortilla making lesson before work starts at eight sharp in the morning.
Day 4-6: In two days, Romeo 5 have already made progress building up two walls of the community centre and laying a hardcore base of stones for the flooring. Today another role was thrown into the mix. Romeo 5 must build a flat path around the outside of the community centre so that it is easily accessible. Up until lunch work goes smoothly, but then progress is halted by heavy rain. Romeo 5 takes this opportunity to scout out the nearest ice cream shop and to discuss their speedy progress on the project so far. The following day is a day off and the group decides to hike to the top of a nearby viewpoint and go in search of a waterfall. The views from the top of the viewpoint stretch across the whole Miraflor Nature Reserve and the refreshing water of the waterfall gives the group a chance to cool off before heading back to the families for some chill out time. The next day turns out to be a long hard day grafting in the rain, but it's OK because Romeo 5 are hardcore.
Day 7-9: It's day 7 and it's an early morning start for most of Romeo 5, as they are invited to milk the Gonzalez and Altamirano´s family cow. It takes almost an hour to find the cow by foot, but the views across Miraflor, as the sun bursts through early morning cloud makes the search worthwhile. For many of the group it's their first time experiencing cow milking and there is even the opportunity to try some, although it does not suit everyone’s taste. After breakfast its straight to work setting up scaffolding, pick axing and more cement-mixing. At the end of the day Don Mario is pleased with the group's work and gives everyone a morale boost by anouncing that 50% of the work on the community centre is complete. With this good news in mind Romeo 5 settle into a fast pace of working the following day and reward themselves by tucking into more ice cream. The next day Don Mario leaves the group to their own devices, as he has some work to do in another village. The group spends the day completing odd jobs around the site and decides on a design to paint on the community centre.
Day 10-12: Today Romeo 5 receives some more news on the progress of the project. There are five days of construction left, but it will take eight to complete. As a group, Romeo 5 decides to work on their rest day and get as much of the construction finished as they can. It puts a bit of a downer on the day, but spirits are soon lifted when Fieldbase pays a visit with post and the Raleigh shop. With everyone full from chocolate and sweets it's time to burn some energy with a dance competition in front of the community. There are three events: Salsa, Bachata, and freestyle. After some experimental moves being laid down and much deliberation from the judges there can only be one winning pair – Rose and Chris with the legendary robot dance. The next day's progress on the build site is once again good, with all four walls taking shape and preparations being made for the construction of the roof. Romeo 5 says goodbye to Fieldbase the following day, but are too preoccupied for any sad goodbyes. The group gets straight back to work and in the afternoon they prepare a chicken and vegetable curry for the community. In the evening the villagers tuck in and give the group a chance to socialise and practice newly learned Spanish skills.
Day 13-16: It’s the last four days of the project and Romeo 5 have become experts at mixing cement, laying bricks, pick axing and shoveling stones and understanding Don Mario's detailed instructions in Spanish. The group has worked hard so far and now it's the final push to get as much of the community centre built as possible. By the end of day 13, Romeo 5 has almost built all walls to the correct height needed to attach the roof and have leveled the floor ready to be cemented. The next day there is no time for slacking as scaffolding to support the walls are filled with cement, requiring – yep you've guessed it – a lot more cement mixing. In the afternoon Zoe and Andreas give the group a first aid lesson and put the groups knowledge to the test with a few mock emergency scenarios. It's good to know the group all pass with flying colors and successfully bring Zoe and Andreas back to life – just in time for coffee and some of Dora's home made cakes. After an early night, the penultimate day arrives and the group turn up to work to see that the paint has arrived for the front wall of the community centre. This gives everyone an incentive to step the work up – yet again – and begin pasting the front wall with cement in preparation for it to be painted tomorrow. Unfortunately the group do not complete the community centre the following day, but everyone knows the group has worked hard and is pleased with the efforts put in. The community centre gets painted and then it's party time and goodbyes for Romeo 5. Job well done!
