After a few days sampling the delights of Nicaragua’s local buses (actually pretty good), the carless Bravo 4 team arrived back at fieldbase (to be fair Julian very kindly picked us up from the bus station in San Jose!)
As well as visiting the groups in Nicaragua, we also had the excellent opportunity to see the work that previous Raleigh groups had done in the rural communities in Miraflor. From building community centres to rebuilding houses destroyed by floods, the positive impact of Raleigh’s work is evident everywhere.
Luckily in each community, we were able to speak to people who had benefited from various projects. In El Coyolito, a women’s group was meeting in the community centre built by Raleigh volunteers; while in El Rodeo we visited homes rebuilt after flooding.
During any Raleigh expedition, the volunteers work extremely hard with local people on the current project and over a three-week phase will see a lot of progress. However, they may not see the impact that their hard work and commitment has in the long-term. Visiting previous projects and speaking to those people using the facilities confirmed what we have always known; that a group of volunteers working with the community can make a big difference to people’s lives.
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| The community centre in El Coyolito, Miraflor |
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| A women's group meeting in the community centre |
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| Above and below: new houses in El Rodeo, Miraflor |
