X-Ray 8: A,B,C, as easy as 1,2,3?

X-Ray 8 are building on the brilliant work of Alpha 8 in Siares San Ramon, putting another level on the pre-school project. 22% of Nicaraguans struggle with illiteracy but through this project and projects like it, Raleigh can increase awareness of disadvantaged groups, access to education and focus on children's human rights.

X-Ray 8 have been considering and supporting Women's Day and Robin Van Gelderen, 18, Venturer has expressed her views on women through her experience on her Raleigh project:

My host family in Nicaragua is, in my eyes, representative of the less fortunate women in this world. The mother is 50 years old and has been working in their home for 34 years since she was 16, she counts the days until her husband returns after being away for the duration of every month, working to provide her with money and the family with their father. Their daughter is 20 and pregnant but the father is missing.

They have another daughter of 16, who is following naturally in the footsteps of her mother and sister. When I asked her why she isn’t going to school she looked at me as if I was crazy and answered ‘my brothers are going to school, i’m not’, she finished elementary school at 12 and has been in the home since. The expectation is that women are in the home supporting their family, which is completely natural but I am lucky to come from a country and family where I have been given amazing opportunities to succeed and brought up to believe I can be anything I want to be.

Billy, Lewis and Adriana from X-Ray 8

Everyone knows that many women walk for hours to get water for their families but do you all realize that after those hours and many kilometers, only a small part of their work is done. What about when they are ill, being ill is not an option, because that would mean the whole family has nothing to drink. Emotions that we recognise at home like stress or burn-out, just don’t exist here. A 6 to 9 month rest after giving birth to a child is unacceptable, the day after a baby is born life carries on as usual with all chores expected to be completed, it has made me consider the fact that 800 women a day die because of pregnancy or in childbirth.

X-Ray 8 are building a pre-school in Siares, San RamonAs discussed on a previous blog about the UN Millennium Development Goals 2&3, they call for universal primary education, promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women and this project contributes to these goals.
The problems that I have mentioned about education for women, water and health are all avoidable. It is the responsibility of global leaders to be the difference. To set an example to help all the women in the world, although this raises another question – why is the proportion of women in politics globally only 6%?

We have to stop waiting and be the difference we want to see in the world.

Conrad Hagger, X-Ray 8's Project Comms Officer wrote about his experience so far:

We are now about a week into the community phase in San Ramon and I am certain that this is the time when I will learn the most about myself, the community and my team. Going into a home-stay with a local Nicaraguan family for two weeks with absolutely no Spanish, is far outside of my comfort zone but the family have taken me into their home as one of their own. They are so eager to please and pull out all the stops to make us feel at home.

The food, has become the highlight of our days with an array of dishes ranging from rice and beans to rice and beans, and occasionally accented with egg, tortilla, potato and frankfurters.

PM Helena perfecting her building skills

Denise bricklaying

Billy mixing cement

The school is coming on brilliantly well, all 4 walls will be finished by the end of phase.

The work has progressed very quickly with about a metre of wall built on the new school building, 2 gate posts built and a path to the partially built latrine.

A school for these children, an incredible project

The worksite is an amazing place to be, right next to the existing school building, surrounded by smiling, excitable kids either playing games hoping you'll join in, or staring intently at whatever you're doing. I think this will be the phase I remember the most after Raleigh. This is the experience of a lifetime.

Saying goodbye to the roadtrip of Jess, Vanessa, Holly and Alice

Find out more about this project through Jess Adsett's blog which shined a spotlight on the typical life of an 18 year old girl in Siares. Click here to find out more >

The life of a typical 18 year old girl in Siares, San Ramon

Written by Jessica Adsett of Alpha 8

The most apparent difference between the life of an 18 year old girl in Siares, San Ramon and the life a typical western 18 year old is that in Siares she will be settling down and will be either married or engaged. Family and community are very important aspects of village life and from a young age the girls in Siares are taught this. From as young as seven the girls here are seen helping around the house and by 13, if not younger, are in charge of household chores such as cooking and cleaning. The houses are very basic, made mainly of mud, corrugated iron and wood. They usually consist of two rooms and a kitchen. One room is a living room type area containing basic chairs, pictures of the family and occasionally a television with poor signal. The other room is the family bedroom. On average five family members share a house but in the one where we are staying there are nine. The kitchen is an open fire with perhaps a place to put a basin to wash or to prepare food. There is minimal electricity and even though there are lights, these are only used for a short period of time in the evening. 

Entertainment for a typical teenager here is the daily soap opera “Maid in Manhattan”. This is on daily from Monday to Friday and shows a life far from the reality they have here. The toilet and washing area are outside, with the washing area consisting of a bucket of water and a bowl. The toilet is a cement block with a hole in the ground which we have all had to acclimatise to!

Typical house in Siares, San Ramon

For an 18 year old girl here education is not regarded as important and it is rare if not unheard of for females to be in higher education. It is seen as much more important to be at home. Men however are either in education such as college or university or are working in agriculture,  particularly on coffee plantations. They earn a minimal wage and the work is hard. We visited one of the local plantations and witnessed the hard work they put in to support their families. Recently however there has been a disease that has spread through the crops of coffee and this has meant a drop in the amount produced and consequently a decrease in earnings. Despite this the families have been incredibly friendly and generous, welcoming us into their families and making room for us in their small homes.

Coffee beans

We are staying with six different families who all have young children within them. They are all so grateful to Raleigh for building the preschool which will be so beneficial not only to the community as a whole but particularly to the young women of Siares. The preschool will give the children a safe and less crowded place to receive an education. It will also allow the young women more freedom and time to provide for their families and even gain an education for themselves. As we can see how it will benefit so many people it makes all our hard work worthwhile. Seeing how the families live and how they take such good care of their homes and families even though their means are so basic makes us all grateful for our own home comforts. It definitely has made us realise how lucky we all are and how much we take things for granted.