FINISHING UP IN MATAGALPA

Well this will be my last week of teaching here. It has been very rewarding. I have met some facinating folks and feel really rewarded with the results of my teaching efforts. It is wonderful to feel real career satisfaction once again. There are a lot of NGO´s here helping to relieve some of the extreme poverty in the rural areas especially. Some of my students work for these groups and share the amazing challenges they face. Part of the benefit of teaching is I meet many Nicas i would probably not meet easily otherwise. Many are professional folks who come right after work 5 nights a week to improve their job potential by knowing some english. Also many of the NGO´S have english speaking staff who need decent translators. As part of ny assignment work I am training them to be guides through the writing and speaking assignments. They can often pick up good extra money this way. These folks have to work very hard to stay alive for the most part. My friend who is a vet took me on a tour of the facility he runs on thur. He has a crew of over 200 on his combined over 200 acre organic farm. He gets paid $600 american. His wife who is a bookkkeeper earns $220 American. They just get by. Rent is cheap here. Gas, Protein food items, and electronics are amazingly expensive. I rarely see Nicas with laptops.
The organic farm and ranch i went to had been clear cut of lumber around 20 years ago by some large co. and not replanted. With the help of a Dutch NGO they bought the land and reforested. Planted coffee bushes, fruit trees, vegtable gardens etc. The trees are creating good shade grown coffee. the monkeys which had disappeared returned to eat the fruit. I got some great, probably hard to see here, pics of monkeys and a sloth on this piece of paradise in the jungle. One threw some fruit down on me and the picture taking was on. I found out my friend was drafted into the Sandinista army in the late 80´s. His brother was killed in the fighting. He could not con´t his university education because of the war. He got an offer for a free 5 years in Russia for med school. He took advantage of that. I have met several folks here who have received their education in what we call communist countries. He would have prefered a U.S. education but you sometime have to take what you can get for free when you are dirt poor as he was.
I will probably be leaving by bus, early next week for S. Nica and go thru C.Rica on my way to look for jobs in Panama for next semester. I will try to send you an update on the delights of Panama from there. I am grateful if i do not find the situation that suits my heart there, that i am told i will have a job waiting here in Jan. Take care your hearts and those close to then. love, Helen