In contrast to the bustling and commercial city feel of La Conception, it is in the much quieter, pastoral pueblo of Sabana Grande that our CELL group currently resides.
Over a week has passed since the group arrived via microbus, stepping out onto the dirt road during the warm orange glow of a sunset to look up and amaze at the grandeur of the thick verdant arms of the hundreds-of-years-old Ceiba tree, Sabana Grande´s Ceiba de Oro. Then, after some moments of awe, to look down to its trunk , with smooth, dignified roots and see the clustered bodies of our new homestay families, smiling, sitting on the roots, awaiting the guests…
After only a week and a half that memory resurfaces with the sweetness and nostalgia as if from the distant past–I guess this comes from the feeling that I am not the exact person I was when I first stood under the Ceiba de Oro. Now, the pine-covered mountains surrounding the pueblo to the east and west feel endearing, like a good friend is, rather than demanding of attention.
In a week and a half´s time our group has been engaged unceasingly in interactions with our homestay families, the members of the Mujeres Solares Co-operative in Sabana Grande, and the dry, grassy landscape that envelopes the body. Much of our time has been spent between La Montana Solar, the outdoor classroom and farm, and La Casita Solar, the restaurant of the solar women which helps to generate money for the families of the solar women to install solar-panels, solar-powered water pumps, and electricity in their homes. Run by the solar women volunteers, the restaurant caters meals to learning groups of Grupo Fenix (a band of small organizations which place eager volunteers within Sabana Grande to learn about community development and sustainability first hand) . Furthermore, the restaurant showcases its use of solar and alternative energies: half a dozen-or-so solar-cookers, a solar-powered water pump that forces well water into a raised tank, and a bathroom-waste natural gas system that occasionally provides gas in the restaurant for cooking.
Here in La Casita, we have spent the past three mornings working hard along with men and women of the Mujeres Solar to create and paint a bright sunshine-yellow foot path of cement, rocks, and tires connecting the restaurant and the Centro Solar (workshop and solar center). To say the least, it has been a humbling experience to learn new skills, pick up new Spanish words, and connect with the locals.
Like the last few mornings, most mornings in Sabana Grande consist of service-work, projects, or activities. Among these, we have installed a solar panel at the house of a solar woman, concocted and applied natural insecticides made of garlic cloves and local leaves, toured the nearby urban-hub of Ocotal, hiked rocky paths to the waterfall La Muta, and built our own photovoltaic cell phone chargers (way cool!).
Typically, afternoons are dedicated to CELL coursework and thoughtful discussions about our experiences/reflections. These take place in the lovely adobe and cob-walled Tesoro del Sol (Treasure of the Sun) buildling, lending a creative atmosphere within its playful, flowing walls and colorful soil-pigmented paintings depicting the natural wonders of Sabana Grande. In the mid to late afternoon, the sun shines directly onto the back wall of the open-faced edificio, lighting up a painting of a refulgent yellow sun with raised angular rays retreating or emerging from behind Sabana Grande´s mountains and hills.
Once class time is over, evenings are open to socializing with brothers and sisters, playing baseball en el campo, reading, writing, reflecting, hiking up to mountain vistas, making trips to the pulperia to buy chocolate milk and revelling at the moon-lit, insect-humming nights with skies of vibrant, diamond-like stars…ahh… nights here are so rich with sensations.
As it stands, there are four more days to for our group to be united with all that is Sabana Grande. Again, it has been a humbling experience to be in the presence of people so centered in their community and balanced in place. I can look back with fondness, which helps me to find myself ready for the journey yet to come…
Peace,
Jen