Mango Jam, Hitchikers and Books
March 2011: Life in Nicaragua is always an adventure and provides many opportunities to do the unexpected. While at times this is a frustration to ex-pats, it is also what we come to love about life in Nicaragua. One such opportunity led me to turn mangos into books.
As I was leaving the school in San Diego one afternoon, I stopped to pick up a hitchhiker. Rather than jumping in the back of my truck, though, she plopped her overflowing bag in the bed of the truck, and jumped into the front seat with me. From the time she opened the door to my final departure from her house 30 minutes later, I became a frantic listener-- trying to keep up with the ever-changing conversation that was wholly one-sided. Well, almost one-sided. She did offer me a mango for the ride, and I agreed to drive to her house to get it. After meeting the family, and waving to the entire community, I left her modest house with a large rice sack bursting with mangos. Whatever was I going to do with more than a bushel of mangos? With the encouragement and assistance of a friend, I set upon making mango jam. A week later, the jam had been sold and proceeds were used to buy books for the San Diego school. Students were so excited with their new treasure of reading material and devoured the books with abandon. Now San Diego school has a small library as a result of giving a hitchhiker a ride! Author’s note: Donations from individuals were also used in the purchasing of books and helped to widen the selection and number of books for the library.
H&D gladly accepts donations of books, or funds to purchase books, and is committed to growing current libraries in an effort to support education.
Exclamations of “look at this” and “did you see this” could be heard all over the room, while others quietly and happily sank into a world of imagination. From Cinderella to Space Exploration, the students’ world had suddenly opened up to new and exciting possibilities. This is what we at Hope and Development are all about.