The last two days, since our return from Santa Lucia, Track 2 has been working in the community of El Túnel to finish the stove that we started on our first work day. Yesterday we built the base for the stove. We used concrete blocks for the outline, a material called mezcla for the mortar, and dirt to fill the inside. Mezcla consists of dirt, sand, concrete, and water. A layer of concrete on top finished off the base and let us level it off to compensate for the slope of the yard. Today we finished the rest of the stove. First we used bricks to make the fire box and platforms for the two stove tops. Then we set the stove tops on the platforms. The engineer had made some modifications to them, like cleaning up the holes for the pots and chimney and putting a layer of concete on the outside as a finish. The mortar we used for this part is called barro, and it includes dirt, straw, ash, sand, and water. For each place for a pot, there are two metal bars running across that the pot sits on, and that help heat the pot.
Once everything had dried pretty well, we made a mix with concrete in it for a finish. Justin tried his hand at it, but the engineer did most of the work with the finish because it definitely takes skill and practice that none of us have. The benefit of that, though, is that we got to spend some time playing with the kids while the engineer applied the finish and attached the chimney. The first day they were a little shy, but today and yesterday they were eager to play. We played the matching game with animal pictures, and boxes and dots. We also played kickball, especially Arlyn. The kids absolutely loved his animal imitations. They also really seemed to like it when we sang to them, even though most of the songs were in English.
The grand finale to the work was testing the stove. The engineer asked the family not to use the stove for about a week so everything can set and dry completely, but he thought it was fine to do one test to see how it worked. Remember, one of the major benefits of the stove is that since it is enclosed, the smoke goes up through the chimney instead of being open and filling the house. Some people were also not sure if the second pot would get hot since it is not directly over the fire. Three or four nearby families came to see the finished stove and the demonstration. The fire was only lit for a few minutes, but the chimney drew smoke and both pots got hot, so I think overall it was very successful. Tonight I am on a computer without a place for my camera chip, but when I can I will post some pictures.
The two Track 1 groups have switched, so now we have Group A here in Masaya with us. They made spaghetti for dinner, and it was kind of nice to have food from home. The food here is always fantastic, but it is definitely not what we are used to eating. After dinner we went out and had ice cream. In the store there was a local man who spoke English, which no one was expecting. He was also born on the same Nicaraguan island as one of the Alcance Nicaragua staff members. Small world, huh? Tomorrow we are off to new adventures and experiences. Wish us luck!
Anna Cleland-Leighton
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