I wanted to let you guys know how much fun it is to to serve these kids and teachers in Nicaragua and Honduras by installing solar electricity in their schools. I look back at it and simply cannot believe that we now have installed electricity in 18 schools. The team in Nicaragua is really amazing and our partnership with BMDMI is what makes it all happen. I wish everybody could join us to see how it is done, so I will describe what happens when we go to a school.
We usually have to walk a little ways with all of our stuff to the school. Here we are walking up to a two room school that educates around 100 students. We read the signs like the picture below and know not to destroy the garden.
We then will talk to the teachers about their new solar electrical system. Below is a picture of me describing the physics of a solar panel in Spanish. I still cannot figure out why everyone laughs when I speak Spanish. Who knows? Maybe it's my accent.
Once we talk to everyone, we show them some educational videos using a projector and their solar battery. The kids really like learning about vowels and planets.
Roberto and Jonathan sing songs and do a lesson, while the guys work on installing the system. Harvey and Pastor Domingo lead the install team, with Alexi, Antonel and Alejandro doing plenty of work. It's tough work, but they always do it with a smile. They try to finish quickly so they can have plenty of time to play with the kids afterwards.
Once we are done with the installation, the teacher selects the star student to turn on the lights for the first time. It's super cool to see the looks on their faces.
When we are done, we do training for the operation of the system and have speeches. Allison and Jonathon will talk with the teacher and ask lots of questions for the survey. They will answer any concerns and even discuss how the teachers get support from their technician, Pastor Domingo. I have probably mentioned it before, but Pastor Domingo is one of the finest people that I know.
Sometimes there is a separate preschool next to the regular school that doesn't have lights. Harvey always makes sure that if it is possible, he will put a light into their dark classroom. Harvey loves kids!
A lot of times, the parents will cook a meal for us. It is a real blessing to eat with everybody and enjoy the great cooking. Roberto and Jonathan really like to eat!
It is really sad for us to get back in the truck, but we always have plenty of extra people that try to go back with us. These are future Nicaraguan engineers.
Like I said before, it is an honor and a joy to serve these students and teachers. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else...
Jim
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