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June 2010
Hello All. Brother Jeff and I are just back from Escuela San Miguel (ESM) and want to keep you up
to date.
Our first and most pressing need was to restore water to the school. Due to the extremely dry
summer our big well had gone dry. Luckily a few years ago we were fortunate to receive funds
from a donor to dig another well out back for the garden, our fruit & lumber tree grove, and for our
neighbors without water. This well was a little deeper and so we had water, raised with a hand-
crank pump into buckets. However it was soon to go dry also. And so with Felipe our PfP man in
Nicaragua and some hired men we worked
10 days straight and got deep enough to reattach the pump and supply water back to the school
and the teacher/volunteer house. The process is slow, and requires a worker at the bottom of the
well. Working in little light this person picks and shovels muck and bails water into a bucket that is
raised by rope & pulley where others empty and wheelbarrow it out.
Then after deepening for two meters there is the need to add to the well cylinder itself and literally
cause the cylinder to fall to the new depth. So two days were then spent at the top adding two
meters of bricks and mortar to the cylinder. One more day to allow for sufficient drying time and
the cylinder was undermined and caused to slump down to the new added depth. Another day to
let the silts settle out, and with the addition of a sanitizing bottle of bleach we had running water.
A glorious day indeed! No more carrying water to flush, shower, dishes, cooking, cleaning. Water
at the tap! Ah, it was a great 1st running water shower since our arrival. We had at one point filled
the old pickup with buckets of lake water, and also we were prepared when a few rains came to fill
everything we had by detaching the gutter downspouts.
Anyway all is well now. We would liked to have gone deeper for more insurance against future
droughts, but the need for immediate water was too great, and anyway we are now easily prepared
with the cylinder extended, to deepen further without so much difficulty should the need arise.
This was a great reminder for us to never forget how wonderful our water systems are to a
comfortable lifestyle. Year round here many carry water daily from streams, community wells or the
lake for all of there water needs.
Following this we had some time to undertake a few trips to our satellite “schools” in the
countryside. At the village of Rio Mena we have installed a small generator and are teaching
computer science to 26 students daily. Jeff and I had a great visit and enjoyed lunch with them all.
It was very gratifying. This is a money-saver for us as the cost of transporting students to ESM is
so much greater. Our Nicaraguan teacher Xinia Espinoza has been a great sport, purchasing a
small dirt motorcycle and makes the dirt road R/T, including four river/creek crossings daily,
bringing the school to the people. It is well appreciated believe me. We have also established
sewing classes with a local teacher further down the road in Los Angeles and two other satellite
computer science classes in Sapoa.
We spent the usual few days with the school board and director and teachers over finances and
budgets and where to cut/find ways to make ends meet. And we delivered the 2nd installment of
PfP donation including an added $1,000 dollars to make up for shortfalls. The mayor’s office has
promised $3,500 dollars but as yet ESM has not received. So with a prayer and a bow to the
Creator we are hopeful for fiscal solvency through school year end in December.
In the end we convinced Felipe to take a long overdue vacation (he would not go until sure we had
the well back on-line) during the last week of our stay, so Jeff and I ended up doing clean-up, paint-
up, fix-up in the daily routine of maintenance folks. A couple toilets needed repairs and one of the
sewer lines got plugged. We also did some gate repair and refurbishing and trimmed trees. A
good stay with the three major missions accomplished; delivery of your donations to keep the
school running, a vacation for Felipe, and the well deepened and back on-line.
Blessings To All,
Dean & Jeff
For photos from the past few months, click on the pdf version of this report below.
Hello All. Brother Jeff and I are just back from Escuela San Miguel (ESM) and want to keep you up
to date.
Our first and most pressing need was to restore water to the school. Due to the extremely dry
summer our big well had gone dry. Luckily a few years ago we were fortunate to receive funds
from a donor to dig another well out back for the garden, our fruit & lumber tree grove, and for our
neighbors without water. This well was a little deeper and so we had water, raised with a hand-
crank pump into buckets. However it was soon to go dry also. And so with Felipe our PfP man in
Nicaragua and some hired men we worked
10 days straight and got deep enough to reattach the pump and supply water back to the school
and the teacher/volunteer house. The process is slow, and requires a worker at the bottom of the
well. Working in little light this person picks and shovels muck and bails water into a bucket that is
raised by rope & pulley where others empty and wheelbarrow it out.
Then after deepening for two meters there is the need to add to the well cylinder itself and literally
cause the cylinder to fall to the new depth. So two days were then spent at the top adding two
meters of bricks and mortar to the cylinder. One more day to allow for sufficient drying time and
the cylinder was undermined and caused to slump down to the new added depth. Another day to
let the silts settle out, and with the addition of a sanitizing bottle of bleach we had running water.
A glorious day indeed! No more carrying water to flush, shower, dishes, cooking, cleaning. Water
at the tap! Ah, it was a great 1st running water shower since our arrival. We had at one point filled
the old pickup with buckets of lake water, and also we were prepared when a few rains came to fill
everything we had by detaching the gutter downspouts.
Anyway all is well now. We would liked to have gone deeper for more insurance against future
droughts, but the need for immediate water was too great, and anyway we are now easily prepared
with the cylinder extended, to deepen further without so much difficulty should the need arise.
This was a great reminder for us to never forget how wonderful our water systems are to a
comfortable lifestyle. Year round here many carry water daily from streams, community wells or the
lake for all of there water needs.
Following this we had some time to undertake a few trips to our satellite “schools” in the
countryside. At the village of Rio Mena we have installed a small generator and are teaching
computer science to 26 students daily. Jeff and I had a great visit and enjoyed lunch with them all.
It was very gratifying. This is a money-saver for us as the cost of transporting students to ESM is
so much greater. Our Nicaraguan teacher Xinia Espinoza has been a great sport, purchasing a
small dirt motorcycle and makes the dirt road R/T, including four river/creek crossings daily,
bringing the school to the people. It is well appreciated believe me. We have also established
sewing classes with a local teacher further down the road in Los Angeles and two other satellite
computer science classes in Sapoa.
We spent the usual few days with the school board and director and teachers over finances and
budgets and where to cut/find ways to make ends meet. And we delivered the 2nd installment of
PfP donation including an added $1,000 dollars to make up for shortfalls. The mayor’s office has
promised $3,500 dollars but as yet ESM has not received. So with a prayer and a bow to the
Creator we are hopeful for fiscal solvency through school year end in December.
In the end we convinced Felipe to take a long overdue vacation (he would not go until sure we had
the well back on-line) during the last week of our stay, so Jeff and I ended up doing clean-up, paint-
up, fix-up in the daily routine of maintenance folks. A couple toilets needed repairs and one of the
sewer lines got plugged. We also did some gate repair and refurbishing and trimmed trees. A
good stay with the three major missions accomplished; delivery of your donations to keep the
school running, a vacation for Felipe, and the well deepened and back on-line.
Blessings To All,
Dean & Jeff
For photos from the past few months, click on the pdf version of this report below.
June 2010 pdf