What I've been doing all this time: waiting, and dealing with crises. It's a bad state, and I got myself in it. I've threatened to go home early, I've despaired, and I've gone on vacation.
The status is this: PEMCE says we're approved, everything's fine, but that our project at the bottom of the list for priority among a couple hundred projects, because ours is so small. I have been calling them for months, and have always been told to call back next week.
Two weeks ago, the batteries from the repeater in Altagracia were stolen for a second time. I bought a couple more (U$140 each) with money from David, and sent them back to the island, while I went to take a few days off. They were not installed by the time I got back, I guess because folks in Altagracia were too afraid to do so.
Si a la Vida's router is connected to the Internet, but not to the computers there. My fear is that, as I made one end of the cable carrying signal and power to the router, and Wally Hedman made the other, we used different wiring schemes, 48 volts went through a signal circuit, and the ethernet port is fried. I'm going to test that today. If it's the case.. well, I'll do what I've been doing for a while now: the best I can with the little I have.
There's been renewed interest in forming a cooperative apart from Finca Magdalena, particularly on the part of Sonia Koffler (Hotel Villa Paraiso), Hotel Castillo, me, and the BOSIA office (i.e. Kari, the present volunteer). We had some enthusiastic meetings, but so far nobody's actually done any of the tasks they've been given. As has been pointed out, things are more likely to do something if they're paid to do so, and there's the rub.
We desperately need a paid administrator to take things forward: negotiate contracts, put some marketing together, make a concrete business plan, and all the rest of the things that should have been a part of the planning process that never happened. I am not interested in being that person, nor should I be him. We have a lawyer who seems to care about the project, and is willing to help us encorporate as a cooperative, but of course would need some money to be able to commit his time.
We would need about $10-12,000 US to make the infrastructure more robust and wide-reaching, to hire an administrator, do some marketing, and generally get the business to a stable place. There's money around if we wanted to take out a low- or zero-interest loan, but it's not clear how quickly we could pay that off. Nor is it clear that if and when the project money comes through, we could use that money to repay our debt.
It's unclear to me how to move forward. The latest I will be coming home is August 18, which doesn't really leave much time to get anything done. I'm now considering coming home within a few weeks, and buying a flight back to Nicaragua when the money to do so materializes. I need a realistic plan, but it's very difficult to do not knowing what will happen even within a month or two.
I'm learning how to play these games—of projects, of working in Nicaragua, of life—but I seem to learn things just a little too late. I'm slow, we always knew that. I owe a review of Things We Should Have Done Differently, and perhaps one of things I've personally learned. I haven't forgotten, David.
