Rancho Esperanza in Jiquilillo, Nicaragua is a place where you can you do a lot, or do very little, and still make a difference. The Rancho Esperanza experience offers simple living, in harmony with nature and the community, right on the sea. Our idyllic backpacker get away combines low-impact, natural living with projects that actively benefit the village. Whether you are looking to escape to contemplate and create, or just to unwind for a few days, Rancho Esperanza lets you appreciate authentic Nica life in a beautiful beach setting, confident that your presence is doing good, not harm. If you want a bit more of a challenge and a new perspective, our volunteer opportunities give you the chance to get involved in community work and the development of the project.

...lie in a hammock, relax, revive, be inspired, be soothed, write, play, swim, read, walk, see fishing boats come in, hear the ocean crash, laugh, experience, grow, appreciate...


Jiquilillo:

Jiquilillo is a remote fishing village, with no tourist "industry", so it provides a great opportunity to see authentic Nica life. Right on the beach, the sea is the life blood of this community that consists of about fifty families whose livelihoods depend on fishing. The majority of the families live in small ranchos (palm roof huts), the typical Nicaraguan home of this region. The village is typical of how Nicaraguan families provides for themselves using the scant resources available to them.

Village life is quiet and laid back, the people friendly and welcoming. Foreign visitors are a novelty here: if you speak any Spanish (and even if you don't!) whenever you visit the beach or pulperia (shop) someone will chat to you. .. maybe even invite you out fishing.

Jiquilillo has no services beyond a few tiny pulperias selling sodas, snacks, cigarettes, beer, rum and essentials like soap. Most of our food is bought from the markets in town and bussed into the village. The Rancho has a cellular pay phone you can use.

Wildlife

During the months of October and November sea turtles come ashore here to lay their eggs. If you walk north up the beach a little in the evenings you may be lucky enough to see them. Currently the local environmental group SELVA is starting a hatchery and welcomes volunteers to help with their efforts in protecting the sea turtles. If you are interested in this please contact us for further information.


Weather

The weather in Nicaragua is always hot regardless the time of the year. The rainy season lasts from May to October.
In May, June and July it may be dry for a few days at a time but the rain when it comes can be torrential and stunning lightening storms are common. These happen mostly in the late afternoon and at night. Later in the rainy season it rains at least once a day, but again the sun comes out in between. The temperature is always at least in the mid 80's and during the evening never dips below the high 60's. Our coastal location means we usually have a welcome breeze, and the sea is always at hand to cool off! During wet season it may be advisable to bring a mosquito net with you. You can buy these on the market in Chinandega if you need to.

Community Work


The work we do with the community is funded from guest income. So even if you don't volunteer yourself, just by staying at the Rancho for a few days you are still supporting your host community. However, if you're more actively interested in what we are doing and would like to volunteer with us, that's possible too.

Current Work

• Pre-School
  Three mornings a week we teach basic literacy to 3 to 6 year olds. Craft activities and games make learning their alphabet and numbers fun and give the children a more engaging experience at school. The class teachers we work alongside also get new ideas for interactive teaching methods, which they value because teacher training in Nicaragua is under funded.
  
  We support other age groups by providing lesson materials and resources, including loans from our Spanish language book collection that contains everything from stories for little ones to science and math textbooks.
  
  
• Kids' Club
  
  Each afternoon we run a children's club. Games, story time, arts and crafts help the children develop team work and communication skills as well as being lots of fun and burning off some energy. We incorporate learning on science and environmental themes too, like making tin can telephones or recycling non-biodegradable waste in craft projects. The club is a fun way of engaging with the community and giving the children an opportunity to use their imaginations and to try something different like juggling, acro-balance, jewelry making or poi spinning.

Future Initiatives

As Rancho Esperanza develops, and more resources are available, we will begin more initiatives. Ideas for future work include...

• An Organic Community Garden
  
  We are developing this to explore what can be grown successfully here in the village, where fruit and vegetables are not currently produced. Now our first compost bins are reaching maturity its all systems go. Once established and working, we want to make it a community garden where people can come to learn more about composting and organic production.
  
  
• Health Promotion
  
  The people of Jiquilillo face health and hygiene risks through mere lack of information. We want to work with the local health promoter to give "charlas" (health workshops) for the community. These will focus on common health concerns within the village: nutrition, food and water hygiene, diarrhea, malaria, dengue and basic first aid. Supporting the introduction of a pharmacy in Jiquilillo will be part of this scheme.
  
  
• Discovery Center
  
  In Jiquilillo almost all income is from fishing, and such a narrowly based economy has inherent risks. At the same time, Jiquilillo lacks basic provisions and services within the community: bakeries, barbers and bicycle repairs are all an hour and a half bus ride away. A long term Rancho Esperanza goal is to develop a discovery centre to host demonstration workshops from a trades person from the city and provide information and resources to assist anyone wanting to set up in a trade. This activity will be particularly geared towards the single mothers in the village, who particularly struggle to provide for their families. It will benefit the entire community by allowing the village to keep money within the local economy.

Volunteering

Rancho Esperanza is a small scale, hands on project; we rely on the contribution of resources and time from volunteers to carry out not only the community work but also the ongoing development of the property in accordance with environmentally sound principles.

Volunteering here is like being part of a family and we will expect you to help out with some light chores as well as working on your own project. But we appreciate that our volunteers are often using their hard earned holiday time to help us so we will make sure you have the opportunity to relax and have fun. We promise it won't be all work and no play.

We are happy to take individual volunteers and delighted when people want to come down as a ready formed work group. Minimum times are specified but if you want a longer placement that's great. We also have 2 extended placements at a more managerial level, details of these appear at the end.

Short to Long Term Volunteers

Working with children between 3 and 12 years old
Commitment, energy and innovation are all required to keep the Kid's Club and Pre-School activities fresh and fun. If you have intermediate to advanced Spanish, demonstrable experience of working with children and can commit to a stay of at least 4 weeks we would love to hear from you. If you are a trained educator so much the better, but it's not essential.

Installing a water pump and tank feed water system / Grey Water Recycling for Irrigation

We love our well and it keeps us fit, but we'd much rather spend that time on working in the community than hauling buckets. We have a water tank, what we have been lacking is someone with the know-how to get the right set up for pumping water to the tank. Think you may be able to help? Also, at the moment our grey water (kitchen and shower) goes to trees on the property. But as their root system gets deeper and our organic garden gets going there's an obvious shift in priorities for irrigation!

Getting the right parts and materials can take a little while out here, so we're looking for someone who can come for two weeks to be sure the job is done and all is running smoothly. If you can speak Spanish that's great, but not essential for this one.

Expansion and development of the organic vegetable gardening

We have the compost, we have the space, we even have willing hands... but some more green fingers would be great. If you're an expert on what grows well where, and have some good container ideas to get us above the wet season puddles you could really make a valuable contribution here. To make sure there is time to do the job well, we'd ideally like someone to come for a minimum of 2 weeks. Spanish language skills are always appreciated here and would allow you to work more independently, but are not essential.

Creative arts

The Rancho and the wider property is a true multi-purpose space serving children, travelers and of course the volunteer family. Creating an inspiring environment that fits with the natural beauty of Jiquilillo is important to us. No one said the simple life was ugly or plain! If you're a carpenter who can incorporate natural materials like drift wood with functional design, or an artist who can mural, mosaic or sculpt, let our space be your workshop. Spanish skills not required but it would be great if you could stay for 2 weeks.

If you have an idea that isn't listed but that you think would benefit Jiquilillo or Rancho life, and that you are equipped to make happen, do e-mail us with your idea.

Costs

We operate by a system of self funded placements, many volunteers fundraise this money before they come. A part of the money will cover your living costs (accommodation, food and drinking water), the rest will go to buying the materials and resources for your project. The contribution we ask for on a funded placement is, as of July 2006, US$75 per week. We ask that 30% of this amount is to be sent as a deposit before you arrive to confirm your placement.

The cost of living here is cheap and you will require very little more money during your stay at the Rancho. All the following cost US$1 or less: a beer, a bus ride into town, an hour's access in town, a 15 minute internet call to the US.

Extended Placements

There's always a bit of a balancing act in keeping the community development work and the Rancho running smoothly. At the moment only Nate, the instigator and owner of the Rancho, has the language and skills to manage all sides of the work. If you are looking for a real life style change and challenge, have good Spanish and can commit 6 months or more we may have the opportunity of a life time for you. We'd love someone to come and help long term in one of the following ways:

Community Work Co-ordinator

In this role you would be managing volunteers, planning schedules, liaising with the community and developing new projects. You'll need to be a real people person who can build productive working relationships with people from all sorts of backgrounds and age groups. As the interface between the Rancho and the community this role will give you a real opportunity to become part of village life - expect to make some firm friends in Jiquilillo. Experience in community development with knowledge of either children's work or health promotion is required, as well as intermediate to advanced Spanish.

Facilities and Logistics Co-ordinator

Looking after the buildings and property, buying food in the city, dealing with beverage supplies, sourcing materials and skilled labor and supervising the cook and night watchman would all fall into this role. You'll need to do all this within our environmentally friendly ideology. Inevitably trips to town and building up a network of contacts would be required, so this role presents a great opportunity to really integrate to Nicaraguan life and get out and about. Being able to adjust your expectations of working practices to a new culture, patience and a great sense of humor will be needed as well as good Spanish.

These are unsalaried volunteer roles, but we will do all we can to minimize any cost to you in undertaking a long term placement, including providing free accommodation. Packages will be discussed with serious applicants individually.

How to Apply

In the first instance, please e-mail is outlining the following information:

• How you meet the requirements for the placement in terms of skills, knowledge and language abilities
  
• When you would like to come and for how long
  
• Whether you will come as an individual or a group

Turtle Protection Workers

The local environmental group SELVA uses volunteers to assist at their turtle egg hatchery between the months of September and November. We have links with this group and may be able to help you set up a placement. E-mail us if you are interested.

How To Get There:

Jiquilillo is situated on the northwestern pacific coats of Nicaragua, an hour and a half north of Chinandega.

• From Managua:
  
  Take a bus to Chinandega from Mercado Israel - buses leave about every 20 minutes and travel time is approximately 2.5 hours.
• From Leon:
  
  Take a bus to Chinandega, buses leave every 20 minutes and travel time is approximately 45 minutes.
• From Chinandega:
  
  In Chinandega you can use ATMs (several banks) and cash travelers' checks (at the Banco de America Central).
  When you arrive at the El Bisne bus station take a taxi to El Mercadito (5 minutes, 8-10 cordoba) where buses leave for Jiquilillo at 7am, 10am, 11:15am, 2:45pm & 4.30pm. Travel time is 1.5-2 hrs.

We have an excellent and friendly bus service, so just ask the ayudante (attendant) to let you off at "Rancho de Nato", they all know us and as few foreigners visit, everyone will know where you are headed.

Contacting Us:

E-mail - rancho.esperanza@yahoo.com
Please note, we have no e-mail access in the village so it may take up to a week for us to reply.

Phone - (505 for Nicaragua) 879 1795 - English and Spanish spoken

Source: http://www.rancho.esperanza.bvg3.com/