Old or young, tired or wild,
we found the people of Nicaragua to be full of a quiet strength and warmth,
and while curious eyes and solem faces sometimes followed us in place of smiles,
we were on the whole, struck by the generosity and openness of the people we met along the way.
"During our time in Nicaragua, Forest and I traveled from region to region visiting over twenty villages. Each one had a different story to share.
Some had completed projects, and some were waiting for funding or still constructing their wells....
Canyon's account of our first day visiting the Por Venir water projects:
"Juan’s motorbike sputtered to a near standstill as we bounced up yet another rocky hill. I felt the throttle release and prepared for the downshift that would send the bike lurching forward and nearly topple me backwards once more onto the mercilessly gouged up washboard of a dirt road behind us. 1,500 miles from home, one kilometer to La Ceibita.
[...]
In early March, my younger brother Canyon and I detached ourselves (somewhat reluctantly) from the revelry of carnival and our new friends in Rio and headed north into Central America.
Attempting to fly out of Sao Paulo, we were kept from boarding the plane by an agent who said we couldn't leave without yellow fever vacinations. Nine hours and a couple wasted plane tickets later we found ourselves airborne and heading towards Nicaragua, where we planned to spend the next couple of weeks volunteering with El Por Venir, an organization working to bring clean water and...
