Peter Caulkin's story

Masaya Revisited

I'm so grateful that my brother Chuck invited me to join him in a trip to Nicaragua four years ago. I've been coming back ever since. As a former Peace Corps volunteer (29 years ago in Ecuador) I thought I knew what to expect, and I resisted expectations of actually accomplishing too much in just 8 days. What a surprise I received during my first trip to Masaya. I couldn't believe how well organized everything was. Building materials were on site when we arrived to start work. After several days when the supply of sand or gravel started to run low, more would arrive just in time. On the third day floor tiles, roof beams and the corrugated tin roofing arrived exactly one day before we would need them. Bonnie and Jim had worked with a local supplier to establish an incredibly efficient "just in time" inventory supply process in one of the poorest regions of the second poorest country in the hemisphere. Not only did we have everything we needed just when we needed it, but also the quality control was excellent - few defective cinder blocks or floor tiles were encountered during my four trips.

The work site was also incredibly well organized. When I thought about having a work force that included half a dozen Nicaraguan crew members who knew what they were doing but didn't speak English and a dozen or so volunteers who for the most part didn't know much about building a house nor spoke Spanish and Jim's management style that seems to favor "tolerable chaos" over "command & control", I expected a comedy of errors on our part and a lot of rework required by the Nicaraguan crew. That was never the case. The experienced crew would show us what to do and then back off to let us do it. I had the sense that I would be allowed to do as much as I wanted or was capable of doing. From time to time Taz, or Eddie or Carlos would step back in to check out my work and offer encouragement but would never appear to be "taking over". Whatever we volunteers chose to do, the Nicaraguans would fill in as needed on the other tasks, yet as if by an invisible hand every task that needed to be completed on the work site was completed in a timely manner. As the days wore on and the physical nature of the work began to take its toll on us, the Nicaraguans would instinctively start to shoulder more of the heavy lifting work. Even rain delays didn't prevent us from achieving whatever had to be accomplished by the end of the day. After a rain they just seemed to pick up the pace, yet it seemed more like a game than hard work. There was always plenty of laughter going around, Bonnie's riddles, people's top ten records discussions or my favorite - the top ten coaches of all time - to keep us entertained. The timely visits by the Eskimo man was also a treat. Some of the kids at our site had never tasted ice cream before. To watch them wolf it down was a real joy.

I know Jim and Bonnie must continuously reflect on the building experience and have continuously improved upon and refined it beginning with the construction of home # 1 and continuing through # 155. Nothing runs that smoothly, efficiently and enjoyably just by chance! Given how impressed I am with Jim and Bonnie's program, I decided to bring down my son and helped to recruit several other parents and children as well. I wasn't sure how it would work out. Again their performance surpassed my most optimistic expectations. Not only did the kids work effectively on site during the day, they also had tremendous energy after dinner to play with the children in the community while most of us adults preferred to sit on the porch, read, talk and smoke cigars. The kids turned out to be our group's most effective ambassadors to the community.

With a teenage son who seems to daily remind me that parents should be seen or heard from as little as possible, I'm grateful for having had the opportunity to share the Masaya experience with him and for the bonding that has resulted. I'm grateful that he has been able to experience that unique joy and satisfaction that comes from being of use to others, from helping to do for others what they couldn't do for themselves and the sense of empowerment that individuals can really make a difference. I can't imagine a better inheritance to give him than the memory of the dedication ceremony of the completed homes -- sturdy, protective and so full of dignity and hope for their new occupants - constructed alongside their old huts. And knowing that he had a hand in helping to make it happen.