UC Davis Blum Center for Developing Economies

My original plan coming here was to have a resource database tailored toward the children who are part of FNE’s program called Salud Para Todos los Niños, which provides specialty pediatric care for children with chronic conditions such as cerebral palsy and Down syndrome. However, I had to alter some parts of the draft after speaking to some of the clinic faculty in Chacraseca and members of FNE who thought it would be a better idea and more useful to construct the database for the general patient population of Le ó n and Chacraseca. After I completed the final draft of the resource assessment, it took about a week and a half before it was approved by FNE. At that point, I was already halfway through my time in Nicaragua, so I had to start collecting surveys right away. My goal was to get at least 50 completed- 1 assessment per family- before I left. This undertaking had its own challenges. I was doing the assessments with Josue, the coordinator of Salud Para Todos los Niños and ...

The jeep was maneuvering its way through the main city of Managua. The air was hot and heavy, but the clouds were starting to roll in. It was rainy season in Nicaragua, and the rain (which was unusually punctual- it almost always came at around 6pm everyday) provided a temporary relief to the heat. I was with Rebecca, one of the board members of FNE International, which was the NGO I was working with. We were on our way to Le ó n, my home base in Nicaragua where I would be doing most of my work. We arrived about two hours later. The first thing I noticed were the women carrying baskets of fruit on top of their heads. I could barely balance a book. The cars’ ceaseless honking, people yelling their merchandise out loud like “Aguacateee!” or “Sapote! Sapote!”, the colorful painted walls of revolutionary heroes, the streets full of locals and tourists, and the sound of reggaeton in the background coming from one of the air conditioned department stores. It was a whir of life and it was re...