In recent stories in the Nicaragua Dispatch, Nicaragua has been described as a renewable energy paradise and as ranking third in the Latin America renewables market. But neither story mentions what has become Nicaragua’s forgotten resource: solar energy. Perhaps this is not surprising as the government’s own assessments of its achievement in moving away from…
In the 1980s, perhaps in reaction against the suffocating atmosphere of Thatcher’s Britain, there was a tremendous appetite for knowledge about and if possible direct contact with inspiring political and social movements in other countries. Many seemed to offer hope for the kind of progressive change that no longer seemed possible in the UK. With…
Central America is one of the worlds connecting points. The land bridge that now exists through Panama (though one that even today is not open to vehicles) is – in geological terms – brand new. It was created only about five million years ago. Few such bridges currently exist (although many have been built and…
It’s coming up to seven years since we installed the first solar kit in one of the rural communities near Masaya which don’t have electricity. Our original volunteer engineer, Marc Ricart (from Barcelona – centre in photo), left installers like Norman Padilla (right) with the skills to continue the scheme. ‘Proyecto Sol’ has now brought…
Here are some slightly surprising figures. In the whole of the British Isles, there are currently 59 known species of butterfly. In the national park that covers the Masaya volcano, the edge of which is a kilometre or two from our farm, so far over 180 species of butterfly have been identified. The park covers…