This is a special guest blog post from Asucena Mendoza, a teacher in the rural community of El Delirio. Here, she reflects on her journey to become a teacher, and how solar energy has impacted her community.
I always dreamed of being a teacher ever since I was little. I would often play role-play with my siblings pretending that I was the teacher and they were the students. Although when I graduated from high school I decided to go to work in a Free Trade Zone in Managua since I knew I could make good money. After working there for a few years I began to have serious health problems, especially with my kidneys. After recuperating I decided to go back to school to get my teaching degree. I studied in Matagalpa for three years and completed an internship in a public school in the city. After finishing my program I got a call from the Ministry of Education asking if I could teach in a rural community called El Delirio. I knew it would be a challenge since I would be teaching a multi-grade classroom, but I also knew that this was my opportunity to put into practice all that I had learned. So I moved to El Delirio to begin teaching grades one through six. I arrived to the community in April of 2012 and a few months later GRID came to install solar panels at the school.
Having electricity at the school has made a big impact on the community and the children studying here. Before people would have to walk a kilometer to the next community to charge their cell phones and batteries, and now they can charge them here. As teachers it has helped us be able to use a CD player for teaching and practicing folkloric dances for holidays and special events throughout the year. Also the panels have been a great tool in the classroom. Other schools can talk about renewable energy, but we have a concrete example that helps kids understand and get excited about advances in technology. It also helps us tie in the subject of environmental stewardship in the classroom.
The solar lighting program has also had an impact on the community. My husband and I bought a solar lamp and it has helped us save money and live healthier. Now we don’t have to breathe the fumes of kerosene lamps and I have more freedom to cook later at night and read before going to bed.
The reality of daily life here is much harder than in the city, yet I take joy in the challenges. I love seeing how fascinated the kids are just to turn on a light switch.