Nicaraguan Land Redistribution

A story from earlier in the year, that we didn't want to leave out.

A fellow we got to know in Nicaragua, named Tino - was so proud of the new land that he had purchased - - - and wanted to share his joy by having us head out into the rural, the couple of miles to his home. He is able to pay for it by means of his almost non-existent income, over the course of however long it takes, and has dreams of caring for the land and planting fruit trees and flowers to make it a real home.

We weren't exactly sure where his place was, but knew the vicinity and had been in this part of the country previously. We were aware that there were established residential homes (well off and poor shacks beside each other), as well as some areas of land where people have recently been setting up shelters covered in cardboard and black plastic. In fact when checking Google Maps, there is nothing other than bare land in these areas based on the last time the photos were taken in 2009.

Going through the front gate that separated his home from all of the others crammed in on small lots on this section of redistributed property - - - near the front door, was the water faucet for washing hands, and the wood stand for washing his clothes. Another feature was the 9 foot hole that he is digging in the back corner of the property, so that he has bathroom facilities.

Inside the metal front door that was secured by means of a bicycle chain with lock - - - was his living space of roughly 8'x10'. Inside was a hammock along the far wall used for sleeping - - - some shelves for preparing food and to hold his single burner hotplate for cooking - - - a crude switch in the corner for turning on electrical power to run his hotplate and single overhead light bulb - - - as well as a lot of corrugated cardboard that he has collected for lining the insides of the walls to make the room more comfortable.

Tino is a happy and content man and now a proud land owner.