How it all started........
In December 2015 I travelled to Ometepe, Nicaragua, as part of a journey through Central America and fell in love with the island. You can read about this and subsequent travels in my travel blog.
2newhorizon2.blogspot.com
Here I met Jose Ruiz Hernandez, a guide for Vapues Tours. After we had walked to the San Ramon waterfall, (where I thought I was going to die on the steep hike, but my guide, Jose had been so kind and patient with me,) I had asked him what were his dreams and aspirations for the future, as he had expressed such enthusiasm for life.
(Carolyn)
(Carolyn)
He then told me his story and his plans.....
(Translated)
Jose's story
My name is Jose Ruiz Hernandez, I am Nicaraguan and live on an Island called Ometepe. It is an island formed by two volcanoes in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. This island was inhabited more than 2000 years ago by the Nuahatl people and from their language the volcano was named-ome means two and tepe means volcano.
Sometimes I used to eat coconuts because I had no breakfast. I can remember going to the forest to pick coconuts and plums because my father was working in Costa Rica and we had no food. I remember in the break when we had brought no money for food or drink we would get a book of English and study, so we did that away from the children who were eating.
When I was in secondary school I enjoyed languages a lot, especially English and German, and learnt from my own books as there was no other way of learning. There was no internet and noone in my village whom I could speak with in English and even less German. We had no mobile phones; we are talking of a third world country, not like today when we can use social networking to ask when we don't understand our studies. One day I knew that I would have the opportunity to study an English course on Saturdays for two years and without hesitation I registered and took the course in a Vocational Christian Centre on Saturdays. My teacher was from Japan and came from a mission as a volunteer to Ometepe. His name was Tetzuya Morita,
I finished the course successfully but unfortunately I could not attend the graduation because I did not have money for the shoes, the outfit and arrangements for the graduation.
My father is a builder and after two years I worked for him in the construction at the weekends when I did not have classes. My father was contracted by an American called Lynn in Ometepe. One day she arrived and we began to speak English which surprised her because at that time few people in Ometepe spoke English. She said the work was very hard for me at thirteen, lifting very heavy things and she told my father, Antonio, that she would speak to a friend who had a hotel called Villa Paraiso where I could work as a guide.
http://www.villaparaiso.com.ni/
In the next few days Lynn told me that she had arranged for me to have a trial to see if I could work in this hotel, which was an Austrian hotel and their language was German. I then became a bilingual guide. In a few months I improved my English I worked in the bar, the restaurant and as a waiter and the owner gave me books in German.
In the hotel I met a young German who had come to learn Spanish. We became friends and helped each other using English too. He had to return home but suggested I could go to Germany to continue our lessons. I said yes but it would have taken many years of saving for the flights. By this time the internet had arrived in Nicaragua, so we kept in touch. One day my hotel owners said they could see I had a good aptitude for languages and they would pay for the flights and give me money because my behaviour and self learning deserved it. This was an unbelievable dream, for which I am thankful throughout my life.
Epic journey to Germany..
I had to travel via Costa Rica and because it took so long to arrange everything in Managua and get the visa, I did not have time to return to Ometepe or I would have missed my flight.I had only the clothes I wore and spare trousers in a small rucksack. Finally I arrived in Frankfurt with only 15 euros to get to Meins. A German helped show me the station where I could get a train but I had never seen an underground train before. When I arrived in Meins my friend had arranged a lift and I went to Berlin with a young woman, where I met my friend. I was greeted like a king and I spent three months with my friend learning German. His parents only spoke German and it was very difficult when my friend was away for a week.
Every day I said to myself that I must learn, for the first thing that would happen when I returned was that my boss would speak to me in German. Germany was another world not least because people wore gloves and other clothes. In Nicaragua only nurses, doctors and baseball, players wear gloves. After three months in Germany I could speak German with my boss.
In 2000 I was hired as a guide to the two volcanoes from time to time so I learned this profession gradually.
My dream that I had had all my life was to offer kayak tours in Lake Nicaragua and in the mangroves of the River Istiam and to have a small company. My brother in law Luis Enrique and my sister Idalia had put a lot of effort into helping me but my project was far from becoming a reality.
Now I work as an independent tourist guide for tour agencies and as a technician of organic coffee production.
A way of giving back
(Translated)
Jose's story
My name is Jose Ruiz Hernandez, I am Nicaraguan and live on an Island called Ometepe. It is an island formed by two volcanoes in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. This island was inhabited more than 2000 years ago by the Nuahatl people and from their language the volcano was named-ome means two and tepe means volcano.
Sometimes I used to eat coconuts because I had no breakfast. I can remember going to the forest to pick coconuts and plums because my father was working in Costa Rica and we had no food. I remember in the break when we had brought no money for food or drink we would get a book of English and study, so we did that away from the children who were eating.
When I was in secondary school I enjoyed languages a lot, especially English and German, and learnt from my own books as there was no other way of learning. There was no internet and noone in my village whom I could speak with in English and even less German. We had no mobile phones; we are talking of a third world country, not like today when we can use social networking to ask when we don't understand our studies. One day I knew that I would have the opportunity to study an English course on Saturdays for two years and without hesitation I registered and took the course in a Vocational Christian Centre on Saturdays. My teacher was from Japan and came from a mission as a volunteer to Ometepe. His name was Tetzuya Morita,
I finished the course successfully but unfortunately I could not attend the graduation because I did not have money for the shoes, the outfit and arrangements for the graduation.
My father is a builder and after two years I worked for him in the construction at the weekends when I did not have classes. My father was contracted by an American called Lynn in Ometepe. One day she arrived and we began to speak English which surprised her because at that time few people in Ometepe spoke English. She said the work was very hard for me at thirteen, lifting very heavy things and she told my father, Antonio, that she would speak to a friend who had a hotel called Villa Paraiso where I could work as a guide.
http://www.villaparaiso.com.ni/
In the next few days Lynn told me that she had arranged for me to have a trial to see if I could work in this hotel, which was an Austrian hotel and their language was German. I then became a bilingual guide. In a few months I improved my English I worked in the bar, the restaurant and as a waiter and the owner gave me books in German.
In the hotel I met a young German who had come to learn Spanish. We became friends and helped each other using English too. He had to return home but suggested I could go to Germany to continue our lessons. I said yes but it would have taken many years of saving for the flights. By this time the internet had arrived in Nicaragua, so we kept in touch. One day my hotel owners said they could see I had a good aptitude for languages and they would pay for the flights and give me money because my behaviour and self learning deserved it. This was an unbelievable dream, for which I am thankful throughout my life.
Epic journey to Germany..
I had to travel via Costa Rica and because it took so long to arrange everything in Managua and get the visa, I did not have time to return to Ometepe or I would have missed my flight.I had only the clothes I wore and spare trousers in a small rucksack. Finally I arrived in Frankfurt with only 15 euros to get to Meins. A German helped show me the station where I could get a train but I had never seen an underground train before. When I arrived in Meins my friend had arranged a lift and I went to Berlin with a young woman, where I met my friend. I was greeted like a king and I spent three months with my friend learning German. His parents only spoke German and it was very difficult when my friend was away for a week.
Every day I said to myself that I must learn, for the first thing that would happen when I returned was that my boss would speak to me in German. Germany was another world not least because people wore gloves and other clothes. In Nicaragua only nurses, doctors and baseball, players wear gloves. After three months in Germany I could speak German with my boss.
In 2000 I was hired as a guide to the two volcanoes from time to time so I learned this profession gradually.
My dream that I had had all my life was to offer kayak tours in Lake Nicaragua and in the mangroves of the River Istiam and to have a small company. My brother in law Luis Enrique and my sister Idalia had put a lot of effort into helping me but my project was far from becoming a reality.
Now I work as an independent tourist guide for tour agencies and as a technician of organic coffee production.
A way of giving back
Such motivation should not go unrewarded I felt, when so many people take life for granted and expect everything to be easy. So I spent the remainder of my holiday pondering on this and on my return shared my ideas with a friend. I wanted to help, but would everyone think I was mad to help someone I hardly knew on the other side of the world. Well probably but at my age I am past caring what people think and 'go for it' was the conclusion we came to. So I set about organising another trip; but the essential task was to find Jose and I had no details. But persistence paid off and the travel company found him. This time I had booked for Jose to be my guide but without prearranged tours, so Jose found wonderful experiences for me to learn more about Ometepe and the local community.
We talked about education and the difficulties that many of the poorest families have about going to school. And that the poorest children struggle for their education and also that one of my dreams was to help the children who had no school equipment to enable them to follow their primary education. Jose
And I felt so at home, so welcomed and so privileged. As we parted company, I left Jose with my contact details and my offer of help to further his dreams.
We only spoke for a few minutes and I showed her the beach called Santa Teresa in one of the communities in Ometepe. At the end of the tour we said goodbye and at this moment Carolyn said she would help me go ahead with my kayak project and the education of the poorest children in the community. Jose
In 2018 that company Dreamland Tours is now established and so is the Kids and Kayaks Project to help the children in the community.
We talked about education and the difficulties that many of the poorest families have about going to school. And that the poorest children struggle for their education and also that one of my dreams was to help the children who had no school equipment to enable them to follow their primary education. Jose
And I felt so at home, so welcomed and so privileged. As we parted company, I left Jose with my contact details and my offer of help to further his dreams.
We only spoke for a few minutes and I showed her the beach called Santa Teresa in one of the communities in Ometepe. At the end of the tour we said goodbye and at this moment Carolyn said she would help me go ahead with my kayak project and the education of the poorest children in the community. Jose
In 2018 that company Dreamland Tours is now established and so is the Kids and Kayaks Project to help the children in the community.
From January 2018 Dreamland Tours, a tour operator offering kayak tours and a restaurant began to support and work with Kids and Kayaks in offering hospitality, tours and meals to Carolyn Susan Gibbs, who came from England to achieve the plans for Kids and Kayaks.
Also Dreamland Tours will continue to cooperate with the project Kids and Kayaks, with annual voluntary contributions and thus support the education at the primary school in Urbaite and the well being of the children in the town.
Also Dreamland Tours will further support by seeking more support from other organisations and interested people.
The company is now established offering wonderful tours and in a place of beauty and tranquillity in Santa Teresa.
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