Food poisoning sucks..At least that’s what I think I had. The night before our big solar lamp campaign yesterday on Saturday, I woke up several times, alternately freezing and hot, with a fever. After taking a dose of Motrin, I fell back asleep, exhausted, thinking I’d be fine the next morning to work. While I didn’t feel 100% on waking up, I certainly didn’t feel terrible. I felt pretty shaky and weak, as well as slightly nauseous, but figured that a few hours of sleep on the way to Escipula would make me feel better.
Unfortunately, the ride to Escipula was the bumpiest I had ever taken. I’d estimate that 90% of the way there was completely unpaved, so that we reached top speeds of about 25 miles per hour. The driver had to navigate both sides of the road to avoid massive holes in the dirt and rock roads. I ended up in the back of the van; if someone were to videotape the back of the van, it would have looked like a scene from a bouncy house. And this went on for TWO HOURS. Worst ride of my life...by this time, I was already regretting coming in spite of my illness and wished I were back in the hostel as my nausea increased.
We arrived in Escipula at around 10 and began to set up. Pablo, our contact in the village, had worked in the months before getting the word out and taking care of publicity. Apparently, he had even managed to get on the radio beforehand to announce our campaign. The campaign itself was a little different from the ones we usually do. First of all, there was no Nicaraguan asesora who had organized the campaign herself. Instead, Social Entrepreneur Corp who had visited the town a year ago before had established contacts and laid plans to return. The marketing campaign itself was focused solely on the solar products, which fifteen people had signed up a year in advance to buy. The campaign, set up in an roofed area next to the town church, looked a bit like a marketing convention with different stations focusing on different goods, such as stoves and filters.
The campaign itself was a hit. The people seemed very interested; we sold plenty of lenses, gave a good number of eye exams and had some good conversations with people about new goods that we weren’t selling yet but were investigating. Most importantly, we sold more than thirty solar lamps, which makes that a record for most lamps sold at a single event. Given that only about 74 lamps have been sold in Nicaragua in the past two years (though it should be pointed out that there was nothing in terms of Soluciones Comunitaria in Nicaragua two years ago), a sale of 30 lamps is astronomical.
Unfortunately, my health steadily declined during the entire campaign. I maintained a tolerable level of nausea throughout the entire campaign, until I suddenly had to run outside and throw up...right in front of a group of people who were watching a demonstration of our new stoves. Afterwards, I felt a little bit better and got right back to work, hoping that not too many people had seen me throw up all over their church grounds.
There were two ladies who who were obviously friends. They eventually bought a solar lamp, but not after harassing pretty much every station. They were turned away from the lenses exam, because they were both near sighted and far sighted, making them ineligible for the kind of glasses we sold. Despite our explanations, they insisted on buying the glasses. Tim had to take them aside and calm them down for a good ten minutes, before they arrived at my station and began asking about the solar products, all the while inserting snide references to the eye station which had turned them away. Apparently they also called another one our team members who was stationed with the filters stupid for not knowing anything about the lenses...they were definitely some pushy women.
The ride back was not too bad, as I sat in the front. It began pouring at this point, so I really have to give our driver credit for navigating the flooded roads. We ran into a guy who was obviously completely drunk at 3 in the afternoon, stumbling his way through the rain in the middle of road, completely oblivious to the fact that there was a huge van rumbling his way.
After coming back to the hostel, my condition steadily deteriorated; feeling close to dying, I stumbled my way to the front desk and asked them to buy me some dehydration salts and toast, the latter of which they graciously provided free of charge. 11 hours later the next morning, I feel much better. Still, the spasms of agony I’ve felt twice now are hard to forget. Leon tomorrow! Pictures of yesterday are coming soon (I have to get them from another camera).
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