“One time this American man was visiting our village. When he saw our little fishers boat he asked if we could transport him. He wanted to go surfing offshore and was in need of transportation. Even though we could really use the money, my husband doubted to accept his offer because of the bad conditions of our boat. I told my husband he had to be transparent about the situation. The man was willing to go anyways so my husband took him. When they came back the American was so excited that once he got home he set up a Facebook page for us and told his entire group of friends about his experience. After that we kept getting more and more people who either wanted to go surfing or fishing with us. Our financial situation started to develop and through the years we managed to save up money. Nowadays we own three boats and all our kids went to school. One even graduated and is now a primary school teacher.”

Nicaragua – Popoyo

“I was working in the fragrance business with big names such as Karl Lagerfeld and Calvin Klein. When my husband and I left America seven years ago people said we lost it. We had a good life in The States but something was missing. ”
“What was missing?”
“I felt disconnected to the world. I wasn’t in a place where consciousness was stimulated. That’s why we came here to build a sustainable surf resort that would benefit the local community. ”
“What have you learned from the locals so far?”
“You don’t need a lot of material things to be happy.”

Nicaragua – Popoyo

“The war in the 80’s was a nightmare for all of us. We were treated like animals. There was no education, no food, no jobs, no nothing. By the time the Americans came we had to split up our family. The boys who were fourteen and older had to pick up arms and were forced to fight in the army. Because the chances for girls to get raped were so high I had to send them to another part of the country. Those were very hard times.”

Nicaragua – Matagalpa

“My boy is doing very well in school but my daughter has problems reading because she is visually impaired. I talked with my husband about saving money to get her an eye surgery. Unfortunately he is dealing with an alcohol addiction so that’s where the money ends up going.”

Nicaragua – Matagalpa

“About 5 years ago my neighbour ran into my kitchen screaming that something had happened to her son. I didn’t understand what was going on so I followed her to the barn. When I entered the barn, her 13 year old son had hanged himself to a rope. From that moment everything slowed down. I felt like it was surreal and time had stopped. The sound of her scream is something that will be stuck in my memory for the rest of my life. When the ambulance arrived everything went terribly fast. When they took him away from her, I didn’t leave her side and helped arranging the funeral. After the funeral my world fell apart. Every time I came home and entered my door I was afraid I would find my own son hanging on a rope. At some point my fears started to control my mind. My son noticed my fears. I remember this one night my son came up to me and said. ‘Mum, don’t worry. I’m a fighter, I will never give up.’ ”