Welcome to Netman's Nicaragua Page.
Nicaragua is a fantastic country. It is however the poorest country in the Americas with the average person living on less than $1 a day. There are many web sites around that will give you lots of statistics about Nicaragua in one form or another. However the best site Netman has come across is the CIA facts site. Visit the CIA Nicaragua facts site click here >> So How Did Netman Get involved with SIFT and land himself in Nicaragua It was quite simple really. Netman went to a Methodist Church in a town called Warboys, Cambridgeshire, England. The last time Netman was in a Methodist Church was on his wedding day 21 years ago. There Netman met a guy called Mr. Dick Bell who was speaking about his plans and visits to Nicaragua. Netman was quite taken back on what Mr. Bell was saying and decided to see if there was anything he could do. It was quite a difficult decision as Netman had just left the Royal Air Force and didn't want to take on anything that would again take him away from his family and home. Following a brief one to one discussion with Mr. Bell, Netman asked if there was anything he could bring to SIFT seeing that as all Netman understood was that SIFT worked with children and medical clinics. Mr. Bell said "And what do you do, What are your particular skills"? (Words still ringing in Netman's ears to this day). Netman said he could organize (Thanks to the Royal Air Force), and that he works with computers. "STOP!" said Mr. Bell, "you are right what I have been looking for. Why don't you come out to Nicaragua and see for yourself and see what you can do. We have lots of broken computers you can fix". Sounded like a challenge and Netman was hooked. On the first trip in 2004 Netman landed in the capital of Nicaragua called Managua and was quite taken back by the poverty in the streets within hours of arriving. The sight of children as young as 3 or 4 dressed in rags begging in the street was quite an eye opener. Young women prostituting themselves outside the hotels in the centre of Managua showed that they know where the $$$s are and if there are no customers then they wouldn't be there. Quite sick thought Netman. Managua has a definite divide between the rich and the poor. They either have a great deal or not a lot at all. Located outside Managua approximately 13.5Kms to the East is the 'Straw Bale House', which is run and operated by Peace & Hope. It wasn't long before Netman managed to fix the one and only laptop in the Straw Bale House and got to use with email to contact his family back home.
Ometepe. What can you say about Ometepe? It's a beautiful, fantastic island right in the heart of Lake Nicaragua. We stayed in the CVC (Christian Vocational Centre) in the village of Urbeite. Our hosts Ruth, Anna & Aida were great. The food was fantastic and how they managed to cunjour up those meals amazed us. In November 2006 We took out computer spares for the CVC and also sports equipment to Urbeite school. Also we managed to set-up a video link between a internet cafe in Moyogalpa and Bury Primary School in Cambridgeshire England. To say that it was quite exiting for the children of the school would be an understatement. We are planning another trip in November 2008 to Nicaragua. Would you like to come along? Please contact Netman |
Next was a short flight over to Bluefields from Managua. There we stayed in the 'World Relief Centre'. Netman was in his 
element in Bluefields, sorting out computers in the 'Verbo School', 'The Bluefileds collage' and even 'Pastor Eds' House. There was lots to do with not a lot of time to do it. We did manage a trip to 'Sandy Bay' but there were no computers there to fix for Netman. 
