Termales de Nahualapa

Today was our first group meetup at the Termales de Nahualapa. This is a special natural hot spring in the indigenous community of Las Salinas in Rivas. The water comes from a natural hot spring that is captured in a cement pool, from this main source smaller pools are filled daily. Historically this area was a gathering place where people mostly women would come to do their washing. Several years ago the municipal government build cement washing stations for people to hand wash their clothes. Today the baths have a dual function, tourism for people to enjoy the natural springs and for people to washing their clothes and collect water for their houses.

We kicked things off by introducing the project to everyone and explaining how we'll be working over the next month. We chatted a bit about pedal-powered machines and how they can really help people, especially in rural areas. We had a great turnout, mainly women from the community who come to the baths to hand wash their clothes. Since there's no electricity at the baths, we had to bring our super heavy and loud generator to use the electric tools. After a few minor hiccups, we got it going and showed the group a bit of welding. The women are nervous yet excited to start learning how to use electric tools. It's always inspiring to watch them go from being scared to feeling confident enough to pick up an angle grinder and cut some metal!