Joshua Herl

 Nicaragua Blog: Sunday March 16^th

Today was a fun and eventful day that began with a buffet in the morning to get everyone ready for the important day ahead of them.  After a late breakfast, all of the students got back into their respective groups to work with their assigned entrepreneurs.  Then after few hours of working diligently with the entrepreneurs, everyone sat down for a delicious buffet lunch that was catered by the Camino Real Hotel.  Everyone then got back to work and put the finishing touches on the presentations that were to be presented on the issues the entrepreneurs were facing and how each group worked to help solve these issues. 

The first group to present was Zama, a business that was selling shoes made of recycled jeans and tires.  The group helped create flyers and business cards so that they could marker their product to potential customers.  The scone group presentation was for a device that made holding a basket for coffee bean pickers more ergonomic and efficient in holding the beans.  The group set up a very informative website that focused on sharing the entrepreneurs story and explaining the efficiency of their product to individuals associated with the coffee bean industry.  The next group presentation was focused on assisting individuals from Honduras that were trying to preserve documents that were tarnished due to inclement weather.  The group brainstormed and concluded that setting up a new major in library sciences that specializes in preserving documents would be an effective way to save the important historical documents.  The final group to present assisted two doctors that created a medical lift device that helped pick up patients at a hospital.  The group found that producing the lifts in Nicaragua would be more cost-effective compared to shipping the devices from Esteli, Nicaragua.

Every single presentation was fantastic!  One could really see that each group became very close and was able to craft a plan that would be beneficial to each entrepreneur.  Then there was a ceremony in which each group was congratulated on their efforts.  After saying goodbye to the entrepreneurs, we all went out to eat and sightsee at a newly built pier.  Although some groups ate at different places, the consensus was that the dinners were delicious.  Most of us then relaxed by the pool after returning to the hotel, because we knew we had a long and exciting day ahead of us on Monday.