Light Switch

Last Friday, the church team’s final night in Nicaragua, we selected special causes for a parting gift of encouragement.

“Let’s buy the Nehemiah Center a new extension cord,” said Larry. Palmer nodded. Their to-do list from the center had included putting a new plug on a 50-foot extension cord. But it was frayed and taped in multiple places, and the ends were falling apart. “It’s not worth fixing,” we concluded.

Yesterday, with the help of our taxi driver Miguel, Marlo bought an extension cord at Richardsons, which several weeks ago had been one stop in a long series in search of wood for shelving.

This afternoon, through Service and Learning Teams coordinator Steve Holtrop, we gave it to maintenance supervisor Don Antonio. (In Spanish the term “Don,” is not a name, but indicates respect for age.

We're working on our laptops at the center  when, still carrying the extension cord, Don Antonio locates us and  thanks us graciously in Spanish.

We tell him we saw the current extension cord was peligro (dangerous). Marlo advises throwing it in the basura (garbage).

If we understand him correctly, he responds that Nicaraguans know how to make things last, to fix them.

He says they had to do even more of it in the early 1980s, after the Sandinista revolution. He describes and example, but we don’t understand.

“Un momento,” he says and rushes off for a prop. He returns with a medical plastic syringe and two pieces of wire. He points to the light switch and tells us that light switches could not be bought, not anywhere. He inserts a wire into both ends of the syringe, and pushes the plunger until the wires touch. “Ven? Luz!” he says. (You see? Light!) Then he retracts the plunger to demonstrate the off position.

“Muy creativo!” says Marlo. (Very creative!) 

He smiles.

And I think, but do not know how to say, that the same is true of Don Antonio’s demonstration.

 I comment, half as a question, that I think now Nicaraguans have it better than in those times.

“Si,” he says, and nods.

But, if we understood him earlier in our conversation, that old extension cord will not go in the basura.

It will be passed on to un pobre (a poor person) who needs it and can  use it.

And rightly so.

That choice belongs, not to us, but to him.


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PS to prevent cardiac arrest in Larry, Palmer (and other electrical-expert-readers):


The answer is, No the syringe did not have liquid in it. It was the only syringe photo I could find online.


And neither were the demonstration wires connected to any electrical circuit.