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It was during our visit to Angels crisp factory in 2019 that I understood why we had been invited to Nicaragua and what the government wanted us to see and understand. In the morning we were shown around the university city of Leon and ate lunch in a lovely restaurant. Then we headed out into the country after about 15 minutes drive we had to change cars as where we were going was so remote only a four wheel drive could navigate the roads. In this remote place called Los Pocitos near the Volcano Cerro Negro. We left the main road and drove along a sort of dirt road for about 20 minutes. Every few minutes we would pass houses which in a developed country would be described as basic sheds. It was obvious how poor these people were, Eleanor and I were wondering why we were being brought here.
Then a group of immaculate turned out children appeared on the road, I asked the driver to stop. The measure of any society should be on how it cares for its its children and the elderly. In every country I have ever been to children give you a good idea of how life is by their laughter. Unlike adults children don’t have the experience or incentive to bullshit. Children are curious and always interested in foreigners. The children were delighted to pose with Eleanor for a picture, they told us they were on their way home from school and seemed to find my efforts at communicating in Spanish very amusing.
Further down the road we saw Quan, an Ice cream salesman selling his homemade Ice cream to other children. It was in an Ice box on the back of his bike he had an hour to sell all the Ice Cream before it would melt. Today was his lucky day as Ice cream is my favourite food and I bought ice cream for everyone.
The pleasure in the small children as they licked their ice could have been children anywhere, the small ones ran off home before I could take their picture. Perhaps fearing it was their ice cream I was after and I doubt if many English speaking tourists had been out this way before. Then we continued along the track to the factory
Angel came out to greet us, and told us the story of his factory. There are one hundred and forty people living in this community and 60% of them are under thirty. Before thew Sandinista Government came to power in 2006, this community just existed. Living off what they grew, predominantly the yucca root (looks a bit like sugar beet), beans and corn.
Few children could afford to go to school in Leon, if they got sick, they stayed at home until the got better or in many cases did not. Angel was one of the lucky ones who got some schooling learned English. This got him work as a tourist guide in Leon. His mother used to make him packets of crisps from Yucca to take with him to snack on. The nice man that he is he shared his crisps with the tourists he was showing around who thought they were delicious and wanted to buy some. Angel got his mother to make more and more and he always sold all she produced.
In 2010 a local government officials approached Angel and asked about the crisps, suggested scaling up the production of the crisps and offered government help. They built a big shed, in which now thousands of bags of crisps and popcorn are produced each week. Twenty nine people from the community work in the factory and there is a productivity share scheme among the workers and all profits go into community services. First they slice the yucca, then fry the slices, and when they are cool put into plastic bags which are sealed by melting the plastic against a old tin full of hoot embers from the fire. Then those not working in the factory are doing jobs connected to the factory, delivering to Leon and the farmers who grow the Yucca and corn to make popcorn.
The community now has a health centre with a fulltime doctor and nurse, available 24/7 and if necessary the have access to a hospital in Leon which is free. The children we met all went to the local primary school have a school, which like the medical centre is funded by crisps and popcorn, these people produce. No doubt if one was to compare this factory to one in a developed country, or the standard of living to middle class tourists who can afford a holiday in Nicaragua; they would say its terrible, the conditions they have to live in. That would be the view of an “entitled” American or European. The Nicaraguans are grateful for what they have, now compared to what they had. Places like this appear very different to someone flying in from London, rather than someone coming from a country without medical care or free education. Remember fifteen years of free-market economy between 1990 and 2006 did nothing for these people. They were abandoned and forgotten. They are still poor but their quality of life is so much better and will continue to improve in the coming years
On the way back we drove past the school and gave some of the children a lift in the truck to their home. Later on we say women selling Angels crisps and popcorn in the main square Leon
