El Mercado Central: A Day Visiting Kiva Clients

By Meg Gray, KF9 Nicaragua

How to describe one of the markets in Nicaragua? It’s hard and there really isn’t anything like them in the States to compare to. When I visited the Mercado Central in Chinandega, a small city that serves as a supply hub for the farms surrounding it, the heat was stifling. A few aisles are well lit with a sprinkling of fluorescent bulbs, while others are dark and cave-like. At the same time, the whole building is bursting with colors, smells, and noises. Every aisle is packed with people and very few aisles are wide enough for more than two people to walk side by side. And did I mention it’s hot. Chinandega has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the hottest places in Nicaragua. My guidebook accurately describes it as feeling like a rotisserie chicken the moment you leave the AC behind. In the end I decided, it was too hard to describe my day visiting clients in the Mercado Central. I decided it would be more fun and easier to try to figure out my video editing software and give you guys a taste of what my day was like. So here goes my first attempt at making a video…

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Meg Gray is currently a Kiva Fellow in Nicaragua, where she is working with Kiva’s field partner CEPRODEL. Support a loan to a CEPRODEL entrepreneur or introduce a friend to Kiva with a gift certificate.

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