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Land Redistribution - Kind Of

Robert Watcher

Well-known member
I know - I'm done my Nicaraguan trip for now - - - but in the last day of leaving, I was still finding stories and shooting.

This photo story I did not want to miss out on. A fellow I got to know, named Tino - was so proud of his new land that he had purchased - - - and wanted to share his joy by having me head out into the rural the couple of miles to his home. He is able to pay for it by means of his almost non-existent income over the course of however long it takes, and has dreams of caring for the land and planting fruit trees and flowers to make it a real home.

I wasn't exactly sure where his place was, but knew the vicinity and had been in this part of the city previously. I was aware that there were established residential homes (well off and poor shacks beside each other), as well as some areas of land where people have recently been setting up shelters covered in cardboard and black plastic. In fact when checking Google Maps, there is nothing other than bare land in these areas based on the last time the photos were taken.

Tino took me in through the front gate that separated his home from all of the others crammed in on small lots on this section of redistributed property. Near the front door, he showed me the water faucet so that I could wash my hands, and the wood stand for washing his clothes - - - the 9 foot hole that he is digging in the back corner of the property, so that he has bathroom facilities.

Inside the metal front door that was secured by means of a bicycle chain with lock - - - was his living space of roughly 8'x10' - - - where there was a hammock along the far wall used for sleeping - - - some shelves for preparing food and to hold his single burner hotplate for cooking - - - a crude switch in the corner for turning on electrical power to run his hotplate and single overhead light bulb - - - as well as a lot of corrugated cardboard that he has collected for lining the insides of the walls to make the room more comfortable.

Tino is a happy and content man and now a proud land owner.




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Jarmo Juntunen

Well-known member
What a great story. You do justice to this gentleman and his entrepreneurship with your well crafted photographic short story.
 

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Nice shots Roberts !
Though I'm not fan of B&W pics (A very old debate within OPF with Asher and some others Lol)!
However these reminds me with people from poor countries (aka Bangladesh) attitude when the photog remains humbled and emphatic… Great job!
 

Robert Watcher

Well-known member
Thank you Jarmo and Nicolas for your kind thoughts.


Someday I may just find myself in Bangladesh. While I am contented with Nicaragua for the time being - my wife Anne has a list of other locations in the world that she would like to experience living in. She has mentioned several South American countries (Ecuador and Peru) that we may have to work our way to - - - but also Asian countries and even South Asia. There is a strong pull to these type of cultures, for her interests as well as for an adventurous photographer like myself.


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