The effort to de-mine Central America is truly an international one, with assistance coming from the U.S., Germany, Spain, France, England, Japan, Canada and Sweden (who’s ambassador is featured here, speaking eloquent Spanish). Also we hear from soldiers on the pleasure of serving a mission of peace, as opposed to one of war.

We were driving around the roads of rural Nicaragua when we caught a glimpse of this donkey driven cart with loads of milk. We had to get to know this guy! Here it is, a YABLA exclusive with a milk seller!!

Working as a cook/domestic worker on a construction site, Doña Coco is the first to get up in the morning and the last to go to bed at night. Her monthly salary of C$2,000 Córdobas really just covers “el arroz y los frijoles” (“rice and beans”) for her family. So, how does she provide clothing and all the rest for her five kids? Leonido, the interviewer, asks the tough questions.

While stirring a pot, Doña Coco sings us a couple of Christian songs, which she learned at her evangelical church.

Acclaimed financial blog author, Elaine Miranda, gives us some tips to manage our personal finances and get out of debt, particularly in January following the financial excess that often accompanies the holidays.

Financial blog author, Elaine Miranda, explains that while there are different strategies to get out of debt, the method one chooses is less important than the ability to change the habits of consumption that got that individual into debt in the first place.

Financial expert, Elaine Miranda, tells us about scenarios in which credit cards can be both helpful and hurtful for individuals attempting to gain control over their finances.

Elaine continues to talk about personal finances, including the Fifty-Two-Week Saving Challenge and how to talk to kids about finances.

Continuing their trip through Nicaragua, Planas’ film crew stops in San Nicolás and discusses the lack of potable water. A group of Spaniards have offered to remedy the situation. Why does the problem still exist? Could the elected officials actually be standing in the way of progress?

Trying to figure out why he wouldn’t approve the water project, the filmmakers try to track down the mayor, but they can’t find him at home. They do find children with containers making the trek to the water source from home and back.

The film crew met with a team from Ayuda en Acción, and it appears that its organizational heart is in the right place. Yet, despite the presence of over five hundred NGOs working to improve the lot of Nicaragua’s poor, their plight worsens every year. Many local activists and intellectuals do not trust the non-profits, and accuse them of having their own enrichment as concern numero uno.