About Ometepe
Ometepe? Who or what is this?
Ometepe is a native Indian name – and this is how the biggest of the many islands in Lake Nicaragua, which is fifteen times bigger than Lake Constance in Germany. It is formed by two volcanoes, Concepción and Maderas. Lake Nicaragua is situated in the south of Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in the world. The island’s roundabout 35.000 inhabitants are descendants of the Nahua Indians, which had settled there more than two thousand years ago. More than half of the population is of an age under twenty.
- About every second inhabitant cannot read or write.
- On the island, a high unemployment of nearly 90 per cent prevails
- In many places of the island, there is still no drinking water available
- Because of this, parts of the population still drinks water from the lake itself and thus suffers from diarrhoea
- Many places on Ometepe have no electricity.
- Medical supply remains difficult as well
Until some years ago, people living on the backside of volcano Maderas had few chances to survive when they fell seriously ill. In spring 1995, a gravel road was built around this volcano, which is passable with a all-terrain vehicle outside of the rainy season.
The majority of the campesinos (agricultural workers) work in the farming sector for their personal needs.
The main agricultural goods that are grown on the island are rice, beans, cooking bananas, coffee, tobacco and a range of fruits. Fish like sardines, mojarras, tilapias and guapote are being caught by the families that own a boat of their own. A Norwegian Tilapia company has settled on Ometepe some years ago, breeding the Tilapia fish in cages in the lake and transporting it directly to the mainland. The profit of this business does not include the small local fishing families.
The growing tourism has become an important source of income for the local population.
