{"id":3307,"date":"2016-04-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gridalt.wpenginepowered.com\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T12:03:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:03:46","slug":"unexpected-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"Unexpected opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>This is a special guest blog post from Eddy Matute of El Guaylo, Nicaragua. Here, he reflects on how his life has changed since solar was installed on the school is his community.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m 20 years old and I was born and raised here in El Guaylo. I\u2019m the oldest of three children in my family. When I was studying there were still no high school classes offered in the community, so I traveled the one hour bus ride or three hour walk to Limay on the weekends to study. Now there are professors that come to El Guaylo to give classes two days a week so students don\u2019t have to travel to get their high school education. I\u2019ve always helped on the family farm where we grow corn, beans and millet. Yet, with the recent drought we haven\u2019t been able to get a good crop so some of my friends and I have traveled to Costa Rica to find work. We usually go for four months during coffee-cutting season. Even though it\u2019s long hours we can make good money.<\/p>\n<p>A little over a year ago GRID came to install solar panels at the school. Electricity has brought a lot of joy to our community. We can now enjoy celebrations like Independence Day or Mother\u2019s Day with music and folkloric dances. For me it\u2019s much more convenient to be able to charge my cell phone. Plus, now that we have light at the school, it\u2019s become a popular meeting place. It\u2019s one of the only places with a cell phone signal as well so my friends and I will get together on the front steps at night to text, listen to music or just hang out.<\/p>\n<p>Four months ago I decided to buy an electric razor to cut hair. Mainly I bought it for myself since it was annoying having to wait until my hair was long to go get my hair cut in Limay. But soon after some practice people began to ask me to cut their hair at the school. So I started to charge 20 cordobas for each haircut. Now I usually have 1-2 clients a week. I use the money to make a trip into the city or to buy household supplies. My dream is to go back to school to get my degree in engineering. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eddy Matute of El Guaylo, Nicaragua reflects on how his life has changed since solar was installed on the school in his community.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3308,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"audience":[],"content-type":[12],"focus-area":[19],"region":[],"series":[],"content-author":[],"class_list":["post-3307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-equity-community","content-type-news","focus-area-international-impact-stories"],"acf":{"hero_media_type":"image","hero_media_image":null,"hero_media_url":"","hero_media_poster":null,"hero_video_play":"inline","related_stories":null,"pattern_override":null,"story_callouts":null,"media":null,"featured_blog_post":null,"featured_event":null,"pdf_download":null,"blockquote":null,"author":null,"notice":null,"social_embed":null,"contact_card":null,"meta_details":null,"faq":null,"table":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Unexpected opportunities - GRID Alternatives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Eddy Matute of El Guaylo, Nicaragua reflects on how his life has changed since solar was installed on the school in his community.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unexpected opportunities - GRID Alternatives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eddy Matute of El Guaylo, Nicaragua reflects on how his life has changed since solar was installed on the school in his community.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GRID Alternatives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-15T04:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-03T16:03:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DSC02967-2-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1701\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutos\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/unexpected-opportunities\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/unexpected-opportunities\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Unexpected opportunities\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-15T04:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-03T16:03:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/unexpected-opportunities\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":400,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/unexpected-opportunities\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/DSC02967-2-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Equity &amp; Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"es\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/unexpected-opportunities\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/unexpected-opportunities\\\/\",\"name\":\"Unexpected opportunities - GRID Alternatives\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/unexpected-opportunities\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/unexpected-opportunities\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/DSC02967-2-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-15T04:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-03T16:03:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"description\":\"Eddy Matute of El Guaylo, Nicaragua reflects on how his life has changed since solar was installed on the school in his community.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/unexpected-opportunities\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/unexpected-opportunities\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/unexpected-opportunities\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/DSC02967-2-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/DSC02967-2-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1701,\"caption\":\"Young man in white tank top and cap standing in brick room, smiling at camera\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/unexpected-opportunities\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Unexpected opportunities\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/\",\"name\":\"GRID Alternatives\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"es\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Unexpected opportunities - GRID Alternatives","description":"Eddy Matute of El Guaylo, Nicaragua reflects on how his life has changed since solar was installed on the school in his community.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/","og_locale":"es_MX","og_type":"article","og_title":"Unexpected opportunities - GRID Alternatives","og_description":"Eddy Matute of El Guaylo, Nicaragua reflects on how his life has changed since solar was installed on the school in his community.","og_url":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/","og_site_name":"GRID Alternatives","article_published_time":"2016-04-15T04:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-03T16:03:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1701,"url":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DSC02967-2-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutos"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Unexpected opportunities","datePublished":"2016-04-15T04:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-03T16:03:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/"},"wordCount":400,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DSC02967-2-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Equity &amp; Community"],"inLanguage":"es"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/","url":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/","name":"Unexpected opportunities - GRID Alternatives","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DSC02967-2-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2016-04-15T04:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-03T16:03:46+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"description":"Eddy Matute of El Guaylo, Nicaragua reflects on how his life has changed since solar was installed on the school in his community.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"es","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es","@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DSC02967-2-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DSC02967-2-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1701,"caption":"Young man in white tank top and cap standing in brick room, smiling at camera"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/unexpected-opportunities\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Unexpected opportunities"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/#website","url":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/","name":"GRID Alternatives","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"es"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3307"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8624,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3307\/revisions\/8624"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3307"},{"taxonomy":"audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/audience?post=3307"},{"taxonomy":"content-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-type?post=3307"},{"taxonomy":"focus-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/focus-area?post=3307"},{"taxonomy":"region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region?post=3307"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=3307"},{"taxonomy":"content-author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-author?post=3307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}