By Deborah Payne
It was a bright morning in Somoto when our small crew climbed into a truck bound for Motuce, a rural community in northwest Nicaragua. We were there to celebrate the inauguration of CoCoDA’s new solar-powered water system. The system, serving more than 600 residents, would be another concrete example of what can happen when communities thousands of miles apart show up for one another.
Traveling with us were two of CoCoDA’s most dedicated supporters, Barb and Richard McDaniel.
When I met Barb and Richard something clicked between us on that trip. I felt their genuine interest in improving the lives of the communities and their openness to meeting new friends like me. They shared their story, and I shared mine. The atmosphere was ideal for building close and genuine friendships, and the joy on our faces and the faces of the people, who, after many years, could finally see their dream of having water in their homes realized without having to descend steep and slippery paths, was truly special. There we were, all of us, celebrating this dream coming true, seeing with our own eyes the miracle of life flowing into families’ homes.
Barb, a board member and tireless advocate, documented the trip for friends back home, sharing photos of food, portraits of the people she met, and daily reflections on the importance of connecting with communities where CoCoDA works. Barb celebrated alongside the families, and returned home energized, spreading the message that one trip can change the way you see the world. I asked Barb to share her thoughts around this experience and found her reflection immensely powerful.
These were her words in reflection of CoCoDA:
I recently saw a sticker in my collection (yes, I still like stickers) that said, “Believe in the Impossible”. I redacted the ‘im’ with my permanent black Sharpie so it says, “Believe in the Possible.” Then I stuck it to my bathroom mirror.
Believing in the possible is something I observed in CoCoDA seven years ago. Their possible was imaginative, of good intention and strong will… and it revived dusty, buried memories from when I was young and saw things that were possible ~ which no one else believed in. It revived within me, the excitement of the possible.
As a contributor to CoCoDA, a fundraiser and Board Member, I came to know people in El Salvador and Nicaragua, Kentucky, Missouri, Indiana and other places near and far that didn’t give up easily on what is possible; people with big brains, big hearts and creative imagining who believed in things that I didn’t know were possible.
But I was open to hoping in their ideas because they were important and life enhancing to people in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Then I saw many dreams become reality…high school and college scholarships, roads that didn’t get washed away in big rains… building community centers and preschools…a solar water system providing access to sanitary well water that was engineered by a villager.
When CoCoDA went to a village in El Salvador or Nicaragua, the villagers were asked:
Barb McDaniel
“What is your dream? What do you want for your village?”
“What is your Possible Dream?” That’s how I see it. They weren’t asked to see what was IMpossible. What you want, what you need can be possible!
The next important question wasn’t, “Can we do it?” The question was (and is) “How can we do it?”
What is possible can take expertise, funding, collaboration, sweat equity, and valuing the skill sets of many who contribute to making a project a realization. That’s a lot. I think that’s why it’s easy to say it (whatever it is) is impossible. That’s why seeing CoCoDA work as a community to find solutions so a dream is possible can change the future for many.
P.S. I’ve seen CoCoDA pivot or postpone because of life happening the way it does, but still keep the dream alive. Postponing or adjusting are skills that make a dream possible too.
Help keep the possible alive. Your support, through visiting, connecting, or donating, turns dreams into taps, scholarships, and opportunities for communities across El Salvador, Nicaragua, and now Guatemala.
To see what is possible first hand, join us for a Friends of CoCoDA trip to El Salvador, June 6-13th! We’d love to have you see what is Possible!
🔍 Read more:
- Join Us for the 2026 Febrero Fiesta!
- Education that transforms communities
- Discover with us the history, hope and community-based projects with the 7-day CoCoDA tour in El Salvador.
- From the Executive Director
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