Some of the advanced girls who will graduate in December hold large pipianes in this photo taken by Head Teacher, Luvy, at Instituto Augusto C. Sandino in La Carreta. The squash were harvested from the school’s garden. These favorite Nicaraguan gourd fruits come in many sizes and can be white, green or striped. They are steamed or stir-fried into many dishes. Some of the pipianes will be eaten by the students at school and some shared with their families, and the seeds will be saved, shared and planted.

The boys cleared the garden for re-planting, and in the second photo, pipian seeds are put into the holes made by a digging-stick tool.