James, Seth and I spent April 28 – May 12 in Nicaragua.  Here is a brief overview of our trip.  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

After two weeks in Nicaragua, we had the opportunity to see many different types of missions.  There are basically two types: relief and development.  Relief usually comes in the form of hand-outs.  While in many cases this is needed, we saw much of the same destructive entitlement mentality that we have created here in America.  When you are used to getting something for nothing, why work for it?  I work in the Emergency Department and I see much of the same type of “poverty mentality” in America as I saw in Nicaragua.

The development type of mission, however, comes along side of an individual or community and builds relationship with them.  It finds out what their dreams for the future are and assists them in attaining these goals through loans, education, and guidance.  Manantial is one organization that does this.  John and Helen Little, along with Freddy Guadamuz run this program.  We would very much like to be more of a part of Manantial, which is growing and changing daily.  Please visit their site here.

(The best way to view the following pictures is to click on the first one and then use the “next” button at the bottom of the pop-up, below my comments.  Hope it doesn’t take too long to load.)

Las Chacaras

We spent our first week working in a small village outside of Leon called Las Chacaras.  We went with John and Helen, who started Manantial, an organization that assists small communities with micro loans and self-sustainability.   They have built a wonderful relationship with two communities.  We spent our mornings working (hard and in the heat!) and would come back after lunch and teach the children about hygiene and clean water.

Pig Pen

One of the loans is for a pig pen.  We helped build the foundation.  Tools used: shovels, wheelbarrows, sticks, pliers, hand saw, and sweat!

Seth in Las Chacaras

Seth had a really great time at Las Chacaras.  Despite the intense heat and different food, he was really good.  He even used the outhouse without incident.  I really thought we’d have to go rounds with that one!  He was very sad when we finally said goodbye.  He didn’t even miss his Nintendo DS!  The last day, James bought a pinata to celebrate Seth’s birthday with the kids.  What a treat to watch.

Garbage

Garbage is a huge issue in Nicaragua.  Most, if not all, of the bodies of water are completely polluted.  Lake Managua, the second largest lake in Nicaragua, no longer produces fish or recreational income.  There is garbage everywhere you go and there is a constant fire/plastic smell in the air.  Las Chacaras was no exception.   The people want to clean up the community area.  I offered to pay each kid 10 cordobas for a large bag of garbage.  It looked pretty good by the time we left.  Jann and Cezar found a spot to start digging a dump/burn pit, but we were unable to start on it during our short stay.

Teaching the Kids

In the afternoons, Jann and I taught basic hygiene, the importance of clean water, and basic first aid to the kids.  They had a great time.  I can’t wait to go back and see them all again.

Church

On Saturday, after working and teaching, we went to church.  The church is called Manantial, after John, Helen, and Freddy’s development organization that assists with the loans.  Manantial means “Spring” or “Source”.

Week Two

James, Seth and I stayed for another week in the city of Managua.

Culture Shock

We stayed at Michael and Suzan Buzbee’s place, which has houses for mission teams.  We were not expecting what we found.  It took a while to adjust.  We had a great time, though, and hope to return as it’s a great place to relax.

La Chureca

We visited La Chureca, the city dump, which is gaining a lot of attention by North Americans.  You can google it and find lots of information and pictures and I suggest you do it.  I did not take many pictures as I felt I was walking through a zoo and we were looking at animals.  I hated that feeling.  There are a lot of good things going on in La Chureca.  I was priveledged to be able to accompany Elizabeth Buzbee for a day.  She has a program that educates women of La Chureca and surrounding barrios during the perinatal period.  She encourages prenatal vitamins, breastfeeding, assists with basic healthy child rearing.  I like this program because she is invited into their homes, many of which are just pieces of old garbage built into a shelter, and talks with them.  She is very respectful and treats them as equals.  She has a relationship with each woman and their children.  I was encouraged to see this.

As I was visiting the homes with Elizabeth, I noticed something very interesting.  Even within the filth of the dump, there were varying degrees of cleanliness and pride.  For example, we went to one lady’s place and the dirt was swept spotlessly clean.  She pulled out 4 brand new plastic chairs for us to sit in.  She had two pigs she was very proud of.  They were her second set; she had sold the first set and bought two more pigs plus the chairs and a hot plate to cook on.  Her clothes were clean.  The child was clean.  She had a pride of her area that spoke of hope.  We next went to another place that looked almost worse inside than out.  The chairs were filthy, the floor had trash all over it.  The kids were grimy and the clothes were stained.  The ladies were also dirty.  They were nice, certaintly, but the atmosphere was very different.  The contrast struck me for some reason.

(I stole 3 of these pics from the Internet cause I didn’t take too many, as I stated above.)

El Faro

We visited Pastor Ramon and Miriam’s church, which is a daycare center for special needs children of the dump during the week.  I really enjoyed Ramon and Miriam.  We went out to lunch and had great chicken!  I asked Miriam why I could understand her Spanish so well.  Turns out she’s from Guatemala.  I really enjoyed talking with her.  Funny coincidence: our 15th wedding anniversaries are both on Aug 27!  Ramon’s sermon was very meaty and thought provoking.  He seems like an excellent teacher.