Hello from Nicaragua!

It has been an amazing trip so far. Unfortunately, we have not been able to post anything up to this point because the night before we got here, there was a power surge that knocked out the router and we had to wait until another one could be found. So to recap the trip and the experience to this point...

Our journey started with a very long day. Meeting at the church at 1:00 on Sunday, we made our way to Reagan National Airport. Our first leg took us to Houston where we had just enough time to find some small breakfast items before boarding our second flight to Managua. We landed in Managua just about lunch time, made it through customs only to find that our ride was not there. Turned out there were some traffic issues that got them there later than expected. But after waiting about half an hour, we were taken in a van across the city of Managua. Since it was the middle of the day, the group was able to see a good bit of the city. The compound where we are staying is on the far west side of the city. After riding for a little over a half hour, we arrived at our home for the week, the International Training Center of the Jubilee House Community – Center for Development in Central America. We were greeted with a lunch of rice and beans, tortilla chips, some vegetables and juice. Then we were taken to a new addition to Managua, the “Puerto Salvador Allende.” It is a park that was built by the government along the shore of Lake Managua. It was intended as a place that people could come and enjoy each other's company, have an ice cream, play on a playground, or listen to a concert at an extremely low cost. It cost about $1 to park for the van, and any snacks were equally cheap. After that, we were taken to an outdoor Catholic Mass. This particular church is well known as an example, in practice, of what is called Liberation Theology. It is a theology for the masses and came out of Latin America. Nicaragua, in particular, has provided a number of different examples of how theology can be made extremely meaningful and relevant to people whose lives have not been blessed financially, or materially in the way that many of us in the United States are. In addition, in a country with a brutal civil was that ended fairly recently (1990), the relevance of a life of faith is of particular importance in a way that many in the United States find both different, and many times extremely refreshing. There is a mural behind the altar that one has to see to believe. The baby Jesus is depicted with Mestizo skin, angels flying above Him are indigenous women. The three wise men are depicted as three important figures in the modern history of Nicaragua and Latin America, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Augusto Cesar Sandino, and Carlos Fonseca. Archbishop Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of El Salvador that was assassinated thirty years ago while giving Mass is nearby looking on and a few important individuals who were killed in the civil war are also on the scene. It really brings to mind the idea that Jesus is not only a person who lived and died 2000+ years ago. Jesus is very much a person that lives in the hearts and minds and lives of those who love Him even here in a place like this. Jesus is real and HERE and NOW. Following the homily, all in attendance are invited to participate in the Eucharist which in most places would not be allowed in the Catholic Church, but here, in this church, it doesn't matter whether or not you are Catholic. You are a creation of the living Christ, and are welcome to partake in the holy sacrament of Communion. We then came back to the dormitory, ate dinner, and collapsed in bed, despite the very hot and humid temperature, sleep came fast for most of us.

Monday morning started early. While breakfast wasn't served until 7:30, most of us were up before 7. We ate a traditional Nicaraguan breakfast of Gallo Pinto (rice and beans) with some scrambled eggs with onion and spinach, accompanied with fruit that you have to taste to truly appreciate. Bananas, mangos, pineapples and papayas that are picked once they are ripe and not before bring a much different taste, and can't compare to the fruit home. Coffee and juice also was both much appreciated and, for many of us, much needed. After breakfast we had a visitor who came to share with us some information about the history of Nicaragua. We spent most of the morning learning about not only the country we are visiting, but also the community we are serving in. The history is complex and difficult to hear, but without that knowledge the realities of life in the community of Nueva Vida and Ciudad Sandino are somewhat impossible to really understand. We then were taken to the clinic in Nueva Vida to be given a tour of the facility. There are two buildings on the property currently. The first to be built was the regular medical clinic and the second building is a separate clinic that deals specifically with issues of pregnancy, birthing, care of infants as well as general reproductive health issues. We were then shown what we will be doing. A third building is underway that will serve as a facility to do educational opportunities both for groups that will come down like ours and for health education in the community. In addition this third building will serve a number of other medical purposes that are needed in the community. For instance, radiographic instrumentation like some x-ray equipment, nutritional assistance and possibly even some basic surgeries. It is our job this week to work on the foundation which was already started. The way construction works here is pretty different. The walls are made by putting up beams of rebar tied together and covered with cement. Holes have to be dug about 4 feet down and are about 1 sq. foot. Once the hole is dug, the cement beams (which weigh a couple hundred pounds) are placed in and cement is then mixed and poured in. In between the beams, small trenches have to be dug about a foot deep. All of this is done with simple tools. Shovels and a digging tool called a “coba” which is used to break through the ground, loosening the dirt and then the shovels pick it up. It is taking us, working in groups of two, about 1.5 hours to dig one of the holes. We were treated to a lunch of rice and beans, juice and some vegetables and spent the afternoon braving the heat, digging holes and trenches, mixing and pouring cement, and making a total mess of ourselves. It might actually be lucky that the air in the community smells of burning garbage and raw sewage because it went a long way to mask how awful we each must have smelled after having sweated away a couple of pounds a piece. Monday night provided us with some rest as we tried to renew our strength for a long day on Tuesday.

Tuesday started with breakfast, again rice and beans, fruit, coffee and juice. We geared up and headed out to work all day at the construction site. The morning was spent digging almost exclusively and we were able to work with some Nicaraguan contruction workers who are permanent employees of the clinic and do a number of different jobs. One of the benefits of their job is that they get to boss around groups of Americans who come down for a week. Despite the fact that some of us may have some construction experience, even at our best we can't outdo the locals. So, they have fun with us, but it is a good relationship. They appreciate our efforts and we appreciate that they quickly fix our mistakes. Lunch came and surprise, surprise, rice and beans! We rested up for a bit and headed back out to spend the afternoon at the construction site again. It seemed about 15 degrees warmer in the afternoon, and while we worked hard, our energy level was hard to keep up. The end of the afternoon found us in a digging race with the locals which we miserably lost, but it was all in good fun.

Back home this evening we had a surprise for dinner, no beans! Our host had made her own version of Chicken Tikka Masala with some rice and Mango chutney. Not a traditional Nicaraguan meal, but at least for some of us, it was a real treat. Each night we have spent time in group devotion and reflection. We have come to have a great relationship build up among us and we are all getting along great. We look forward to the wonders that await us throughout the rest of the week. Pictures will also follow soon, I hope, we are still trying to figure out the technical issues.

Keep checking in, and we will keep you posted as often as we can.

From all of us here in Nicaragua,

Buenas Noches! (Good Night!)