25 November 2007

Vandy Visits La Chureca


Yesterday the Manna house said goodbye to an amazing group of Vandy students. The group of 10 spent their entire Thanksgiving break in Nica, learning about Manna's programs and working alongside Program Directors. One of the highlights of my week was taking the group into Chureca.

Prior to coming, the Vandy group asked if they could put a presentation together for the mothers in our Child Sponsorship Program. Without any hesitation I told them yes and said that they were free to choose the topic. They decided to focus their health talk on HIV/AIDS.

At 9:30am on Wednesday the students sat down in front of the mothers and began their talk. It was clear that they had spent a long time researching and practicing for this day. They touched on all the important facts without using fancy terminology and they kept the moms' attention by making the talk interactive. Of all the health talks I've listened to in Chureca, this one was my favorite. Watching the way they delivered the presentation and reached out to the mothers made me so proud to be a Vanderbilt graduate.

After the health talk was finished, Matt took the group on a tour of Chureca while I stayed behind to talk to Esmo. I met up with the group about an hour later and noticed how their expressions had changed. Seeing their faces and hearing what they had to say about La Chureca reminded me of how I felt the first time I walked through the dump.

It also made me realize that after being here for 4 months, and going to the dump so many times, I have gotten over its shock value. It made me sad to think that I have grown accustomed to watching little kids running around naked, seeing youngsters sniffing glue, and school-age children sifting through trash in search of food, recyclables, and toys.

22 November 2007

Familial Introductions

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving I had the pleasure of taking my parents and younger sister, D'Arcy, into La Chureca. Driving through the front entrance, we saw several men pointing at our micro. I made a joke to my parents that even the people in Chureca make fun of our transportation. However, one man was so persistant that we stopped to see what he wanted. Little did we know that we had been dragging a branch-- which really qualified more as a small tree-- for quite some time. If they had not told us, we absolutely would have gotten stuck in the mud twenty feet ahead of us. In true Nica fashion, ten men appeared out of nowhere to help us, not allowing us to touch the branch. As soon as the crisis was averted, they all disappeared just as rapidly as they came. When we got back into the micro, my dad asked what their motivation was to help us. While I do not know the exact reason, I do know that they were not looking for a handout, but rather looking out for us.

So began our journey. My family saw all the sites: the clinic (where Esmo declared my sister and I twins), los Quinchos (an alternative school for kids who sniff glue), the "hole" (where we saw children bathing in rainwater collecting in the middle of the trash), and finally the school (where my entire family became jungle gyms for preschoolers to climb). My mom's favorite memory is of a little boy trying in vain to eat some soup the school had given him. Unfortunately, using his hands was causing more soup to fall onto his lap than to enter his mouth. The girl sitting next to him saw his plight and without a word dropped her own spoon into his bowl. Unfazed, the boy took the spoon and went to work on the soup.

Every interaction I witnessed in Chureca on that day seemed more significant because I was seeing it through my parents' eyes. I love that they now have personal memories and that they have met some of the people that have shaped my experience here thus far. Additionally, the thought that my Nicaraguan family knows my actual family means that they know me more personally, hopefully allowing our relationships to grow even deeper.

06 November 2007

Where's the Milk?


After hearing some murmuring that moms might be selling the milk, we as a Manna team decided that we needed to change some of our practices. Therefore, this month (at the end of our field trips) we gave out the milk with the label removed and the date written on the jar. If moms do not bring back those specific containers next month, then we have a pretty good idea that they're selling.

On Tuesday, while Geoff and Marcela were giving tours to some of our friends from Cedro Galan, I went around to visit families. The moms were excited to see me, saying that it had been a long time since I had visited (I've been sick and infrequent in my Chureca visits lately). I always felt welcomed in-- Hector's grandmother showed me his report card (excellent scores) and Milton's mom asked me some questions about the antibiotics he had been given for his teeth. After chatting for a bit, they were all more than willing to show me the milk and vitamins that they have left. Some even made the comment that they were glad we had decided to do this because they don't think it's right for some mothers to sell. One mom put it this way: "you've given us a gift. I'm going to follow whatever rules you make because I know you care about our children and you're doing this for them."

Although there were one or two moments in the morning where I could perceive some annoyance, that mothers' words seemed to be the general consensus. It felt good to know that the mothers can see our commitment to their children and that they want to work with us in improving their health.