27 October 2008

Whether to wear rainboots, or weather not...

As the end of the rainy season comes about, a breath of fresh air is coming over the Child Sponsorship program. This past month has had it's share of problems, but joys continue to prove themselves stronger.

October is a the rainiest month of the year in Nicaragua, which means flooding and mud and often an increase in sickness. We have been busy reminding mothers of the suggestions the Ministry of Health gives them in order to keep a healthy household, as well as advising them to go to health clinic when the children are sick. The health clinic has certainly seen an increase in patients this past month; and though it may seem disheartening, it is encouraging to see the confidence the community has in it.

One of the more tragic events of the past month has been the flooding of houses in Chureca, including six families in our program. Christina Colopy account describes the scene well:

"I thought that if you lived in Chureca, things couldn’t get much worse. Well, I was wrong, way wrong. Towards the end of last week, rainy season hit Nicaragua full force- there was so much rain we had to cancel our programs for 2 days! You can only imagine what all that rain would do to a place such as Chureca. As we found out this morning, a number of the families in our sponsorship program were forced out of their homes due to the flooding of a nearby lagoon. This morning as we walked around visiting the moms and children, we surveyed the damage and I was in shock at the sight of one particular home. We rounded a corner and where this young mother’s house used to stand, there was only a metal bed frame in 2 feet of water. No roof. No walls. No other furniture or things. They were able to get some of their belongings out of the home and salvage “algunas cosas”, but right now their circumstances are truly dire. This mom was additionally upset because she lost all of her notes and school supplies for the classes she’s attending. Talk about an excuse to not have studied for your upcoming test.

Currently Colegio Esperanza, the school in Chureca where 350 students attend, is closed because it is serving as an emergency shelter for 16 families whose homes were destroyed or completely ruined by the flooding. Therefore, the normally semi-quiet streets were busier than normal with all of the children running around enjoying their vacation day from school! We passed by a group of young boys who had built one of the best tree forts I’ve ever seen. It was precariously perched about 20 feet above ground on top of a tree and made of scrap metal, cardboard etc. The best part were homemade signs the boys proudly showed us: one said “no se permiten mujeres, solamente varones!” (girls not allowed, only boys!) with a picture of a girl with a huge X through it. Hilarious. I was pleased to see that the cootie disease that afflicted me as a child was also rampant on this side of the world.

Tomorrow when we go to Chureca for the weekly charla put on by the Ministry of Health, Mose, Maddie, Tressa and myself will become pack mules for the trek in: we are bringing clothing donations for the families in our program who have been worst affected, as well as food for the previously mentioned family whose home is now gone. In a way I feel helpless and heartbroken for these families, but we WILL find a way to help them. How, you may ask? I’m still working on that, hit me back with any ideas…"

The next day we each had a backpack full of clothing for children and some for the moms and families of those most affected. We brought some rice and beans and oatmeal as supplemental food, as some of the families were not receiving food at the school because they were worried about guarding their homes (or what was left of them) from thieves. The mothers were very appreciative, but it still felt like there was more we could do for them. However, one of our policies requires that we not gift people in the communities in which we work; if we were to give more to these mothers and not to others who also live in poverty it could lead to a loss of respect and confidence in the community.

On a more humorous note, the rain has forced us to use rain boots for our walk into Chureca. A group of Gringos with multi-colored rain boots and grubby clothes walking into Chureca with an odd assortment of bags and sunglasses is endless entertainment to the people who live in the area, especially when it is a sunny day. It is even better for them when we run out of Chureca in rainstorms - as most of us have forgotten to bring rain jackets or umbrellas. We are usually soaking wet as we load into the white microbus, and often laughing at our forgetfulness.

In addition to the changes brought about by the rains, the Spanish initiative for Chureca is beginning to take shape. Last week Spanish representatives came to the Wednesday charla (health talk) to announce their plans for Chureca and those who live in it. There were varied reactions and opinions within the audience of mothers and other residents of Chureca, but overall the representatives were very informative and diplomatic. For more information on the Spanish Initiative for Chureca, please view the following links:
This week also brings about another milk day. This month we are doing something special for the mothers - we have reserved a hairdresser/manicurist to treat the mothers to a "day of beauty and rest." We are taking the mothers and their children to Chiquilistagua to the August's land "El Salero", where we will be providing child care for a couple hours to give the mothers a rest and the children a healthy and safe place to play. (http://www.charityadvantage.com/Manna_Project_InternationaDBVFBW/NicaPartners.asp) I hope to have pictures of the event up this coming weekend, please view the link to the right side of the screen.

Thank you again to all of you who help to support our program. We are still looking for more sponsors for the children, as we hope to add ten more children to the program before the end of the calender year. If you do not want to support a specific child, but wish to help our organization, feel free to contact us (childsponsor@mannaproject.org) or designate money for the Child Sponsorship program via our website: (http://www.charityadvantage.com/Manna_Project_InternationaDBVFBW/DonateNow.asp) Thanks again! Until next time...
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06 October 2008

Milk Day September

Sorry for the delay... this was written on September 25 by Christina Colopy, and I only just located it today. tmh



Today and yesterday saw the voyage of tired yet excited gringos bearing gifts for the children of Chureca in the form of milk, oatmeal, vitamins, and many strong hugs. We just completed our monthly Child Sponsorship ‘Milk Day’ in Chureca which I’m in charge of coordinating. Needless the say, the week leading up to the milk day is quite hectic. I order the milk on the phone (which in Spanish is sometimes quite tricky) and it is then delivered to our house by my new friend Lino. I order the vitamins from a local pharmacy which we pick up when we go grocery shopping, and we buy about 50 one pound bags of oatmeal from our wholesale grocery store. I get rather strange looks pushing around a huge grocery cart overflowing with oatmeal, maybe I just like my grains okay? I’ve become quite proficient in Microsoft Excel with all of the charts, lists and forms I’ve had to organize to make sure milk day goes smoothly!

Our troops arrive to the Chureca clinic at 9am sharp; our tank-like vehicle, the Patrol, is driven through the front entrance (which we hardly ever frequent) laden with the milk day goodies. The rest of the group walks in through the back entrance like normal and we unload everything into the clinic. Arlen, a little girl in the program, insisted on helping me carry in the bags of oatmeal. Her little frame could barely hold one bag while we carry 5 or 6, but seeing her willingness to help was so heart warming! The moms were in their weekly health talk put on by the ministry of health, and as we waited in the front of the clinic, we laughed and played with a few of the precious children running around with their dirt smeared bodies and ragged clothes. Heysell loved drawing on our legs and hands with a pen, while Arelys enjoyed taking pictures with my camera. I divvied up the duties for the day: a photo taker, someone who hands out the milk, a height/weight measurer , one person who records these measurements, and one ‘messenger’ who takes the mother and child to one of two consult rooms where Nikki, Mose and myself review the child’s health and growth with the mother based on their weight and height progression over the past few months. Most kids are plagued by chronic sickness and a weight gain of even half a pound is a celebrated victory! I make sure the children are eating their milk, vitamins and oatmeal, and that if they’ve been sick or had diarrhea the past month, that they’ve seen a doctor at the clinic. Today a few children I saw currently aren’t enrolled in school which is a big no-no! I tried to encourage the moms to enroll their kids as soon as possible, we’ll see if they start going or not.

Walking through the clinic, tracking mud from my boots across the white tiled floor, I was so encouraged as I glanced around and realized I knew all of the women and children filing through. We’ve been working so hard to learn their names, where they live, and their stories, and it seems to be paying off little by little. The women confide in us and trust us a little more each time we love and care for their beautiful children.

I love milk days.

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