A Xiloa Good Time

As part of the MPI Nicaragua Child Sponsorship (CS) team, one of my roles is planning the quarterly field trips for participating children and caretakers in our program. The CS program is unique in that we provide opportunities for the children of La Chureca to leave behind the perennial smoke and trash of their neighborhood for an afternoon of recreation and relaxation with their families in a safe, clean place. Earlier this year in late July, we joined the former PDs in hosting a trip to El Salero, the Community Center land on which we run our programs in Kid’s English, Library, Baseball, and Soccer. The day was an undeniable success, allowing the children plenty of time and space to enjoy the great outdoors. I decided to repeat another popular field trip idea last Friday when we brought our children and their mothers to Laguna Xiloa. Last year’s group did the same with summer volunteers, and in light of the MPI Nicaragua 5-year anniversary celebration in which PDs of ages past reunited this weekend in Managua, I thought they might join us in the fun of hosting a trip to enjoy the waters of Xiloa.

Laguna Xiloa (pronounced "Hee-Low-Wah"), site of our field trip last Friday

We arrived at the side entrance of Chureca to meet the mothers and children at 12:45 on Friday, where we awaited the arrival of a big yellow school bus that would take us all to Xiloa, about a 30 minute drive away. Ian and I road up front, took attendance, and chatted with families on the way. When we got to the laguna, we were delighted to see the beautiful open space with little covered areas for benches and picnic-ing. Some of the children and mothers took to the water fairly quickly, while others preferred the grass and the shade. Some of the children had little bathing suits, others swam in their clothing, others half naked. Whatever their manner of taking to the water, the smiles and laughter were abundant. We waded right in with the kids...from the shallow end with the toddlers looking at the minnows rush by to the deeper areas with the more adventurous kids. Mothers swam and lounged in the cool water, where they stayed talking away the afternoon. We were already in the midst of playing with children and visiting with mothers when the PDs of the past arrived to join our festivities. Some of these PDs were acquainted with certain families from years past, and others were members of the board and staff who were able to visit and see one small aspect of what we do on Child Sponsorship. We were all able to learn from the afternoon at Xiloa, and we all had a grand time! I learned that children play tag in Spanish by saying “la landa” and that sometimes it just takes a handhold to get a timid child to enter the water. I found out that everyone needs time to just be - be with family, be refreshed, be safe and relaxed, be a kid, be a mother. On last Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, I gave thanks for the ability to join these mothers and children in an afternoon away from La Chureca. Reflecting on the day, I am thankful for the relationships I’ve been able to establish through Child Sponsorship, how I’ve seen these children begin to grow, and how the mothers have entrusted us with their health concerns and needs.

Snapshot of the craziness

To put this day into perspective, these children and their families do not have access to complete immersion in clean water. They bathe with buckets and hoses or in sinks (for the children who are small enough). Moreover, I oftentimes walk around Chureca and find recently washed children already dirty from playing outside without their shoes on or from the dust and smoke that fills the air. And although they live next to a huge lake (Lake Managua/Lake Xolotlán), the runoff from La Chureca has polluted it to the point that swimming and fishing these waters is highly dangerous. Many have fallen sick from mercury laden fish, and the pollution is visible as trash and sewage line the banks. The Laguna Xiloa, on the other hand, is a local getaway where the waters thrill and awe visitors. I say ‘awe’ because my limited experience has taught me that some Nicaraguan people I have met who have never had access to a pool or natural body of water (and thus have never learned how to swim) have a healthy fear of water.

Milton views the laguna

It was that healthy respect for water that helped us have a safe day at the laguna. And with a provided snack of fiber cookies, bananas, and juice, the day ended with many smiles and lots of wet clothing!

Jose Manual enjoys the water and a few extra bananas

From Nicaragua to America, Happy Thanksgiving!

Jan Margaret

CS - Last Milk Day of 2009!!!

Greetings from our team in what is the last Milk Day of 2009 and a very exciting time for our Child Sponsorship team. In keeping with the rush of the holiday season, this has been a bustling time for all. This week is MPI's 5 year Nicaraguan site reunion in which our house has been stormed by PDs of years past. They come bearing stories and passions for MPI which have already served as a reminder to many of us of why we decided to join this organization. Moreover, they will be key participants in an upcoming field trip we are taking with the children in our program. This Friday, after the old PDs return to Chureca to re-visit old friends, we will be taking the mothers and children in a big yellow bus out to a nearby laguna for an afternoon of relaxation in the fresh countryside. I am excited to spend time with the mothers and children away from the smoke of Chureca, and I am especially interested to learn how to watch 50 or so children who have almost no swimming experience dive into a lake...this is going to be interesting. Thank goodness we'll have the old PDs here for lifeguard/play duty! From what I've heard, most will be too scared of the water to get too deep...but the fresh, cool water will be a wonder for all.

Milk Day, the past two days, has been very exciting as we are able to graduate 5 children from our program! This means that they will be moving to "level two" in which they slowly transition away from receiving the vitamins, milk, and oatmeal in order to see if they can maintain a healthy weight on their own. The mothers were excited to hear that their children have reached a healthy weight.

The following week is sure to be jam-packed as we have a visitor bringing clothing for a sale for the mothers as well as catered food to host a Christmas party! It's sure to be a "Feliz Navidad!"

Hooray for a year well-spent. Thank you again for your thoughtful donations that allow so many lives to be changed.

Best,

Child Sponsorship

November News

Last week, we very very excited to have three volunteer consultants visit our clinic to analyze operations and ways to improve. Their presence allowed us to engage in stimulating conversation on the clinic, child sponsorship, and opportunities to strengthen the services the clinic offers to the community in La Chureca.

As far as team CS goes, we’ve had a few illnesses in the Manna House over the past few weeks, changing up how we’ve been doing our home visits. Thus, last week I visited families with Ian. It was great to have his perspective as we checked in with various community members. Ian, who is in charge of fundraising, normally has a very autonomous position within our team, allowing him to visit with various community partners while the rest of us home visit. He has formed strong relationships with many of the children through his visits to the local school, Esperanza, where he also visits with school leaders to coordinate aspects of our work with what is going on in the school. An unexpected highlight of walking around with Ian last week was the discovery of the birth of a litter of puppies at Mariana’s house. The new pups crawled playfully about as we visited with Mariana’s mother and her three younger sisters. One of our hopes for the future of the program is that we can begin to enter siblings of current children into our program; we believe that by targeting siblings of current participants, we can see substantial growth for families in La Chureca.

Yesterday, our weekly charla at 9am heralded some exciting announcements. For one, our next Milk Day will be the following week, Tuesday and Wednesday. We were excited by the fact that all of the mothers have had better attendance overall during the last month of charlas and will be able to benefit fully from the upcoming Milk Day. Also, I announced the upcoming “field trip” we will be taking the children on next week the day after Thanksgiving. With a Nicaragua Program Director reunion to take place over the holiday weekend, we will all be taking the families in our program to a nearby laguna to relax and play in the cool water. The charla yesterday concerned “Community Improvement” and “Hygiene” and was given by Esmerelda, the nurse, using posters from the Ministry of Education. She spoke upon house clean and hygiene as ways to prevent disease, and the mothers actively commented throughout the charla.

Stay tuned for more updates...and MILK DAY!

Best,

Child Sponsorship

Last Week - surprises!

With half of the Manna House participating in community home-stays last week, I am just now posting the Chureca update. Last week was a week of surprises! For one, on Tuesday, we were surprised to arrive at the clinic and find all of our mothers there to receive a gift of food from a visiting organization. With the benefit of this centrality, we were able to stay near the clinic and use the morning as a chance to play with the children and get to know the families in a more casual setting than our weekly "official" house visits. The new phrase I learned in the week previous provided very useful: "Llevame en tuto" or "Carry me on your shoulders" was requested repeatedly. On Wednesday, our visiting doctors lead a charla on sexual health which all of the children's mothers participated in actively. The very professional and fluent doctors were able to engage the mother's interest while providing enlightening information. The final surprise occurred on Thursday morning. I was in my home-stay when I received a call from the Manna House telling me we'd have to cancel the home visits due to the impending hurricane about to hit Nicaragua. Although the brunt of the hurricane was to fall on the opposite side (East Coast) of Nicaragua, there was a severe storm warning for Managua. The roads in and around Chureca can become impassible during torrents of rain, and this unfortunately this lead us to abandon our usual visit. However, it is fortunate that everyone stayed safe, and Managua remained unharmed by the storms other than some rain. Now everyone is geared up to get back to work this week! Stay tuned for more updates.

October Milk Day

Milk Day is a busy, happy, hot day. Today, Milk Day began directly after our charla. Lauren Page and Ian welcome the children and mothers into the measuring room where they take each child’s height and weight measurements. Next, Anina and I (Jan Margaret) meet with the mothers one-on-one to review the child’s growth or lack there of. We discuss everything from health of child and family to progress in school to the children’s interests. Today, we also asked mothers about their participation in the recycling and relocation program currently being planned by the Spanish government. Some mothers went to a meeting today with representatives from Spain who are making efforts to move families out of the Chureca neighborhood into new, clean homes nearby while employing them in a to-be-opened recycling plant. Talking with the mothers, I sometimes feel like a doctor or medical professional: I am asked about needed surgeries, birth control, doctor consultations, and other needs. Entrusted with their health needs, I am humbled what I can and can not do and continually try to point everyone in the right direction. Anina and I are also in charge of informing Mothers when they are in risk from bad charla attendance or when their children have grown to the point that they are ready to graduate. It is always exciting to get to know the mothers and children and to give them individualized attention. When the consultation with the families is over, we point them towards Amelia. She is in charge of doling out the appropriate milk, oatmeal, and vitamins for each child. Today, children were able to meet with visiting doctors from Portland, Oregon, who are here to check them up on general health and aid with specific needs as they see fit. Finally, Leah brought her camera to take pictures of the children. We hope to post these pictures on our website so that you can see your child’s growth!

Tuesday, Right Side

Amelia and I were back to our routine of Tuesdays - Right Side, Thursdays - Left Side, and thus, we walked around the right side of the clinic today. We visited almost all of the 13 families living along our route, briefly checking in with some and staying longer at other houses, informing them of the upcoming Milk Day (tomorrow!) and inquiring about some of their sketchy attendance in recent charlas. Accountability in this area is necessary, and today we were surprised by some of the reasons the Mothers could not make it to the charlas during the past month: a necessary trip to get an identification card, etc.

Walking around today, I learned at least two new words: churequear, meaning to work in La Chureca, and the phrase “Llevame en tuto” - “Carry me on your shoulders!” One of the most entertaining (and dirty) parts of the family visits are getting to see some of the children who are out playing in the neighborhood. Often times, this can be an opportunity to get to know new families and potential children for our malnourishment program. Today, we met a delightful little boy living near some of the other children in our program. His bright smile and enthusiasm were traits I see often in the children living in La Chureca, and they are just one more reminder of what this place is, a neighborhood and a home, in addition to being a municipal dump. Walking around, it is surreal to see children playing in the dirt roads right next to a huge pile of trash. For them, it’s home. As a foreigner, it’s not recommended that I stay in La Chureca for more than four hours. FOUR hours. But for the dwellers of La Chureca, this is life. Visiting families, I get a glimpse into life in the La Chureca neighborhood. The harsh realities fade as I laugh with the mothers and toss their children into my arms, but they are never far away due to the sickness, the dirt, and the trash. We hope that by developing our program further, we can help provide for one of the most fundamental needs: the need for food and nutrition.

Tomorrow’s charla will highlight Dengue and H1N1. Stay tuned for more updates as Milk Day is this Wednesday and Thursday. Also, with visiting pediatricians in town, all of the children will be receiving check-ups from two very kind-hearted US doctors. For that, we are very thankful and excited.

October Update

Greetings from the Child Sponsorship Team!

The month of October seems to have flown by! Already, we are approaching our October “Milk Day,” the two days at the end of every month in which we meet with mothers and children for health consultations and allocate the next month’s worth of milk, oatmeal, and vitamins. Each and every Milk Day is interesting, as we are allowed the time to meet with families one-on-one in order to learn about their health situations, progress in school, and general well-being.

Another interesting day for our team, Wednesday is when we hold our weekly health charla - health talk. Every Wednesday mothers of children in our program are required to attend these charlas in order to learn better health practices and then help spread the health education they receive to their families and friends. Charlas are provided by the nurse Esmerelda, ministers of the Health Department, or visiting teams. Last month, topics included gynecological health, infections, and a general well-being charla given by visiting nurses with Austin Samaritans, a partner organization who help to fund the Clinic Casa Base de Salud. The gynecological charla was given in preparation for the week in which the nurses and health professionals came with Austin Samaritans to offer free pap smears to all interested mothers. All in all, about 13 mothers received these needed services.

Our normal routine consists of visiting families bi-weekly in groups of two. Amelia and Jan Margaret take one route on Tuesday, with Lauren Page and Anina visiting the other side of Chureca. On Thursday, we switch sides and visit the remaining mothers. Talking with the mothers every week, we are developing closer relationships with the families and primary caregiver of every child in our program. This has proved helpful as we seek to treat our children’s health needs; we encourage the mothers to bring their health concerns to the local clinic and follow up with Esmerelda. We hope that by getting to know the mothers, we can encourage them and improve our services in La Chureca as we better ascertain their nutritional needs.

For the upcoming month, I will be updating the blog weekly with stories from our visits in hopes that each of you can get better insight into the situation in La Chureca and the families in our program.

Until then, dale pues hombre!

Child Sponsorship

Butterflies

Three days a week, I walk into La Chureca to visit the families involved in Manna’s Child Sponsorship. Two days a week, I trample the trash, hold my breath through the smoke, and sweat under the sun that is endured by Churecans day in and day out. Two days a week, I pass children carrying loads of trash on their backs to be recycled. I greet mothers suffering from ever-present illness. I avoid mangy farm animals who look more like walking nightmares than pets or food. I see people dwelling in a veritable hell on earth.

Seven days a week, I hope for a way out. I coordinate efforts with the Child Sponsorship team to enact new measures to increase the efficiency of our program. I look for new sponsors. I dream for a better life for the children who know of nothing more than life in Chureca.

Every week I visit a family with precious little girls who have captured my heart with their funny haircuts, sweet little pipsqueak voices, and increasing desire to play and be held. They live on the border where the neighborhood merges into the dump, and the view from their front gate is trash, smoke, and the occasional flea-bitten mongrel. But one day, as I held one of the tiny girls in my arms, she looked out over her shoulder, pointed to the trash, and said “¡Hay flores!” There are flowers. Look! Flowers! Do you see them? We’ve got lots of flowers, and animals too! She showed me the beauty she finds in her life, the only life she’s got. Where I saw heaps of trash and green plants growing in puddles of sludge, she saw beautiful flowers. She then ran down to a row of weeds growing along the wall of a nearby home, and pointed out more “flowers.” Her joy was contagious, but as I picked her back up, acknowledging the beauty of the flowers, I fought back quickly forming tears. The injustice of what some children have or do not have is a heartbreaking reality I must face every week.

If she can find beauty in La Chureca, I can too. I find beauty in the people who work to provide for their children and in the mothers who consistently attend health charlas (talks) to learn better health practices. I am encouraged by the mother who makes her child change clothes three times a day to keep clean. I am impressed with mothers I see sweeping the entrance to their homes, cleaning in spite of the fact they live in close proximity to a dump (or perhaps cleaning because of said proximity). Not all are like that here, perhaps not all can be, but the ones who fight for themselves always encourage me.

Walking into La Chureca, I notice every day the bright yellow butterflies which twirl about. They are not ashamed of the smoke, the dirt, the trash. They remain a constant reminder of the life that lives here and of the reason Child Sponsorship is so important. The value and dignity of human life necessitates the meeting of basic needs. Through CS, these children are provided a means to better health, quality of life, and increased opportunity for a successful way out of the desperate existence which surrounds them.

Yours,

Jan Margaret

A Letter From Our Team

Where We Work

In Managua, Nicaragua, capital of the second-poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, there is a place so destitute that it stands out against the surrounding poverty.

Life inside Managua’s city dump, known as “La Chureca,” reserves a particularly foul brand of injustice for the children that are born within its confines, living among the trash and smoke. They can be found barefoot, muddy, and often half or completely naked playing in the waste-laden pathways that snake through their tarp and scrap metal homes. Living conditions result in high rates of parasite infection, skin and respiratory disease, anemia, and lead poisoning. Understandably, many children in La Chureca also suffer from varying degrees of malnutrition.

What We Do

Manna Project International’s Child Sponsorship Program targets severely malnourished children in their most critical stages of development. By providing vitamins, milk, and oatmeal for each child, we are able to reverse the harsh sentence of malnutrition. Our children also receive regular consults with a pediatrician, as well as any blood work and medication necessary for treatment of illness.

MPI partners with Nicaraguan-run community clinic Casa Base de Salud to host weekly health classes to which a guardian of our sponsored children is accountable. Growth charts and weekly visits with mothers allow us to determine when a child is able to maintain an acceptable nutrition level, at which point the child is graduated from our program.

Sponsoring A Child

The Child Sponsorship Program is currently at capacity, but the unyielding conditions of La Chureca constantly bring new cases of malnutrition to our attention. 20 dollars a month allows Manna Project to provide nourishment to a child that would otherwise go without. As our volunteers and Program Directors raise their own funds, every dollar given to Child Sponsorship goes directly to feeding your sponsored child.

To sponsor a child, or for more information, visit Child Sponsorship online at http://www.mannaproject.org/nicaragua-child or e-mail us at childsponsorship@mannaproject.org. For more information on Manna Project International (MPI) visit www.mannaproject.org.

Thank you for taking the time to consider sponsoring a child.

Our sincerest regards,

The Child Sponsorship Team

Chureca Gets A Play Day

The following is an excerpt from our official MPI blog, www.talesofsudorandamor.com, written by PD and CS team member Ian Rountree.

Child Sponsorship's quarterly field trip gave the children and mothers in our nutrition and health education program an afternoon's rest from life in Chureca. It took two buses to get everyone from Chureca to El Salero, or "The Land" in Manna jargon, and back, but it was well worth the trip for everyone. The sponsored kids received lunch and each his or her own children's book, but most importantly rare time to play in clean air and open spaces. Kathy and Halle August's sports complex was the perfect venue. The new Program Directors were particularly thankful that we had time to get to know both the children and mothers in the Child Sponsorship Program, but above all it was a day full of joy. Enabling a child to run, laugh, and play brings joy in a portion that is rarely matched. Here we share some snapshots of Chureca's play day.

Lauren Page "LP" Black attempts to help Maria Antonia simultaneously tackle her fear of swings and cameras.

Andrew Hemby, more commonly referred to as "Andrés" or just "Hemby," being kept from his Gallo Pinto by Heysel and Josué Daniel. Heysel helped us hand out cookies!

Jose Manuel, rarely separated from his faithful backpack, braves the tire swing on his own.

In addition to his undying love for Spiderman, or Hombre Araña,Josué Daniel always brings a laugh when he insists on introducing himself by his full name, Josué Daniel Chávez Ortega.

Hemby gives Jefrey a boost toward the basket.

The children of Chureca are a sincere lesson in the resilience of a child's joy. I suspect that we, the new Program Directors, may find that Manna's sponsored children and students have more to teach us than we ever suspected.

- Ian

Breaking the Ice...

Pictured left to right: Anina Hewey, Lauren Page Black, Ian Rountree, Amelia Graves, Jan Margaret Rogers

Greetings Sponsors, Family, and Friends,

I am pleased to introduce you to the Child Sponsorship team for 2009-2010. This year, our program is led by Amelia Graves, Anina Hewey, Ian Rountree, Jan Margaret Rogers, and Lauren Page Black.

Amelia Graves is a native of Vero Beach, Florida and a graduate of the University of Florida where she studied history with a specialization in Latin America. While studying abroad in Nicaragua she researched the roles of NGOs in Latin America and sustainable development. After college, she taught English in Bangkok, Thailand and worked to develop an English curriculum for New Hope Community Center in Siem Reap, Cambodia. As part of the CS team, Amelia oversees the website, CS photography, and birthday bags. She is currently continuing her education at UF as she pursues a Master’s Degree in Public Health. amelia.graves@mannaproject.org

Anina Hewey, a Barnard College alum, majored in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. During her Junior year she studied abroad in Quito, Ecuador. While there she attended a local university and volunteered in an orphanage. She also performed independent research on child labor in Quito, focusing upon evaluating the interactions between NGOs and working children in the city. With Child Sponsorship, Anina organizes the monthly Milk Day and serves as the primary contact person with the clinic Casa Base de Salud. anina.hewey@mannaproject.org

Ian Rountree graduated from Vanderbilt University this past May with a major in Political Science. While at Vanderbilt, he was the events coordinator for Students Taking Action Now Darfur (STAND), an anti-genocide coalition. With STAND in Nashville he was able to reach out to local Sudanese, Somalian, and Kurd refugee populations. Ian studied abroad in London and traveled throughout China. This past summer he completed an internship in Nashville with MAC Presents. He joins our team as the fundraising director. ian.rountree@mannaproject.org

Jan Margaret Rogers majored in Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt University. However, her minors in Spanish and Religious Studies became the driving force for her decision to work in Nicaragua. During college she studied abroad in Madrid, Spain and worked as a staff volunteer for the NGO Los Embajadores in Tijuana, Mexico. Jan Margaret interned with the Juvenile Division of the Nashville Metro Public Defender’s office. This year she is in charge of updating the blog, planning CS field trips, and maintaining charla attendance. In August 2010 she will return to the States to begin her Juris Doctorate. jan.margaret.rogers@mannaproject.org

Lauren Page Black studied Neuroscience and Chemistry at Vanderbilt University and will be attending Medical School in the fall of 2010. At Vanderbilt, she served various leadership positions including President of VUcept and Panhellenic Vice-President for Kappa Alpha Theta. She studied the integration of Eastern and Western Medicine in China and Tibet. The summer before her senior year, Lauren Page worked in a clinic in Kampala, Uganda with HIV+ mothers. This experience was her impetus to defer Medical School for the year to work in Managua with Manna Project. On the CS team, Lauren Page directs sponsor relations and maintains height and weight charts. lauren.page.black@mannaproject.org

In addition to our specific responsibilities, we visit our children every week to ascertain the conditions of the home and family as well as the allocation of the milk, oatmeal, and vitamin supplements. To promote good health, we host weekly charlas (health talks) at the clinic every Wednesday for the guardian of the child. Past charla themes concerned health issues most pertinent to the children and families of La Chureca, including topics such as the flu, diarrhea, intra-family violence, personal hygiene, mental health, and depression. The children in our program receive milk, oatmeal, and vitamins every month on “Milk Day,” the very special time when we track their height and weight and meet for one-on-one consultations. Our hope is that through these efforts we will continue to make progress in eradicating childhood malnutrition in La Chureca.

Feel free to contact any of us to learn more about what we do with Child Sponsorship and Manna Project. If you have any questions or would be interested in sponsoring a child, please email childsponsorship@mannaproject.org. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to a great and productive year.

Best wishes,

Jan Margaret and the CS team

Managua is a bustling city. On one street you may find paved roads, street lights, stores, and international hotel chains. One block in any other direction is an entirely different story. Nicaragua's socioeconomic status can hardly be described in gradations but rather in polar opposites. There appears to be very little middle class as we might describe it in the states. Instead, the upper class is composed of foreign investors and other immigrants to the country and the Nicaraguan elite who have family legacies of impressive and excessive wealth. On the other side of the spectrum are people who live in cardboard and scrap metal homes, some only surviving on $1 a day.

In a corner of the city is the Managua City dump. Donned the name 'La Chureca' from the Spanish verb 'to scavenge,' La Chureca is home to some 1,000 families. Each day (except Sunday) about 200 trash trucks pour into the dump. Piles upon piles of trash surround these people. Men, women, and children have been born here, raise families here, and will die here. It is their home.

Poverty is a simple word to describe this place. Imagine their situation for one moment: malnourished and naked children run through streets of dirt and trash, while their fathers are off separating and sifting through the trash in search of recyclables (plastics and especially scrap metal) to be sold, and mothers care for and make homes for their family out of the rubble that they can find. In order to make money, people can take the recyclables to be sold outside of the dump. The men are the first to jump on the back of the truck on its drive in, to call dibs on the trash as women climb into the cab of the truck on the way out to prostitute themselves off and make a buck. This is a hellish place to make one's home. Literarly, fires can be found every few yards as the Nicaraguan heat causes the trash to spontaneously combust.

Could you live here? Could you even imagine human beings living amongst the disgusting trash, animal carcassas, and voltures? Would mankind ever deserve such torture?

One could visit La Chureca again and again, but the sight would still always hit hard. The shock and disgust may subside, however, the pain remains.

Despite it all there is some hope.

Within La Chureca, there are 2 schools, a few feeding programs, and a clinic. In fact, the clinic is in need of help right now to get through the year running at full capacity. They need $4,000 a month and could use all the help they can get. See this short video on the Manna Project website for more information.

Each of these three facilities serve the community of La Chureca through education, nourishment, and health...all crucial aspects of surviving the difficult reality in which these people live.

For the coming month, I hope to return to La Chureca each week to help with an English class and aid in Child Sponsorship which includes keeping in touch with families of malnourished children who have entered a program to get milk, oatmeal, and vitamens to bring them back to a more nourished state.

Written by Cassandra Maximous - Summer volunteer (June session)

First Impressions

I didn't understand what Vilma was saying, although it was obvious she was complaining about a lack of participation from the other women in whatever task it was that she had completed, not unlike my own mom chastising my dad for never attending PTA meetings. As we kept walking Christina explained that it was about a clean-up of their section of the neighborhood, mandated by the clinic's nurse, for which some of the other moms had not shown up. Although I had heard Vilma say the word "limpiar," I couldn't quite believe that the view I was seeing of this part of Chureca was post- cleaning. Her little daughter Gabriela emerged from beneath the piles of dirty plastic water bottles and other scraps, eager to be tickled and held by another volunteer and myself, even though we had only just met and it was our first time visiting homes here with Child Sponsorship. Since I arrived in Nicaragua I've learned that the word here for "to hold" is "chinear." It always makes me think of a chin, and holding a child right up to your face to be as close to them as possible.
We kept on walking through the mud, dust and trash. Christina seemed to know everyone: teenage moms with more kids on the way, husbands who spend all day digging through the burning piles of trash, one enterprising woman starting her own tortilla-making business inside the dump (she sold out of all 800 yesterday!) and little children falling in the mud and running naked (better than wet clothes now that the rainy season is beginning). But Christina's familiarity with this place sent me into an emotional spiral. I am saddened, disgusted and scared knowing that real people live like this because this was the lot dealt them. At the same time, there is so much life here: businesses starting, children going to school, and even organizations founded by Nicaraguans from the dump themselves to provide safe places for kids to learn and play. I'm not sure yet what my role in La Chureca will be for the month I am here, except that there will certainly be lots of "chineando."

-Written by Emily Batt, summer volunteer (June session)

I had seen videos of La Chureca and heard stories from those who had been there, but I realized that I did not have even the slightest understanding of it until I had smelt the smells, stepped on the trash, and spoke to the people who call it home. La Chureca is by no means a place that anyone should ever have to call home, and although my heart ached for those people before I had ever met them, it now bleeds. After holding Esteven (my sponsored child) and seeing his tiny body, as well as talking with his sweet mother, I wish I could have just lifted them out of their environment forever. It is a hard concept for me grapple with that such wonderful people must live their lives surrounded by conditions not suitable for animals. I am not able to take them out of Chureca, but I am able to make some of their burdens a little light through my support young Esteven and his family with a simple 20 dollars a month, money that my life will remain the same without, but will greatly enhance Esteven's life. The smiles, tears, faces, and warm hearts of the Churecans are forever engraved on my heart, and I feel honored to have met them.

-written by Morgan Davis, summer volunteer (May session)

May has proved to be another wonderful month in Nicaragua. The temperatures are very hot but the beginning of the rainy season brings welcomed afternoon storms. However, the welcomed rain also brings a fear of flooding and sickness for the people in La Chureca.

One special event to report from my time here is that we had the pleasure of celebrating Mother’s Day with the women and children in La Chureca. Mother’s Day is one of the largest holidays in Nicaragua, and it was a joy to be a part of it with the families in our Child Sponsorship program. We invited them to join us for a day trip to the lake where the women and children enjoyed swimming, bag lunches, and a day off from life in La Chureca. We also had the opportunity to throw a Mother’s Day party for the women in our program. The piñata was a success, as always here in Nicaragua, and the women and children were given individual gifts such as shoes, jewelry, school supplies, and kitchen supplies as well.

Milk day was also an incredible success this month. Every child in our program was given milk, oatmeal, and vitamins to fit their specific needs. It was such a joy to see the gratitude on the smiling faces of the mothers and children in our program. Because of our wonderful sponsors and other people like them, over 60 children in the community of La Chureca receive basic needs: schooling, confidence, and so much more. Thanks to all our sponsors for allowing us to experience the joy of milk day every month!

We also are pleased to announce that we have entered 3 new children into the program and are in the process of entering more. It is always great to meet new children and families and open our hearts to them as we have done with so many during our time in La Chureca.

-Written by Sarah Lynn McKinney, summer volunteer (May session)

Milk Day Memories

One of our roles in the child sponsorship program in La Chureca is to distribute oatmeal, milk, and vitamins to all the kids in our program on the last Wednesday and Thursday of every month. We call it “milk day” and it is a really fun couple of days where we get to spend at least some time with every kid in our program. I am usually responsible for weighing and measuring the kids and then passing them on to a consult with one of the other volunteers who then evaluate their growth.

Although most milk days are the same, this week’s was a little different. This week we had the honor of graduating 9 kids from our program. What their graduation signifies is that they are no longer malnourished and have reached a weight that is healthy for someone of their height and general age. It was so fulfilling to see these healthy children grinning ear to ear as they received their certificates of completion, a few prizes and a bag of oranges.

The biggest blessing came a little later in the morning though. Tressa and I walked up to the houses of the three children that were not at graduation to deliver their certificates and prizes. The first was a young girl named Arelys whose mother accepted the gifts and thanked us before we walked away. The other home we visited was a mother of twin boys who are both vibrant, healthy young men with radiant smiles and some of the best manners I have seen. She invited us into her yard as we explained that her sons were graduating and gave her the things they had earned. She handed the stuff to her sons who stood before us smiling with the pride that comes from completing a task. She then began to pour out her graciousness upon us for all that we have done to help her family. She explained to us that our program was an answered prayer in her life and the lives of her sons. She prayed specifically that they would have enough food to eat and being in our program fulfilled that need. I was fighting back tears as she told us these things just thinking of how much I was blessed to be standing right where I was in that moment. The beauty of her love for her sons shined through even the darkest of circumstances and made me believe that all things are possible. She expressed her gratefulness to us but more than that I am grateful to her for showing me what life means. I will never forget that conversation with her.

We want to express our continued appreciation to all of you, our sponsors, who make these stories possible with your giving. You are physically changing lives in La Chureca and I am so grateful to witness it firsthand.

Returning to Chureca

Since returning to Chureca from Christmas break six weeks ago, there have been many changes and updates in our program and in the lives of the families we've grown to know and love. Two of our mothers have recently given birth: Jose Manuel's mother to a beautiful baby boy named Kevin, and Evert's mother to a tiny, two-week old boy who still doesn't have a name! Mildeana's mother and Esteban's mother are both in their second trimester of pregnancy. Jose Antonio Chaverria and his mother recently moved out of Chureca to southwestern Nicaragua; we are overjoyed they have moved out of such a toxic, dangerous environment, but are definitely missing the beautiful smile and presence of his mother and cute-as-a-button Jose Antonio.

Today and yesterday were the February Milk Days which I'm responsible for coordinating; my event planning skills are put to the test for the monthly distribution of milk, vitamins and oatmeal to the 50 kids we sponsor! It's been a fun process to learn how to order and buy all of the necessary food items. Ordering the vitamins and milk via phone puts my Spanish to the test and makes for some funny conversations as I'm shouting quantities of milk into the phone, trying desperately to be understood by the man on the other end. This month Milk Day went off without a hitch, and included a fun new element: the graduation of nine kids from the program who had reached and maintained a healthy weight, and who were ready to be promoted! On top of their oatmeal and vitamins, each graduating child received an official certificate to mark their achievement, a bag of oranges, a toy, and a personal hygiene kit from our donations stash.

Graduating these nine leaves even more spaces to be filled by needy, malnourished children, of which there seems to be an endless supply. We've recently been revamping the process for entering and exiting kids; we've had some communication issues with the Ministry of Health, MINSA, who was previously in charge of this process. MINSA's lack of responsibility to our program has forced us to take action to side-step them in this process in order to expedite entering new children in the program. The health clinic recently hired a pediatrician who will work in conjunction with Esmo (the head honcho nurse at the clinic and our main contact) to evaluate kids and fill the spaces quickly!

On a less joyful note, our kids' incessant health woes have kept us rather busy. Most of our sponsored children (and adults at that) are severely affected by the ever increasing amounts of smoke in Chureca. Two girls, Ana Yuri and Lisbeth, have hernias that are not only causing them pain but need to be operated on ASAP. We're working on getting them appointments to have these conditions resolved; more word later on how these situations turn out!

-Christina