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