The months of April & May have been a couple of very busy months!
As many of you know, Courtney had come down to visit in the beginning of April, and we were very happy to have her! This Week was also known as Holy Week here in Nicaragua. Because of that, we had two other girls from the orphanage stay with us, as well as a sister to one of them. Needless to say, it was a full house! A total of ten mouths to feed! It should also be said that this week was considered to be the hottest one in Nicaragua, and Courtney would be able to testify to that!(Up to 40 degreesC ) (I think I should also put in here, that as I'm typing in the sweet embrace of a nicely cooled room, Steve had broken down not even two weeks later and bought an air conditioner.) During these weeks, we had decided to show Courtney around Nicaragua. One of our tourist expeditions was a ferry boat ride to Ometepe Island, where we walked a beach and swam in a tourist spot called Eye of the Water. We don't do many tourist things here, so this was a treat for us too ! We had also introduced her to a family in Tipitapa that we have come to know throughout the years. After her ten day visit, we had said our goodbyes to Courtney at the airport and two days later we returned to say our goodbyes to Derek. (If any of you see him, please feed him and tell him we miss him! ) Now, I would like to point out, while all of these people were in our house, the three girls had no choice but to become accustomed to the English language. By the time they returned to the Hogar, they understood un poco mas Ingles, and us, a little more Spanish. Moving on to end of April, beginning of May, we had the opportunity to be apart of an after school kids bible camp, ran by a ministry called, Way of The Cross Missions, based in Masaya, Nicaragua. This group of missions is made up of eleven or so young Nicaraguan adults, ages 16-25, that have gone through a three month training period to become missionaries, and are now living at the base camp. The camp was a week long, and Joanna was thrilled to be apart of it. The theme was "Treasure Hunt" and it was very encouraging to see all of the young adults share about the different treasures that can be found in the Bible. Through songs, crafts, games, bible studies, and dramas, they were able to teach all of the children about God's treasures! Joanna also did very well to participate in helping to teach the children, considering all of it was in Spanish! Since then, we have opened up our home to these young adults, to come for a swim and also to fellowship with us. Joanna has taken an interest with this young group, and sometimes goes to other outreaches with them in different communities, as well as just getting together with them for fun activity nights such as karaoke. She herself, is very encouraged by all of these young adults, sharing God's word, and seeing how passionate they are about His love!! The week after the kids camp, we had another event take place with a lady (age 63) that we know from Tipitapa. She had a problem with her legs for a long while and none of the doctors that her and her family went to, could seem to figure out what was wrong. So near the beginning of May, we took her to a hospital, and the doctor had said her leg needed to be amputated as soon as possible or she was going to loose her life. So with that said, within a week she had lost a leg and moved in with us, during her recuperation. (The doctor had said that having a dirt floor was a risk for infection, so we opened up our home to her to stay, as we have a tile floor in our home.) The recuperation process for her went well. She had one of her daughters staying with us also, so she could attend to her mom and get accustomed to her new state of life. We were grateful that "Juana" was able to stay with us during this recuperation period however, it did bring up some challenges as to the different cultures, and ways of living. What was difficult, was that in all of her life, she had never been in a house with a tile floor, indoor bathroom, and sufficient food. It was like she didn't know how she was suppose to respond in such a home as ours. (She had said she felt like a princess, especially with all of the pillows on her bed!(4)) Within two weeks of recuperation, she had returned to her home, which had a brand new tile floor put in, just for her. She was a blessing nonetheless, always cheerful and happy. It was nice to see that the operation did not leave her in a mind of sorrow and being useless. It was also a joy to see her daughter and grandchild singing all of the "old" Christian songs translated into Spanish. Now, that they have gone back home, I sort of miss their off-key duets that woke me up in the morning. It is rainy season now, and I praise God it is. Nicaragua has been in a drought for about two years now, and the water is desperately needed. However, I will say that this rain, as wonderful it is, is sometimes a bother. Joanna once went three days without clothes because there was no where to dry them. Every time she hung them outside to dry, it started to rain, so she brought them back inside to wait until later. It rained for three days straight! With the rain, comes a very cool and fresh breeze. Joanna has started sleeping with two blankets at night, and wearing track pants to bed… SHES CRAZY! It drops a few degrees under 30C and she's cold! I on the other hand, enjoy my sweet, sweet, cool air conditioner! Although the nights become cool, the days are still so HOT! It feels like the sun is stronger than ever! Steve has started helping a little with the orphanage in Veracruz (You can see my other post on that orphanage, 'a new opportunity') There are many dead trees in the property, so Steve, being the business man that he is, made a deal with the director. The trees would be free, if they did the labor and cleaned up after. Steve had contacted two men from Tipitapa (family of Jauna), and told them they could have all of the wood, if they did the job. They said they would give it a try, and sell the wood they got from the trees. The next day, Steve, and David, went to help the two men from Tipitapa, to cut the trees. David and Steve got very burnt!! It will take a couple weeks to cut all of the trees. Steve has also created his own incubator for chickens. The materials were hard to find, and he drove many days around the big city, trying to find a humidistat, only to come up empty handed. The group of older girls are in charge of looking after this project, turning the eggs every four hours, and making sure the temperature remains at 100degreesC. There a total of twenty-four eggs. We will see how this goes. David returns home tomorrow(Monday, May 29), It is sad to see him go, but he believes it's time to start work again! He will also be finishing up some school work while he is at home. Joanna is busy some days also, answering emails for her job at Huron Feather's again this summer, and also getting a few things in order for College, starting in September. It seems that right after we get off the plane, (Friday June 16) she'll be headed straight to the beach! Daniel is also in the midst of finishing up his school books, he is happy for that(I'm not going to lie, I am too!!). We will all be home before we know it.
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We've had some very busy weeks here in Nicaragua!
Four weeks ago we spent some time in a hospital in Granada visiting with a 16-year-old who had a baby girl by C-section. In the hospital, each new mom shared a room with seven others and their babies. In a room of eight people and eight babies, there is only one full-sized bed and one small chair per patient. The babies sleep with their mothers. We visited many Nicaraguan hospitals in the past but it is always still a shock to see the poverty and terrible living conditions. We met the young girl we were visiting in the hospital four years ago. She used to spend a lot of time with our family on weekends and stayed with us for a month over the Christmas holidays a few years ago. After we visited her, I tried calling her several times. Since she left the hospital I have not been able to reach her. My heart is heavy and concerned for her and her baby. I pray continually for her. UPDATE; Last week we were able to connect with her and her new baby. We had dropped her off once before close to her home, but could not go further because of the terrible conditions of the road/ path. I had been getting worried about the situation she was in and decided that we should go find out where her house was. When we got to the place we had dropped her off before, we had asked a lady, that lived near by. With the little information we had and our struggling Spanish, we had come up with a small description of who she was, and what her boyfriend did. After asking around for awhile, and walking down a very dusty and bumpy path, we had then found where her house was, and were able to visit. I was so happy and relieved to see her doing well. Her boyfriend's mother seems to be helping a lot and teaching her the ways of motherhood. Steve, David, Derek, and I went with a young lady, Kenya, to implement a feeding program at the Mascota hospital in Managua after she had asked us to drive her there to serve food to the patients. We arrived at her house at 10:00 a.m. and helped her finish preparing meals. The meals consisted of protein burgers, rice, 'tostones' (fried plantain), tomato salad, and a cool drink. We arrived at the hospital around 1:00 p.m. and she began inviting people for a plate of food. We served about 100 plates of food in less then 30 minutes! Kenya knows what it's like to have to have a sick child in the hospital. Her daughter passed away two years ago after being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. She spent the majourity of her life in the hospital.
On February 1st our family moved into our new rental home. Our home is in a gated, residential area. There are only nine houses within the gated area and there is a guard that only lets those who live here, or their confirmed visitors, come inside. Steve and the boys spent two days collecting our furniture that was stored in Niquinohomo at Pastor Julio and Ascuzena's home (a couple we met on a missions trip many years ago). Some wonderful ladies and girls from Niquinohomo helped us clean our house and set up beds so that we could move in. They took all of our bedding to their home and hand-washed everything. They even took the stuffing out of the pillows, washed it, and sewed them back up! It was such a blessing to our family especially since we didn't have water at the girls home for the three days before moving.
In Nicaragua there are a lot of interesting bugs and insects. Homes in Canada are sealed off from the elements and insects, but that is not the case here. I think we have gone through five bottles of Raid just to get rid of the ants that make their way into our home through outlets, cracks, the front door, around the taps, windows or anywhere else they can fit. Every time I see a line of ants making their way across the floor or a wall I think of the verse that talks about how we are to consider the ants and be wise. Still I'd rather them not be in my house, please! If anyone has any solutions or natural ways to get rid of ants please let me know. We also found two scorpions the other day. One was in the electrical panel and the other was in Joanna's bedroom. They were small, baby ones. Thankfully someone told us that they can't hurt anyone. We have been coming to Nicaragua for the past 8 years and have had many different experiences, but one situation always remains the same.....is there water today? When you turn on the tap and there is water you rejoice, and sometimes are even surprised! Joanna was so excited today to try out the new electric shower head that was installed yesterday in her bathroom, but when she turned on the tap there was not enough water pressure flowing through for her to have a warm shower!
Here at the hogar in Diriomo, the water shuts off every evening at 8:30 and turns back on at 4 in the morning. Why???,..... we can not say....but the town turns it off every night. We expect not to have water during these times and work around this, but when the water stops throughout the day, you need to get it from another source. This is why every home, (that can afford it) has a water tank or water reservoir. The hogar has 3 large tanks that we use to fill our buckets. This past week we did not have water for one full day due to a pipe that was broke in the street. After we had water again for a day it shut off for almost 2 full days due to the pump breaking in the town. It was during the second time that the nuns started getting a bit nervous concerning how long it would remain off and began filling buckets and pails the moment we began getting a bit of water through the taps. We have all gotten use to showering with a bucket and pail and always being ready with a full pail for those occasions when the water does shuts off halfway through your shower! It is very difficult here when it comes to water but we are grateful that it is always obtainable. For others this is not the case. If they do not have a tank to store water they do without. Pastor Julio deals with lack of water on a daily basis where he lives. He is using a tank that we purchased 2 years ago, but still needs to get water barrels filled elsewhere to fill the tank. Kenya in Tipitpa needs to set an alarm every morning at 2 so she can fill up buckets because her water MIGHT turn on that morning, but for only 1-2 hours. (She doesn't have a reservoir.) When we lived here 2 years ago the house we rented was on a main road and the water was scheduled to shut off for 2 days then turned on for 3. We were constantly aware when the water would turn on so we could be sure our tanks would fill and to plan laundry days! (We had two medium reservoirs) We have been told that there is always water in the house we are renting, but we have yet to move in and know for sure. A few years ago, Steve and I heard about an orphanage run by an evangelical organization in a town called Vera Cruz. After this, we went to visit and bring food donated by the girls home in Diriomo. Steve, Joanna, Daniel, and I went to visit again last week to see if they needed any help. Joanna also had it in her heart to volunteer with the younger children.
During this visit, Steve talked with an administrator to find out about any needs they might have and how we can help. The property this orphanage has is very large, and includes a primary and post-secondary school. The orphanage is set up into four attached houses, one for girls ages 5-14, one for boys ages 5-14, one for boys ages 15-20, and one for girls ages 13-18. There is a communal kitchen, eating area, and tutoring room. Each home has a "House Mother" that lives with and cares for the children. Joanna spent time talking with one of the House Mothers to get to know the daily routines of the children. The schedules that are enforced during the school year are very impressive. In the mornings, the youngest children go to school first while the older kids have English classes at home. Then at lunch time, everyone eats together before the older kids to school and the younger kids take English classes. After this, everyone eats dinner together, and the children have tutoring and homework until devotions and bedtime. Usually, each home has their own devotional group, but on Friday nights everyone gathers together for devotions. During our visit, we also spent time getting to know the children and their stories. We were able to encourage their efforts in learning English. However, there were some children whose native language is English. Two brothers were from Bluefields, in the North, where they speak Misquite and English. The oldest boy, 12, was excited to talk with us because he it was refreshing to speak In his first language over Spanish. When the boys both moved to this orphanage, they had to learn Spanish. We also met a 13-year-old girl who had just moved to the orphanage from Bluefields two days prior to our visit. She also spoke English, and did not learn Spanish yet. Joanna and I spent some time talking with her and encouraging her. It must be scary to be placed in an unknown area without friends or family, especially when you can't communicate with those around you. After this visit, Steve is planning to help with some construction at this orphanage. The ceiling in one of the in the boys rooms needs to be replaced. There is a new type of building material that Steve found here that has impressed him. He plans on using it for this project. Also, for out next visit, Daniel is eager to bring his mini hockey sticks to play with the boys. During this visit, he spent time playing soccer with the boys and was happy to have found some male companionship since there are only girls in Diriomo! Tipitapa is probably one of the poorest towns we have found in Nicaragua. A few years back, we had a friend who was given a land for free, along with others to start a neighborhood where they could live. We had built a house for her on this land that she had received from the government. The land that was nothing, has expanded and grown tremendously. However, just in the last year or so, there has been very little, to no water. The neighborhood had begun on top of a hill with a river running along side, the water in the river has gone down immensely and has dried up.
In smaller towns, outside of Managua, one of the main transportations are "moto taxies", which is a small three wheeled motorized buggy. In Tipitapa, this is rare. The main transportation is a peddle bike with a buggy in the front that people can sit in. The reason I say that Tipitapa is such a poor town, is because there is little to no work here. In other towns and cities in Nicaragua, you can see the growth, fixing the roads, have new buildings form, ect. In Tipitapa, this is not happening. The main work is factory, making clothes and distributing other products, but what they are being paid, is not near enough to feed their family. After the first week of looking for a good secure home, we have found one! We are in a residential gated community, with a guard at the front gate to make sure only those who are living there can enter. The 6 month contract was signed and we look forward to moving in once hydro and water are turned on. We are thinking about another week or two until we are all moved in. We are excited to cool off in our new pool as the weather here becomes very hot.
Welcome to my first blog post! Thank you for reading and being a part of our journey. I hope you enjoy learning about our family and following us on our new blog as we spend time sharing love and friendship with others.
Lately we have been busy packing and getting ready to fly out of Toronto on Wednesday January 11th at 3:00pm. Everyone is doing their last errands, school assignments and tests, suspending phone plans and car insurance, and packing last minute things. Steve and I are organizing and giving last-minute instructions and goodbyes to family and friends. There is so much to think about. We are excited and nervous to start down this new path. We are not aware of all that God has in store for us as we embark as a light on His journey. Steve and I were talking yesterday about what our desire is for the people in Nicaragua. This is the best way to describe our longing: "To follow in Jesus' footsteps, bind up the brokenhearted, and set the captives free." We have seen and felt many burdens of God's chosen ones who are crying out for love and acceptance. How His heart must ache for His children! We are going with this in our hearts and ask that you join in prayer for the lost to be found in God's love. |
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