The faces in Nicaragua

I often said during our trip something I learned while in Overseas service.  The stress of being away from home, family, and overwhelmed with everything being new can bring out the best and the worst of our true selves. Here are some insights as to the faces Canadian and Nicaraguan making connections.

Flora and Fauna of Nicaragua

The photos you have been waiting for!!!

Wow! Powerful, overwhelming, meaningful, heart opening and heart breaking, we have a thousand stories to tell at least.  Lives are changed, here and there! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flight Cancellation

We were so thrilled to be welcoming the GET group home tonight, however we have recently learned that Flight UA 5491 from Chicago has been cancelled. The group has received vouchers for hotel accommodations & meals and they should hopefully arrive home tomorrow around supper time. We hope that they enjoy the extra day and that they have the chance to see some of Chicago!

Hot, Hot, Hot

People tell you it{s hot in Nicaragua, but until you walk the walk, you don{t really know what they mean.  Heat has been a challenge for many in the group, but all are making brave efforts to be in the work groups as they can. Each day we have to check on have members had their water, wearing a hat, wearing gloves, wearing dust protection, protection for eyes.  Some days I feel a little like a mother hen, checking on the chicks.

Today is our last day at the projects, and they will be making a farewell party for us this afternoon.  I expect lots of tears, hugs and pictures.  Hard to believe we will not be back in Anexo or Gabriela Mistral school again.  I will miss the children, the workers, and the English students.

Robert & Jocelyn

Another amazing day in Managua!!

Hola!

What a remarkable day! I have been working on building the Techo house for a family living in Anexo in Barrio Grenada. Don Job, Dona Lurcretia and their children Stefanie, Darlene and baby Jocelyn live in an extremely poor area of Managua. We started working on their home yesterday and it took only 75 minutes to completely remove everything that they own from the house and to tear the structure down. The house was built from pieces of wood and rusted tin hammered together. The part of that process that hit me was seeing their beds. Two metal bed frames with pieces of card board on top comprised their beds and mattresses. I cannot imagine what they would think if they saw my Queen size bed with a very thick mattress. The whole family lived in a space comparable to the size of my bedroom at home.

Yesterday was a dirty, dusty day. After tearing down the house and beginning to work on the temporary shelter for the family, we came back from lunch and started working on setting the posts ("pilotes") that would support the floor of the Techo house. What dirty, sweaty work! We would take metal poles and dig as far as possible into the dirt and then use plastic containers to scoop out the loose dirt. The holes had to be about two feet deep... man it was a lot of digging and scooping! Then we had to set the pilotes with rocks and more dirt. It also took a very long time to level everything to make sure that the house would sit properly once it was built. I was absolutely filthy when we stopped for the day yesterday!!

Today, we managed to not only finish putting in the pilotes, but we started construction on the house itself. We started by positioning the pieces that make up the floor. I then got the fun job of crawling under the house and hammering the pieces together. I have a bit of a problem with claustophobia, so it took me two or three minutes to get to the right spot, but it felt so good to overcome a fear and be the only Canadian member of our team to complete the task.

                                                    Ezekiel, Brigitte, Parales and Johnathon.

After that, I managed to scrape my arm on the barbed wire fence that divides their yard from the neighbours and had to get it checked out by the doctors at the school site. Dr. Wang cleaned it up for me and put on quite the bandage to protect it from the dust!!  When I came back, almost all four walls of the house were put up!! Katelynn, Robert and Julia were in the middle of it all, hammering away at nails and getting everything into place!!

It looks like we're going to finish the house tomorrow, which is way ahead of our timeline of being finished by Thursday afternoon!! The next steps are putting up the roof and moving the family into their new home!!

Another fantastic part of my day was receiving a party hat and friendship poem from the two girls who live in the house I'm building. They are such beautiful, smart girls and I'm so thankful to have met them. They both get right into the work; digging holes, smashing rocks, hammering nails or doing anything else that needs to be done... and they are 14 and 11 years old. I really hope that the work I'm doing here will have a positive impact on their lives. This is getting long, so I will save stories about the family members themselves for another day.

                                                                  Stefanie, Brigitte, Darlene
Thanks for reading!

Brigitte

projects

We have begun our projects in the community of Barrio Grenada in Managua.  Four of our group , Devon, Robert, Julia and Brigitta are building a  house for a family in a new community called Anexo.  The story behind this community is one of amazing strength and perseverance by the community members who have had little to no support from their government and have had to lobby for land, electricity, water and their simple, yet safe houses.  Since 2009 when this community began, Companeros has worked with the community to priorize the needs for housing, since most of the houses of the 200 plus that are there now are made of reclaimed materials from the street. We have been asked to wait to take pictures, so none of those today.The rest of the group are working in the school on building the security wall and infracstructure and I am offering an English class in practical English for the teachers working with groups of foreigners.

We are all exhausted, dirty and looking forward to Los Quinchos school tomorrow.  Also had a worship service with the Moravian church last night, lots of hugs from the Bent family.
Most of the group is working on a security wall and enjoying chances to be with the children and adults of the Gabriela Mistral School.

We love our host families, and feel welcome and anxious to have time with them.  It enriches the experience so much.

We are off to Los Quinchos School today before working at the projects and will offer news about that later.
hasta luego! Talk to you soon!

Do you know the way to managwe

Who remembers the old song do you know the way to Santa Fe.  This is our theme song, because we have been teasing our beloved leader julia about her pronounciation of Managua, Managwe.

We made it and as I predicted, getting out of the Winnpeg airport was the hardest part of the day.  Some confusion over reservations, but from there it was smooth sailing.  A long but great day of group forming, storming and norming. We have a buddy system , we are all installed and living happily with our gracious and warm NICARAGUAN FAMILIES.
 Every moment we are learning more about this culture and ourselves.  How do we look after ourselves and our group members in a society where we need to stick together all the time, no wandering off for safety reasons.  We need to be mindful of the uneven sidewalks, being sensitive to cultural differences and not offending our hosts, drinking enough water and getting enough rest to be helpful in our service project this week.

<<<<<<<<<No photos yet, it has been suggested that we need to form relationships with people here before snapping pictures like it is a right, not the privilege that it is.  We had the orientation session today, and it has been great to see our youth incoroporating their learning with their host families and people we meet on the street.  Changes are already happening, it is very exciting to watch.

We learned today that we will be building a security wall and a  house.  more to follow.
pray for us as we continue on this wonderful journey.

Happy Travellers

Why are we going?

To FUNDRAISE and see your efforts result in actions that improve the lives of other people.

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trades people employed by your fundraising support.

To WORK on a grassroots service project alongside community members, volunteers, and skilled

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in their communities.

To MEET inspiring individuals who have overcome adversity to become agents of positive change

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children, youth, and families.

To VISIT local agencies and organizations promoting fair political, economic, and social rights for

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academic and career prospects and further volunteer involvement.

To LEARN about yourself and others in a dynamic cross-cultural experience that stimulates

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To LIVE in comfortable host families/hotels, eat healthy fresh food, and travel with a fun group.

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canopy tours, practicing Spanish, visiting markets, meeting artisans, and more!To ENJOY Nicaragua‘s beauty – hiking volcano trails, walking warm beaches, climbing tree-top

3 Days till we get going.

Only three more days until we GET going on our Journey to Central America.  My mind is full of questions, will we be able to bring gifts that are meaningful and respectful.  Will we have a good sense of group dynamics, and be able to communicate not only among ourselves but with our host families.  Will those who are more introverted be able to tap into their willing to be adventurous and seize the moment and opportunites before us???? 

GET almost ready to go!

After almost two years of planning, a group of 12 adventurous souls will embark on a journey of living faith to Managua, Nicaragua representing the youth of Winnipeg, Manitoba and the United Church of Canada.

We will be leaving on March 23, 2012 from Winnipeg at 8 am.  We anticipate a day of travel with butterflies in our stomachs and great anticipation in our hearts.  We go with the blessings of our two congregations, St. Mary's Road United and Kildonan United.

We will be hosted by Companeros  http://www.companeros.ca/   who are experts in working with groups from all over the world who want to learn more about life in the developing world, and giving opportunities to us to live in Nicaraguan households and work in a community development project in Barrio Grenada, Managua.
There is a jam packed program that we will share with you hopefully on a daily basis during our trip and afterwards as we return to our "normal" lives. I anticipate we will all look at daily living in Canada with a different lens.

We want to thank our congregations, communities, and the Opt In fund as well as the National United Church for their support.

The leaders, Brian, Julia and Nancy have faith that this will be a great journey and experience for all us and hope to share our experiences as we go.