News from Nicaragua: Life Lately

At the beginning of June, we celebrated Aleesia’s 4th Birthday. Her family threw her a great party filled with piñatas, clowns, great food and games. This sweet girl was only a couple of months when we arrived here in Nicaragua, she continues to be one of our favorites!

Also at the beginning of June, Kevin and I headed to the Southern Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua for work. To get to Laguna de Perlas, our first destination, we took an overnight bus (8 hours), large open “camion” or truck (5 hours), old school bus – pictured above (2 hours) on some of the most interesting roads I have seen. We then traveled to Bluefields by panga or boat (1.5 hours), to Rama by panga (2 hours) and back to Managua by bus (8 hours). I love public transportation, but Kevin can not say the same!

We visited my AMC co-workers in Laguna de Perlas. Here we are pictured eating lunch and celebrating together Dia de la Madre.

We then spent time in El Rama with one of our students, Escarlet who is a Pastor and School Director. Pictured above is the church and school that was recently completed. She is doing amazing work in her community and we were happy to support her.

Previous MCC Nicaragua workers - Marisa, Adam, Nate and Liz – came to Nicaragua to visit for a few weeks. They spent time in their old work and home communities, and even made time to hang out with us!

These girls are the best! It was so wonderful to reconnect with them and learn about their transition back to the United States after being in Nicaragua. They have been a big part of our Nicaraguan journey and we are grateful for their friendships.

Students from Unity High School in Orange City, Kevin’s alma mater, were here for a visit. We spent a day with them in our MCC office sharing about the work of MCC, discussing our privilege and packing hygiene kits. The students then joined us at our home for a meal of Baho cooked by our lovely neighbors.

This is a picture of the road that we walk up and down several times a day. I am trying to do a better job at taking pictures of our day to day life here. I don’t want to forget the streets that we walked on, the sites that we saw, the smells that we smelled…

As I mentioned above, Kevin has difficulties with public transportation here. I can’t blame him! It is always hot, stuffy and crowded and he has long legs, so he is generally uncomfortable. He always waits until the very last minute to hop on the bus, while I save us our seats. Here he is waiting outside the bus, eating a quesillo.

The malinche trees and in full bloom and they are gorgeous! Thank-you rainy season for bringing us our “fall colored” trees.

Here I am pictured with Yeni, the Dean of the Baptist Seminary and a great friend of ours. She has had a very difficult year, due to the tragic loss of her son in December. Despite this, her faith and hope are so strong, she inspires me each and every day.

Hans came to visit at the end of June. He worked for MCC Nicaragua last year. It was so great to spend time with him again.

We are about half-way into our Community Research class at the Seminary. Wilmer, Naomi and David are learning strategies for how to be ethical in their research. One student wrote to me yesterday stating, “thank-you so much for this class. It has helped me to become aware that we have a lot of work to do in our communities. With God’s help I am committed to responding to to the needs of my community.” Our hope is that our students will leave the class with a “toolbox” of strategies to understand their communities in a more holistic way, better recognize the complex needs and strengths, and be committed to making their communities a better place.