Post trip Update

Hi all

We’ve been back home for a month now, many people have asked what’s been happening since our return. First, I’m going to add a piece Annette Vickers, Director of PAN Missions supplied me for the blog, giving you some of her thoughts and input – here goes…..

From: “Annette Vickers” View contact detailsTo: “‘Pat Kilmer’” Hi Pat,

Here’s something for the blog.
I think I might have the honour of having “the last word in the blog”! That might be because I am sometimes referred to as “the big Kahuna” (affectionately, I think). But in reality with this team of women I didn’t feel like “the Big Boss”. Instead, I felt like “one of the gals”. We had a lot of laughs, a few tears, long days, more than a few schedule changes, and more laughs. Truly, this was a great bunch of dedicated women, who gave this mission trip their all. We have long had a sewing component in our mission work in Nicaragua , but this was only our second team to specialize in teaching Nicaraguan women how to sew and how to set up a sewing business. (We also set up several women in a hairdressing business and the jewellery making business!) We learned a lot and can now use what we have learned to make our next sewing team even better. For the Nicaraguan women that we served though, it was a truly wonderful experience that fulfilled the goal of empowering women in a very poor barrio with the tools and skills that they can use to better their own lives and those of their families. So, thank you to each and everyone from the “goers” to the “senders”. I would like to make special mention of my friend, and team leader, Sharon Jackson. Sharon and I passed many, many e-mails back and forth and there was a lot more work that went into the preparation of this team than most members would realize. So, bless you dear Sharon !

Pat asked me to say a quick work about Henry and Samuel, two young Nicaraguan men who are a tremendous help to our ministry. Samuel Fox has been our main translator for several years now. He works with all of our teams…construction, youth teams, medical, puppet teams, and now, sewing teams, all with his usual boundless energy and enthusiasm. We found him through another translator we had used in the past and have kept him ever since. We hope to see him set up in “farming” which is his first love. Jan Reynolds, our jewellery lady, is seriously thinking of forming a partnership with Samuel that will allow him to pursue his passion and still keep translating for us.

We met Henry Ruiz through a Guelph lady, Jalna Colquhoun, who met him several years ago through a visit to Nicaragua with another ministry. Henry was raised in a Catholic Orphanage on Ometepe Island and Jalna became his Canadian “Grandma” and is putting him through university. Henry has translated for us from time to time and will be volunteering more regularly with us from January-April as he fulfills his placement for his Travel and Tourism degree. He’s a perfect fit for us and we hope to see more of him in the future. By the way, Henry is looking for a nice, young Christian girl…preferably Canadian I think!

Well, to close off I would just like to ask all of you to spread the word about the great need in Nicaragua . We have lots more churches who would dearly love to have a sewing team come from Canada to help them establish their own co-operative. As well, we have lots of churches that need a small sanctuary built or a couple of classrooms. Those would require construction teams. So, if your church would like to consider creating its own mission team, give me a call at 519-837-2987 or write to me at annette@panmissions.org You can also get more information on our website www.panmissions.org

God’s richest blessings on all of you mission-minded people

Me again…..

First, Jan has purchased property, location to follow. We wish her all the best in her new endeavour. Once she is up and operating I will be working with her (from home and not literally in Nicaragua, sadly….) to supply Samuel with a pig for their farm. Several of my friends have asked how to contribute, more about that when we find out.

Annette has been back to Nicaragua and dropped in unexpectedly to visit Pastor Armondo and the ladies at the church. To our delight 8 women are actively participating in the sewing project and have completed over 100 diapers. A sign has been posted at the church advertising hair cuts and styling, several women continue to make jewellery. It’s a good feeling for all of us to know the women are excelling in their newly learned skills.

Back at home, Sandy, Ina and I participated in the church service at the Salvation Army where along with Captain Bob Elliot we talked about our trip and the work we did there. Next Tuesday, October 5 we will again share our stories at WiNGS, a monthly dinner evening for women (sorry fellows) at the Salvation Army Church as well. All women are welcome, cost is $8.00 for a home cooked meal, music and a speaker. Reservations are required, if you’d like to join us please phone the office as soon as possible at 519-631-6202, seating is limited.

Our work here continues, we sent pneumonia vests, art supplies and school supplies to Nicaragua with Jan early in the month to be taken to Chinandega. A post on Facebook requesting knitters and yarn to make pneumonia vests for the babies in Chinandega is bringing in both. My back room is overflowing with yarn that has been purchased and/or donated to us. To-day I visited Parkside Collegiate Institute and spoke to 6 young women in a lunch hour knitting group and left them with yarn and knitting needles. I learned later to-day that 2 of them have begun their projects. An e-mail from another friend requesting the patterns for a co-worker arrived to-day as well. Tomorrow I will visit John Wise Public School where teacher Linda Chapman is working with students to begin knitting for us as well. Each vest means one more warm baby. We welcome any inquiries about our project. Many people have told us they knit for various groups that send these vests world-wide. That is wonderful! We are happy to have your support and happy to know babies around the world benefit from these projects.

As a team we will meet again soon to discuss more projects we will participate in. Our fund raising for the trip was successful and to date we still have funds available to do more good in Nicaragua. Some things we are looking at is purchasing chairs for the hospital in Managua, a TV stand for the women in La Mascota Cancer clinic, bus fare for a Mother and her son in Chinandega to travel to Managua for medical care. Who knew our involvement would continue on our return home but what a good thing it is!

Cheers to all..

Pat and the Nicaraguan Mission Team

Re-Posting Monday, August 16

Somehow this got it’s own page and wasn’t right up there with the other days. If you haven’t seen it, enjoy, if you have, sorry to repeat…..

Hola

Thanks everyone for your comments and encouragement, it’s nice to know you’re thinking about us, praying for us and enjoying our blog.

Sunday was another excellent day. The plan was to blog when we got back but at the end of the day we were too tired to think about blogging and lights were out by 10 p.m..

The day started with breakfast (of course). The food here is wonderful, Jenny and her staff are taking very good care of us. After morning devotions we headed for services at the REMAR church. REMAR is a Christian organization that started in Spain and has spread to Central America, Mexico and various other countries. They run the orphanages and rehabilitation centers for alcoholism, drug addictions, and prostitution to name a few. Each Sunday the children and adults are bused to the services and what a service it is. The first hour is dedicated to music, and if you like it loud, this is the service for you. It’s Christian rock at it’s best and if the urge to get up and dance strikes you you’ll be in good company. Mercedes acted as our translator for the sermon and we were greeted by the pastor and his congregation.

After services we returned to the Inn for lunch then headed for the volcano at Masaya. This is an active volcano that last erupted about 200 years ago. There is a strong odor of sulphur but the view and experience was well worth it. Several of us made the climb to the cross where again the views were breath-taking. As we were climbing we could hear thunder in the distance and as we were descending the rains came. When the thunder and lightning reach you at the same moment you know it’s time to hustle back to the bus!

At this point we were not sure if the zip lining would happen due to the rains so we headed into Masaya. The skies cleared and off we went for our zip lining adventure. We were quickly geared up and in the van on our way with lots of laughter (most of it nervous laughter I might add) and a few second thoughts. Carol acted as our ground photographer and one of the guides as our “right there” guy. The first cable was by far the scariest for those of us who had never tried it before. By the last ride we were all pros doing hands free, Superwoman and even one upside down – except Sandy who got stuck part way across and had to be “rescued” by one of our guides. We’re still negotiating for publishing right for the picture of that one! Our guides made the experience such a good one. Safety was first, encouragement next. We all agreed it will be hard to top this for the fun part of our Mission. As we were coming to the last 2 cables the thunder could be heard getting closer. So, here we are attached to steel cables by steel pulleys and harnesses crossing steel suspension bridges to yup, steel landings, and all I could think of was if there is lightning to accompany the thunder, this can’t be good! God must have been having some fun with us, first the volcano storm and then this. Thankfully we made it to solid ground again and the skies once again opened. After many smiles and thanks to our guides we headed on to Catarina, a little town on a large lagoon with several touristy stalls selling local crafts. Unfortunately the weather did not make for good viewing but we did poke through the stalls and pick up a few souvenirs of our day.

After a delicious dinner at a Papa John’s chain we returned to the Inn exhausted from our day out.

This morning we were up bright and early and after morning devotions headed back to the church. Our students were waiting for us and we picked up where we left off on Saturday. There were a few new faces as well. To-day we began 3 more programs, Jan is teaching a group of 5 students a jewelry making class, Ina spent a couple of hours teaching a tatting class and Carmen, a young hair stylist we have hired is teaching 5 women how to do cuts and styling in one of the women’s home. It was another extremely hot day but we made it through and made good progress with our projects. We are having some technical difficulties with some of the machines, we have 5 more coming in the morning so we are hoping the problem can be rectified. If not we will look into using some of our contingency funds and purchasing 2 new machines for the project. Laura and Samuel led a group of children in the craft program where they made crosses decorated with sparkles and glitter.

Later this afternoon we visited a feeding center with Annette. Feeding centers are operated by various churches to ensure children get healthy meals. This center was suggested to Annette by her employee Iris. Iris’ Aunt Nora is affiliated with this church. Annette had been in contact with a group in Cambridge, The Gleaners. This organization gets donations of food from various distributors and farmers in the area. The day Annette visited they were processing fresh broccoli from a local farmer who could not sell it to the food distributors as it did not meet their size criteria. The Gleaners have a drying system and after drying the food is packaged for donation and distribution. Organizations receiving the food pay nothing for it, but must pay the shipping to get it to its final destination. (For more information on The Gleaners please see www.ontariogleaners.org) Annette brought several bags of soup mix and dried fruit back to Nicaragua with her and has been working with this center on a pilot project to see if the children would eat it and if it would be beneficial to consider as a long-term commitment. Because to-day was also a very rainy day the children had been fed and sent home early but we decided to go and see the facility with Annette and meet with the cook. The church also houses a school and we were given a tour then taken to the kitchen where we met with the cook and sampled the soup. It is delicious and the children loved it.

While we were there we had the pleasure of meeting “Aunt Nora”. What a delightful woman. We had an enjoyable ride back to the Inn as we gave her a ride. Aunt Nora makes small religious crafts that she sells to raise money to ensure the children at the church and school have gifts at Christmas. They sell for 75 Cordobas, about 10 cents each. We were lucky enough to be given one as a gift and in return took up a collection to help her cause. On the bus ride back she (tried) to engage me in conversation. Luckily Mercedes was along to translate. Jon, your download to my I Pod came in handy, we had many laughs throughout the bus as the conversation moved from a shrug of the “I don’t know” shoulders to the I Pod screen. She was quite taken with it, even when it appeared I was trying to ask her out on a date. She told us in Spanish that there was a great deal of laughter on the bus, the closest we could come to a reply was “mucho laughter”.

As I work on this blog my fellow Mission members are gathered under the pavilion working on a new project to show the women tomorrow. From the sound of the laughter I’d say it’s going well! Tomorrow we will return to the church where we will continue working on their bags. There have been several completed and the results are again above and beyond what we were expecting. The talent is truly amazing. Betty will give a lesson on running a co-op so it will be another full day. We’re hoping to visit the girl’s orphanage in the evening if all goes well.

So, here we are at the end of day 5 already, the time is flying by. Our group has come together both as friends and co-workers in such a good way. We asked Annette at breakfast if our laughter and crazy sense of humour is “normal” for these Missions – she just smiled and shook her head no, but it has been wonderful so far.

Keep the comments coming, we’re enjoying every one of them!

Good night for now.

Friday, August 27

Well, we’re back home safe and sound.  The week has flown, between no computer in Chinandega, long days back in Managua and jet lag I’m just now getting back to this.  Sorry to some of you who have been patiently waiting and leaving me hints on my Facebook page……

First, my apologies to PAN Missions.  In my first post I reported that PAN is nondenominational when in fact it is inter-denominational – a big difference. 

Last Saturday we were up early and on the road to Chinandega, a town north-west of Managua.  Our first stop was a Maternity/Peds hospital where we delivered much-needed supplies.  We were impressed with their ingenuity, they brought out a hospital bed, loaded the boxes on it and off we went.  To say the hospital conditions were disturbing would be yet another understatement.  The building is over 100 years old and is dark and dilapidated.  There are holes in the walls, the equipment is in worse repair than what we saw in Managua.  Our first stop was the Emergency department where we met Moms and their babies waiting in line to be admitted. 100% of these children were suffering from pneumonia if not more.  We then moved on to the neo-natal unit.  Again, we were not prepared for the condition of the rooms.  The equipment is old and outdated.  There is one oxymeter for the whole hospital – a piece of equipment that measures oxygen levels in the baby’s blood.  Dr. Juan told us there is great need for at least 2 more of these pieces.  As it turns out since our return less than one day into it we have found a source in St. Catherines who have this much-needed equipment to donate to us.  Again, we have found that putting the word out gets quick results – God is good!  In this unit were several babies in outdated incubators.  One tiny baby boy weighed only 600 grams.  He cannot be moved to Managua until he reaches 1000 grams as their transporting equipment is not equipped to handle babies this small.  That tiny baby will be etched in my mind as long as I live.  We moved on to the next wards where we handed out small stuffed toys to the babies and hygiene bags to the Moms.  Many of these babies were dressed in nothing more than rags for diapers.  Because of overcrowding Moms take turns sitting in the wards nursing their children.  The other Moms wait in an outdoor seating area which is nothing more than wooden benches under scraggly trees, no lush gardens like here at home.  In this ward too the equipment was in terrible shape.  Tables were rusted, cupboards were missing doors and drawers – nothing could have prepared us for that.  Annette tells us after several visits the shock of seeing it wears off but not the feeling of not being able to do enough.  Their “laundry area” is lines strung outdoors where ever there is space to attach them – how they keep track of what goes where is beyond me.

We left the hospital and checked into our hotel, a small, clean comfortable building in the town center.  After lunch we toured a beautiful Catholic Cathedral built in the 1800′s with a history dating back to the 1500′s.

From there we headed out to El Viejo, a barrio out-of-town on a virtual dirt path to visit a new project that will begin next year by Calvary Baptist Church in Guelph.  They will build a 2 room school to replace what is now being described as a school but is no more than a lean-to with posts of tree branches covered in what ever they can find – pieces of wood, tin, plastic – with gaping holes in both the walls and the roof.  In one area we noticed bottle caps being used as washers to give strength to the nails – very inventive if nothing else.  This school is 2 rooms, divided by a half wall.  The children came in on their Saturday off to meet us – again, the looks of joy on their faces was infectious, they are so grateful for the help.  The “washroom” is in an open area behind the school and is nothing more that a cement box covered by a wooden top.  We were told it will cost between $10,000 and $12,000 to replace this school.  While there we distributed much-needed school supplies and Canada pins to the children.

Off to the side of the school area we watched a group of young men playing soccer, or as they say in Nicaragua “footbol”.  It appeared to be somewhat organized with a few of the players wearing uniform type shirts, playing with a ball we would have discarded, and in bare feet.

After leaving there we headed back to Chinandega to the store run by Gloria and her husband where we had purchased some of the rice, beans and sugar.  Carol met Gloria on a previous trip to Chinandega and they became friends through their work together.    We formed a production line on the porch in the back of her store outside their living quarters and bagged 3 pound bags of rice and beans.  The sugar thankfully came pre-bagged.  These bags were placed in a large bag for distribution Sunday morning at the barrio at the dump.  Through the pastor at the church  165 families received tickets through a walk through the town with Gloria’s brother who has contacts with the pastor.

So many times over the past 2 weeks the expression “there but for the grace of God go I” has popped into our heads.  You can’t help but wonder “why?” – and yet the people we have visited are happy and their faith intact.  Now, that is not to say all residents are involved in the church, Carol estimates 90% of the 300 families in this barrio are single Moms and their children, in many cases 2 or 3 generations share a home.  It is also estimated that 25% of the families attend services.

Sunday morning we were up and off to the church at the dump to distribute the food.  Carol was not exaggerating when she said the conditions were worse than those at the school in El Viejo.  Homes are constructed again with what ever they can salvage from the dump, tin, wood, plastic, cardboard.  One home was “decorated” with a child’s pool liner to give it some colour and fun.  The church is like the school, poles with one cement wall and 3 open sides, gaping holes, but it does have electricity and 2 flourescent bar lights.  A Yamaha keyboard is the only sign of modern life.  As we have found in every place we have visited plastic chairs are the seating of choice.  The joy in their singing is contagious, you watch them in wonder thinking “how can they be so happy??” I guess it’s all in the eye of the beholder.  After a short service where the team was introduced and thanked the food bags were handed out.  A barrier was set up at the doors of the van and the families lined up in an orderly fashion to receive the food.  Approximately 67 Spanish Bibles were left with the Pastor who will distribute them to families at his discretion.  Small toys were given to the children.  Carol tells us that the children here follow the garbage trucks into the dump the way our kids follow the ice-cream truck.  New loads mean new hope as many of the families make their living by collecting plastic pop bottles for recycling.  A large bag of bottles will bring in about $2.00.

The homes in this barrio are actually in worse repair than those in the barrio where we taught the women to sew.  They are, however, on small plots of land (most often obtained in the barrios by “squatting”and claiming the land).  Some owners here have small vegetable gardens and a few chickens.  Few, if any of the homes have television sets.  The dogs in this barrio appear healthier, possibly due to the fact they have access to the garbage in the dump.

Samuel, our translator tells us if they are lucky 1 – 2% of the population will leave the barrio  for a better life when they grow up.

What a nice feeling knowing 165 families will have food on their plates for the next couple of days.

After lunch several of us went into the town of Leon for a walking tour.  We had hoped to visit some of the cathedrals and get a view of the volcanoes from the top of the cathedral but unfortunately they were closed for the day.  We learned from Samuel that the city was established in the 1700′s by the Spanish and was once the capital of Nicaragua.  During one of the Revolutions the capital was moved to Granada and later to Managua which remains the capital to-day.

At 4:30 we attended services at Gloria’s church in Chinandega.  It is a Pentecostal Assembly, again, the music was loud rock, the Pastor passionate about his word (as Samuel found while trying to keep up with the translation) and the parishioners dedicated to their faith.  Our team was introduced and has been the case at every place we have visited we were thanked for our help and involvement.

Before saying our good-byes to Gloria several of us gave her our runners to distribute to those in need.  A simple gesture on our part but by the look on her face we know it was greatly appreciated.

On Monday morning we returned to Managua to find our trip to the women’s prison could not happen.  The director has only been on the job 3 weeks and a strong interaction with PAN has not happened with her.  We had supplied our passport numbers earlier in the week so we could be screened but at the last-minute Annette was told we needed a letter of introduction from a minister (not sure if that was government or pastoral) which we did not have nor did we have time to obtain it.  So we returned to La Mascota women’s cancer hospital and visited women in the wards along with Pastor Julio who ministered and prayed in each ward after we had distributed the hygiene bags.  Outside we met with the women we had visited last week where they sang hymns for us and thanked us once again for our visits, and gifts of prayer and hygiene bags.

On Tuesday we spent the day at the beach at Montelimar where we enjoyed the sun, relaxation and dipped our toes in the Pacific Ocean.  Wednesday we were up early and on our way back to the airport for out trip home.  We arrived in Toronto at 10 p.m. tired but happy knowing we had changed lives in Nicaragua as had our lives been changed.  It is an amazing trip, I would highly recommend a Mission Trip, you can’t describe it in words or pictures, you need to experience it for yourself.

My original plan was to post pictures on the blog but I have decided to make my Facebook page public for the next month or so.  Please feel free to take a look in a few days for some of the 1200 pictures now uploaded (promise I won’t make you look at all of them….).   You should be able to search for me under Pat Kilmer.  If you have trouble accessing my Facebook e-mail me at patkilmer@rogers.com and I will do my best to pass the photos along to you.

Thank you for following our journey, I hope it gave you some in site into our work in Nicaragua, a truly life changing trip.

Friday, August 20

As I quote Sharon, “the time just goes so fast here.”  It’s Friday already!

Yesterday was another busy day.  It felt a little strange not going to the church.  In the morning we visited a public school in the poorer part of the city.  Another eye-opening day!  It felt as if I was stepping back in time to Grade 1 with the old wooden desks with a writing area on your right arm.  We visited 2 grade 2 classes.  The children were so excited to have us.  While Betty told one class a Bible story the second class was taught a craft – a bird made by cutting out 2 maple leaves and a “beako”.  This school has classes for young students in the morning and older children in the afternoon.  As a result there is little time for crafts, so this was a real treat.  As it turns out their supplies are limited to nil.  We left behind scissors and paper, they had none.  One little girl was quite taken with my camera and gave me a picture she had drawn and coloured in art class – you can be sure it will be framed and hung in my home. We then switched classrooms so all the children heard a story and made a bird.

In the afternoon we went to Huembe’s market for some Nicaraguan shopping.   What an experience!  The market is indoors, a virtual maze of stalls with vendor’s selling everything from spices to clothing to (pirated) cd’s to purses and bags – a little bit of everything.  We agreed it is somewhat of a cross between the old Covenant Garden Market in London and the Aylmer Sales barn in the “good old days”. 

After dinner we hopped back on the bus and headed out for Masaya to the Masaya Folkloric Festival where we watched local dancers in costume and enjoyed some Nicaraguan music and crafts.  Unfortunately it rained so we cut our visit short and headed home.

This morning we were up early and after breakfast packed the hygiene bags to take to the women’s prison.  We were hoping to be able to change our visit there from Monday to to-day so Betty could minister to the ladies.  She is leaving to go back to El Salvador tomorrow and wanted to be part of the trip.  Unfortunately that did not happen and we will visit there Monday morning (one thing we are learning quickly is that plans change every day – we just go with the flow and it all works out in the end).

This morning we visited La Mascota children’s hospital.  Our first stop was the babies ward where we distributed gift bags with a blanket, sleepers, small toy and hygiene products to the Moms and their babies.  Many of these babies are suffering from pneumonia or heart conditions.  The hospital conditions are a far cry from anything at home, we noticed the walls and ceilings have mould growing on them, the metal furniture in the rooms is old and rusted, but they do the best with what they have.

Then it was on to the children’s cancer ward.  Four of us did paintings with the children.  My painting partner was a 6-year-old girl who smiled and giggled the whole time.  I became an instant fan of abstract art, it was probably the first time in her young life she had held a paint brush.  Our translator Samuel talked to her Mom and got a history of her illness and when asked what she wanted to be when she grows up she told us a nurse.  The painting and a photograph of the two of us will be framed and brought home with me, it too will find a special place in my home. We were also introduced to Juan, a 16 year old boy who has been treated at La Mascota for 11 years.  He is an accomplished artist who also has limited supplies.  He did two paintings for us, I left him with a Sharpie fine marker – he was thrilled to have it, he had to borrow a pencil to do his pictures.  We will send him art supplies when we return home.

Lunch was at a very nice cafe, a break from the usual sandwiches of most days.  After a nice break to recharge we headed out to the REMAR boys and babies orphanage where we were given a tour of the facility and saw the projects PAN has been instrumental in.  We played with the children and brought them small gifts.  The boys were quite taken with the football and soon had Betty engaged in a game with them.  Laura is an expert balloon artist and the children were given balloon dogs.  I’m not sure if any of them had seen anything like that before or not, their eyes lit up when they were given them.

And then the storm hit!  We have had rain almost everyday but this one is a true tropical storm, as I write this it is still raining.

Tomorrow we head out to Chinendaga for 2 days to distribute rice, beans, sugar and Spanish Bibles.  We’re not sure if there will be internet service at our hotel, if not, we’ll catch up with you Monday night and fill you in on our weekend!  Heading back to the room to pack and get a good night’s sleep so we can be on the road by 7:30 tomorrow morning.

Enjoy your weekend all!

Wednesday, August 18

Hola

Wow!  Slight panic attack, several friends couldn’t find Monday’s blog – seems you have to go by the date, but if you don’t know there’s a post how does one do that???? 

So, here we are, almost half way through the week.  Yesterday was another hot one.  Samuel, our translator tells us it is unseasonably warm for this time of year – yesterday it was 39 degrees celsius before the humidity was factored in, and that was just outside, inside the church was much worse, but, we persevered and made it through.  The machines were again giving us problems so it was decided to purchase 2 new ones.  Annette, Mercedes and Sharon went shopping and as luck would have it were able to purchase 3 since the prices were reasonable.  We are still making great progress with the women, the jewelry making is going well and Henri (our latest addition, another translator) was brave enough to let the hair stylist class  practice on him and they did a fine job.  We are leaving the church at noon to get away from the heat and heading to the local Esso gas station and On The Run convenience store/lunch counter.  It is very much like the Tim Horton’s back home.  Thankfully it has public washrooms, we were excited when we heard the pastor had added washroom facilities at the church.  However, they do leave a lot to be desired (a light for instance).  This gives us a break and some air-conditioned comfort before beginning afternoon classes.  Most of us have become quite fond of the frappe capucchino – made with real Nicaraguan coffee and very refreshing. 

Yesterday was my first trying day.  I wasn’t sure if God was testing me or punishing me.  As it turns out he was teaching me patience and compassion.  One student, Fatima is a sweet lady with a smile that lights up the room.  All of the students are excited by the tote bags and want to make one.  In hind site Fatima was not quite ready to go on to the project as it is much more difficult than the diapers.  As I began working with her it was apparent she did not understand the concept of using a pattern to cut out the pieces and had cut the fabric free hand.  After showing her again how to pin the pattern on we had it cut out and ready to go.  Now we have to communicate to her that it is not a race and the foot pedal needs a soft touch to get the job done.  That out-of-the-way we find she really can’t sew a straight seam.  By noon between that and the heat my patience was wearing a little thin (well, maybe a lot thin….).  At lunch Annette told me Fatima’s husband had just left her and she desperately wants and needs to be able to support herself and her family.  Talk about a knock me down and wake me up moment.  In Nicaragua there is no social support system, there is no Ontario Works Office to go to when you find yourself alone and without an income, you are totally on your own.  I returned to the church and Fatima after lunch with a whole new outlook and my patience once again intact.  At the end of the day we had a bag complete.  Is it perfect, absolutely not, but neither are we.  Through our translator she thanked me for being so patient with her, I told her she’s been sewing for 4 days, I’ve been doing this for 40 years, it takes lots of practice but it will come.

In the afternoon Betty gave the women a very motivating presentation on setting up and running a co-op.  Betty lives in El Salvador and is a law student with a great love for helping people through the ministry.  She explained to them that they need a leader, and that there is a potential to make a good income, but it will not come without hard work and patience – and that God’s standards are very high.  They have been given a gift and should make the best of it.  The women are determined to make this work, we are looking forward to updates on their progress when we return home.

We returned to the Inn, had dinner and headed out once again.  This time to the REMAR girl’s orphanage.  There are 21 girls between the ages of 7 and 18 at the facility.  REMAR rents a beautiful house that is home to these young ladies.  We were impressed at how well-behaved they are, their manners are enviable and they are so happy to welcome visitors into their home.  We were given a tour of the home and played games with them after sharing cake and ice cream and small gifts.  Yesterday was our team leader Sharon’s birthday, coincidentally it was also Marcella’s birthday – Marcella is one of the home’s residents.  These young ladies come from various backgrounds and it is thought were it not for the people at REMAR they would live on the streets.  How different from our culture.

This morning after breakfast and devotionals we headed back to the church for our final day with our new friends.  The new machines were set up and assigned to students, Jan continued with her jewelry making class and Carmen had 4 students cutting and styling hair.  After lunch Pastor Armando and Sonia had prepared a short program to thank us for our work.  A group of 8 children performed a dance routine in our honour.  Several of the women again thanked us for coming all this way to give them a chance at a better life – they praise God that they were given the opportunity to have the materials and our time donated to them.  Sharon Jackson and Linda Drew spoke on behalf of our group and assured them we had learned as much from this trip as they had – just in a different way and told them we will never forget our time here and the new friends we made – communication problem?  What communication problem?  The smiles and tears said it all. Sonia had prepared a tray of fresh fruit for us and we left with such good memories of our days with them.

From there we went to Berta Calderon Women’s Hospital with small gifts for 38 women dealing with various types of cancer.  The women stay in a facility much like Ronald McDonald house in London – these women are from out-of-town and stay in the facility to receive treatment.   They also entertained us with singing and small crafts they had made for us.  This facility also depends on donations and our hostess Marta told us they are in great need of sheets – another project we will consider from our contingency fund.

We returned home tired and happy.  Tomorrow we will visit a public school, the REMAR babies and boys orphanages and do some shopping at Huembe’s, an enormous outdoor market in Managua.

So again, Buenas noches!

Saturday, August 14

Hola!

It’s Saturday night, most of the group have gone to the movies to see the Karate Kid, either in English with Spanish sub-titles, or vice-versa.  I decided to stay back and see if I could get caught up with our blog.

What an amazing day this has been.  As my eight year old Grandson says, it was OSUM!!!  After morning devotions on the porch we headed back to the church for our first real day of sewing lessons.  The church we are helping out is the Centro De Adoracion Jesus El Camino Fienca,  also affectionately known as “The Beer Church” because it is situated down the street from the Managua Brewery – for some reason the nickname has stuck.  The women were waiting for us when we arrived with hugs and kisses and eager to get started.  We have all been humbled by their welcome.  Yesterday Pastor Armando told us in his welcome speech that the Church congregation have been praying for us since they heard we were coming.  In the month up to our arrival they have fasted every Saturday and this week have also prayed for our families back home, our flight and us.  They cannot understand why we would spend our vacations and money to come to them.  They are truly grateful for our involvement. 

This morning we set out to get the sewing machines working.  Let me also say the church is hot, hot, hot.  It is a cement building with high rafters and a tin roof.  Wall fans are installed and working but do little to cool the air, they merely circulate it.  After a few set backs we had 11 machines up and running and 14 women and children ready to learn.  A handful of the ladies have used sewing machines, the majority have not.  We started the beginners off with straight stitching on scraps of fabric.  Those with experience were soon ready to learn to pin and cut patterns for baby diapers.  Every woman and child who sat down at a machine took to it as if they had been sewing for years, and the look of joy on their faces was infectious.  We all commented that we couldn’t tell who had the biggest smiles, the students or us.  By lunch break all the sewers had completed at least one flannel diaper.  We were amazed and as excited as they were.  My students are Reyna, her 12-year-old son Edwin and 10-year-old daughter Leydi.  Reyna should be proud of herself and her children, they sat in awe and watched each move she made as she learned how to thread the machine and judge the speed at which she sewed.  They caught on very quickly and would remind her to lower the presser foot or turn the needle into the fabric before she started.  When Reyna was ready to learn to pin and cut the pattern Leydi sat down at the machine and sewed as if she’d been doing it all her young life – and straight stitches and seams too!  At one point I looked down and had to smile – I sew in my bare feet, she had watched me and was doing the same thing.  At some point Leydi left me and went over with Donna.  Within an hour or so she had also cut and sewed a diaper.  By now Edwin was at the machine, he too picked it up like a pro.  There were lots of high fives between us!  All three family members completed 3 or 4 diapers each as did all the rest of the students.

The group who have sewing experience decided they were ready to go on to the tote bags.  Jacqui, you would have been amazed, they completed their tote in less time than we did at our class!   The pride in their accomplishment brought tears to our eyes.  They can’t wait for us to return on Monday morning.

Rebecca joined us again to-day.  Rebecca is originally from Aylmer and has been on a Mission to Nicaragua for about a year and a half.  She is due to return home in April of 2011.  She and Laura spent the better part of the afternoon with the children painting 2 very long pictures, singing songs and listening to Bible stories.  They too were impressed with how well-behaved and attentive the children were.  It was interesting to watch the children as the painting was taking place.  Most of the children are from the congregation.  As curious as children are, many of the children from the barrio were drawn to the crowd and shyly stood back until we motioned for them to feel free to join in (remind you of anyone from the New Testament???).  We are told to expect the same next week when they meet to do crafts.  Some will return to their homes and bring their families to church services – and so the word continues to be spread. (As a point of interest, a barrio is what we would loosely translate as a subdivision.  This barrio is in a very poor part of the city.  The church (which was built 2 years ago by Calvary Baptist Church in Guelph) was exactly as I had pictured it in my mind.  The housing conditions however were not.  Having travelled to Jamaica and The Dominican Republic I was expecting the conditions to be poor.  I was not expecting complete “homes” made of galvanized steel, open “windows”, literally joined together in most cases and situated maybe two feet from the “street” which is not much more than a dirt path).  We are told by our translator that these properties would sell for $10,000 to $15,000 U.S. but in most cases attempts to sell them are not successful.  We are told that approximately 1 million Nicaraguans have left the country for Costa Rica where employment chances are greater.)

So, that is how this day went.

Yesterday I blogged that I would come back to some of the things we saw and did yesterday. 

Our first stop was to a parking lot in the city to exchange our U.S. cash for Nicaraguan Cordobas.  $1.00 U.S. will buy about 20 Cordobas.  Most of us are still getting used to that – a cake that Annette picked up to-day cost 69.95, which is about $3.50 U.S.  Gas is 19.90 Cordobas per litre, again, about $1.00 U.S.  We met the money changer on the parking lot, handed our U.S. cash out the window and were given the Cordobas.  Rebecca tells us this is perfectly legal and the money changers give us a better rate of exchange than the banks.  Next we were taken on a quick tour of the city.  Our first stop was Revolution Square where we viewed  the ruins of a Catholic cathedral, destroyed on Christmas Eve, 1972 when the country was struck by an earthquake, as well as the Presidential Palace, now home to the museum.  While we were there I was approached by a camera man and a newsman.  I “communicated” (as we had just discussed at morning devotions) that I did not speak Spanish and pointed them to Annette and Samuel our translator.  Who knew we would all be interviewed for a spot on Managua TV’s channel 8 as part of an attempt to bring tourism to Nicaragua.  The ironic part was we had also just spent time chatting with 2 armed guards who are hired to keep the tourists safe from muggings and robberies as this is a prime spot for thieves looking for cameras, watches, jewelry and cash!  We have been assured groups are not likely to be targeted but also cautioned to be aware of our surroundings as the pick pockets are very adept at what they do.

From there we went to Peace Park, an area set aside after the Contras and Sandinistas called a truce to the Civil War in the early ’90′s.  The park was begun and the two sides literally lay down their arms and encased them in cement as a demonstration of good will.  A ceremony was held and after the ceremony it was left to the people of Nicaragua to finish and maintain the Park.  As there was no money to do this the Park fell to ruin and has been steadily deteriorating ever since.  Because the country is so poor vandals have chipped away at the cement and removed many of these arms which have been sold for the value in the steel.

Tomorrow we will attend church services at the REMAR Pentecostal Church.  REMAR is the organization that runs the orphanages and rehabilitation centers in Nicaragua.  After lunch we will visit the Masaya Volcano where we will also zip line, and time permitting we will also visit Catarina, a little town known for its flowers and plants as well as a breath-taking lookout over a lagoon.

Before signing off I would like to share comments from 2 of our team members about our experiences to-day.  We will share more as the week goes by…..

Carol

To-day God showed me the true meaning of love.  Being with these women and their eagerness to learn touched my heart.  The women, even though we have a language barrier showed such appreciation to us.  To them our visiting is truly a gift from God, but it is us who are receiving the true gift.  Love and gratitude cannot be expressed with words, but their actions said enough.

Sandy

What an amazing day.  The ladies are so eager to learn.  We started with getting used to the sewing machines.  My lady “Fatima” had sewed before so it made it easy to teach her.  After some practice seams she just went to the cutting table and cut out three different sized diapers.  We brought lots of flannel in different prints.  Fatima was a fast learner and even with the language barrier we connected well and where able to communicate fairly well.  The ladies were sad when we had to pack up, but we told them we would be back on Lunes.

- Lights out time for me!  Time permitting I will add to this tomorrow night.  Unfortunately the pictures will have to wait until we return home – there will be many!

Buenas noches!

Friday, August 13

We’re here!  We arrived at Angel’s Inn late last night after a long day that went right on schedule with no problems!  The St. Thomas group met at 6 a.m. at the Salvation Army Church, loaded into their van and headed for Toronto.  John Kellestine, Sandy’s husband and his friend Dave Robbins did a fine job getting the six of us to Pearson International Airport where we met the other 3 women in our group as well as Don Vickers and Eduardo with our bags and sewing machines.  Special thanks to Dave and Sue Aristone from Center Street Baptist Church for coming out at such an early hour to see the St. Thomas group off and share a prayer with us as we prepared to leave.  All the weighing, packing, taping and repacking paid off, we all passed through the size and weight restrictions and we were on our way.  Our 5 hour flight brought us into El Salvador for another 5 hour stop over.  Our first stop there was at the airport cafe for coffee, then the wait for the last leg of our trip.   Put 9 women between the ages of 17 and 70 something in an airport waiting area and time passes quickly.  There were many laughs and discussions about everything from our Mission to fashion to the Biblical Exodus.  I’d heard the story many times but never had I heard it referred to as “getting ready to boogie on down the road”.

We boarded our plane for the last leg of the flight and arrived in Nicaragua right on time.  After clearing Customs we met at the luggage carousel to retrieve our bags, which were VERY easy to spot with all that tape!  A kind gentleman helped drag our 18 bags from the belt and onto the carts.  Annette was there as promised to bring us to Angel’s Inn where are staying.  Our accommodations are simple, clean and comfortable.  There are 4 of us to a room which has 2 sets of bunk beds and a small table.  Sandy remarked this is the only time she’s like being “old” – it means she gets a bottom bunk. 

After a good night’s rest we were up early and met for breakfast at 7 a.m.  Meals are served in a covered pavilion by the owner of Angel’s Inn Jenny’s staff.

7:30 a.m. is devotions and we meet on the porch covering our rooms.  This morning we talked about communication and aiding others.  We are finding very quickly that even though we don’t speak the language we are communicating with the ladies by showing them what we need done.  As we were preparing to leave we were met by Rebecca Reid, who is from Aylmer and working as a children’s Missionary in Managua.  She will be accompanying us for the next few days and giving us a hand.  After a morning of errands and a little site seeing and history we arrived at the church around noon to a large group to welcome us.  (I will blog more about the mornings activities next time, there are some facts I want to research before putting it out here for you).  After meeting Pastor Armando, his wife Sophie and the members of their congregation we gave them an overview of what we would be doing with them over the next 6 days.  We then sat with the women and did our first project – a small pin cushion that they will use with the upcoming projects.  The smiles on their faces said it all.  We set up the machines for tomorrow’s class and left the church for downtown Managua where we visited the Oriental Market to purchase supplies.  More about that later as well, there’s just too much to put into words at one setting!

To-night we shared a nice dinner and watched a documentary on the history of Nicaragua.  Tomorrow we will return to the church for our next lesson.

More tomorrow, it’s lights out time!