Nicaragua Day 3: Monday

Again, I was shocked by how early I woke up while we were in Nicaragua!  It was always well before I needed to be awake.  This morning I spent that extra time praying for the day ahead, as I knew it would possibly be the most challenging. 

Our devotional time was at 6:30.  I really enjoyed the singing each morning; it was a great to focus my mind for the day.  Jorge read an excerpt from A Hole in the Gospel.  It talked about the author's wife deciding to get water from a nearby lake and how hard it was for her to carry her bucket of water the mile back.  He also talked about how this well we are digging could be a real turning point for these families.  They will soon be able to spend less time gathering water and more time working, more time at school.  Hopefully they will also have fewer sick days since the water will be clean.  I really hadn't thought about the benefits this well could provide these families!

At breakfast, they served a fried cheese.  I actually thought it might be French toast.  It was not something I wanted to try!  As we waited for the van, we triple-checked our backpacks.  Snacks-check!  Water bottle-check!  Antibacterial wipes-check!  Toilet paper just in case-check!  There was much discussion (and anxiety on my part) about the village "banos".

Here is what it looked like:

That definitely took some getting used to!  We had to go in pairs the first day, so one could hold the sheet closed.  By the second day, it had been "remodeled" with a "door" that stayed closed on its own.  Oh, the adventures!  Deanna has pictures of every team member leaving the "facility".  Theresa was kind of obsessed with taking those, and we're thinking of making her a collage.
The first thing on the agenda was a Community Walk.  Scarleth said that the moms usually met us in the meeting spot on the first day and showed us around the community.  When we arrived, there were no moms but plenty of kids waiting for us.  Scarleth seemed confused by this and said the pastor usually informs all the women of the time and place.  We decided to head out door-to-door and invite the women to join our classes.
I was so thankful for Scarleth's translating abilities!  I was relatively confident in my ability to get by with my minimal Spanish, but these people talk fast!  If ever I go on a trip like this again, I will definitely make more of an effort to practice the language in advance.
We passed by a chicken coop.

We spent about an hour walking through the village.  We didn't get to go to all the houses and invite all the women.  It made me sad that we couldn't reach them all.

Our walk through the village showed us that, while all the people are poor, there was a definite gap between classes.  On one side of the road, near where our classes were, the houses were nicer and better kept.  The children were cleaner as well.  On the other, it was the opposite.  The well is going in closer to the poor side, with the poorest family being right next to it.  God knew what He was doing when He set the well location!  I don't know why I am surprised by this.

As we are walking through the village, we come across a truck loaded with peanuts, and people are bringing sacks of them from their houses to be weighed.  It turns out that this was the illegal peanut trade.  The villagers would glean in the fields after the machines went through but before the fieldowners hired workers and sell the peanuts on the "black market" for pennies.  So sad.

After our community walk, we return to our class spot and find no moms.  Actually, there was one; her house was right by our location, and her husband was in charge of watching over the drilling equipment while we weren't there.  Her children were AMAZING; you'll hear more about them later. We decided to dive into our lessons anyway.  Since no other moms came, we moved right into the children's version, which was the one I was most comfortable with anyway.  The first thing we did was make nametags.  The kids had a blast coloring.  It's amazing the simple things that my own kids take for granted.

  My lesson was first, mostly an introduction to us and Living Water and Jesus as the "Living Water".  Kristin was the actress in my skit: 

 That cup in her hand was supposed to be empty when she pretended to drink out of it.  It wasn't.  She almost threw up when the dirty water hit her lips!  The kids thought it was hilarious!  I think it was a good ice breaker.
Kristin's lesson on handwashing was next.  Karen helped out by being Ana, the puppet Theresa whipped up the night before.

 This is Katarin, a child who is forever imbedded in my mind.  This picture doesn't even begin to show you how filthy she was.  At 3 years old, she and her sister Rosa (2 years old) wander the village while their mother works in the city and their father in the field.  They were filthy, barefoot, and crawling with lice.  My heart broke for them.  But, they both loved being with us, and Katarin battled hard for our attention!

 Scarleth and Kristin helped each child wash his/her hands individually.  This may have been the first time for them to learn this!

 While they worked on that, Theresa and I introduced the kids to the Hokey Pokey.  Throughout the week, I'd hear random kids singing the Hokey Pokey to themselves as we played.  After they tired of that we, we tried duck, duck, goose.  This may have been their favorite game of the week.  It was actually "duck, duck, chicken" (pato, pato, pollo) since Theresa was unsure of the word for goose.  It was a hit!  They loved tagging the Americans to be it, so it was quite the workout!

After the handwashing lesson, it was time for a lunch break.  We were excited to head back and see how the drillers were progressing.  Man, were they dirty!  Lunch was ham or PBJ sandwiches, so I was happy. 

Before we were done with lunch, the kids had all found us at the drill site.  It was hard to eat knowing that some of them may have had no food for lunch or clean water to drink.  We headed back for the afternoon's Bible lesson.  Before the lesson, Scarleth asked us to wipe each child down with an antibacterial wipe.  Part of our job was to help teach them to be clean all the time.  Rosa and Katarin took 5 wipes each and were still dirty!  I was teaching one called "Clean Hands, Clean Heart."  It wasn't my favorite lesson and I'm not sure the kids got it, but they listened well and enjoyed the craft after. 

 We let them use markers this time, which was a novelty to them.This is Juan Carlo above, one of Santo's sons.  Such a sweet kid.
After the Bible lesson, it was time for the much-anticipated playtime.  We opened up our magic trunk and handed out jump ropes, balls, and frisbees.
The best part of that time for me was the bubbles.  I have never seen such joy on a child's face!  One little boy squealed every single time a bubble was blown!  This picture doesn't do it justice.

 Limbo was also quite a popular game with those jump ropes!

I am sad that I don't have many pictures of the free play time.  It seemed everytime I turned around another child was asking, "Jugamos? (We play?), which is one word I understood and could not say "no" to.  I wanted no regrets and knew I'd regret missing out on the chance to play because I was behind the camera.

 We ended a long day at 4:30.  Jorge said that the week would fly by, but that day felt very long.  I remember being unsure that the week would fly by.

Back at the house, there was time for a quick dip in the pool before dinner.  Dinner was flank steak with a chimichurri sauce; very yummy!  I find myself really missing dessert and wishing I'd packed more candy.

The night is spent reorganizing the craft trunk (again) and helping Theresa get her craft stuff together for Tuesday.  I definitely thought there'd be more free time in the evenings but am also thankful that I can be useful.

Meanwhile, this is what happened in SA on Monday:

 Troy said she carried this old phone around yelling, "MOMMY!!"  Apparently, she was having a hard time with my absence.

 These guys, on the other hand, are loving their time with Opa!

 As I finish this post, I realize, I don't have much to say about the actual drilling.  I guess since Troy wasn't on the team with me, I was kind of removed from that aspect of the trip.  If you want more info on the drilling side of things, you can check out Karen's blog at itsadeepsubject.blogspot.com.