The Little Things...

The Little Things

While it may seem intimidating at first, making the leap to volunteering in another country is something that everyone should experience. I know what it's like to live in a comfortable little bubble, hiding behind all of the eccentricities of middle-class American life. I grew up in a small town in Ohio, and haven't seen much else outside of that town. However, upon entering college, I began a desperate search for new sights and experiences.

Since coming to Nicaragua, I've talked to mothers in La Chureca, helped teach English in Farito, and played soccer with kids in Salero. I've seen kids dance their hearts out on the dirt floors of their homes. What we're told is the face of poverty actually has a smile on it. These people truly enjoy the little things in life, and make the best out of less pleasing situations. They have inspired me so much, and I truly appreciate being able to meet them.

Whether it's volunteering with Manna Project or not, find what is calling you and go after it. Stop hiding behind all of the comforts of home, and explore the world. Volunteering abroad has been one of the most rewarding experience I have had, and I am glad that I did it. The types of people I have met and the experiences I have had are just not something that I would have been able to take part in if I hadn't ventured outside of my comfort zone.

_Bryant Sheppard

Bowling Green State University

Manna Project Intern '12

Walmart and Manna Partner for a Project in La Chureca!

Walmart impulsa proyecto económico y social para apoyar a mujeres de La Chureca El proyecto beneficiará a 2 mil personas

Redacción Central

foto El Gerente de Asuntos corporativos de Walmart en Nicaragua, Eduardo García Montenegro, entregó una donación de 27 mil 476 dólares a la directora de Manna Project Internacional en Nicaragua ,Katie Messick , para combatir la pobreza , el desempleo, la desnutrición que afectan a 120 familias que residen en el basurero de la Chureca, el basurero más grande de Centroamérica. El proyecto beneficiará a 2 mil personas en total y nació luego que en el mes de noviembre 2011 el voluntariado presentó un plan de negocios que permitirá implementar el “proyecto de fortalecimiento a Mujeres emprendedoras”, dijo el Licenciado García Monteneegro. La actividad se realizó en Supermercado la Unión de Linda Vista. Las mujeres beneficiadas se dedicarán con el aporte de Walmart de México y Centroamérica, dijo la directora de Manna Project Internacional, Katie Messick, a labores de bisutería. El Gerente de Asuntos Corporativos afirmó que con el Proyecto se generarán 25 empleos autosostenibles para 25 madres desempleadas; 50 madres empoderadas para toma de decisiones positivas de nutrición y alimentación para ellas y sus familias. También se espera atender 22.000 consultas y tratamientos de salud y nutrición anuales en la Clínica Casa Base de Salud, institución que Walmart apoyó en el 2011 a través del Voluntariado Corporativo que efectuaron 100 asociados. Ese es el único centro asistencial médico que existe La Chureca y que atiende a las 120 familias.

Update from Nicole ... "an incredible community."

When I arrived in Nicaragua as a summer intern two weeks ago, I was not sure what to expect. Since then, I can honestly say I have been floored by the intensity of Manna's connection with the community. I feel like Manna Project is the definition of holistic community development and the mission of "communities serving communities" truly is being met.

I am involved in a number of programs including English classes for all ages/levels, the child sponsorship program, sexual and reproductive health classes, computer classes, horse therapy for children with special needs, and women's exercise. Because I am a medical student, I have also had the unique experience of shadowing doctors in the clinic in La Chureca. It is really quite impressive how all of these programs work together to develop assets within the communities where we work and bring each of them closer together.

In addition to helping with programs, I have been able to spend a lot of time with the people in the community in a more casual setting. During our first week here, each of the summer interns went and had dinner with a family at their house. This is something new Manna Project is doing to immerse us in the community. It was incredible to experience the families' generosity and hospitality firsthand. It also shows how much these people love and appreciate Manna.

I have also been doing an English-Spanish exchange with one of the community members. We meet for four hours each week and practice English for her sake and Spanish for mine. When I was at her house on Friday, she explained to me how much Manna has helped her over the years and talked to me about a lot of past Program Directors that have impacted her life. She also told me that our meetings/exchanges are helping her more than I can imagine and she thinks if we keep practicing, she will be able to get a job at a call center (a dream job for many people here). It was heart-warming and encouraging to hear just how big Manna can be to the people it serves.

This week, I plan to do a homestay with one of the families in Cedro Galan. I am sure it will be an awesome experience and only further my feel for the fabric of this incredible community.


Love, 
Nicole

Lake Xiloa

This past Sunday some of the PDs and summer volunteers travelled to the lake with the moms and children of the CS program from La Chureca.  Every couple of months the PD’s involved in the program throw sort a party or paseo for the families, and so yesterday they all headed to Lake Xiloa, which is a small lake about ten minutes north-west of Managua.  Although the day started out uncomfortably cloudy for a day on the water, most of the moms still came and as the the day progressed the clouds disappeared and the rain held off.  While most of the mom’s stayed out of the water to chat on the beach, the kids were constantly in the water playing with PD’s and summer volunteers.  There were also cookies and bananas to share for a mid-afternoon snack.  Overall it seemed like everyone had a really pleasant and enjoyable time! Here are some pictures of all the fun and activities.  

Sahari :)

Marina, Joseling, Zeneyda, and Mariella, some of the moms in the CS program.

Program director Luke with Elvis.

Summer volunteer, Paul, playing with some of the older kids in the water. 

Program director Katie and little girl Lisbeth. 

Highlight: Child Sponsorship - Chureca Gets A Play Day

Child Sponsorship's quarterly field trip gave the children and mothers in our nutrition and health education program an afternoon's rest from life in Chureca. It took two buses to get everyone from Chureca to El Salero, or "The Land" in Manna jargon, and back, but it was well worth the trip for everyone. The sponsored kids received lunch and each his or her own children's book, but most importantly rare time to play in clean air and open spaces. Kathy and Halle August's sports complex was the perfect venue. The new Program Directors were particularly thankful that we had time to get to know both the children and mothers in the Child Sponsorship Program, but above all it was a day full of joy. Enabling a child to run, laugh, and play brings joy in a portion that is rarely matched. Here we share some snapshots of Chureca's play day.

Lauren Page "LP" Black attempts to help Maria Antonia simultaneously tackle her fear of swings and cameras.

Andrew Hemby, more commonly referred to as "Andrés" or just "Hemby," being kept from his Gallo Pinto by Heysel and Josué Daniel. Heysel helped us hand out cookies!

Jose Manuel, rarely separated from his faithful backpack, braves the tire swing on his own.

In addition to his undying love for Spiderman, or Hombre Araña, Josué Daniel always brings a laugh when he insists on introducing himself by his full name, Josué Daniel Chávez Ortega.

Hemby gives Jefrey a boost toward the basket.

The children of Chureca are a sincere lesson in the resilience of a child's joy. I suspect that we, the new Program Directors, may find that Manna's sponsored children and students have more to teach us than we ever suspected.

finding joy in beaches and basura (trash!)

As a reward for studying hard and acing their end-of-semester tests in December, Maddie and I organized a trip to the beach for our respective intermediate and advanced English classes. This morning we filled up two large micro-vans with gringos and Nicas and started the hour-long trek down pothole ridden highways and bumpy dirt roads. The weather couldn't have been more perfect or the water more refreshing. Norman and Gabriel jammed out on the guitar. Dayana and Fabiola collected nearly a hundred sand dollars. The boys played sand soccer and the girls tossed the Frisbee around in the ocean. Emilio was buried in the sand and had his body shaped into a beautiful sirena (mermaid). Adriana, Gelme, Elena and Olga had a sand and water splashing fight. I learned that Mercedes' favorite song is "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and more about Olga's life as an aspiring attorney. All in all the day was wonderful and injury free, phew! Getting to know our neighboring Nica community via our English program has been a HUGE blessing thus far and I'm excited to deepen these friendships in the upcoming months.

Last week our Child Sponsorship team had a long overdue meeting with the La Chureca clinic staff and Ministry of Health officials to sort out some long standing questions and concerns. We thankfully made some headway and plans but continue to be frustrated by miscommunication that seems to plague our program. But wait, good news… we're graduating a number of children who have reached and maintained healthy weight, woohoo! Thus, we'll have ample room to enter more needy children in the upcoming months. I'm saddened to see a number of my favorite children and mothers go – familiar faces will be exchanged for new families and stories once again – but overjoyed that some of the children have grown and have some semblance of 'healthy bodies' amidst such a toxic environment.

Working in La Chureca has been by far the most challenging and shocking, yet joyful and rewarding, experience that I have had thus far in Nicaragua. It's one of those "you can't understand 'til you see it" kind of places, and even then you may not believe it exists. I feel compelled to overcome these insufficiencies and somehow share this incredible place with you. Here is a trailer for a short film being made about Día de Luz, a day long concert and celebration sponsored by 'Love, Light and Melody' in La Chureca. The film documents last year's event, which is when I was first exposed to La Chureca while on a spring break trip with the Nicaraguan Orphan Fund. Please check out the video and other pictures on this website to get a fuller picture of this place I have grown to know and love.

http://www.lovelightandmelody.org/index.php

Peace, Christina

day of beauty

On Thursday morning two huge vans pulled up to the clinic in La Chureca, ready and waiting to be filled with gleeful children and excited mommas. It was Milk Day time again… but this morning would prove to be far more exciting than the normal organized chaos of distributing milk, oatmeal, and vitamins to our child sponsorship families. We were taking the mothers and children from the city dump on a field trip! Christina had planned a Day of Beauty…

And so the crowded vans drove from the heart of Managua’s dump to “the land,” a wide open space in rural Chiquilistagua where we run many of our sports and exercise programs. We’d hired two beauticians to treat the mothers to hair-dos, manicures, and pedicures. (Many a Chureca toenail was washed and painted in the mixing bowls from our kitchen, yum). And it was a rare chance for the children to swing, slide, and play soccer in clean, green space.

Little Estéban rolled down the grassy hill over and over. Leonardo loved playing soccer with Michael. Arlen and Arelys just lay in the clover and frolicked around the volleyball court. Arlen was very careful to not “botar” her trash on the ground. “This is not La Chureca. We cannot put our trash on the ground here,” she told Arelys in her bossy little girl voice. (That’s my rough translation of little kid Spanish).

All in all, it was a fun day of rare treats – personal time for moms to be pampered, green play space for the kiddies, and an opportunity for the Manna team to witness the sweet enthusiasm of these children as they experienced a new and clean place to explore.

Highlight: We gave each child a new pair of precious little bitty shoes…


Emily

i love milk days

Today and yesterday saw the voyage of tired yet excited gringos bearing gifts for the children of Chureca (the Managua city dump) in the form of milk, oatmeal, vitamins, and many strong hugs. We just completed our monthly Child Sponsorship 'Milk Day' in Chureca which I'm in charge of coordinating. Needless the say, the week leading up to the milk day is quite hectic. I order the milk on the phone (which in Spanish is sometimes quite tricky!) and it is then delivered to our house by my new friend Lino. I order the vitamins from a local pharmacy which we pick up when we go grocery shopping, and we buy about 50 one pound bags of oatmeal from our wholesale grocery store. We get rather strange looks pushing around a huge grocery cart overflowing with oatmeal, maybe I just like my grains okay?

Our troops arrive to the Chureca clinic at 9am sharp; our tank-like vehicle, the Patrol, is driven through the front entrance (which we hardly ever frequent) laden with the milk day goodies. The rest of the group walks in through the back entrance like normal and we unload everything into the clinic. Arlen, a little girl in the program, insisted on helping me carry in the bags of oatmeal. Her little frame could barely hold one bag while we carry 5 or 6, but seeing her willingness to help was so heart warming! The moms were in their weekly health talk put on by the ministry of health, and as we waited in the front of the clinic, we laughed and played with a few of the precious children running around with their dirt smeared bodies and ragged clothes. Heysell loved drawing on our legs and hands with a pen, while Arelys enjoyed taking pictures with my camera. I divvied up the duties for the day: a photo taker, someone who hands out the milk, a height/weight measurer, one person who records these measurements, and one 'messenger' who takes the mother and child to one of two consult rooms where Nikki, Mose and myself review the child's health and growth with the mother based on their weight and height progression over the past few months. Most kids are plagued by chronic sickness and a weight gain of even half a pound is a celebrated victory! We make sure the children are eating their milk, vitamins and oatmeal, and that if they've been sick or had diarrhea the past month, that they've seen a doctor at the clinic. Today a few children I saw currently aren't enrolled in school, which is a big no-no! I tried to encourage the moms to enroll their kids as soon as possible... we'll see if they start going or not.

Walking through the clinic, tracking mud from my boots across the white tiled floor, I was so encouraged as I glanced around and realized I knew all of the women and children filing through. We've been working so hard to learn their names, where they live, and their stories, and it seems to be paying off little by little. The women confide in us and trust us a little more each time we love and care for their beautiful children.

I love milk days,

Christina

welcome to our world

Hola! And bienvenidos to the MPI-Nicaragua blog, a weekly glimpse into the ponderings and adventures that life in Managua inevitably brings. Though already two months into la vida Nica (sans AC and hot water!) we are still learning, still exploring, still figuring out what our role is to be within the communities that we serve. Amidst the constant sweat and frustratingly inefficient pace of life, we are often caught off-guard by the sweet spirit of these people – by their shouts and hugs, their joyful resilience, their hilariously crazy driving…

Meet Natan, a seven-year-old boy in our child sponsorship program. He lives just outside La Chureca, the city dump, and suffers from a severe vision problem. For years he has only been able to see with his peripheral vision, always walking around with a cocked head and rolled eyes. A few weeks ago, we were able to get him the glasses he needed. What a gift to watch this joyful little boy see the world head-on and with the clarity to play normally! He loved on Tressa with such gratitude that morning.


Or visit our women’s exercise class... Welcome to the funniest, most entertaining hour of your life! Blasting the American rap, Nikki and Mose teach cardio and yoga to thirty giggling and hollering Nica women on the floor of a local ranchon (think large open-air straw hut). Not only are we completely uncertified to teach kickboxing, these women have zero experience in the exercise department! Sprawling bodies and unsuccessful push-ups make each Tuesday and Thursday afternoon a hilarious time of sweat, laughter, and precious friendship.


And it is with weekly thoughts and stories such as these that we hope to provide you snapshots of the people and programs of MPI-Nica. May you glimpse the delight we take in living and working in the land of lakes and volcanoes!

Until next week…

Emily