Nicaragua 2020 - Here we come!

So the October trip, I did not end up going on due to a death in the family.  So here I am heading out now.  Looking forward to a bit warmer weather!

We leave on Thursday, so stay tuned for more info.

Suzie

Day 10 - Monday

1 Chronicles 16:34  “Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good.  His faithful love continues forever.”  

Well, good morning again.  We were up and ready to go to the airport at 3:45.  The line at

the counter was not long, but it was slow moving.  Annette was at the front with our passports to get us seats close together.  That is when we found out the reason for the slow moving line; our flight had been canceled for maintenance reasons so everyone was being rebooked.  

So, the most reasonable flight is this same one tomorrow morning, Tuesday.  So we were all issued new tickets; we were able to call our contact persons from the Avianca desk as well to make those changes.  And of course, Allan was called to come get us.  We could have stayed in the hotel close to the airport but then we would have nothing to do all day and we all opted to go back to Jardin Shalom.  

After some coffee and chatting (and a wee siesta), we all found jobs to do - a few boxes of clothes to put back in the bodega for distribution by the next group, a few things that needed to be washed, some small maintenance jobs to help out with.  Paula and I resorted 6 boxes of baby to 5 years old clothing, found some odd things mixed in and we are washing the stained clothes now for repacking and re-labelling.  

Let’s review what got accomplished this trip:

Painting review:  Painted the outside wall of Jardin Shalom, the chapel, the guardhouse, kitchen outside wall.

Home Improvements:  Shower heads were changed, some plumbing, sinks, etc

Over 165  families (over 500 people) were fed throughout 5 barrios.

8 milk bag mats were made by 6-8 men & women; sewing projects were completed by 16 women and Humberto of course too.

And then there were 6 crocheters that completed many smaller projects like the flowers they shared with the sewers, eyeglass case and purse and they are keen to learn more.  We had Sofia purchase some Crochet magazines in Spanish and she came back with 6 magazines for $20 USD...that’s a pretty good deal!  So the girls will get lots of ideas from those and then there’s pinterest too.  I saw some eyes light up already.

Final Update - Tuesday
Out to the airport for 4am again.  Everything went smoothly.  Avianca is a lovely airline to fly with.  The rest of the day was uneventful.  Arrived in Toronto; customs went very smoothly.  I needed to get from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 for my flight to Ottawa but I made with a bit of time to spare.  We had just got on the airline when the final inspection outside showed some damage to a cargo door.  It appeared that, at first, it was just a scratch but after further investigation they decided it was damaged enough to question the integrity.  So we were moved to a different plane and left a 1/2 hour later.  Smooth sailing from there.  Arrived in Ottawa airport at 6:45pm.  Paul was there to pick me up.  On the way home we stopped for wings at the Barley Mow in Stittsville.  Then I drove the rest of the way home.

Again, thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.  
Love & Blessings to all,
Susy

Day 8 & 9 - Saturday & Sunday

Proverbs 17:17. A true friend loves regardless of the situation, and a real brother exists to share the tough times.

Saturday, Day 8:  Today was a wonderfully relaxing day after a busy week.  We lingered over breakfast just the four of us, Paula, Sharon, Dave and I, chatting about anything and everything.  Then we had devotional time with music and a prayer.  

A fun drive was in store for us with a visit to La Colonia mall for munchies for lunch.  We explored the mall but most stores were still closed because it was before 9am when we got there.  Then a fair drive, maybe half an hour but on a good road which brought us to Casta Cantillo.  This is the house owned by fellow Canadians that offered it to Annette for the weekend.  Because we were here for so short of a time, we were not scheduled with any specific tourist outings.  The loan of this house for the weekend is a very kind gesture and it is a very lovely home overlooking the Catarina lagoon.  The eternity pool was very relaxing.  The house has beautiful mahogany French doors.   The floors are tile downstairs and upstairs.  Upstairs the doors have upholstery style curtains secured to the inside of the frames on top and bottom.  The owners do rent this as an Air B & B if anyone is interested.

A little after 2 we packed up and went back to Jardin Shalom to dress for a wedding.  None of us have ever been to a Nicaraguan wedding.  Just as we were getting back into the van to head out, the rain came down and it poured for quite a while.  But as we arrived at the barrio the rain let up.  Just in time.  As we drive into the barrio, one of the ladies came out to lift the hydro lines so our van could get under it.  As we drove up to Marlenie’s house, you could tell the wedding was to be held there by the white balloons.  Dave and Paula were on the team that built Marlenie’s home in March 2016 and she had since added on a porch and another smaller building to the side.  Later we found out this was done for the newlyweds.  It was a fabulous wedding.  I really enjoyed it.  It was a family affair and love was shown all around.  I don’t believe I have the words to describe the evening and so, I will attach a photo of the lovely couple, Johann and Vanessa instead and leave it at that.

A warm, wonderful day and evening and off to bed.  See you in the morning!  Buenos Noches.  

Sunday, Day 9:  Today we had a lovely social breakfast then packed up what needed to go back to the bodega and last minute distribution of items were settled.  It was a pleasure to be able to give Carlos a bible and both he and Marta received a daily devotional book as well that we found. We are packing up to leave for church at 9:10 so that we won’t be late.  We are going to Pastor Ernan's church and Annette is speaking today.  

What a great service!  Many hugs and kisses and email addresses exchanged afterwards.  Pastor Ernan is great speaker and his lovely wife, Yessie (Jessie), led the singing.  Lovely voice.  Both are soft spoken people, but very expressive at church and appear comfortable with a microphone.  Yessie led some young women in a song for us and the younger children presented us each with a gift.  It was a lovely blessing.

Afterwards, we followed Pastor Ernan and Yessie and their 3 children, Izmael, Ernancito and Esthercito, back to their house and picked them up there so they could come with us back up to Casta Cantillo for the rest of the day.  It was great fun and the children really enjoyed it.  Dave barbecued cheeseburgers and there were chips and salsa as well.  We came back about 6:30pm and had a relaxing time together with them, Carlos, Martha, Allan, Cecilio, Mauricio and Pedro.  Hugs and kisses and blessings were shared all around as we all said “Adios”.  We leave tomorrow morning at 3:45am to get to the airport for a 6:00am flight.

Good night everyone.  Buenos Noches.  

Hugs and kisses and blessings,

Susy

Day 7 - Friday

Psalm 13:5  But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.

Today was filled with bittersweet memories.  When we went to the church this morning, my ladies and I shared the challenges and rewards of this week.  I took each lady’s photo with her projects that she accomplished and then another with me of course.  We enjoyed each other’s company as they finished up the flowers they would give to the sewing ladies for their projects.  I was so proud of them that they were willing to give their work away even at this early stage.  They had a little circle factory going with 2 ladies picking out buttons and preparing the rosettes and the others sewing them together.  

Then at 10am we came together for a fashion show from Tippitapa barrio.  This barrio has become our most successful co-op program.  They began 7 years ago when PAN Missions did the program there.  They now have 2 successful stores and are proud to say they have made enough to qualify to pay taxes as a business!   The fashion show was lovely as always and it gave our ladies new ideas and they could see how they can expand what they do.  

Afterwards, I gave each of my ladies a small gift to say thank you and a couple of crochet hooks each as well.  More pictures followed and some last minute questions and discussion about sharing ideas, learning sewing from the other ladies and teaching them crochet, etc.   

All too soon it was time for lunch and we were swept away back to Jardin Shalom with promises of returning by 1pm.  And so we did, ready for the closing ceremony.  So I helped my ladies pack up the hockey bag of yarn, patterns, etc and get it back into the pastor’s office.  They each have enough yarn to keep them going for a bit and we discussed meeting once monthly to work together as well.  

The closing ceremony was lovely with both the pastor and Annette saying a few words, praying for the success of the program and wishing us blessings on next week’s work under Dolores and Sofia (the pastor’s wife) and safe travels.  Then we presented to our people their bibles.  Dolores and Sharon presented to the sewers, I presented to the crocheters and Johanella presented to the weavers.  With a final blessing, we were closing when the mighty downpour of rain started outside.  So, as the rain came down, we were blessed with an extra 15 minutes to chat, take pictures, exchange email addresses and more hugs.  When the rain stopped, we started to leave and found a great puddle right outside the door.  So Allan tried to get the van as close as possible and of course, I just walked through the water and got in the van.  My back was getting sore so I didn’t want to wait.  Then we finally loaded everyone up and had to maneuver around the other vehicles.  A few minutes later we were off to Ticuantepe.

We had pre-loaded the boxes of clothing and food for this barrio so that we could go directly there after we closed at Tabernaculo Oasis des Esperanza.  So this last barrio, Enramadas, to visit was a bit of a trick to get into.  We went up the hill and turned around and parked on the side of the road.  But everything had to go down this little trail past another church to get there and of course everything was wet and slippery from the rain.  Luckily, several men  from the church were watching for us and soon we had many hands to make light of the work.  I stayed in the van getting the parcels of food out to the others.  Some were under the seats as well and then the boxes of clothing from the back.  They made quick work of the whole lot.

We had a short opening and got right to work distributing the food bags as there were 40 families here.  When we got to the clothing the line slowed down quite a bit and suddenly we heard Jonathan our translator singing into the microphone and entertaining the children and adults alike.  He even managed to get a couple of the children up to sing a song as well.  Then there was much hand clapping and he was very engaging.   As he drew his audience in, we were amazed at his hidden talent come alive.  He sure worked the room!  And again, as we closed, many grateful mothers, sons and daughters hugged and kissed us with mucho gracias.  

As we arrived back at Jardin Shalom, we were very tired but our hearts were filled with the blessings we received.  We actually received another treat tonight.  There were 12 settings for the table and Jonathan, Allan, Ernan and Jessie joined us for dinner.  This dinner was a special thank you from Jonathan.  He arranged it all with Carlos, Allan and Pastor Ernan.  It was a lovely meal of beef and rice and vegetables.  And the camaraderie was at a high.  

So as I finish off for tonight, I will not write again until Sunday.  We are off in the morning to relax at a fellow Canadian’s home while he is in Canada.  It will be a bit of a change and then we will come back and get ready for another special treat, we are invited to a wedding.  So, buenos nochas for now.  

Love Susy. 

Day 6 - Thursday

Romans 5:1Peace and Hope:  We have been made right with God because of our faith. Now we have peace with him because of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is now the evening of our sixth day here.  I can here the crickets and a few birds and some geckos speaking to each other in the still night air.  We had a lovely day, so let me recap for you.  I do realize that yesterday I got a bit long winded.

This morning I was the first one to the coffee pot and I also opened up the van.  The catch on the back door wouldn’t open and I found out later (after 3 or 4 men tried to open it too) that a bottle of oil was caught under the handle on the inside.  Anyway, the side door was flung open and I started the ball rolling.  There was a fair amount of loose packages so it was easy for me to start a few packages at a time, then a sip of coffee and back again for more.  Soon I was joined by the others and the van was emptied.

So we stopped for breakfast and devotions.  We open with a song or two and this morning’s song was a new one for me, “Go Do Something Beautiful” by Graham Kendrick.  It was the perfect song for this morning.

Then we packed 40 bags of food for today’s trip to Pastor Ernan’s church.  He is the Administrator here at Quinta Jardin Shalom and takes care of things especially when there are no directors here in Nicaragua.  He also does a fair amount of the preparation for team visits, coordinating and working out the details.

Then Sharon, Dolores, Johanella, Bollardo, Jonathan and I were driven down to the church for sewing, weaving and crocheting!  Today my girls begin a pattern piece and so, I plan to come back after lunch to make sure they don’t get too frustrated.

When my ladies arrived, they were very keen to show me what they had accomplished yesterday afternoon and evening.  Many flowers were made, a purse was shortened and made into an eyeglass case, as well as a few hair ornaments completed.  We did all this before we were called into the circle for opening prayer.

Once we were back at the crochet corner, I showed them the three bodices that I had prepared in advance and stopped at different intervals in the pattern.  I explained that they had already learned the skills necessary to do this but it required work to read the pattern and plan row to row.  So with a chain of 81, we were off!

At 11:30 Sharon, Samuel and I ate a quick lunch and went off to Huembis Marketplace to shop.  I had some orders from the rest of the gang as well.  I was able to get some dresses for my granddaughters and a few other things as well.  Huembis is a fun place to shop as all the stalls are back to back and some in tight spaces.  So as you weave between vendors, you have to watch out both sides for what catches your eye.  Samuel made sure he got us to the right vendor’s stall for the items we were looking for, he translated and helped us to convert cordobas to U.S. dollars...they accept both.  So 100 cordobas is about $3.20 U.S.  As we hurried along the last stretch, Allan jumped into the driver’s seat, while Sharon and I paid the parking lady.  She has a whistle and stops traffic while you back up and ensures you get the next space if you are waiting.  Well worth it.

We made it back to the church shortly after one and were happy with our purchases.  My ladies were looking a little peaked and a few had ripped out their crocheting and started again.  They were getting a little frustrated so we looked at some patterns in the magazines that the Pastor’s wife, Sofia, had purchased for me.  This encouraged them to try again.  I also stressed that if they were really struggling with the pattern that they could take a step back and work on the flowers or purses until they felt ready to try again.  Several did that and I could see that it helped convince them that they had learned well, they just needed practice.  This is good.  Sometimes the younger ones want to jump ahead too quickly and so it is good that they can learn to reassess their work, rip it out or try something else.  

At 4:30pm, Cecilio came to pick me up as everyone else had left earlier.  We arrived back at Jardin Shalom by 5pm and I had time for a shower before the others returned from delivering food and clothes to the barrio.  We had a lovely treat of fish and chips and salad for supper and Calalla juice (which is very smooth, not too sweet).  Yummy!  Then off to relax for the evening, do laundry and write to family and friends.

Buenas Noches mes amigos.

Love Susy

Day 5 - Wednesday

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope; patient in affliction; constant in prayer

Another beautiful morning in Nicaragua.  Breakfast was banana pancakes and I really enjoyed them!

These mornings seem to flash right by.  I am loving being with these kind, generous people and wish I could stay much longer.  Maybe a year or two??

I had 5 students this morning (2 brand new).  So while they chose yarn, I checked the other ladies’ work to see how they were doing, gave some advice and showed some correction.  Mostly it was encouragement all around.  Then, while they worked on, I got the other two new ladies started.  Actually, Elba already knew how to crochet and she was flying right along but was also very helpful with the other ladies.  Na.... struggled at first, but then seemed to catch on.  She was certainly determined for sure.  

Mariana had done some flowers for homework so I showed her how to sew them together so the seam didn’t show and the group chatted about items you could put the flowers on... on the purse, to cover a hole (this got a laugh), or to dress up an older shirt that fit you just perfectly.  As noon rolled around, I started to get everything together on my own so they wouldn’t be pulling me away at the last minute as usual.  Funny though, the van was 1/2 hour late.  They were out ordering furniture for something and were supposed to pick up food for the last 2 barrios.  Anyway, that gave me time to show the ladies some patterns I had on my iPad.  It is nice to discuss future possible projects and see the light of encouragement and confidence radiate from them.

When the van finally arrived, we said asta manana.  There was no food in the van though.  I guess they never made it that far this morning.  Back for a lovely lunch and everyone was very full.

Some down time, and then it was time to deliver food and clothing on our barrio walk.  Today we are going out to the Nindiri dump.  There is a barrio there that has grown up around the dump.  The people spend the days collecting items that they can get paid for...plastics, metals, glass, etc. 

So we arrive at the church which is almost at the centre of the barrio.   It is a good size room and I do remember being here before.  The Pastor met us outside and welcomed us into the house of the Lord. Tables were set up and we brought in the boxes of clothing and bags of food.  Everyone helped and the church was soon lined with mothers, children and boys.  The food was set on the far side of the dias and the tables were on the other side.  So out of the boxes came the piles of clothing and they were partially sorted by size onto the tables.  We were happy to see more t-shirts and clothes for boys in these boxes.  Still though there isn’t much clothing for teenagers.

Again, we had a few words from the Pastor to open this sharing time and a prayer, Sharon spoke on behalf of PAN mission and we had Jonathan translating for us.  The Pastor was quite happy to give the list of family names to Jonathan and let him run the show.  He explained that each family would come and receive a bag of food and then come to the clothing tables and select 15 items.  This barrio is a bit smaller than yesterday’s (only 25 families).  Soon, we switched the pattern around so they had their hands free to pick out clothing and then pick up their food bag at the end.

This is really a joy to be a part of and when we would see what sizes a mother or brother was searching for, we would often hold up something for inspection or a yes or no.  I had one young man that couldn’t have been more than 10 and I tried to convince him that this nice yellow dress shirt was for him.  I received a shake of the head and we shared a smile.

After this was all done, it seemed that we were flooded with even more people hugging and kissing us and thanking us profusely.  I got a few tentative kisses from a couple of lads and some long warm hugs from grateful mothers.  The young mothers with babes in arms came and Sharon and I had the pleasure of holding babies.  I had Valerie, a beautiful 8 day old little girl, asleep in my arms.  It was quite the emotional moment.  It was nice that no one hurried off and they were genuinely happy to visit with us.

They are joyful and friendly and the children are very good.  The boys will laugh with us at a joke and shyly kiss us on the cheek.

Back home to the barrio for a shower and readying for supper.  Several loaded into the van to go purchase food for the next 2 barrios.   A couple of hours later they were back but all were tired so it was decided to unload and package them up tomorrow.  We will prepare for 40 families tomorrow at Pastor Ernan and Yessi’s barrio.

And with that I will sign off for tonight.  Blessings to all,
Love Susy!

Day 4 - Tuesday

Psalm 34:6  In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; He saved me from all my troubles.


Well, hello everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful day today.  I am also wishing my chorus an “Ola!”.  So sorry to miss Andrew’s last evening with us for a while.

We had a pretty packed day ourselves.  Up and at ‘em at 6:30am (I was looking for coffee), breakfast at 7am.  Bags of food and boxes of clothing were packed into the van for today’s afternoon visit to Marlenie’s barrio (village).

Once we arrived at the Tabernaculo Oasis de Esperanza, we found the ladies and men setting up the last few tables.  Within a few minutes, we were surrounded with appreciative smiles and ladies showing us what they had done.  My crocheters had our table back and 2 new ladies wanted to learn.  So I was setting up the first two, Maykeling and Mariana with their next project.  Then the two new students today, Maria and Benedicia (Blessing), got the first lesson from yesterday.

It was noon way too soon and time to go home for lunch.  Because I will be helping at the barrios today, I needed to give the ladies work to keep them going and to ensure they would pack up the crochet area and get the bag put away.

Lunch was a lovely meal.  Then it was time for Sharon, Dolores, Joanella and Samuel to go back to the church for the sewing and weaving.  Once the van was back again, Annette, Don, Kurt, Paula, Dave, Pastor Ernan (PAN Administrator) and Jonathan (translator) and I piled in to go to the barrio.

Marlenie is the matriarch of this barrio.  Paula and Dave (on our team) are like family here since they were on the team that built their church and became very attached to them.  They have kept in touch over the years and visit when they can.  Such a warm wonderful welcome we received.

After we were all in the church, their Pastor spoke a few words of welcome, Annette said a few words and introduced the team, and then Pastor Ernan said a few words and then read off the names as we distributed the food first.  Then we brought in the clothes and opened up the boxes and we went through the process again.  Each family was able to choose 10 items from the boxes.  This makes sure that there is enough for everyone.  They were all very appreciative of all that we brought for them as well.

It was a lovely visit and a blessing to all.  I was very glad to be a part of it.  It was difficult to leave but we will be back again on Saturday for a wedding.  Looking forward to it.

Once we got back home to Quinta Jardin Shalom, everyone started to skitter back to their rooms since we had an hour before supper.  Paula and I decided we would repack the boxes for tomorrow and load up the food bags as well.  We had all the boxes reorganized and packed back in the van and some of the food bags before a few people noticed what we were doing and came to help.  All done and ready for tomorrow...and just in time for supper!

We had a lovely treat of pasta and a cream sauce with mushrooms.  Very nice.  Have I mentioned that
Carlos and Marta do a wonderful job planning and executing the meals.  Very flavourful.

After supper, I finally headed for the shower.  And a relaxing evening with you.  Hope all is well at home.  Blessings to all.

Love Suzie