Just like any other child, they seemed to like jumping on the beds. ;-)
After our first meeting with some of the local leaders, we went for a hike down past the church. We were going to see an overlook where you could look down over the valley and see one of the local schools in the distance. I thought I understood them to say it was only about 300 meters awy but after getting down there to it I felt it was more like 1 1/2 to 2 miles away.
Some pics of the children as we were walking down to the overlook. I've saw and heard foreigners speaking in a language I could not understand back home. It was strange to find myself as the foreigner now speaking in the language others could not understand. Some of the children started asking me questions and telling me things and all I could do was shrug my shoulders, lift my hands, and say "No se" which I had hoped would let them know that I don't understand but after some laughing and whispering among themselves I'm not sure what I was saying. Sometimes Melvin or Carl saw me struggling to try to understand what one of the locals was saying to me and would come over and help me out. Thanks, guys. You have no idea how much I appreciated that.
This is one of the local schools in the distance.
These are some of the pics I took while on our little hike. Nicaragua is very mountainous like WV but the lack of trees would seem to show some of the problems now faced because of the stripping away of some of the timber in the area. One of the things CEPAD is trying to do is to teach locals to be more conscious of the environment and the importance of replacing some of its natural resources when possible. You may notice the lack of a driveway or roads in some of the pictures. What would be the purpose if you can't afford a car? I can't get over the fact that 80% of the inhabitants of this country lives on less that $2 a day!
One of our team members got sick on the way back from the hike. I tell this story not as an embarrassment but to help you get a sense of some of the hardships in the Matasano area. So many times back home when we are sick we seek to make ourselves as comfortable as possible. That seems like such a hard task when you are sick, temperatures are in the 80's and 90's, there are no air conditioners to keep you cool, there is no fully stocked corner drugstore to run to find something to get to fix whatever it is that is ailing you, there is no indoor plumbing, and the only shower available is a makeshift outdoor shower where, if your lucky there is enough rain water stored up so that you can turn on a spigot, and stand beneath the faucet as the water flows. If there isn't enough water you may have to dip a cup into the water and pour it on yourself to shower. The water flow idea sounds pretty good but if the water hasn't been warmed up by the sun you better be prepared to have your breath taken away; it is cold!
During another visit to some of the places in the Matasano area we had to get out of the van and walk because if we tried to drive the van would not be able to make it back up the hill because it was too steep. One of the group members ended up taking a nasty spill down the hill. As I reflected back later on what had happened I realized how something like this could have turned very bad very quickly. It is bad enough to live so far from medical attention (though there is a clinic that is sometimes open there at certain times on certain days of the week). What makes it worse is that some of these roads aren't readily accessible and there isn't a helipad just around the corner. We saw signs of progress as work crews were working to improve the roads while we were there, putting down more dirt and smoothing it out with a grader. But progress takes time and money.
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Mighty God, help us not to be so complacent with our lives that we forget to thank you for what we do have or be so bitter that we start complaining about what we don't have. Give us eyes that are willing to see the struggles others must face. Give us hearts that are open to the hurts others must go through. Help us to face this world together. Amen.
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