The Last Work Day (Friday)

The Last Work Day (Was Yesterday)

This is Kim and Jamie Breyfogle, reporting for duty in lieu of Cody, who agreed to make a donation to the JHC if we wrote it for him. Yesterday (Friday) was our last day of work. It started at 7:15am with breakfast, which consisted of: beans and rice (surprise!), fried eggs, fruit, delicious raisin bread with sugar on top, and another type of bread.

After breakfast, the folks from JHC came over to the dorms to talk about what inspired them and the difficulties they had in starting their community. They talked about the lack of money and the living conditions they moved in to, which were horrible. They had rats, scorpions, and snakes in their house, no screens in their windows, and the neighbors constantly peered in at them like they were a TV show. Then they talked about what they love about Nicaragua, the lack of consumerism, the acceptance of the people, and the creativity of the children.

After they were done talking, we headed off to work again. The painting crew painted again, some painted red stripes on all the buildings, some the black bars over the windows, and others the white walls. Other people were making death slinkies again, and had learned the techniques to a point where they didn’t cut themselves at all. (I think.) The doctors worked again with numerous patients.

After two hours we went back to the dorms for lunch, which was a beef stir-fry, rice, broccoli, beans, and other delicious foodstuffs that we don’t quite remember.

Then we walked across the street to tour a sewing co-op. Several years ago they received the status of a free trade zone. (Jamie-- Because of the rules of the free trade zone, while we were there we weren't in a country!) Having it be a free trade zone also means they don’t have to pay the really expensive 30%-of-the-price-of-the-product import and export taxes. It was interesting to hear the progress they’ve made. They buy organic Peruvian cotton and turn it into t-shirts, to which they can add pictures with their top-of-the-line silk-screening machine or send to be embroidered by another company. (If you’re interested they sell in orders of more than 200, as well as selling to various stores, including Maggie’s Organics, which is in Ypsilanti, MI.)

Then, back to work. The paint crew did more painting, but the death slinky crew was sent out to move yard brush because they ran out of the wire they were using. Also, Maria was still feeling sick and didn’t come and translate during the second half of the day, so we did most of the translating for the painting crew! It was a group effort… Lucas, the man in charge of the painters, was really good at understanding what we were trying to say, and used fairly basic Spanish, which made it so much easier!

When we came back one of our doctors stayed behind because she had to take a patient to the hospital. It was the second patient to be taken to the hospital that day, which is much more than the average of zero, according to Coury.

Supper was delicious, like all the other food they make here! We had pasta with meat-sauce, salad, garlic bread (!!!!!!!), and mango cobbler. After we ate we had a bit of time to digest before heading off to a disco.

Let me preface this part by saying pretty much all Nicaraguans are AMAZING dancers. I (Jamie) was watching a little girl who was probably about 8-9, and I just thought, “That little girl can dance better than I ever could or will be able to!” When we were deciding to go, Mom dragged us along kicking and screaming (figuratively speaking, of course) and we totally did not plan to dance.  I (Kim) did not, but I (Jamie) did! I (still Jamie) actually felt like I held my own, and it was so much fun! It was held at a bar. When the waiter came around asking about what we wanted to drink, I said “Just water.” He said, “Water?” and I was like, “Yes. Water.” Apparently the drinking age around here is 16 or 18 (we’re not sure which) but we don’t qualify under either age, let alone the American 21.

When we got back everyone said good-bye to Aunt Kathy because she left at 4:30am to catch her flight to get back home. We’re heading home at 5:30 tonight, and won’t get into Washington DC until 2:00 am DC time, 12:00am Nicaragua time.

Today’s our last hurrah, so we’ll make it a good one and there probably won’t be another blog tonight. Everyone should be home tomorrow (Sunday), so you can get the news in person!

Thursday night - back in Managua

Dear Readers,

We returned to our host agency, hot, and tired, and dirty after leaving Managua yesterday morning.  We first traveled to a sesame plant outside of Managua that JHC began leasing in February after the bank foreclosed on the property when the previous owners defaulted on loans.  The plant was in disrepair, but is up and running for the most part, allowing workers new employment opportunities as they take organic raw sesame seeds through a multistep process of being separated from chaff, de-husked, washed, dried, and packaged.  Our job was to help clean two very dirty warehouses and lay pallets where we would later unload raw peanuts for storage.

However, at lunch time one of our members unfortunately stumbled on an uneven sidewalk and fell, breaking her nose.  She and her husband, along with Dr. Stechschulte traveled to a private hospital back in Managua and received excellent care. The couple have been moved from our dorm to a small cottage on the property of JHC so that our injured volunteer can recuperate more comfortable with air-conditioning, peace and quiet.

The remaining volunteers continued work at the plant yesterday, moving about 7,500 ponds of peanuts in sacks weighing 85 - 90 pounds each.  This included the women, Jamie and Kim, our 14 year-old participants. However, Ed and Cody, the macho men of our delegation, together moved about 5,000 pounds between the two of them.  We were helped by some hard-working, patient, and hot Nica young men, who smiled when the women asked them to be "suave," (soft) when slinging the heavy sacks on onto our backs, or shoulders, or in our arms.

Dusty and sore, we then traveled to a remote village on an isolated mountain where 52 households are joined in the cooperative effort of growing coffee.  El Porvenir, is a special place, with no running water or electricity that requires a 4-wheel drive vehicle to access over steep, rutted roads.  Unfortunately, the cooperative only has one vehicle which is a tractor at least 4 decades old, but the tractor did the job of carrying most of the volunteers to the top of the mountain in an ox cart pulled behind it. Others rode up in the old JHC Land Rover. We sometimes had to wait for horses or pigs or cattle to share the road with us, but when we finally arrived we were provided with a home-cooked meal and a lamplight talk by Rene, one of the board of directors of the coop.  He shared the history of the operation and discussed some of the challenges the group has faced.

Our merry band was eager to sleep in hammocks or cots on a covered porch in the fresh mountain air. However, we discovered that remote villages may be peaceful, but are not always quiet, especially when an Evangelical preacher is admonishing against sin using an amplifier and loud speaker until 10 pm, and also when at least a dozen roosters decide to start a round robin game of who can crow the loudest at 3 am.  Nonetheless, our group was delighted to see a bright sunrise cut through the haze as we looked down into a magnificent valley bordered by mountains and volcanoes.   Our day was spent learning about life in El Povenir, the importance of organic crops such as coffee, avacado, and cacao - the stuff that makes the food of the gods, chocolate.  I'll allow your friends or family to fill you in.  Here are some photos from the day.

Juan Pareles showing the first blooms on a coffee plant which appear 8 days after the first rain.

A ripe avacado at El Porvenir coop

Sunrise from the porch of the storeroom

Mama's doing laundry, we're posing.

View from the lookout.

We will post more tomorrow, our last work day at the health clinic in Nueva Vida.

for the group, Janice Butler

Tuesday -Work Day #2

a report from Sarah Schmalzle, M.D. and Ed Schmalzle, maker of dangerous slinkies


I'll start the blog off tonight with a bad joke made popular by Paul Susman-- there have been no casualties so far!

We started the day off with a delicious and nutritious breakfast at JHC, made by Kathleen and members of the Nicaraguan staff. The morning proceeded on with a sobering discussion by Jenny Atlee of recent and ongoing events in Honduras, and the parallels to similar situations throughout Central America. In short, a social movement had been picking up steam over the years and real and positive changes were beginning to come to fruition. The president was implementing social programs that would be of great benefit to the poor and others. Unfortunately a military coup in 2009 removed him from power and from there a 'dirty war' has been waged by the military against the Hondurans. Just like in Nicaragua in the 1980s, those involved in social justice, education, etc. are targeted and terrorized. Assassinations, murder, "disappearances" and fear are widespread and commonplace.  According to Jenny and other sources, much of this military activity is believed to be strongly supported by US dollars and military involvement under the guise of 'fighting the drug war'. Jenny's group, The Friendship Office of the Americas, provides international accompaniment to human rights defenders, to bear witness and record what is happening there. Read more at www.friendshipamericas.org

The rest of the day was spent doing work at the clinic, eating, doing work at the clinic, and eating again. Todays projects included making more concertina-wire-wrapped-around-rebar-barriers, or as Janice likes to call them, large "death slinkies". No major injuries there, and we made sure everyone was up to date on their tetanus shots!  Others painted the outside of the clinic and repainted the bars on the windows. The roof was also swept of debris and the grounds were tidied up. After working on the death slinkies, Kathy steadily sliced up paper for prescriptions to be used in the clinic.

Inside the clinic, Drs. Don, Marion, and I (Sarah) saw patients. Don saw a mix of adults and children, Marion saw women, especially anyone with a gynecologic complaint or pregnancy, and I saw general adult patients and those with HIV. I think I speak for all of us when I say we are grateful to be of service, humbled by the trials and tribulations these people have endured, and hopeful that more services can be offered in the future. JHC does a remarkable job of filling in the gaps in health care in this country, but they can only do so much given the expense of medicines and supplies, and the lack of resources in this area.

We also did a quick tour of the cotton gin led by Becca, one of the JHC folks. We saw and heard about the process of producing organic cotton including receiving it from the individual farmers, removing debris, and putting it through the gin to separate out the seeds. The finished product then is sold to organic cotton producers, including Maggie's Organics (www.maggiesorganics.com/).

As we reflect on each days experiences, one thing that always comes up is how impressed we are with the sacrifice and dedication of Jubilee House Community, who have now been living and working in Nicaragua for 20 years! Please check out their website and support their work! And please let us know that you're reading the blog so we feel loved!

Monday First Work Day

Post by Jeff Baird and Susan Zingale-Baird

Our group is great about getting up early, which is a good thing since our first speaker arrived by 8 am. Breakfast is at 7:15 am during the week.  Jeff asked me, what did Jessica do when she was here (our now 19 year old doesn't like beans which is the staple for every meal). Today we had peppers in our eggs.  Jeff and I can't get enough.

Mark Lester, director of global education, treated us to his expertise and knowledge of Nicaragua.  Since we felt Janice in particular gave us a good pre-orientation of the history, we asked about the indigenous people.  He explored how the cultures today are traced back to the roots of the indigenous people.  By the end of the conquest and human contact with the Spaniards killed most of the indigenous people.  He covered several additional topics with emphasis on America's influence (aka - mucking up) in Nicaragua to politics today. During the question and answer period he addressed topics such as women's rights, Nicaraguan's interaction with Hugo Chavez and Venezuela and who control's the media in the country).

Afterwards, we loaded up the "ambulances" with the medical supplies we brought and headed to the clinic.  Dr. Don was greatly by beaming medical staff and shown his No. 1 patient room with a plaque above the door hung in his honor.  It was a touching moment.  The clinic had a new registration area since I was here last in '07.  The hope is for a future building for more storage and an OBGyn clinic.  Staff showed their appreciation for Bucknell's continued support.  

Our tour continued as we walked through Nueva Vida to the Chureca N-Nueva Vida dump.  Becca provided the tour.  She explained that 1200 to 1400 people live in Neuva Vida.  Approximately 150 people make there living picking plastic from the dump.  We walked a quarter of a mile in picked over trash that had spilled from the trucks to the actual dump.  There were no people in site until we reached a site I will never forget.  Buzzards were flying high above the trash and several more sat along side the trash pickers.  With the haze and the distance the people and buzzards were hard to distinguish.  It was a difficult moment.  One of the trash pickers called out to Becca in Spanish.  They engaged for several minutes.  We learned more about the history of the dump and what we were experiencing.  Because of the trust the Jubilee House had established with the community Becca was able to connect with the man for several more minutes.  By then three garbage trucks of trash had rolled causing adults and children to scramble from the hills for more plastic, shoes, rubber, and metal.

Now that we have witnessed both the violence in the past from yesterday's experience and he poverty at the dump, we're eager to serve. Each of us volunteered in various ways, three of us are doctors and saw patients throughout the afternoon.  Two of us including myself and Kimberly unpacked medical supplies, four of us built razor wire for the fences to help protect the clinic, the rest of us painted colorful images on park benches in front of the clinic. Colors included red, green, purple, blue, and black.  

Dinner was amazing.  Kathleen is our master chef and prepared traditional foods.  The Refresco drink (toronjo) tonight was made with grapefruit juice.  

We miss you all.  PLEASE send us posts.  We know you love and miss us, too.  We want to hear from you.

Adios,

Jeff and Susan

Sunday's report from  Don Stechschulte:

Today was the day we traveled around,
And drove to Masaya the very next town.

Before we got there we stopped at a volcano,
And tried not to breathe the air, as it smelled just like "Drano".

We then went to a fort way up on a hill
And learned in great detail how men torture and kill.

Next stop the market where we spent all of our cash
On Nicaraguan souvenirs that are easy to stash.

We then went to Apoyo, an old volcanic lake
A great time was had by all, make no mistake.
















Pedro the Potter was the last stop before our dinners
We bought lots of his pots, all of them winners.

Back to Managua, we drove through the first rain,
A long day, but satisfying, certainly no strain.

Managua Tour--First Day

Dear Followers-
     Today's blog is being written by Jamie (14), Kimberly (14), and Lynn (their mom).  Our day began bright and early because it gets light at 6ish and our bodies thought it was 8am anyway! Several enjoyed chatting with coffee, sitting outside on the tree stumps and others were fascinated by Bella, the pet monkey at Jubilee House. She will eat mangoes out of your hand. :)

We then enjoyed a very delicious breakfast spread including beans and rice, scrambled eggs with onions and peppers to fill a tortilla, fresh fruit, and warm homemade bread. After breakfast, Mike, one of the Jubilee House members provided a background of Jubilee House and its purpose and mission.
      Luis, our driver, picked us up in an air conditioned van that we spent the better part of the day getting in and out of!
     We enjoyed an historical commentary of Nicaragua and in particular famous sites of the city of Managua by Maria. She stopped the bus to view various monuments dedicated to historical revolutionary figures.

 In the same square with the monuments for famous Sandinistas, there was the old Catholic cathedral which was destroyed in two different earthquakes. (Managua sits on 14 fault lines, so it is frequently affected by earthquakes!).
     We then made our way to a traditional market. A place where most people buy their daily goods, including fish, meats, and even pig heads! It was a vibrant and busy place with lots of smells and sounds and sights (sorry no photos).
  We enjoyed a tasty lunch of an El Salvadorian meal of pupusas (cornmeal pockets filled with cheese, cheese/beans, chicken, vegetables, or jalapeno cheese), which were very yummy and filling. Before heading to the Forest Preserve, we stopped at a supermarket. Something that one might expect in an American city--it had anything anyone could want including an ice cream stand, bank, and the best part was the air conditioning!
   

Luis drove magnificently on the bumpy ride to the preserve in paths that could barely fit our mini-bus. But the drive was DEFINITELY worth the experience. Complete with blue butterflies, butterflies whose wings look like owl eyes, a waterfall, green parakeets, and the wonderful sights and sounds of the congo monkeys. We tried to upload an audio file so that you could hear the parakeets and the low barking/growl sound of the congo monkeys but it wouldn't upload. It was definitely a "roaring" sound that none of us will forget

Tomorrow is another long tourist type day to visit a crater lake and volcano, so we may not post again until Monday.

Look carefully for the "owl eye".

We've arrived

The merry band of travelers arrived late in Managua (which is 2 hours behind east coast time). All our luggage arrived as well and we had a 30 minute drive to our host agency where we gratefully found our bunk beds and crashed. We've had a hearty breakfast of rice and beans, huevos rancheros, fresh mango, watermelon, pineapple,  and bananas. It's pleasantly cool, hi 70's this morning and we've seen some colorful birds. We will head out shortly for a tour of historic monuments and cultural sites in Managua then a visit to a natural preserve. We will try to post more tomorrow.  Janice Butler, Director of Civic Engagement

Blog for Brigade Trip May 14

Here is where we will be posting updates from the delegation traveling to Nicaragua.  Our group of 13 will be arriving in Managua late Friday night, but look for daily posts about our activities as volunteers from Bucknell University, alumni, and community members work with the Center for Development in Central America.