Fui Mee Quek: Working in the VIllages of Nicaragua

This report just came in from a dear friend and partner who lives in London and has gone to work with another friend, Rose Casey (from Calgary) in the barrios around Chinandega.

Driving from the main town of Managua to Chinandega was an adventure in itself – three hours on a pot holed road with single lane in each direction closing our eyes as Rossy (Pastor Osvaldo’s wife) over took large lumbering trucks with even larger ones carrying logs and animals heading straight for us. It was also an art not hitting anything on the verges – herds of skinny cattle, horses, skinny dogs – even a pig…and that was skinny too, relatively!

We settled in our hotel in Chinandega which would be our base for the week – at least this small hotel had air con, hot water and Wi Fi. Absolute luxury next to the huts made of corrugated iron, cloth and tarpulin in the villages.

On Sunday we encountered our first main challenge - speaking at Pastor Osvaldo’s church – a first for both Rose, my friend from Canada who gave her testimony and myself who shared the message. Using an interpreter, Osvaldo’s very lovely daughter Monse, has it’s pros and cons; it gives you time to glance at notes and take a little rest but the language translation can change thewhole story as I was trying to illustrate the difference between the eagle which soars high in the air and the crow which squawks and flaps around it – except Monse did not know what a crow was. After a quick debate in front of the congregation I quickly changed the story to a chicken which everyone could identify with! In fact just as we left the church a woman walked by clutching 4 dead chicken by their feet.

Monday the group drove to Limonal, a village we visited last year – off the beaten track. I was hoping the huge holes in the track were not going to damage Rossy’s “new” Hyundai van. The children were in the make shift school which gave a perfect opportunity for us to teach them.Lee Ann (16y) and Jenny (15y) enjoyed engaging with the kids and going through with them the posters we had printed in Spanish of hygiene and the importance of washing hands etc. We realised later though that the kids went straight from class to playing in the mud to eating their food with their fingers and noone had the opportunity to wash their hands as of course the one and only sink was occupied in the feeding centre! Hopefully they would be cleaner at home……One can only hope.

Rose and Angela (a girl we met from US) taught the adults in groups and I taught them how to treat their own minor illnesses, wound infections, coughs colds, diarrhoea etc with home made remedies. We gave them bottles of Calpol/acetominophen for their familes along with a fact sheet and dosage instructions and tablets for themselves. Hopefully my English version was accurately translated into Spanish! The sex education part brought smiles and giggles. It was great to have many of the ElShaddai team out working with us and we were privileged to have 6 people who could translate and help us as well as pray.

Between us we gave deworming meds to over 250 adults and kids which I I felt was the most cost effective thing we could give them. The spectacles I had brought from UK were a big hit and many were so grateful to be able to see more clearly again. The local pastor even rushed to see his father with a few to try on.

It was touching again to work at the feeding centre – chopping carrots..loads of carrots, celery and laughing as we squished tomatoes with our hands unintentionally squirting seeds and pulp at each other. I was very glad we invested in new chopping knives for the centre as it saved us from blisters. No idea how they coped for so long with knives with no handles. Also pleased some money is going to be used to buy a giant cooking pot at another centre. We have good photos of Lee Ann stirring the broth over a huge fire and dishing out into the usual mottly coloured assortment of plastic pails.

I am sure over 250 kids and pregant/breastfeeding mothers were fed – the queue was never ending and Lee Ann was worried we would run out. Fortunately just enough for all. What struck me was how small the kids were which was more noticeable than before when we asked their ages when we dewormed them. 12 year olds looked half their age and it was a small comfort that they were getting three decent meals a week.

In the midst of all of this there was a torrential downpour and the paths were full of mud. It was sad to see the water going into the homes and we dare not even venture in. Hard to teach about hygiene and sanitation when the infrastructure is not in place. The flies and heat were exhausting and we were delighted to enjoy a meal at Osvaldo’s home afterwards.

Off to next village now.

With love

Fui Mee