Reflections

We wore Patrick out



The teacher at Palo de Agua; inside the classroom


Beautiful children; Happy Gringos

Happy travelers

Wonderful inventions for water

Our 3 projects: building a latrine; working on new school; painting old school


We will be leaving for a day of activity and then the airport tomorrow, so I am wrapping up with some of our reflections. We did a group sharing last night and I am using some of the reflections from the group.

We are so impressed with the staff of Seeds of Learning. They are the most dedicated people ever, and do wonders with their limited resources. We noticed how worn out most of their materials are. Claudia commented that some of the puzzles they use every day are things that even Goodwill in our area would toss out.

Patrick is a miracle worker. He is so patient with us and with the people. We are impressed at how thoughtful he and SoL staff are about making sure what they do is not outsiders imposing their plans, but working with the people in a community organizing effort to accomplish great things. They are very conscientious about whatever they do and how it will impact the community.

Patrick planned such a terrific agenda for us from start to finish -- a great combination of work, interaction with people, educational and cultural opportunities as well as tourist sight seeing. He has been with us every day, as has Urania, his sister-in-law who has such a wonderful personality. They have worked overtime on our behalf, for sure.

Some other reflections about Nicaragua from our group:

--Instant friendliness of the people. Many ¨buenas dias¨ greetings as we walk down the street. Our youth yelled it out everytime we drove in or out of Dario.

--Such loving relationships -- family and community are everything. Even teens and parents seem to interact so well.

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--Patience of everyone, especially the children waiting for their turn at something.

--Children are so clean and neat, even with the dirt floors and animal waste on the ground.

--They spend hours and hours just for subsistence. They walk miles into town from the villages. The women spend hours each day making tortillas for family--sometimes 2-3 times a day. Just getting water from the well is a chore.

--Inventiveness -- they make do with what they have, sometimes with very creative results.

--Life is simple -- they don't complicate things. Things are not rushed, but people seem to have time for visiting a lot. We saw very few TVs, although we were surprised that a few people had cell phones. Nikki thought it was interesting that there was cell phone connection at various spots in Nicaragua when she can't even get good connection at her home in Santa Rosa!

--The staff are so committed. The teacher at Palo de Agua walks from Dario to Palo de Agua every day. The night watchman rides his bike many miles every night to be in Dario, and works 7 nights a week. The staff at SoL give so much of themselves.

We have also loved the cooler weather than expected. Many days had periodic cloud cover and a breeze. We did our share of sweating, however, and haven´t minded the cold showers!

A few of our group have had "tourista" problems, but we have loved this trip.

We have been so fortunate to have Kristine Sheerin with us. She has been a constant interpreter, as she is fluent in Spanish. She has been a blessing!

And a huge Thank You to Linda Carroll for organizing this trip. She was our "jefe" (leader, in Spanish, if I got it right!)

Home soon.

Hasta luego.