Hello everyone,

It is time for another update.  A lot has happened in the last month.  Let me start with the new centre which I was working at.  It is called Hogar Amiguitos, little friends.  It is in Jinotega, four hours north of Managua.  The temperature there is fresher and quite cool at night.  We were up in the mountains.  The first few days I was there, I couldn’t get warm.  I had on all the warm clothes that I had and still was shivering.  After a few days, I got used to the temperature and even wore shorts a couple of days!

What did I do while I was there, you ask.   Good question.  I became a part of the staff.  I helped get the younger children up and through the morning routine, make their bed, organize their stuff, shower, etc.  I was also teaching English for a while.  That was interesting but I was getting into it.  I spent the rest of my time with the children, helping where I was needed and keeping the peace.  There are 18 children in this centre from the age of 6 to 17, 11 boys and 7 girls.  They all had a way of being sweet and helpful and some of them had a way of causing headaches.  I did have a few frustrating days but most of the time was good.  I met some very nice people there.  The most important person I met was another Canadian named Vicki.  We had some good times laughing and baking.  We made cinnamon buns and white buns.  One time we were sure it was going to be a disaster but it turned out.  On Sunday, Marta, the cook, has a day off.  People there take turns cooking lunch.  I took over that duty twice.  I made meatballs in a tomato sauce and the other day I made a variation on baked macaroni.  (Spaghetti with ground beef, carrots, corn, and a tomato sauce baked.)  It turned out okay, at least everyone ate it without pushing it around in their plate.  I took that as a good sign.

On Sunday, the 10^th, I came back to Ticuantepe with my sister, Yelba.  She is the psychologist there at the centre.  I came back with a temperature, headache, diarrhea, and a stomach ache.  It is now Thursday and I almost feel normal.  I didn’t have all of these symptoms together but spread out over the last few days.  It seems that the worst is over, but I still don’t feel normal.

Here in the house, they are preparing for a wedding.  A granddaughter is getting married on the 15^th of Dec.  The reception is going to be here in the house.  When I got back on Monday, the kitchen floor had been cemented; it had cement before but was in bad shape.  Papito, my host dad, is painting everywhere which stinks badly.  Everything is the kitchen is still out of order and it is hard to do anything.  Oh well, things will come together.

For the rest of the month, I plan to do some visiting and relaxing.  At this point, I am not sure what I will be doing in January.  I have ideas but nothing secure.  I have decided that I will come home on April 3^rd.  I think of everyone often and miss all of you.  I hope that you have a great Christmas.  Enjoy the winter months for me, because I hope to miss the most of it.

Take care,

Katherine

By around 9 AM, we had arrived at the house of my friend Oscar’s family.  We had travelled in two buses, a boat and a van to get there.  The occasion to the visit was a cuince anos, or fifteenth birthday.  Here it is a big deal when someone turns 15.  It resembles a wedding.  There are fancy dresses, waltzes, lots of food, dancing, etc.  Around 10:30 PM, it started to rain and it rained hard.  I took shelter in the house but there were some people out in the rain dancing through it all.  I cut out early, around 11:30, but the party went on until 3 or 5 depending on who you ask.  I don’t think that anyone was looking at the clock.

On Sunday, we went to a very beautiful place to swim.  La Presa, has water coming from underground and the water is crystal clear.  I had lots of fun swimming and laughing with my friends.  After a couple of hours in the water, we all looked like prunes.  With great reluctance I got out to eat some chicken and rice.  Then at 5PM, a van came back to pick us up.  After supper, a group of us went to the central park and walked around.  There wasn’t much to do because the only thing open was the pharmacy and a few small stores.  We ended up talking for a while and then going to bed at a decent hour.

On Monday, we got up early and made out way back to Ticuantepe.  I was a little sad to leave the island because it was beautiful there.  People there are friendly and help one another.  There are pigs everywhere.  They wonder the streets like dogs do here in Ticuantepe.  I would like to go back there in November or December to visit again.  There is also a children’s home that I want to visit.

On Wednesday, I got ready and went to Jinotepe.  I am now going to be helping out there at a centre called, ‘Los Ninos del Rey’ or ‘Children of the King’.  I spent the last three days hanging out with the kids and getting to know their names and their routine.  I have some ideas of things I could do there.  I really like the centre and the location.  It is very beautiful.  I may stay there longer than one month which was my original plan.  I will have to see what happens.  Everything happens for a reason.  We may see something as a mistake, but God does everything for good reason.  I think that I mentioned that I thought that I was communicating with a different centre.  I may have been mistaken but God knew what He was doing.

Friday, friends from Hogar Belen came to see the centre where I am now living.  Gretel, the physical therapist, Davin, the person overseeing the construction of the new project in Diriamba, and Winston, the engineer of the project where the three people who came.  They liked the centre.  The buildings are nice, there is lots of space, the kids are polite, and they are working on maintaining family connections.  There are many family units in the centre, six siblings, four, two, three.  The director, Erick Garcia, really works for the good of the kids and maintaining contact with their families is one of these things.

I got a ride back to Ticuantepe with my friends and had fun joking around with them.  We have a date to go to the beach and eat fried fish once this stage of the building project is complete.  I also have a date to go to the beach with another friend.  I am not sure when I will get there but I will cash in on that.

Today is a catch-up day for me.  I woke up early and washed laundry.  It took about two hours to get it all finished.  By the end I wanted to go back to sleep.  The good news is that the sun is shining and my clothes are drying.  Tomorrow I will go back to Jinotepe and really get into the swing of things there.  I am living in the girls house and eating with them.  It is kind of like living in a dorm where everyone is in bed by 8PM.  I have gotten into the habit of going to bed early as well.

Here are the basics on the centre.  There are 40 children, 23 boys and 17 girls.  The youngest is just over a year and the oldest is 13.  There are two houses, one for girls and the other for boys.  Three boys and the littlest boy, live in the girls house because they don’t fit in the boys home.  They come to the girls home to sleep and eat, but spend the rest of the time with the boys.  Most of the children go to school in the morning, while two go in the afternoon.  There are six children who are too young to go to school yet.  I think that I will work with them in the morning.  I will let you know more about the children as I learn more.

Take care,

Katherine

I know that it has been a while since I have written on live journal.  I have had a minor problem with my laptop.  The writing program is only good for three months and then I need a code to fully enable it.  I have been figuring it out though.  I will try to sum up the last three weeks.

In week three, a volunteer group came from New York to Hogar Belen.  They spent most of their time at Diriamba.  Mustard Seed Communities, the organization which runs Hogar Belen, is building a new centre.  It has much more space and is owned by MSC.  The current site is loaned to us.  In ten years, it has to go back to the owner.  The other problem is that much of the buildings are wood and the termites are eating it up.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it were to fall one day.  The group that was here were working on building a retaining wall and the front wall.  I asked what exactly they were doing and they said, moving dirt from here to there.  I had to laugh at that.

One of the boys at Hogar Belen, Moises, is supposed to have an operation on his foot in September.  His Achilles tendon is short and he walks up on tip toes.  A brigade of doctors is supposed to be coming and will perform the operation.

On Saturday, I went to visit a centre in Jinotepe with Gretel.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to live in the centre or travel daily from Ticuantepe.  I got there and was quite impressed by the houses, the children and the director as well.  I really like to see centres working for the good of families and the children specifically.  ‘Los Ninos del Rey’ is working in conjunction with families to care for their children.  When they encounter a family who can’t properly care for their children they take them in.  Some of the children go home on the weekends.  Others have visits from their families from time to time.  Gretel and I spent the morning talking to the director, and visited another centre close by.  Then in the afternoon, we spent with the children playing and watching movies.  My time there was really good and figure that it is better to live in the centre then take a van every day.  It takes about an hour each way.

In my fourth week here, Gretel got the idea to bring a puppy to Hogar Belen.  Some of the kids were scared of it at first.  Others could have cared less.  Bryan, on the other hand, loved Vicki.  He was running around with her and rolling in the grass.  Then he wanted to put the puppy to sleep in a crib and dress her.  I said no because they both were dirty.  I was really happy to see Bryan take such an interest in Vicki.  He comes from living on the streets and now needs time to be a boy again.

The new MCC volunteers arrived on the 18^th of August.  I went to Managua on Thursday to meet them.  Emma will be working at Hogar Belen once she finishes studying Spanish.  Paul will be working at a school for deaf children.  This is the same school where Bryan will be going come February.  We spent the evening playing games and talking about Nicaragua as well as other things.

I went to the new building site to see what the volunteer group was able to accomplish in their week here.  The front wall is almost complete and it looks great.  They also laid blocks for the driveway.  Without this, the dirt would wash away with the first rainstorm.  Speaking of rainstorms, we were hit with a big one on Sunday, the 26^th.  The sun was shining in the morning and then around 2PM, the rain started.  It came heavy at times, and rained into the night.  The lights went out at some point.  I went to sleep for an hour and a half at 6.  I was woken up to eat and went back to sleep at 9.  When you can’t go out and there is no lights, things can be quite boring.

In my fifth week in Nicaragua, I went to visit another centre where I will end up working at some point.  They have 10 kids right now but it is a new centre.  They have children under six in that house.  There is another house where they have 7 young men between the age of 12 and 17.  There is also another centre in Jinotega where they have the children between the age of 6 and 13 or so.  When I know more about this centre, I will let you know.

Another exciting thing that I was able to do this week was visit my sponsor child in Tipitapa.  I started sponsoring a boy with Compassion International last December.  In July, just as I was getting ready to leave for Nicaragua, I found out that my sponsor child had left the project.  So I arranged to sponsor another child.  This child, Miguel Angel, is 5 and has 5 siblings.  He lives with his mother and grandparents.  He will start school this coming year.  I was welcomed very warmly by the director of the project as well as Miguel Angel’s grandma.  They were all very happy to have me helping Miguel and were happy to meet me.  Miguel is quiet but has a beautiful smile.  I was invited to their home where I met more of his family.  I gave them some things which I had brought, toys, crayons, rice, beans, salt, coffee, and other basic food stuff.  In the house I made some balloon animals for the children and their cousins.  I was really happy to meet the family and especially Miguel Angel.  Before I leave Nicaragua, I would like to visit again.

One more piece of new is that I bought a cell phone.  I always have it with me so if you want to call me feel free.  The number is 011-505-419-9636.  I hope that everyone is keeping well.  I think of you often.  Give all of my nieces and nephews a big kiss and hug for me.  I miss you all.  Please let me know if you are reading this blog so that I know who I am writing to.  I want everyone to keep up to date with what I am doing.  I also want to know what is going on in your lives.

Take care,

Katherine

My second week in Nicaragua has been as exciting as the first.  On Sunday, the church I attend had a bizarre to raise money.  They had music playing loudly and every once in a while announced the prices of the items for sale.  They had ‘sopa de res’ (beef soup), ‘carne asada con tajadas’ (bar-b-que beef with fried plantain), ‘pollo rostisado’ (fried chicken), ‘baho’ (a typical dish which is cooked over a fire in a huge pot:  yucca, green and ripe plantain, beef, tomato, onion and salt), ‘torta de papas‘ (mashed potato with cheese inside fried), ‘tajada con queso’ (fried plantain with fried cheese).  You could also buy pop, natural fruit juice, used clothes, and try you luck with the raffle.  I got a bar of soap to wash my clothes.  It is pink and smells great.  I bought baho for dinner and fried chicken for supper.  The rest of the afternoon and evening I did nothing, literally.  I alternated between the hammock, my bed and the rocking chair in the living room.  I tried to read but couldn’t get into the book.  It is nice to have a day off, but boy was I bored!  I was inside was because it rained on and off most of the day.

Monday I had a full day at Hogar Belen.  In the morning, I was working with Gretel in the physical therapy room.  We had most of the little children at some point or other.  A couple of the boys are making great progress.  Moises came to Hogar Belen at the age of ten months.  He couldn’t support his head, appeared not to be able to see well and didn’t even roll over.  Now, he holds his head up, sits on his own and pulls himself up to standing in his crib.  Moises is also playing with some toys whereas before he had no interest.  Now Moises is two years and three months old.  He is much happier, and is terribly cute as well.  I will post a photo of him.

Bryan came to Hogar Belen last July at the age of seven and a half.  He was living with his mom in Managua but was being abused by someone in the home and was removed by Mi Familia (Nicaraguan version of Child and Family Services).  He ran away from home a lot and was running with a gang in the streets.  He had learned a lot of bad habits, such as stealing and fighting.  Bryan is deaf, that is why he came to Hogar Belen.  Despite this, Bryan is very smart and communicates very well in his own way.  Recently, a group of speech therapy students came from the United States and were working with some of the children.  They were showing Bryan some basic signing.  Bryan is picking up the signs very fast.  He no longer tries to run away or shows less aggression.  Bryan will be starting at a different school come January.  There is a school in Leon which is for deaf children.  He will live there during the week and come home on the weekends.  I think that he will thrive there.

The afternoons at Hogar Belen are a time for doing homework.  This has always been a challenge for me.  Some of the children don’t want to do their work or their attention spans are very short.  My patience has been tried a lot in this area.  Now homework has become a part of every afternoon.  Over all, the kids want to do their work so that they can go and take part in an activity with Reuben, a teacher who comes in the afternoons, and Gretel, the physical therapist.  Moises who is 6 years old, has a lot of problems with motivation.  He is the most frustrating for me.

3:30 in the afternoon, is ‘oracion’, or prayer time.  The kids get together and Rueben and Gretel lead them in some songs and read a short Bible story.  Then they take their drums, maracas, and other instruments and walk around the centre singing a praise song as loud as they can making all kinds of noise.  I know that this may be loud but it is music to God’s ears.  The kids love this time.  I would like to introduce more pictures in the Bible story.  Bryan, for one, doesn’t get much from just reading the story because he can’t hear it.  At the end of this time, a child says a prayer in what ever way they can.  Ruth likes to pray, she mumbles words that I can’t understand and every once in a while, she puts in the names of the children or workers.  I may not understand all of the prayer but I know God does.

One of the most trying times this week was Wednesday morning.  I got to Hogar Belen early, at 7AM.  I went with the driver, Roger, to bring the kids to school in Managua.  It turns out that two of our kids were supposed to go ride horses as a type of therapy.  Joel can’t go on his own because he puts everything in his mouth and wants to run free.  I thought that I could go with him because I didn’t want him to miss this opportunity.  I passed the morning with a boy of 12 years who only wanted to get away and run free.  It was not a secure closed in place so he had to be with me.  Joel was not happy with that.  I ended up with fruit juice all over me which led to mud on my feet and more sun then I wanted.  The only thing that I could do with Joel was walk around.  We walked and walked and walked.  That was the longest 2 hours of my life.  The only saving grace was that he actually got on the horse and rode it for a while.  He seemed to enjoy it for a while.

Today is a holiday for Santo Domingo, August 1st and 10^th.  I am at home today.  Tomorrow I am going to Managua to visit another children’s home, ‘Divino Nino’, which is for kids up to the age of 6 or 7.  Many of our children have come from ‘Divino Nino’ (divine child).   They have around 60 children.  I have wanted to go there for a while.  As well, tomorrow a volunteer group is coming to Hogar Belen.  They are from New York.  I am not sure what they are going to do in their week here.  They may go to the new site and help there.  They started building another boundary wall this past Monday.

I will fill you in on all of that later.  I should go and check on my laundry which is drying outside.  I trust that everyone is well.  I miss you all.
Katherine

Everything went well with my flights and I arrived in Managua on time.  My friend was at the airport to pick me up.  It is about 25 degrees right now and very humid.  I am sitting here wiping sweat of my face.  I will take a quick, cold shower and hit the hay.  It has been a long day.
Katherine