Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Tesoros de Dios

Within these walls is where societies' least of these are considered Treasures of Christ. At Tesoros de Dios, children cared for range from dyslexia to severe cerebral palsy. It is on those mats the children receive physical therapy and outside of the center they participate in horse therapy. Along with therapy, they are provided with various learning opportunities, such as computer skills.

The organization is run by pure passion, surviving on the little donations they get to pay bills and keep the place running comfortably for the children they serve. I met one of the women who helps to make this place happen a month or two back, today I had the chance to go to the center and I felt the joy the workers had, and the smiles on the children's faces reassured me that Teresos was doing a great work for Christ's kingdom.

I wanted to write about this because I know some of you have generous hearts and a little bird told me that any donations, even just 10$ helps them out tremendously. If you are interested in learning more about Tesoros de Dios just send me an e-mail and I can either get you more information or let you know how you can help at Joanna.Dykstra@trnty.edu.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Sandalias de Cebra

Leon is one of my favorite places in Nicaragua. The people are friendly, the streets are clean, the architecture is interesting and second-hand American clothing boutiques are everywhere. I was able to get about six interviews in two days and a new pair of Roxy flip flops. It was a nice change of pace and faces.

The picture on the left is Alma. She has been my translator and cultural bridger for my internship. My first project was to write a story on her to help increase her funding. She is a vibrant person and a lot of fun to work with.

In the middle photo, second from the left, is Lourdes. Lourdes runs the Buen Trato program(domestic violence program). The photo on the right is Rakel, she runs the HIV/AIDS program.

Alma, Lourdes, Rakel and I met with the leaders who are running these programs in their churches. We were able to hear about how their experiences were going, how the knowledge they are learning is changing their lives and the surrounding communities, what challenges they are facing and what they envision for the future.

I love being able to go into peoples homes and churches and see how God is moving in Nicaragua; because when you only walk down the streets and play at the beach, you miss out on the real heart of this place. They are a people of passion, eager to learn, and ready to sacrifice their desires for Christ's. They are a nation in the process of transformation and I feel blessed to be here.

Monday, April 19, 2010

!lluvia lluvia!

For the first time in four months the clouds released their moisture into the Pacific Nicaraguan Coast on Saturday! We happened to be in Masaya visiting a famous market known for their art work, Artesanía.

The Artesanía is all handcrafted pottery, leather products, and paintings. They are very beautiful. But of course, I bought two pairs of wooden earrings. After the market, we went to a restaurant and ate a meal for $2. When we got back Greg was arriving home from his time filming in the mountains again. We went to On the Run to hang out and talk for the night.

Thanks to Amanda Cleary, I finished my first writing project for the Nehemiah Center today. I learned a lot through writing that one story. I look forward to writing my next assignments.

Wednesday, I will be going to Leon for two days to gather testimonials from the people impacted by the domestic violence and HIV/AIDS programs.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

¿Donde Vas?

Catching a taxi is a fairly easy thing to do in Managua, considering that every minute probably about 10 stop and try to get you in their car. The hard part comes when trying to tell them where to go...They don't have street names or addresses!

An address would be for example, turn left at the coconut tree and go three blocks in the direction of the lake. If the taxi driver doesn't know where THE coconut tree is you will have to get a different driver who knows. Getting home this is what I tell them...

Las Brissas, tres cuadras pasado el Hospital Lenin Fronsseca. Una derecha y una izquierda.
I live in Las Brissas, three blocks past Lenin Fronsseca Hospital, take a right, and then a left.

Sam came home for the week, so we decided to go to this Art Cafe. The guide book said their was supposed to be Open Mike nights on Wednesdays. Turns out, the entertainment was Star Trek in Spanish and after that really loud Hispanic eighties music with outrageous music videos. We had a good time. It was located at El Statua de Montoya, tres cuadras oeste o baja, una derecha y una cuadra mas.

This morning Sam and I caught a lizard with a blue tail.


Saturday, April 10, 2010

En Dios Confio


As far as our internships go, everyone but me is doing a film. This week, Greg, Sam, and Tim each left to begin filming in different Nicaraguan Communities. They are each gone for a different amount of time. The organizations I am writing for are based in Managua, so I have been here all week by myself. At times I was a bit lonely, because I am used to always being in a group of four. I tried to make the best of my time though.

It was one of the first times I felt alone here, which if you have ever experienced is not a great feeling. But, I new that God has purpose in everything he does, so I trusted that He was teaching me something through this. I don't know if I learned anything new, but I really had to rely on Christ to be my comforter, instead of people. I listened to some podcasts from Hillsong Church in Australia and one in particular talked about the need to give adoration to Christ and to always begin things with an attitude and words of gratefulness. I was encouraged, because with a shift in my attitude, my time alone did not have to be boredom. I used it to praise him, I used the time to make a plan of things to do and go out and do them, I used it to reflect, and read a lot.

I finished a book, Three Cups of Tea. I started reading it when I got here and it took me a while to finish, but it was a great story, and the topic happened to almost be an application of what I have been learning about poverty alleviation.

I posted a while ago about not knowing how to love people the way Christ does and that I was going to try and figure that out. Well, I have not come to a complete conclusion but I have been reading two books that have completely challenged my thinking and I highly recommend them. One is When Helping Hurts, the other is Poverty Alleviation. If you are interested in helping anyone at all, I suggest you read these first.

Before I leave I will be sure to talk about what I have learned as far as helping the poor, I don't feel as though I can do it right now, because I know that I still have a lot more to find out.


Monday, April 5, 2010

Fuimos a Leon

In all of Nicaragua, Leon is the only city that has a sight like this. On Good Friday, the people fill the streets to watch their friends and family make artwork of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. They make this art work out of wood shavings, dirt, corn, rice, and beans. Their is no music or dancing, because they see this as a holy day, a day to remember the suffering that happened.

The artwork is vibrant in color, each one displaying a tribute to Jesus Christ. Along with the artwork, on the streets there are many people cooking and selling food. The most common thing was fried chicken and French fries.

This weekend we also got to see Roberto and Griselda's house. They live in a rural area outside of the city. The property they live on holds all of Griselda's family. As each one gets married they either add on a room to the house, or build one right besides it. Roberto kept making jokes about how it is actually an empire of Griselda's family. Her family included grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, and sisters. When a man gets married, its a custom to live with the girls' family. When they have saved enough money they get permission from the eldest in the family to own part of the property and build a house. They built theirs only a year and a half ago.

Roberto and Griselda stayed in Leon for another day, but Greg, Tim, and I returned home on Saturday morning. We took this opportunity to cook some familiar food. We chose Chicago Style hot dogs for lunch and French Toast for dinner. It was a good day.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Semana Santa

This week was the first week of my internship. This week is also Holy Week, which means that almost every person in Managua doesn't go to work and heads to the beach. As the week progressed buses filled with people leaving the city, stores closed down, and buses stopped running. We still came to the Nehemiah Center everyday because, for us, there was work that needed to be done.

We didn't do anything too exciting. Although, I did get to watch Dancing with the Starts on Monday and Tuesday night! Last night Greg and I went up to the local "On The Run"(gas station) and hung out there for the night. It has air conditioning, coffee, and snacks; making it a great place to relax and talk.

Tonight we are heading to Leon, where Roberto and Grieselda actually live, to see the festivities for Holy Friday. We are going to stay the night at Roberto's parents house tonight, tomorrow go out and see the city and watch the ceremonies late into the night.

I'll miss you all on Easter Sunday, because that day is not celebrated like we do, the big celebrations are today(Thursday) and Friday, one lady here explained it as being kind of "anti-climactic."

I will be celebrating Sunday though, because Jesus Christ came to the earth for the least of these and he came to pay for our sins so that if we confess them and live for him we will spend eternity with him. I praise him for his sacrifice and for the miracle of his resurrection, because he is ALIVE and living within us today.

Happy Easter!