Manna Project International Nicaragua

Mi primera semana = My first week.

2012-01-25T07:59:00.000-08:00

Last monday I arrived on site to the Manna Project International house in Nicaragua. I thought I would share 5 first impressions since my arrival.

1) Coming from the Northeast, the weather here is beautiful. In January/February/March it is the dry season in Nicaragua. The temperature is 80+ on most days with an occasional breeze.

2) The Manna House serves many purposes. Located slightly outside of the community we serve the house is not only sleeping quarters but also a home office, social networking, an exercise room and most importantly a place to build friendships with 10 other people who have the common desire to work along side the people here in Managua.

3) The main form of transportation here is our micro. I have learned to love it already, as it serves not only as our mode of transportation but we often pick up several kids in the different programs at their homes. Otherwise I don't think they would attend without us picking them up each day.

4) It takes a village to raise a child. This statement has reoccured in my mind several times this week. Here in Nicaragua the front door is always open. In the states, I think our culture has drastically shifted away from helping our neighbors. Just in the short week I am reminded that it is oh so important to invest in your neighbors and those who you live with. Each time there is a break in between classes, any one of us can simply walk across the street and chat with just about anyone nearby.

5) The programs are successful because of the people behind them, both in the community and the staff in the Manna House. Everyone is devoted to their individual programs and are often looking for ways to make improvements. Upon arriving to the house I wasn't really sure which program (s) would interest me most. The best thing about being here so far is that I don't have to decide yet and there is a wide variety to choose from. Will share more later on each of those programs. #buenosdias

MPI Ecuador

2011-12-08T06:54:00.000-08:00

And now, here's a little bit about our friends at MPI Ecuador, courtesy of Heather! Enjoy!

Hey everyone, this is Heather Kryzak, one of the 7 Program Directors at the MPI Ecuador site. I am in charge of our site’s blog, (along with Watkins Fulk-Gray) and am writing to give our Nicaragua and Guatemala readers an update on how things are going here in the Chillos Valley.

We arrived here in July and spent our first two weeks living in Quito with host families, getting to know the Ecuadorian culture and taking some intensive Spanish classes. Then we moved into the valley and got started with a 3-week summer camp for kids. This was a great chance for us to meet the kids in our community and their parents and to start finding our way around the valley.

Since then we have been busy with our first quarter of programs, most of which we run out of our public-lending library and community center in Rumiloma. This space holds our adult and children’s English classes, children’s art, women’s exercise, adult’s nutrition and cooking classes, and a new computer class one of our PD’s Charlie started up this year. The library is also a safe space for children to come and play games, read, and get help with their homework. A special part of the library is reserved just for teens to hang out, play videogames and ping-pong, and occasionally watch movies on a Friday night.

In addition to the programs we hold in the library, the small business development program meets directly with local businesses giving them free consultations and help with accounting. Two of our PD’s work directly in a nearby high-school giving nutrition classes for children once a week. We also have an agriculture program that works with a local organic farmer’s cooperative and with another foundation nearby that has small organic garden plots.

We just said goodbye to our first round of short-term volunteers, a group of 5 girls from the University of Georgia who spent the week shadowing our programs and helping us with some manual labor. It was exciting and refreshing to get some big projects taken care of and hear some outside perspectives on what we are doing here.

The first quarter has flown by for us in a whirl of meeting new people and establishing lasting relationships in the community. As we wrap up and prepare for vacation we are also busy planning a Christmas party for community members in the library and a larger community celebration to be held when we return in January. We have found it to be important to hold events every once in a while to attract new faces to the center while letting everyone know we are still here and our programs will continue to go strong.

Thanks to Guatemala and Nicaragua for this chance to share a little bit of news from Ecuador. Check out our site’s blog http://www.openhandsdirtyfeet.blogspot.com/ for more information on life in the Chillos Valley!

MPI Guatemala

2011-12-06T06:10:00.000-08:00

Today's post is from our friends at MPI Guatemala, and aims to give Nicaragua readers an idea of the great work going on at other Manna sites. Later this week, I will also be sharing a post from the Ecuador folks. Thanks for reading!

What’s up Manna friends, family, fans and followers! My name is Cameron Roth and I am a Program Director in Sololá, Guatemala. Today, I have the distinct pleasure of sharing a little bit of our life in Guatemala. For starters, we live in the town of Sololá on Lake Atitlan. For those of you who have never heard of this little heaven on Earth, allow me to turn to my good friend Aldous Huxley (the casual author of everyone’s favorite high school novel Brave New World). Mr. Huxley describes Lake Atitlan as “[Lake] Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing." Mr. Huxley, I agree with you.

However, Manna Project is about collaborating with and helping target communities abroad, not just living in beautiful places (although it is a plus). Our programs differ from those in Ecuador and Nicaragua as we run all of them through two schools, Central and Cooperativa. In Chaquijyá, about twenty minutes outside of Sololá on the Pan-American Highway, we work with kids teaching English, giving health talks, and working on environmental awareness. In Guatemala, English is a government-mandated subject, but as you can imagine most rural teachers do not speak a word of English. So we teach in La Primaría, which is 1^st – 6^th grade, and give English classes to 3^rd – 6^th graders. In addition, we offer after-school English for advanced and/or motivated students, and Teacher’s English so that they can begin forming their own curricula. Our health talks consist of preventative health measures such as proper dental hygiene, the importance of washing your hands, and good nutrition. Additionally, we are collaborating with women in the community to make soap from household items to provide it to the schools. When school is out, as it is right now, we run an educational summer camp as well. Easily the most fun part of the year, we have science experiments, sports tournaments, dance-offs, art projects and of course the daily game of cat and mouse.

Finally, we have just broken ground on construction of a four-room addition to the Central school. However, this addition is not your run-of-the-mill construction. Instead, we are constructing a second floor with plastic bottles stuffed with inorganic trash from the community. Each bottle holds about a pound of trash, and we plan to use about 13,000 bottles, so let me do the math…carry the one…that’s 13,000 less pounds of trash burned or thrown in a landfill! Wowzers!

Yes, life is wonderful here in Guatemala. I encourage all who have the opportunity to come visit the beautiful Lake Atitlan and the authentic Maya communities surrounding the lake. Every day, as we soak in the beauty of the “land of eternal spring,” we are reminded of how lucky we are to be here. The people are warm and passionate, and accept us although we may be a little bit different… and a little bit taller. It is a pleasure to build relationships and work together with the people in Chaquijyá. To keep up with the MPI Guatemala team visit us at www.mpiguatemala.blogspot.com!

Orale,

Cameron

Nicaraguan Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T18:22:00.000-08:00

This week, I continue to steal blog posts from my fellow PDs. Here you'll find Fiona's most recent blog about our Thanksgiving here in Managua, which actually was quite successful. Enjoy!

Despite being in a foreign country where people don't really know what Thanksgiving is, we had a great Thanksgiving here at the Manna house! Each person in the house contributed by cooking at least one dish, and our spread was impressive - the only big item missing was sweet potatoes, which sadly don't exist in this country. Our meal included turkey, stuffing, squash risotto, cornbread, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, beets, apple pie, and chocolate pie. It was all delicious, and I particularly liked that every person made something.

We converted our office table into a dinner table, and it was the first time we've all sat around one table and eaten together. Props to my housemates for some great decorating, both of the table and of ourselves...we had pilgrim and indian costumes. See the picture above to realize how awesome we are. Spending time eating together, playing a game, and watching a movie made for an amazing Thanksgiving. :-)

There are many, many things I am thankful for this year...far more than I could ever list in this blog entry. But, here's a sampling of things, big and small, which I am particularly thankful for this year.

Communities, both here in Nicaragua and back in the US. In particular: the communities I have the privilege to serve in here, my housemates, and the young adult community at St. Clares back at home.
My Spanish being good enough to communicate what I want to, most of the time.
Bug spray. (things I am NOT thankful for: the crazy number of mosquitos)
The fact that the weather is a bit cooler nowadays, at least in the evenings, and that it's not raining all the time.
Hugs.
All the freedoms and opportunities that I've been given in my life in the US: education, a well-paying job, a fair political system, safety, etc.
Friends who constantly challenge me to grow, support me, and hold me to a higher standard.
Public transportation that allows me to explore this beautiful country.
Open doors and welcoming smiles.

Home Stays

2011-11-21T19:02:00.000-08:00

This week, Jesse has shared his recent home stay experience. Here in Managua, we each do one four-night home stay in the community to expand relationships with students and community members. Enjoy!

Last week half of our group did homestays for four nights with different families in Cedro Galan. When we initially talked about doing homestays again I wasn’t particularly excited, although I really should have been. I wasn’t dreading it by any means but I didn’t really feel like I was going to accomplish much by doing it and it meant some inconveniences in terms of using internet, getting work done, and washing clothes among other things. However, this quickly changed after I decided who I wanted to do my homestay with. After some encouragement from Sam I decided to ask Samuel, a fourteen year old boy who sometimes comes to a couple of our programs, if he thought his parents would be okay with me doing my homestay there. Despite the awkward nature of asking someone I had never met if I could stay at their house for a few nights, the conversation with his parents went well and they said that they would be glad to host me. My attitude about staying in the community quickly changed and I became excited to stay with Samuel and his family.

Samuel is an extremely intelligent kid with so much potential. However, he has had some trouble at school in the past and is currently taking the year off. Because of this he has a lot of free time and spends it with older guys who seem to be anything but a good influence on him. He is also very susceptible to this influence because he lacks the self confidence necessary to make his own decisions and be his own person. Upon leaving, some of last year’s PD’s told me to watch out for Samuel and said that he was on the edge and could either become one of the “guys on the corner” or could actually realize his potential and become a productive, contributing member of society. The prospect of staying with Samuel and the opportunity to potentially be a positive role model for him was very exciting for me. I felt as if I was actually trying to accomplish something during my week at their house.

In short, my stay with the Davila family was great. Samuel’s mom, Doña Norma, is one of the sweetest people I’ve met. She is also a fantastic cook which certainly made my homestay even more pleasant. Although Samuel’s dad wasn’t around very often during the week due to his demanding job as a security guard I did get to meet him and spend a short amount of time with him and he too is a very quiet but welcoming man. They run a “venta,” or little store, out of their home that Doña Norma usually tends but that Samuel assists with. Each evening after dinner Samuel and I would watch the news at 7:00 and then an episode of House, one of Samuel’s favorite shows, at 8:00 before going to bed. One day it rained all day and we weren’t able to leave the house at all so we just sat and talked for hours. We talked about a variety of subjects including school, nature, food, sports, and science. In all, it was a fantastic week.

I feel like I was really able to connect with Samuel throughout my week at his house. I don’t maintain any illusions that I will be the determining factor that causes Samuel to go more consistently to our programs, do better in school when he returns in February, and become a successful member of the community here. However, I do think that my stay there did some good. It at least laid a stronger foundation for a relationship that I hope to maintain and expand upon. Hopefully our friendship will grow throughout my remaining time here and I can continue to provide an extra little push that could help him take a step or two in the right direction. And at the very least, we both had a great time.

Presidential Elections

2011-11-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

With United States presidential elections one year away, voters and candidates are already keeping a keen eye on the evolution of the presidential race. Few Americans are aware, however, that Nicaraguan’s presidential election is right around the corner—this coming Sunday, to be exact! Incumbent Daniel Ortega is a founding member of the ruling FSLN party (Sandinista National Liberation Front), and has amended the constitution to run for a third term. The FSLN is the socialist party that came to power after the Sandinista evolution of the 1970s, during which time Ortega served his first term as president.

Ortega’s opposition is divided between four candidates, two of which are supported by the majority of remaining voters. Fabio Gadea represents the PLI party, the right wing independent party that has merged with the more liberal MRS party to form an opposition coalition to the FSLN. Arnoldo Aleman is the candidate of the right wing PLN party, and previously served as one of the nation’s two PLN presidents in the 1990s.

While anticipation of the November 6^th election was already apparent when we arrived in July, campaigning has now reached an all time high. Last Wednesday, we were puzzled by low attendance in our kids’ classes before learning that the FSLN had bussed all children in our area to a Managua amusement park. Sandinista rallies took place all weekend, with Ortega supporters proudly sporting t-shirts with Ortega’s youth slogan “Amor, paz, y vida,” while hanging posters throughout the community. Opposition supporters were out in full force as well, holding rallies of their own in Managua and paying door-to-door visits to garner support for the PLN and PLI. While cheering for Jesse during his Saturday soccer game, a red dog reminiscent of Clifford kept us company. We quickly deduced that the PLN had hosted a rally near the soccer field that morning, during which they opted to dye our furry friend a bright shade of PLN red.

For more information on the Nicaraguan presidential elections, we recommend the following article in Nicaragua Dispatch, an English language online Nicaraguan newspaper: http://www.nicaraguadispatch.com/politics/will-democracy-survive-elections/978

Enjoy!

Rain, rain, go away...

2011-10-23T09:07:00.000-07:00

Cola was not a happy camper

Farito "road"

The day after we last updated our blog, it started raining. We’re still in the rainy season here in Nicaragua, so we can normally expect one to two hour thunderstorms every afternoon. This rain, however, was different. It began in the afternoon, but unlike our standard daily thunderstorms, it simply didn’t stop. The aguacero continued for nine days, drenching crops, flooding roads and houses, and prompting President Ortega to declare a national state of emergency.

Here at the Manna house, we initially complained at having to deal with power outages, an inability to effectively dry laundry, and our two miserable, soggy dogs. However, after venturing into Cedro Galan and Chiquilistagua and witnessing the damage wrought by the storm, we realized that our rainy woes were small in comparison to others. A large tree fell near Salero—the community center in which we work in Chiquilistagua—taking power lines and electricity for much of the surrounding community with it. In La Chureca, flooding forced seven families to spend several nights in the local school. Here in Cedro Galan, the road to Farito frequently became a large river with a sizeable current, making the walk to classes unsafe if not completely impossible. We were thus forced to cancel several programs last week, and those classes that we did have were marked by unusually low attendance. Fear of sickness and the necessity to deal with the effects of heavy rain render many Nicaraguans reluctant to leave home during storms.

As relief efforts continue throughout the country, however, there is some good news: the sun is out!!! Clothes, roads, and crops are finally drying out, and moods are improving. Here’s hoping that we’ve made it through the worst of the rainy season!

Retreat and Quarterly Review

2011-10-10T11:49:00.000-07:00

Beautiful beach sunset

Getting ready for a delicious meal of lasagna

Today we’re lucky to have a guest post from Fiona about our recent staff retreat to the nearby beach town of Pochomil. If you’re interested to read more, Fiona posts regularly at http://fionainnica.blogspot.com. Enjoy!

Last weekend, we had the opportunity to take a few days, get out of the Manna house, and reflect on the past 3 months. It is crazy how quickly the past three months have passed - I still have some days where I feel like I just arrived! Particularly in the past few weeks, I have been very, very busy, and sometimes it's easy to miss the bigger picture when I am so busy with the details. Having a few days to relax as a group, reflect on where we've been and what we've accomplished, and discuss what our goals are for the next few months was both beneficial and enjoyable.

As a group, we made a list of our successes and the things that we are most proud of from the last couple months, and I'd like to share a few of them with you:

• Community relationships - it has been a huge blessing to get the chance to connect with the families who live in Cedro Galan, Chiquilistagua, and La Chureca. I have really enjoyed just having the opportunity to spend time with them, learn more about their daily life, and understand this country and these communities better. I don't have as much time to do this as I wish, but I really enjoy the time I do spend in the community.

• Good transition and continued high attendance in programs - due to the turnover with Manna PDs each year, it's sometimes difficult to have continuity in programs and to maintain attendance as things change. Many people have remarked that we have done a good job picking up where last year's PDs left off and continuing forward with each program. It has been great to see our program attendance remain high, and in some programs even increase.

• Our first milk day without the old PDs, the day where we hand out food for the month to our child sponsorship kiddos, went off incredibly smoothly. A lot of this had to do with two qualities which kept coming up again and again as successes: everyone's ability to be proactive and to be flexible. A combination of these two is definitely needed here - as a group, we've been able to do quite a bit due to everyone being proactive, and have a clean house, a restructured English program, and some new partnerships to show for it. However, as with everything here in Nicaragua, nothing ever goes exactly as planned, and flexibility is key. :)

There's many more, but those are definitely a few of the highlights for me from the past few months.

We also took the opportunity to make some goals for the next few months. They ranged from small things, like trying every flavor of ice cream at the store next to Farito and keeping the house clean, to bigger goals like reaching out to more families in the communities, saying thank you more often, and planning ahead more for our programs. I hope that, in a few more months when we have our second retreat, we're able to look back on these goals and count them as our successes.

Chase Community Giving Awards Update #1

2011-09-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

Thanks to your support, we’re off to a great start in the Chase Community Giving Competition. We’re extremely excited at the opportunity to win $1 million, and our goal is definitely within reach. As of right now, we’re in third place, but are only 150 votes behind the leading organization!

For those of you who are just now joining us, Manna Project has been chosen as one of 25 organizations competing in the Chase Community Giving Awards. Voting started today, and we need your support in order to win! If you haven’t already, please take 30 seconds to go to this link and cast a vote for Manna Project.

You can also help us raise awareness by attending our facebook event! Just click here to join the 6,000 people invited to attend!

One million dollars could change the lives of thousands of children and young adults in Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Guatemala. Here in Nicaragua, additional funding would enable to us to expand our child sponsorship program in La Chureca, meet the growing demand for additional English classes in Cedro Galan and Chiquilistagua, and further develop new programs such as our microfinance initiative and women’s exercise classes.

Stay tuned for more updates on our progress in this exciting competition, and thank you again for your invaluable support!

We Need Your Help!

2011-09-27T14:37:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! We have some very exciting news to share! Two years ago, Manna Project participated in the Chase Community Giving competition, and won $25,000. This year, we’ve been invited to participate again, and we have the chance to win up to $1 million!! We are extremely grateful for the chance to compete, and excited about all the ways that the money could help the communities we work with in Nicaragua, Ecuador and Guatemala. Here in Nicaragua, the money would allow us to provide more financial support to the clinic in La Chureca, more microfinance loans to start-up businesses in Cedro Galan, and much more.

We need your help to win! The week-long competition takes place on Facebook, and voting starts today. Can you take 30 seconds to help us? All you have to do is go to this link and cast a vote for Manna Project. If you have 30 more seconds to spare, can you help us even more and send this information to your contacts to encourage them to vote, as well?

We are very appreciative of your support in this competition and in all the other ways you support Manna Project, and hope to have great news to report about the Chase Community Giving competition when voting ends in a week! Thanks for your vote!

Things that made us smile this week, part two

2011-09-25T11:24:00.000-07:00

After a two-week hiatus, we’re back! Sorry again for the delay in posting—most PDs went out of town last week during the holiday celebrating Central American independence, and we’ve been extra busy since our return! As promised, here are more anecdotes that made us smile this week.

· Watching Agdiel, who is extremely handicapped and generally unable to articulate sentences, answer a question asked in English correctly. –Davis

· A three-year-old Nicaraguan student asking if she may use the restroom in English during our Kids English class at Salero. –Davis

· One of our students, who is thirty years old, sprinting to the board during a game of Pictionary yelling the English answer at the top of her lungs, and telling us multiple times how much she had loved the class. –Davis

· Ariel, who generally struggles at math, confidently explaining to Flor, one of our best students, how to find the area of a circle; which we had just taught him. –Davis

· Watching our women’s exercise class do a zumba workout to Danza Kuduro in the water during our pool workout at the Manna house! –Anna

· This week my kid's English class at Colegio Cristiano La Esperanza in La Chureca was amazing. All of the kids were so motivated and focused on learning a hard concept. To see them eager to learn and willing to try with great attitudes even if it meant getting the answer wrong was awesome. The thing that left me beaming all day though was watching them succeed and the pride that showed all over their faces when they got the answers correct. –Jesse

· "Johnny," Luis Fernando's talking basketball, writing the correct answer to a question on the board in our Salero Kids English class. –Maggie

· Francisco, another student in our Salero Kids English class, telling us that we're his family when we got up at 6 am to watch him participate in his school's parade. –Maggie

· Seeing Douglas, a kid in our Child Sponsorship program, sprinting 50 feet down the street in Chureca because he's so excited to see us. –Maggie

· Seeing lots of my students at Mass today, and meeting the adorable little brother of one of my favorite students, William. –Fiona

· Delicious pizza and good conversation with fellow PDs at a nearby Italian restaurant. –Fiona

· Getting a chance to see the house and small store of one of our child sponsorship families in La Chureca. –Fiona

· Jose Raul, one of my math students, understanding how to simplify fractions! –Fiona

Things that made us smile this week

2011-09-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

Davis playing Jenga with Janice and Arexa

Maggie and Henry

This past weekend, Fiona shared her most recent blog post, titled “Things that made me smile this week.” After reading her post, several of us in the Manna House were inspired to write similar blogs and emails for our friends and family. The idea is a great one, and helps to explain what makes our work so meaningful here in the communities of Cedro Galan, Chiquilistagua, and La Chureca. Together we’ve compiled a list of experiences that made each of us smile this past week. I thought I’d save some for our next blog post, so stay tuned for more smiles to come!

Things that made us smile this week:

· Randomly running into one of our teen English students, Francisco, at the market on my way to catch a bus, and him actually being excited to see us. –Fiona

· An amazing mother helping her three year old daughter to start learning English, by attending class with her and practicing outside of class as well. –Fiona

· Hearing Lesther, a two-year-old in our child sponsorship program in La Chureca, laugh for the first time. –Fiona

· Realizing that FOIL (an acronym we learned in high school algebra) doesn’t translate to Spanish, and deciding to use a sandwich as an analogy for binomial multiplication. While finding the product of binomials, Jose Antonio, my math student, now mutters “Here is the bread, here is the lunch meat…” –Sam

· The incredible drawings that 14-year-old Samuel makes after math and literacy and lets me take home. Samuel has dropped out of school for the semester and suffers from low self-esteem, so it’s great to see him create something he’s proud of. –Sam

· When our previously unruly girls soccer team responds super well to direction, and doesn’t complain about running suicides! –Sam

· Receiving a drawing of myself and Aydel holding hands. Aydel is a mentally handicapped boy in the community who is 16-years-old and I work with him on learning the alphabet and numbers. He can understand most everything when you talk to him but has a very difficult time saying anything. –Carrie

· Watching the women in exercise class dance Zumba to Shakira’s “Waka Waka” and having the 3-year-old children imitate us! –Carrie

· Singing the weather song with my kid’s English class. (“What’s the weather? What’s the weather? What’s the weather like today? Is it sunnyyy, is it rainyyy, is it cloudyyy, out today!”) –Carrie

· Last week, Davis and I walked home with one of my Kids English students, Norlan. We realized that he walks one hour each way just to come to Farito English classes twice a week. We got a chance to meet his mom and I told her what a great student he is. He was so proud and was grinning from ear to ear. I am so thankful for students like Norlan! –Christin

· Watching Ariel from our loan program making cinderblocks using materials he bought with our loan; also meeting his family and getting to know him better. –Matt

· Hearing from Alejandro that the other students in his math class ask him for help with polynomial expressions—the subject we've been working on for the past few weeks. –Matt

Kids English

2011-08-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

One of Manna’s central aims in Cedro Galan and Chiquilistagua is to teach English to community members of all ages. To this end, we currently offer kids and adult classes, the latter including beginner, elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels. Adult classes take place almost entirely at Farito, and thus far have served as a great way to get to know community members in a classroom setting. Our three kids classes, in contrast, meet at both Farito and Salero, and expose us to a wider range of students in terms of both age and background.

In the past group of PDs, Steph was responsible for all kids English classes, which—to put it lightly—was no small feat. Initially, we all found the prospect of teaching a kids English class fairly daunting. Steph was able to gracefully manage and teach classes of nearly thirty kids thanks to her indefatigable optimism and extensive teaching background. Rather than assigning the kids English program to one PD, we quickly decided to divide the classes among ourselves, with two PDs leading each class of 20-30 students. In the past month, we have all received a hands-on crash course in classroom management, and are working to gain the respect and trust of our students.

Nicaraguan kids differ little from their North American counterparts; thus our classrooms are alive with frenetic energy, angst, hormones, and teenage drama. Herein lies both the difficulty and beauty of kids English: confiscating a love note mid-lesson is initially frustrating, but can also prompt a post-class conversation that yields new insight into a student’s life. Because our classes are meant to supplement school as an extracurricular activity, we strive to maintain attendance by make learning fun, engaging students with both games and songs. Despite our best efforts, however, the departure of the 2010-2011 PDs took its toll on attendance. Each year, some students are saddened and disconcerted by the absence of their old teachers, and opt out of class for a while. In the wake of this week, however, we can say that the transition slump has officially passed! Farito beginner’s English boasted an impressive (and loud!) 54 students on Thursday, while Salero classes are full and brimming with anticipation for our approaching pool party. Stay tuned!

Encounters with the Unfamiliar

2011-08-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

Syd with a less lethal victim, an iguana

The position of Program Director entails many responsibilities and privileges, one of which is living in the beautiful Manna House. As new directors, we’re starting to better understand how to maintain and take care of the house and our two Rottweilers, Sydney and Cola. However, just as we began to feel that we’d gotten the hang of things, the fauna of Nicaragua threw us a rather frightening curve ball. On Thursday night, Sydney, our beloved older guard dog, attempted to eat a giant toad that had decided to take a dip in the pool. When poor Syd began foaming profusely at the mouth, we realized that she had crossed paths (and fluids) with a cane toad, a particularly nasty amphibian whose poison is responsible for many dog deaths. Against the odds, and after many hours of care and worry, Syd pulled through. We owe a great deal to the plethora of online resources available, our own initiative, and two local veterinarians, one of whom came to the house twice to administer shots and an IV (thanks so much, Jeff!). We’re happy to see that Sydney has completely returned to her normal, voracious, and bipolar self. Watch out, world!

On a lighter note, this past Friday we helped to host a lacrosse tournament with our new partner non profit, Lacrosse the Nations. Lacrosse the Nations utilizes lacrosse as a means of promoting unity, health, and sustainability in the U.S. and Nicaragua. As their partner, Manna will help to coordinate programs and serve as a liaison between local coaches and U.S. based directors. In order to get a better feel for LTN’s mission and work, we spent the better part of Friday at Salero, helping their current group of volunteers to host an impressive lacrosse practice and tournament for over 80 children, most of whom are from La Chureca. Thanks largely to our southern, midwestern, and western roots, few of us at Manna have experience playing lacrosse. However, many of the children from La Chureca have been involved with LTN for several months now, and were more than willing to show us the ropes. We look forward to working further with Lacrosse the Nations as they extend opportunities to children in need. In the meantime, we’ll be honing our lacrosse skills in preparation for the next tournament. J

Getting our Sea Legs

2011-08-16T18:28:00.000-07:00

A group shot at the women's exercise despedida

Hello! Sorry for the delay in posting—like all programs and responsibilities here at Manna Nicaragua, this blog has changed hands. We’ve recently said goodbye to all of the outgoing PDs, which has been a difficult process on several levels. Over the past month we new PDs have grown close with those on their way out, relying on them for emotional and practical support as we experience the transition that they went through exactly one year ago. While it is sad to bid farewell to the 2010-2011 team, I am incredibly excited to assume leadership of MPI Nicaragua with our new group of nine program directors. Although biographies and photos of our team can be found on our website, let me briefly introduce the new Manna Nicaragua team! Fiona Turett, Christin Stewart, Anna Gajewski, Davis Snead, Jesse Zimmerman, Carrie Torn, Maggie Thomas, and Samantha Wyatt (yours truly!) compose the new leadership of MPI here in Managua. But that’s not all! We are extremely fortunate to be joined by Matt Creeden, who has opted to stay on as a program director for an additional six months. His experience and wisdom will doubtless prove extremely helpful as we move forward in serving the communities of Chiquilistagua and Cedro Galan.

The past two weeks have been full of bittersweet despididas—in addition to the general bienvenida/despidida party that Megan described, individual classes and programs have put on specific events to thank and say goodbye to outgoing PDs. I was able to attend the women’s exercise despidida, in which women in the class prepared speeches, dancing, and food to express their gratitude for Megan, Steph, and Carly’s work over the past year. The snack of whole-wheat sandwiches prepared by the members of the class was nearly as touching as their speeches; a thoughtful reflection of the nutrition tips that Megan has offered throughout the year.

With Amanda's departure this morning, the last outgoing PD has officially headed home, leaving all responsibilities to the new team. While we still have much to learn about effectively running programs and meeting the needs of community members, I can confidently say that we already feel quite at home within the community. The joy of receiving a personal greeting or hug at the close of a class or practice cannot be understated, and even after only several weeks here, hugs and personal support abound. I look forward to detailing the development of both our programs and personal relationships here in Nicaragua as we strive to serve the communities in which we are so fortunate to live and work. Thank you for reading!

A Bittersweet 'Despedida'

2011-07-30T08:02:00.000-07:00

The time has come to say goodbye to the program directors of 2010-2011 and transition into the new group of volunteers for the upcoming year, which always makes for a difficult yet exciting change. Two nights ago in El Farito we held our annual despedida party, formally presenting the new volunteers to the community and giving the old ones a chance to say goodbye. This year was unique in that we had the opportunity to introduce the new program director, Katie Messick, to the community as well. Even though this happens every year, it still was no easy task for the program directors to bid farewell to all of the people they had become so close with this past 10-13 months.
So the evening began with a trivia game that required the community to investigate into the lives of the new program directors, trying to discover which of the volunteers paired up with the list of trivia facts given. Then after Amira introduced Katie and the new program directors, a handful of girls from the community performed both folklore and reggaetown dances. Along with the help of program directors Steph and Carly, the girls were all dressed up for the occasion, wearing traditional Nicaraguan skirts and tops with makeup and hair to along with it; they all looked beautiful and danced wonderfully. It was then time for each of the program directors of 2010-2011 to say their own special goodbye, which lead into the final and probably most anticipated event, the photo slideshow. The slideshow was a brief five minute video of pictures that captured just a handful of the many memories and experiences that took place this past year. The rest of the night was then spent eating cake and hanging out with the community members. There were tears and there was laughter and of course photos being snapped in every which direction, making the entire evening absolutely awesome but definitely bittersweet as well.

A snapshot of the community members present.

Dayana dressed up in her traditional Nicaraguan folklore outfit.

Cake!

The new program directors of 2011-12.

Steph and Carly dancing with some of the community members.

Community Spotlight

2011-07-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

Laura Zelaya

“I wouldn’t have this store today if it wasn’t for Manna Project,” says Laura Zelaya as she begins to tell the story of her nearly eight year long relationship with MPI. “Manna Project gave me confidence. They showed me that I could do something besides cooking and cleaning, that I could run a business.”

Laura Zelaya awakes at 5:30 every morning to prepare breakfast for her husband and daughter as they get ready for work and school, and often does not rest her head until 11 at night. In certain ways, her days are similar to those of many Nicaraguan women – full of cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, and taking care of her family. But unlike most of her peers, Laura’s daily life includes very welcome interruptions: calls of “Buenas!” from a steady stream of neighbors coming to buy soda, snacks, and toilet paper from the small store (venta) that Laura runs out of her house.

Laura first became acquainted with the organization through Kathy and Halle August, independent missionaries who own the two community centers in Chiquilistagua and Cedro Galan in which MPI holds programs. She had petitioned fiercely (and successfully) to get her only daughter, Laurita, into the Augusts’ preschool, even though Laurita was a few months shy of the minimum age. Lori Scharffenberg, one of the founders and current executive director of MPI, was a preschool teacher at the time, and developed a strong bond with Laurita. Despite her family’s close relationship with Lori and the successful children’s programs MPI ran in the community, Laura was a bit skeptical of the help that MPI could provide to help lift families out of poverty. At the time, her family lived in a tiny, one-room house, and survived solely on Laura’s income as a housekeeper, as her husband was unable to find work in construction. So, a few years later, when MPI started a microfinance and business development program, Laura made the life-changing decision to attend the first class.

In the microfinance program, Laura learned the structure of a sound business plan, the basics of accounting, and the expectations of loan repayment. She won a loan to start selling clothes within the community, and her career business took off. As the sole breadwinner in her family, she kept her daughter well nourished and clothed, and she still beams when talking about her proudest moment: the day that she was able to buy a new door for her house. Laura also became part of an initiative developed by two MPI Program Directors that encouraged local women to become seamstresses.

She and her sister-in-law sewed aprons and bags, which they sold to visiting volunteer groups for a profit of $5 apiece. Laura went to work in a local store when this program ended, but eventually felt she was not receiving enough pay for her work. She began selling helados (homemade ice cream) and enchiladas out of her house in order to supplement her income. Very slowly, she started saving money and developing a business plan for her own store. Over the past year, Laura’s store has flourished. Combined with her husband’s income from construction, the family has been able to expand their house. Although the organization did not provide a loan for her current business, Laura credits MPI with giving her the knowledge, inspiration and drive to start her own store. She also thanks MPI for instilling a love of learning in her now 10 year-old daughter, who has taken literacy and math classes with MPI and is one of the most dedicated students in its English program.

Laura, an outgoing and patient woman, constantly shows her gratitude to MPI by helping new Program Directors learn Spanish and welcoming them into her home. As her store grows, she hopes to give back to the community by serving as an example of success for others who are starting businesses.

Final Retreat

2011-07-19T06:16:00.000-07:00

The three week mark has come for us program directors of the year 2010-2011and so as one of our last little hoorahs before we leave we went on our final retreat this past week with Amira. Throughout the year we go on about three of four retreats that give us an opportunity to catch up with each other and discuss how things are going. So Wednesday morning everyone packed into the micro and headed out towards Granada. After a yummy and pleasantly filling breakfast at Kathy’s waffle house, we then piled into a boat and headed out towards the isletas, which was where we were to stay. The isla that was ours for the night was a quaint little house with a giant pool, lots a hammocks and sitting areas to read and rest, and lots of beautiful trees and flowers. In between the rain we went canoeing, swam, read in the many hammocks spread around the property, played cards, and then just spent time resting and relaxing.

Then for dinner we shared a deliciously big Mexican potluck and talked about our past year here; what was good, what was most memorable and what we have learned. Despite most of our resistance to talk initially, I think that we all appreciated the chance to reflect with each other. I think it is safe to say that none of us are the exact same person we were when we arrived, and so to be able to share that with the people we are closest with here was great. And it wasn't all sad talk either. Some of our most memorable moments where actually pretty comical, such as stories about getting the car stuck or trying to deal with the crazy weather or traffic. Overall it was a great trip, and now we are back in Managua to finish out our time. We now also have the next few weeks to look forward to getting to know the new program directors, who arrive back from language school this Friday.

In the boat heading out towards the isletas.

The guys enjoying their down time.

The house on the isleta where we stayed.

Will and Dane throwing the frisbee.

Community Art Show

2011-07-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

This past week was the last for the summer volunteers of session two and so as sort of a farewell to them we hosted a community get-together in El Farito. It was focused around the recently switched kid's art program and was a time were they could display the crafts they had made. Up until recently program director Katie Hathaway had been teaching a music class in which she taught the kids basic information about rhythm and reading music. Well after her concert a few weeks back she decided to change the program into an art class because there were more people who seemed interested and skilled in that area, especially from the summer volunteers. Two girls in particular stepped up to the plate to lead it, Baylee and Priyanca, and had the kids do a variety of creative and different projects. For example they made masks, noise makers, painted their favorite places and things they loved, and then painted a mural as well. So on Wednesday night they presented all of their hardwork on tables in El Farito so that everyone could walk around and see. It turned out to be a super fun night filled with goodbyes but then a lot of laughter as well. Dayana even performed a surprise dance for the summer volunteers that they all loved and in which she danced to traditional Nicaraguan folklore.

This weekend we also welcomed our new program directors for the year 2011-2012. So exciting! These first two weeks they are going to be in language school and participating in homestays with families in downtown Managua, meaning we won't really have the chance to see them. The two weeks following are when we actually get to work and train with them. As sad as it is to have to think about leaving, I and all of the other program directors are certainly looking forward to getting to know the new program directors and work in helping them get acquainted with this huge new life transition.

Summer Volunteers Priyanca and Baylee with their art class.

Mural made by the kids in the art class.

Dayana dressed to dance.

Women's Exercise Gets Creative

2011-07-03T18:48:00.000-07:00

Having the summer volunteers here had been a huge blessing and help in more ways than one, and the energy and creativity that they bring to all of the Manna programs has been truly beneficial. One of the programs that has specifically been helped for the better is women's health and exercise. I, Megan, am the teacher/leader of this program, and I often time have trouble finding new music or thinking of new routines or activities to keep the women engaged and on their toes. Well all of the girls have been more than willing and excited to help, and the program has in my opinion progressed for the better.
During the first summer session one of the volunteers, Maddy, taught a Zumba class which the women absolutely loved because they all naturally love to dance. For those who do not know Zumba is a dance class that mixes Latin American music and modern pop; so much fun. Then this past week one of the current summer volunteers taught a Bollywood dance routine, which is something that the women and many of us have ever seen before, and was also super fun. Along with dancing, the girls have helped me lead yoga and strength classes as well as a water aerobics class here at the Manna house pool. Even though most of the women did not know how to swim, it didn't prevent them from getting in and getting involved. Another thing that I wanted to incorporate into the program was a bit more focus on health and how to have a healthy lifestyle, and one of the summer volunteers was a nutrition major at school. So she helped me gather some really informative and helpful resources to give the women about eating right and having a healthy diet and living a healthy life. With all of the wonderful help at my fingertips now I am definitely going to miss all of this summer help. They are, however, leaving me with some great ideas that I hope to be able to use in the future.

Summer volunteer Priyanca leading Bollywood.

More bollywood.

Water aerobics at the Manna house.

Summer volunteer Maddy leading Zumba class.

La Venta de Ropa

2011-06-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

Every year Manna Project hosts a clothing venta, or sale, for the families of the communities living nearby. Throughout the year the Manna house fills up with donations from a variety of different sources, whether it be past program directors and volunteers or organizations and groups that bring random bags to donate. Needless to say there ends up being an immense amount of clothing and so this annual sale gives the communities a chance to purchase these clothes at an extremely low price. The venta is also pretty infamous and families will line up and wait to make sure they have a chance to come in and look around. So at 6:30 Friday morning we loaded the car up with at least fifteen to twenty suitcases full of clothes and shoes and headed to El Farito to set up and open at 8. The process is slightly different each year, but to decide who entered first we had the women draw numbers and enter in intervals of ten. Each group then had ten minutes to look around and pick out a maximum of fifteen items, and then after that if they wanted they could get back into line and reenter at a later time. For the most part everything ran smoothly and the women and men were extremely pleased. Because the new summer volunteer group was here we also had lots of extra hands, which was wonderful, and all in all the event was a grand success!

Clothing venta in Farito.

Carly in watching the little girl's clothing table.

Summer vols Erin and Katherine with the clothes.

Summer volunteers Katherine, Stephanie, Jackie, and Lucie.

Megan and Rebecca manning the checkout table.

Reflections from the Summer Session 1

2011-06-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the last full day here in Nicaragua for the summer volunteers of the first session, and before they left I asked each of them if they could write a short reflection about their time here. Either what they learned or a story about their favorite class or friend they made, anything to share with the readers. These volunteers have been so wonderful and helpful, and it has been such a joy getting to know each and every one of them. I know for sure that they are going to be missed at the Manna House! Ok here is what they had to say...
   Coming to Nicaragua for the third time, it was nearly impossible for me to arrive without any expectations of what I envisioned my month to look like. In the past, my trips had been only 8 days, so coming for a month meant that inevitably my time here would be very different. My past days in Nicaragua had been spent more playing with and loving on the kids. Now don’t get me wrong, as wonderful as this is, my time with Manna challenged and encouraged me in a new way. The first thing that I have really thought about is how amazing it is that Manna is making big differences and investing in these people’s lives for the long run. Although it may not always be as fun to sit with someone and teach them the English alphabet or multiplication problems as it is to just kick a soccer ball, this is an incredible way of caring and wanting these kids to have a tangible ways to succeed. Watching the Program Directors interact with the kids, challenge them, and care about them in this way has really forced me to think about what it means to really love these people the best way I can.
            Not only have I been challenged to grapple with these ideas of how to make a difference in their lives, the people here have undoubtedly made a difference in my life. I have been overwhelmed by the way that the people here love their friends and family and prioritize these relationships over other things that so easily consume me in the United States. One thing about Manna that has been special is how close everyone is with entire families. Some women will go to exercise class or English classes and their kids attend music class, eat at Comedor, or study English as well. This is an incredible thing, especially because family is so important in this country. There have been numerous experiences during my time here that have been meaningful in this regard, but one especially sticks out to me. One morning while I was in Chureca, I was playing soccer with a girl there named Tatiana who I had spent several days with. We ended up getting pretty dirty from kicking the ball in all the mud, so I decided it would be a good idea to attempt to somewhat clean myself before we left. Immediately after I told Tatiana this, she grabbed my hand tightly and led me to a sink where she proceeded to wash my feet. I quickly tried to stop her, telling her that I could do it myself, a little taken aback. But Tatiana insisted on cleaning my feet, smiling the entire time. I will never forget that gesture. She actually wanted to clean my feet as a way for her to show me she cared.
            The people here are the reason that I keep wanting to come back. This month and time with Manna has given me new ideas to grapple with going home, reminders of what life is truly about, and has challenged me to love as genuinely and deeply as the people here do.
-Ashley Parsley
Ashley and Tatiana.

Having never been to Central America before, I had no idea what to expect coming into this experience. Soon after arriving in this country, I was humbled to realize that I would the one learning a great deal during this month. The Nicaraguans I met had way more to offer me than I could possibly hope to offer them. One of the foremost examples of the kindness I have encountered was the night that Ashley and I did a homestay with the Flores family. Not only did they welcome us with open arms and try their hardest to work with our shaky Spanish, but Lorena also gave up her room to sleep in and delighted in cooking us meals. She would sit with us for hours at a time and simply serve us and engage us in conversation. It is funny to think that one way of loving someone is to allow them to serve you. It is also often times hard to let your guard down and allow yourself to be both served and loved. Spending time with amazing Nicaraguan families has definitely been one of the most rewarding parts of my time here.
-Kat Shearer
When I found out that I got accepted to Manna summer session 1, I immediately had mixed emotions about the situation. As a senior graduating from Virginia Tech, my first reaction was not that I was going to miss my college graduation but rather that I was given the opportunity to return to the place that Virginia Tech introduced me to two years ago. A large part of my college experience had revolved around Nicaragua and I knew that Manna Project would allow me to experience a deeper connection with the people in the community. Over the past few weeks with Manna Project, I have grown invested in the programs while forming connections with the kids. I have learned that life is about the relationships we form and the people who influence us along the way. I have become inspired by all of the children and their desire to learn English and this has motivated me to want to strengthen my Spanish. I am so fortunate to have been given this opportunity and I know without a doubt that I will be back here in Nicaragua again in the future.
- Courtney Baltimore
Tonight there is a community dinner to say goodbye to all of the summer vols. I’m not really sure what we will be doing there but I’m assuming it’s a chance for us to say all of our goodbyes to community members that we have become close with over the past few weeks. While I have met many people and seen many different faces throughout my time here I believe that there are more than a few people that I will always remember and I will be very sad to leave behind. It will be incredibly sad to say goodbye to Lorena and her daughter Dayana, who both participate in a lot of different Manna activities and really make an effort to reach out and accept you into their hearts. I will always remember how Dayana and I would look at each other in English classes and pretend we were karate chopping each other from across the room, ha ha, or the feeling that if I ever needed anything I could go to Lorena and she would do her best to help me out. I know that I will always wish for good things for that family since they give love to everyone that they encountered.
I will also miss Armando a lot, while he tends to be kind of crazy and somewhat of a troublemaker, he is certainly one of the kids I will remember best! I love how he came up with nicknames for all of the summer vols and will never forget the tickling fight that we got into. Although at times he seems like an out of control, carefree kid I was touched by how worried he was about his younger brother Melvin when he had not seen him for more than 15 minutes (even though he was with other volunteers Armando was still worried). Perhaps the person that I’ve bonded the most with is Itza, I will never forget her thirst for knowledge and how shy she was at first. She would not talk to me the first couple of days that we had class together, but she wanted to hold my hand so I figured eventually we would be friends. I think that she and I bonded a lot over the next few weeks and I desperately hope that we can keep in touch.
The people listed above are merely small examples of relationships that I will cherish the rest of my life and I hope that one day I will come back and see these people again. While there were some points in my stay here that I questioned how much I was really helping local people learn English, there was never a time when I wasn’t excited to go to the classes because I got to see those people in class! If there is one thing that I take away from this trip, it’s the wonderful relationships that I’ve formed and the bonds that I’ve made with all of the amazing people here in Nicaragua.
-Maddy Lytle

The national anthem sings, "¡Salve a ti, Nicaragua! En tu suelo \\ ya no ruge la voz del cañón". The cannon does not sound anymore in Nicaragua. However, the reverberations of past gun-fire can still be felt in the beautiful tropical country of Nicaragua. What was a purely indigenous virgin land some 500 years ago not yet fully explored by the god-like half man half beast - horse riding Spaniards with iron swords and guns - is in someways unchanged. Today, only along the eastern half of the country does one find few, if any, indigenous populations. As for the western half, the tribe has been replaced not by tall skyscrapers, technology, and first class civilization but by a sort of modern tribe. No, their are no more nomads, but their are individuals and families that live without deed and title to the land they live on. No, their are no more hunter-gatherers, but a young man sweats to survive if he is lucky to be hired as a crop hand, planting or harvesting the beans he has so little money for which to buy. No, their are no tribal families with a chieftain and his many wives, but the family structure is crippled by the cultural "machismo" and infidelity of men and women. Against the beautiful volcanoes, lakes, and mango trees, is Nicaragua in all of its poverty, political problems, and perseverance.
Why are the men of Nicaragua called zombies? Why is there a distinction between "marido" and "esposo/a"? Why is the road repaired at the start of the rainy season and not at the end? Why is the president known on a first name basis? Why does everyone throw garbage on the ground? Why are buses filed with 7 people per seat-aisle-seat? Where does the almond come from? Where does the cashew come from? What does the blank stare mean? Why is there so much poverty?
I came to Nicaragua to meet relatives, learn a little bit about my roots, and try to find an answer to some questions while volunteering with Manna. Complete success was met at only one of my goals: meet some relatives. As for an aging "abuelita" who has experienced a civil war, near death violence, and many difficulties in life I am unsure of the clarity and honesty in which I can trace my family lineage. As for the questions, I found answers to only a few, albeit life changing and eye-opening. For example, a little bird told me that cashews grew on the outside of a fruit of a tree. One day, I finally decided to meander to the other side of the Manna house and check things out. To my astonishment I found the ever mysterious tree where the slightly roasted-lightly salted-cant-stop-eating cashew comes from. At that moment my life was complete. Well as for the more serious and important questions, I found out where the almond comes from!
So, where does Manna step into the scene? As a summer volunteer I had just enough time to form some meaningful relationships with some of the community members and then had to say goodbye. On the Manna website it says, "communities serving communities". Communities are formed from individuals that have vested interests first individually and then communally. When communities serve other communities ties are formed that not only educate and enlighten but help each member of the different perspectives become members of a broader community, citizens of the earth. Whatever spiritual, religious, political, environmental, or economic path that might mean is up to those walking that path. Whatever a citizen of the earth means, well that is even more ambiguous.
All I can say is that my time with Manna will be a memory well cherished. I kept my mind open and held no expectations, expecting only more pinolillo. Regardless, even if I ate the same thing all the time and many of my questions remain unanswered. I thoroughly enjoyed my time and learned a bit from the experience, regardless.
However, step by step with knowledgeable people (shout out to all the PD's) and communities helping communities help themselves, the voice that will soar in Nicaragua and beyond will be the voice not of cannons and even less of poverty.

- Paul Hart

Spending a month down here in Managua, Nicaragua has changed my life forever. Just coming here and meeting new people and seeing how these people live compared to the states is just amazing. When we arrived here on the 13th of May, I was a little skeptical about being here and how it was going to go, but after going to all the programs and seeing all the good that is being done here all of my doubts quickly disappeared. I personally have been helping teach little kids English, which is amazing. The kids here are extremely wild and so much fun and I will miss them very much when I leave. After meeting all of the people who live in Nicaragua who are associated with Manna or come to their classes, I have made plenty of new friends that I will never forget. Coming down to Managua, Nicaragua has to be the best decision I have ever made and I would never trade my experience for anything.
- Thomas Fuson
Thomas and Maddy teaching Kid's English.
Thanks again to Ashley, Maddy, Asia, Courtney, Kat, Thomas, and Paul for all of their help and joy that they brought the past week fews!

El Día de Las Madres

2011-05-30T19:35:00.000-07:00

Today was Mother’s Day here in Nicaragua, or as they call it in Spanish El Día de Las Madres. Being an extremely important and widely celebrated holiday, none of the kids had school and no one went to work; pretty much everyone takes the day to dote upon the women who have so much influence in their lives. So here at the Manna House we organized a Mother’s Day brunch for all of the women that help cook for the feeding program that takes place in Cedro Galon. About twenty-five women were invited to come to El Farito where we served them a breakfast of eggs, toast, fruit, and juice and planned different games and activities for them. The games included ‘pin the worm on the bird’s beak’ (a variation of pin the tail on the donkey’), trivia, and wordsearches, all of which came with the chance to win premios. The women loved them all. Chatter, smiles, music, and laughter filled the morning, and everyone ended up having a wonderful time.

After the brunch, many of us program directors and summer volunteers then drove over to Nicaraguan Christian Academy for a Mother’s Day assembly/concert, which is where one of our good friends Dayana attends school. Dayana is in the sixth grade and we wanted to watch and support her as she sang with her grade. Lorena, her mom, also came with us. The assembly was sincere, all of the kids performing songs, skits, and dances to express their gratitude for their moms and families on such a special day.

Chef Luke cooking the eggs.

From left: Jesenia, Lydia, and Esperanza.

Noelia playing 'pin the worm on the bird'.

All of the women sitting down to eat.

Dayanna performing with her classmates.

The whole crew after Dayana's performance.

Lake Xiloa

2011-05-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday some of the PDs and summer volunteers travelled to the lake with the moms and children of the CS program from La Chureca. Every couple of months the PD’s involved in the program throw sort a party or paseo for the families, and so yesterday they all headed to Lake Xiloa, which is a small lake about ten minutes north-west of Managua. Although the day started out uncomfortably cloudy for a day on the water, most of the moms still came and as the the day progressed the clouds disappeared and the rain held off. While most of the mom’s stayed out of the water to chat on the beach, the kids were constantly in the water playing with PD’s and summer volunteers. There were also cookies and bananas to share for a mid-afternoon snack. Overall it seemed like everyone had a really pleasant and enjoyable time! Here are some pictures of all the fun and activities.

Sahari :)

Marina, Joseling, Zeneyda, and Mariella, some of the moms in the CS program.

Program director Luke with Elvis.

Summer volunteer, Paul, playing with some of the older kids in the water.

Program director Katie and little girl Lisbeth.

Take me out to the ball game....

2011-05-16T07:37:00.000-07:00

As part of the sports and recreation program here in Nicaragua, program directors Matt, Luke, Will, and Zac coach two baseball teams in the local communities. Matt and Luke coach a team of players from Cedro Galon, while Zac and Will coach a team from Chiquilistagua. Both are teams in a league of thirteen and fourteen year-old boys and have games every Saturday morning against other teams in the league. Well this past Saturday they were scheduled to play each other in a double-header, and so Amira and some of the other PD's went out to support and cheer on the guys and their teams. In the end Will and Zac's team won both games, but both teams seemed to have a great time playing, and walked away with their heads high and in good spirits.

Not only was it fun to watch the program directors' teams compete, but it was also a great chance to hangout with and get to know the summer volunteers, who arrived this weekend and tagged along with us to the event. Starting this week, the summer volunteers are also going to have their own tab on this blog page so they can share their own thoughts and feelings while being here, and so that their friends and family can track what they are doing. So keep checking back for all of the adventures and stories that are sure to come for these volunteers in the next few weeks!

Yader, the ball boy for Matt and Luke's team.

Dugout of the Chiquilistagua team.

Will and Zac sitting with some of their team.

The dugout of the Cedro Galon team.

Quinceañera Norma

2011-05-09T11:53:00.000-07:00

This past weekend some of the program directors celebrated a fiesta de quinceañera with one of the girls, Norma, that lives in the community. For those of you that do not know, turning fifteen in Nicaragua and in most Latin American countries is a very big deal. It is distinct from any other birthday because it marks the transition from childhood into adulthood for a young girl. Quinceañera is the name of the girl who is turning fifteen, and the fiesta de quinceañera is the name of the actual party. So on Saturday night program directors Carly, Steph, Luke, and myself headed into the community to celebrate. Upon arriving we were immediately asked to sit down and were served dinner, which consisted of a rice dish, a roll, and soda. After we ate the rest of the evening then followed a similar pattern to that of a wedding: a father-daughter dance, lots of chatting with surrounding neighbors and friends, many pictures of Norma in her beautiful dress, a cake-cutting ceremony, and lots of dancing. Norma's house and the surrounding area was completely transformed for the party, with pink balloons and streamers everywhere and a DJ playing music. All of her family and friends were also extremely involved, acting as either hostesses or helping serve food, which made it really special and fun to see. It was such a beautiful party and a privilege to be able to celebrate with her, and we all ended up having a really good time and were thankful to be able to go. Below are some pictures from the fiesta.

Norma after her mass service at the church.

Luke, Steph, Carly, Norma, Megan and Tressa.

Norma in front of her cake.

Semana Santa

2011-05-01T12:27:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody!
First off many apologies for the length of time it has been since the last post! This past week has been a process of getting back into the groove of work and programs since the week before was Semana Santa, which is the real culprit behind this tardy blog. Semana Santa, or Holy week, is the week before Easter and an annual holiday here in Nicaragua, meaning kids the the week off from school, adults get off work, and everyone heads out the nearest body of water, or at least most people do. In the Manna house the program directors all went in different directions, most traveling to at least two or three separate places throughout the week. Katie and Luke headed up North to Jinotega and then to León, while Steph, Amanda, and new PD Carly visited Esteli, Ometepe, and León as well. Matt, Zach, and Dane traveled north as well to Cosiguina to stay with a friend and his family, Megan went to San Juan with her family, and Will went back to the States for the week. Literally all over the place. Below is a map of Nicaragua so you can better visually understand the different towns that were visited. Everyone had a really great time seeing the country and furthering their relationships with each other and the culture. Also everyone came back safe and sound and without any trouble, which is always good news to report!

Map of Nicaragua

As it was already mentioned briefly before, we have a new program director named Carly Rees. Carly is friend of Steph's from Purcellville, Virginia and is here with us until August. Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to PD Joanna Lang the Wednesday before Semana Santa, who left to begin physician's assistant school at George Washington University in Washington, DC. So even though it was hard to say goodbye to Joanna, we are all excited to welcome a fresh new pair of eyes, ideas, and help to our team!

Pool Time

2011-04-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

This past week the pool was at full capacity, acting as a host to both a kid's English party as well as a women's exercise class. Not only was it an escape from the immense heat that has settled in down here, but it was a treat to all of the community members who come and participate in our weekly programs.

So first on Monday afternoon, program directors Megan, Steph, and Joanna hosted a pool party for one of the kid's English classes taught at Salero to reward them for their good behavior and steady attendance. The pool was packed with about thirty-five kids, not including some of the moms and younger siblings that came, and because many do not know how to swim were all huddled into the shallow end. Needless to say the leaders were kept on our toes for the entire event, but in the end everyone had a great time and walked away accident-free.

Then the next day, Tuesday, the women's exercise class came over to have a day at the pool for themselves. Led by program directors Steph and Megan, the afternoon was filled with water aerobics and exercises, a game of dance freeze, and some healthy snacks and hangout time. All in all a beautiful event. For many of the women this was the first time they had ever done or participated in any sort of pool exercise class, and so it was extremely rewarding for the directors be able to share it with them. The hope is that this can become a more regular activity for the class, as the women really had a great time.

Megan and Steph leading the women in some stretches holding onto the side of the wall.

All of the women's exercise class in attendance.

Shirley, who also joined us for exercise class.

A snapshot of kids excited to be in the pool.

Kid's English.

Retreat!

2011-04-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

This past weekend all of us program directors and Amira traveled to Matagalpa for our annual staff retreat. Leaving Friday morning we stayed in Selva Negra, which is an organic coffee farm and ecolodge located in the Northern part of Nicaragua. Set right in the midst of rich forest, there were numerous hiking and walking trails to take advantage of, as well as a wide range of other activities to choose from and a delicious restaurant to dine in. Whether we were hiking, reading, eating, or simply resting, it was wonderful to be able to relax in such an environment.

It was not only nice to get out of the heat and get outdoors for a couple of days, but it was also great to be in each other's company and talk outside of the everyday busyness of programs. As much as we do not want to admit it, our time here is quickly coming to a close and so it was nice to have a chance to discuss what the last couple months are going to look like. BUSY is the only way to describe it. Next week is Semana Santa, which is a holiday for us, and then only a couple of weeks until the first round of summer volunteers arrive, then the second round of summer volunteers, and then the new program directors, all pretty much in a row. Manna Project is really unique in that part of its mission is to host these summer groups for a month at a time, offering them a chance to really take part in some of our work down here in Nicaragua and experience the culture first hand. The hope then is that such an experience will inspire them to take back home with them a heart of service and an incentive to get involved elsewhere. Needless to say these volunteers are a big investment and an important part of the organization. So at dinner Friday night we spent time talking about our own personal roles in their adjustments and time here, and how we can be effective leaders. All of the conversations were extremely positive, and even though the house is going to double in size for the last few months all of us program directors are looking forward to the new faces, helping hands, and fun experiences that are sure to come!

Small lake located in the center of the resort.

Joanna, Amanda, and Steph posing with some of the local flora.

Megan, Steph, Will, Dane, and Zach posing for a picture on the trails.

Entrance to the Selva Negra restaurant.

WSU Spring Break in Nicaragua

2011-03-29T13:46:00.000-07:00

A team of 12 visited Nicaragua from Worcester State University. Here, Amanda Sturchio describes her experience:

Many seniors want to spend their last spring break of college doing something memorable. Whether that is a trip to Florida, a Caribbean cruise, or even a trip to Nicaragua, I suggest you get up and do it. This year I decided to step out of my comfort zone and travel to another dimension. With a group of ten students from Worcester State University, I traveled to Central America. This turned out to be a rewarding decision. It was a week that changed my perspective of the world, and allowed me to leave the country of Nicaragua with new experiences, fresh outlooks, and a group of friends.

When we arrived at the airport, we were greeted by friendly Americans. They were as excited to see us, and we were thrilled to begin our journey. At the Manna House, we were introduced to what we would call home for the next week. On the first night, I must admit, it was slightly overwhelming. I was in a foreign environment with (what I considered) peculiar rules, such as not flushing toilet paper and having no hot water. I barely knew the people I was traveling with and the distance between us intensified the feeling. These perceptions quickly disappeared as of day one, when I opened my mind and indulged myself in the Nicaraguan culture.

The Manna Project has done so much for the communities in Nicaragua. It was an awesome experience to observe classes led by the PDs, but it was even more fun when we were given the opportunity to participate in the classroom. The English classes ranged from beginner to advanced, but no matter what the level, students were engaged in what they were learning. Manna Project encourages children in Cedro Galgan and throughout cities in Nicaragua to value education. I could see the passion involved and it really made me appreciate the education I receive here in the United States. It is easy for us to take it for granted because schooling is so easily obtained. For most children here in the States, it is just one step after the next to go from elementary to middle to high school, and oftentimes college, but in Nicaragua it is a path less traveled by.

Participating in the advanced class was one of my favorite classroom experiences on the trip. I worked with a student named Elena who I found it very easy to connect with. Because I don’t speak Spanish, I struggled a bit with fully participating in beginner classrooms, but because language wasn’t a barrier between us, we were able to easily communicate. It is awesome to see the opportunities she, and others like her, have been given by organizations such as Manna. They help to develop an important skill such as learning a foreign language. Her life goals of traveling and helping others in the world was very eye opening and I’m glad I was able to hear her story.

La Chureca was one of the most difficult things I have seen in my life. When driving in the entrance of the city dump the smell and vision of smoke was overwhelming. Trash surrounded the homes and workplace of many Nicaraguans. From what we were told, the physical standing of the dump had dramatically improved within the last couple of years, as they vigorously work day to day, hoping to improve the conditions of the environment where these people reside. Before discussing and being educated on La Chureca, I thought that people just occasional lived in the dump if times were difficult. However, I learned that it is a community.

People are born, raised, and die in this community as in any other city or town. This is where they call home, even if it a small dimension of space made by tin and other goods found by digging through trash. The health clinic which Manna helps to fund in this community creates a lot of positivity for the adults and children here. I feel as though health is a huge concern for the people living in La Chureca because of all the harmful chemicals released in the air. Although it was sad to see how hundreds of people live with nothing of value, who struggle to survive every day, it was uplifting to see the hope and potential that could possibly come out of this fight. The Spanish government is funding a new housing complex in this community which include homes, education, and recreational facilities.

Over the course of the week in Nicaragua, I was able to experience new language, culture, food, and people. I looked at everything this week as an experience and was willing to try it all. I let my guard down and hoped for the best. While reflecting on my voyage this week, I found that I was successful in sticking to this goal. Although I faced a language barrier, it was fun to interact with all the natives. To just sit and play with the children made me happy. During our science experiments of building and racing toy cars, it was entertaining to watch how they interacted with the task, even if I could only understand body language and facial expressions. I find that kids have a universal language and that no matter what ethnicity, color, country, or social class they are classified as, they are all simply kids.

The freedom of being a child only comes once in our lives. This week, I really saw that this is universal. Even though some of these kids came from families who possess nothing of monetary value, they were still free, happy, and enjoying themselves. It taught me to be appreciative of what I have and to enjoy the simple joys in life.

It was great to experience two very different aspects of Nicaraguan culture. First, we saw aspects of life that were unfamiliar and shocking. Some of what we saw in the first part of the week was sad, while some was uplifting. However, the second part of our week was full of beauty. As a team, we explored Matagalpa and other areas of rural Nicaragua. First, we visited a volcanic lake which was surreal. It was THE most beautiful scenery with a breathtaking site overlooking mountains. The warm water and shining sun overtook any melancholy feelings from previous experiences and created a peaceful state of mind. Although this resort was for upper class tourists and natives, it was exactly what we all needed. It was a getaway in a serene and beautiful location. It was a great opportunity.

Overall, my week in Nicaragua was an even better experience than I could have imagined. The people that I met while doing volunteer work have transformed the way I look at my own life. To see families who live humbly, but never lose that smile on their face made me appreciate everything I do have. The opportunities I am fortunate to have as an American citizen is something I took for granted before this trip. It’s the little lessons I learned on this trip such as to conserve water, food, and electricity that make me stop and think. It’s also the larger themes I learned such as to value family and education. This trip has encouraged me to follow my dreams of traveling and see the world! This trip made me see a world completely different than my own and I would like to thank Joanna, Luke, and all of Manna Project International for making this trip not only possible but remarkable. I would love to see a summer or year in Nicaragua in my future!

Amanda Sturchio helps a girl with the car project.

Amanda Sturchio and Lorena Flores at the community dinner.

girls in Matagalpa!

At NicaHope.

The WSU spring break group.

At Laguna de Apoyo

Community Dinner in El Farito.

Vanderbilt University Spring Break Group

2011-03-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

Last week, our first group of spring break volunteers arrived from Vanderbilt University to work with Nicayuda painting a pre-school and to help out in all Manna’s programs. On Saturday, after a long day of traveling from Nashville, Tennessee, the 11 Vanderbilt girls were ready to take on Nicaragua. Group leaders Amanda and Zac met up with them at the airport and brought them back to the Manna house to settle in.

To truly understand the girls’ experience in Nicaragua from their own perspective, we asked them to write a reflection on the week. The following is a guest blog from spring break volunteers Lexi Kaminer, Alyssa Cohen and Liza Warshaver, with pictures by Leslie Dawson.

When we first showed up, we weren’t sure what to expect from Nicaragua and the Manna community. After hearing our schedule we were so excited to see we would have the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the culture and help the local people. The first day we went to the pre-school in the Altagracia area. We were interested to learn that the government does not provide very much help for Nicaraguan pre-schools and for that reason we were glad to help repaint the entire school. After two days of hard work we were excited to have completed our painting, and it was such a rewarding experience to see the children’s reaction to their brand new school.

Vandy girls hard at work.

Some of the finished product.

Pre-school students in their freshly-painted school.

Another moving experience was our trip to La Chureca where we were able to walk around with the mothers in Manna’s Child Sponsorship program. During this visit we saw a different way of life and the power of strong bonds within a community. We also saw the clinic that Manna sponsors and we were moved by how much it positively aids the children and their families.

Throughout the week we also had the chance to attend English classes, exercise classes, baseball practice, drumming, and the Feeding Program, all led by the talented and dedicated Manna Program Directors. We were so happy to see how much Manna does for the communities and how much the children appreciate their involvement.

To conclude our trip we had an amazing weekend excursion. During this trip we got to relax by Laguna de Apoyo, canopy through the trees near the Mombacho Volcano, and experience Granada, the oldest city in North America.

We in the Manna house thank the Vanderbilt team for their hard work, and we know Nicayuda and the pre-school in Altagracia share our gratitude. Today, we'll be saying goodbye to the Vanderbilt girls and hello to a group from Worchester State University. Look for an update about their work next week. What a busy time of year!

Help Casa Base!

2011-03-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

Casa Base

As many of you already know every week Manna travels to La Chureca to run its weekly programs; Megan and Matt to teach the beginner's English class, Zach and Amanda to teach the intermediate English class, and Joanna, Katie, Dane, Luke, and Will to run the Child Sponsorship Program. Located in La Chureca as well is the health clinic, Casa Base, in which the child sponsorship team works with to help host its weekly 'charlas' on various health-related topics. Casa Base is one of the only clinics in the area and provides assistance to the nearly 200 families that live in La Chureca. Unfortunately, because of the lack of funding, the clinic is closed as of right now and is going to continue to be closed for the month of March until sufficient funds can be raised.

The situation:

- Since 2006, MPI and another non-profit, Austin Samaritans have financially supported the clinic.
- As we wait to hear if Austin Samaritans will be able to provide its half of the budget, MPI is seeking the remaining funds needed for 2011 or seeking another funding source to help. (we will know by the end of March).
- The total operating cost is $48,000/year which provides for all medicine and treatments the clinic offers as well as salaries for the Nica health staff of 2 doctor, 1 pharmacist, 1 nurse and 1 health promoter.
- As of right now, MPI only has enough funding through February, which has already ended, and is seeking the remaining $4,000 in monthly support for operating expenses in 2011

The people living in La Chureca are extremely poor, many living off less than one dollar a day, which is what the World Bank classifies as a level of "extreme poverty". Many of the residents make a living by digging through the mounds of trash in search of some sort of collectible scrap, such as glass bottles, metal, or cans, to turn in for money. For most this money is necessary to provide them with an evening meal. Because of the proximity to the trash, the daily fires burning the trash, and the overall lack of sanitation, this environment is a breeding ground for disease. Needless to say, these people rely upon the free assistance that they receive from Casa Base, and to think that this clinic is not going to be available to them is unsettling. Below are two links that will take you to sites where you can read more about the clinic and the specific work it does. The second is a video that is a couple of years dated but none the less paints a picture of the clinic's significance and work in the community.

Casa Base

Video On Casa Base

It is always uncomfortable asking people for money, at least for me, but thinking about the people of La Chureca living without the clinic and their ability to get access to healthcare for them and their children is even more unsettling. So if you would like to donate money towards keeping open the health clinic of Casa Base please visit fundraising site at www.razoo.com/story/Support-Health-Clinic-In-La-Chureca-Managua-S-City-Dump or mail a check to MPI, PO Box 121052, Nashville, TN 37212. Be sure and designate “Chureca clinic” online or in the memo space of a check. And please help spread the word. Your help is greatly appreciated!

La Chureca

Another photo of La Chureca

Comedor

2011-02-26T12:40:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago the feeding program at Farito started back up, one of the programs that Manna helps facilitate on a weekly basis. The program was started by Kathy August, a missionary who also lives here in Nicaragua. This year, however, she is taking a 6-month break from Nicaragua to teach in the United States, and so the Manna team has taken over the twice weekly job of organizing and feeding lunches to about fifty to sixty kids that live in Cedro Galon.

How it works is we have an organized schedule that designates two cooks for every Tuesday and Thursday, who are women living in the community. Everyone who volunteered to be on the schedule will cook about once a month. Our duties then are to help make sure that all of the kids wash their hands before they eat, receive their food, and then brush their teeth afterwards. We also assign a few kids to help with clean-up afterwards in order to get some Farito dollars for the Venta. Despite the whole process being a little loud and crazy, everything worked out the past couple of weeks and the kids were happy and fed. We had around sixty kids the first week and about the same this past week. So far so good and we look forward for the weeks to come!

The kids getting ready to get their food.

The kids enjoying their comida!

PD's Amanda and Johanna washing dishes.

Table of girls enjoying their meal.

Shirley smiling with her clean bowl after her meal.

donating blood

2011-02-17T11:53:00.001-08:00

Sara Zeledon Hernandez is an 8 year old girl in our Child Sponsorship program who was diagnosed with aplastic anemia 13 months ago. Aplastic anemia is a condition where the bone marrow doesn’t produce enough blood cells – WBCs, RBCs, and platelets. Every 8 days, she gets her blood counts checked and receives a blood transfusion if the numbers are below normal. 5 Manna program directors and 1 community member, Karen Bustos, donated blood at the Nicaraguan Red Cross in Sara’s name to ensure she receives the blood she needs!

Sara

Donating blood in Nicaragua was exactly the same as in the US. I learned that Nicaragua has one of the greatest donor rates in the entire world!

500cc later... I've ensured Sara will receive blood :)

Katie and Matt finishing up and about to relax with some pear juice.

Amanda mid-stick.

When Karen learned she was a universal donor, she got extremely excited and asked how often she was able to donate. The sense of community and desire to help others in this country is amazing.

paseo

2011-02-07T07:42:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, we gathered children and their families from our Child Sponsorship program and headed to the Land for a paseo (field trip)! The Land is a sports complex created and maintained by the August family, missionaries from Seattle, Washington. We danced to music, ate snacks of bananas and cremas, played on the swings, shot hoops, and played lots of soccer, keep away, and tag. The day ended with a piñata and lots of smiles as the kids collected as many caramelas (candies) that their little hands could hold.

The field trip was an incredibly fun opportunity for the families as they rarely leave the confines of Chureca. It was an afternoon where the kids weren’t expected to help work and the parents could relax as their little ones ran out their seemingly endless amounts of energy. The PDs also took advantage of this time to further our relationships with our CS community.

Douglas takes a swing at the piñata

how many caramelas can you hold?

Jose Antonio

Snayder

Ready, Set, Fast!

2011-02-01T19:09:00.000-08:00

This past Thursday and Friday the Manna Project volunteers and staff from all three sites participated in a 30-hour famine. Yes that does mean each and everyone of us went thirty hours with only the consumption of water and juice, and I'll be the first to admit that it was not easy. It began on Thursday at one in the afternoon and ended the following night at seven in the evening. World Vision developed the 30-hour famine as a fundraiser to help raise money and awareness toward its global effects to end hunger, and so we thought it would be something unique and enlightening to do as a team. According to the World Vision website, more than 1 billion people go hungry everyday, and so for thirty hours we experienced a little bit of what about a third of the population battles with on a daily basis. Even though this event was a test to our physical and mental strength, I think we would all agree that we were grateful to have participated and for experience and insight we acquired because of it. To break the fast one of Amira's friends Kathryn, who works for the Canadian Red Cross, came to the house and gave us a brief presentation on some current nutrition issues here in Nicaragua and the work that she is specifically involved in. She presented us with a lot of awesome resources and information, some of which the Child Sponsorship team might use. And then after we had a feast of spaghetti and ice cream. Delicious!!

Also this past week Steph and Matt worked with Amanda Gutierrez, a local missionary here in Nicaragua, to help give out backpacks to kids who passed their last year of school. In order to receive a backpack, the child had to bring their report card as evidence of their completion. Inside of the backpacks were various school supplies for the upcoming year, such as notebooks, rulers, and pens and pencils. The kids were definitely excited for their new things, and lets hope even more excited for the upcoming school year, which begins February 15th!

Steph and Alba signing people in.

All of the backpacks sorted by grade level.

Some of the boys excited to show off their new supplies!

2, 4, 6, 8... who do we appreciate!?

2011-01-26T15:24:00.000-08:00

I can't imagine my childhood without organized sports. The highlights of my weekends seemed to be running around with my friends and what the parents would bring for a post-game snack. MPI provides the opportunity for girls in our community to be a part of a soccer team which meets every Friday for three hours of soccer practice, and 15-20 girls regularly join us each week. Play may be interrupted by squeals of laughter as one of the girls nearly misses a soccer ball to the head, or choruses of "¿estás bien?" when a player trips and falls, or an eruption of smiles and cheer as a goal is scored.

This past Friday, we gathered the girls for a Premio Pool Party at the Manna house to show our appreciation for their constant enthusiasm and to reward their efforts with the team. Premios (prize in Spanish) were distributed to the girls based on last year's attendance and included a selection of tennis shoes and athletic apparel. Two of the girls had perfect attendance and were additionally rewarded with soccer balls!

Tatiana slides into the water!

uno...dos...tres...salta! (jump!)

Megan and Norma Alta sizing up their games.

Back in Managua

2011-01-17T09:12:00.000-08:00

Happy belated new year blog-readers and welcome back to our blog here in Nicaragua! After a three week visit back home to the States, the program directors are back in Managua and ready to start full swing. Joining the team this year are four new program directors, Joanna Lang, Amanda Pirilli, Matt Creeden, and Megan Fuson. All are adjusting well and ready to get their hands and feet dirty in their new Nicaraguan community.

In this first week back, we have had the pleasure of hosting a group from Worcester State University, who make an annual trip to Nicaragua this time of year. Led by Jackie Brennen, a professor at the university, the team consists of five occupational therapy students who spent the week volunteering at a school about ten minutes down the road called Tesoros de Dios. Tesoros de Dios works with children that are either mentally or physically disabled, and so the team travelled back and forth everyday to assist them with a variety of activities and exercises, such as identifying colors and words, stretching and practicing physical movement, and much more. They were not only a pleasure to host and get to know, but the work they were doing was an immense blessing on many children’s lives. Steph and Katie also spent the week there, trading off days to help translate for the volunteers and doctors.

Next week all of the regular Manna programs will be up and running again, and so needless to say everyone’s schedules will once again be full. Thanks again for checking in with us, and stay tuned for our post next week!

Tesoros de Dios School

Program director Katie working with one of the children.

Jackie, the leader of the Worcester team.

Program director Steph helping out with one of the exercises.

Stephanie looking for Waldo with one of the kids..

The whole group at Tesoros de Dios. From left: Sarah, Dave, Jackie, Kristen, Sarah. Front: Steph & Caroline

2011-01-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Play

As many of you already heard from manna mail, we put on a

Christmas play just before the end our first work term. The Hummingbird Kids Foundation awarded our site with a grant to help fund the Creative Arts program and really helped make the performance possible. The play consisted of a traditional nativity story and some songs. The PD's also put on a little skit that we all acted out in Spanish,

which was just as much fun as it was funny.

One of my favourite parts of working on the play was that every single one of the Program Directors were involved in this project. A lot of the work that we do on programs is normally in small groups of 2 or 3 PD's, so to be able to work on something all-together was really cool!

Here are some pictures from the night.

The costumes all ready for the kids.

Norman (a member of Nicayda, a NGO that we work with) helping teach the children a new christmas song.

As with all kiddies, group photos can be tough.

Out of 4 or 5 of them

this one by far is the best.

Even Santa came to the play!

Me and the boys.

One of our little Kings, Walter.

Trent handing out some snacks.

Sisters, Sara & Emily.

The cast getting some well deserved treats.

Fabricio and Norman from Nicayuda.

Santa's clothes aren't exactly practical in Nica.

Will was pretty happy to get the jacket off.

MUCHAS GRACIAS

HUMMINGBIRD

KIDS FOUNDATION

We couldn't have done it without your help!

2010-12-24T19:32:00.001-08:00

Team Nica Makes a Christmas Card

take 1: getting organized

take 2: trying to get the doggies in the photo... bad idea

take 3: almost... but, if you look closely Zac's eyes are closed

take 4: perfecto!

Happy Holidays from

MPI Nica

2010-11-30T08:10:00.000-08:00

NICA ES BONITA

Nicaragua is known as 'the land of lakes and volcanos.'

It's obvious when looking out at the landscapes that decorate our lives and explorations, just how stunning this country really is.

the view of Lake Nicaragua from Catarina

the Colonial town of Granada

a view from a walk just 10 minutes from the Manna House

a steaming volcano in Leon

5 volcanos in a row

the sweeping country side in Masaya

2010-11-25T07:36:00.000-08:00

POOL FIESTAS AT THE MANNA HOUSE

NICA STYLE

As many of you know at MPI Nica we have a pool in our backyard.

We have a lot of pool parties as rewards for the community members in our programs. For many of them this is their only chance to learn/practice swimming. Right now is getting to be the end of our first term and it's party season! Here are some photos from Steph's Children's English Class (we split up the boys from the girls in hopes for a little less chaos during the fiesta... it sorta worked).

2010-11-21T10:57:00.000-08:00

WOMEN'S FITNESS

Bi-weekly the women of Cedro Galan meet and have an hour long fitness class.

The women come to class in the same clothes that they wear during the day: knee-length skirts, jeans, and sandals (which they often slip off for class, participating barefoot) and they never complain. Before they knew that we had a set of free-weights they suggested we fill old plastic water bottles with rocks for weights. Their enthusiasm and willingness to learn how to exercise continues to inspire me to plan new work-outs and different fun ways to get in shape. We do a mix of cardio, yoga/stretching, and muscle work in class. I remember the first class when I tried to get the ladies to do some sit-ups, and it just wasn't going to happen. But, recently we've started doing up to 50 sit-ups in one class! They may not be the most co-ordinated group of gals, but I've seen them improve drastically in the past 4 months.

Back home I played with my university's Women's Ultimate Frisbee team named the UVixens (the short form of my university's name is UVic). Last week they sent over a box of donations (shoes, sports bras, shorts, t-shirts) for the women that participate in the class and we gave them out as Premios last Wednesday.

A Premio is a reward/prize that we give out to people that participate in our programs regularly. A Premio will often be a thing that a person needs for the program but can't normally afford on their own. For example, shorts or running shoes for fitness class. It was so great to be able to reward the ladies for all of their hard work with some much needed exercise apparel!

¡MUCHAS GRACIAS UVIXENS!

2010-11-17T07:54:00.000-08:00

WHAT IS HOLISTIC COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT?

What is holistic community development? Well, that's a really good question. I feel like it's a lot like the phrase 'sustainable living': you hear it all the time and you use it in sentences, however you don't really know exactly what it means. Firstly, it can mean different things for different people and different organizations. For MPI, it is the base of which we do all of our work. We recognize that if we run an English class for children, if the children aren't healthy, how can they focus on learning? So, paired with our English and Art classes. We faciliate a teeth-brushing program and also help with a feeding program. We believe that by helping all aspects of a person's life (health, education, creative, happiness, social, etc...) that's when a person will really be able to grow.

Another aspect of holistic community development is how we nurture and utilize a Program Director's unique strengths and skills. For example, a current PD, Steph Barnett majored in Spanish and Developmental Education. She uses those skills to run a children's english class, and also volunteers at a pre-school in the community. On the other hand, Trent Draughon (another PD) who is more tech savvy than most of us, teaches the computer class.

I never knew much about holistic community development before I started working with Manna Project, but now that I do, it just makes sense.

Marcos taking some notes in Steph's english class

You can't tell by this photo

but this class is one of the hardest to teach.

The children are very rambunctious.

But, through Steph's masterly skill of working with children in Spanish

she is able to keep them focused.

2010-11-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

WILL'S NICARAGUAN B-DAY

Last Sunday we celebrated Will's 23rd b-day with a nice dinner, cake, and of course a Spiderman shaped piñata! It's also a Nicaraguan tradition to crack a raw egg on the head of a person when it's their b-day. The Nicas say it's for good luck... and of course we wanted Will to have all the good luck he could! jejejejeje.

Here are some pictures from the celebrations.

Jaquie, Spiderman, & Will

Marcos blissfully trying to hit the Piñata and William watching seriously in the background preparing himself for the battle to get candy

Will really enjoyed it!

It was little Jaquie's b-day too

so she got a good luck egg on the head too

Lester making sure there was no left over candy hiding in Spidey

2010-11-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

GIRLS' DANCE CAMP

My first experience with MPI was as a Summer Volunteer in Quito, Ecuador in 2009. A fellow Summer Volunteer and good friend of mine, Rebekah Ann Chappell has been living in Costa Rica for the past 14 months, working and volunteering as a dance instructor. This past week we were lucky enough to have Bekah visit us in Managua and teach a dance camp for girls in Cedro Galan. The classes included basic ballet, jazz, and songs from High School Musical. Needless to say the girls absolutely loved it. Bekah's lessons focused on exercises that would help teach the girls body awareness as well as dance technique. The week passed way too fast and it was really sad to have to say good bye to Bekah this morning as we dropped her off at the bus stop to head back to Costa Rica. This past week I couldn't help but think about how great it would be for a the community to have permanent dance classes. I really hope that a future Summer Volunteer or PD will have a dance background and the skills to implement such a program.

despite varied foot-ware the girls in Cedro Galan still all were able to

participate

Maria and Laurita learning a little bit of Jazz

Every class this week started with sitting in a circle and talking about respecting each other while learning how to dance

Bekah liked to call this one the "Michael Jackson"

2010-10-29T09:33:00.001-07:00

TEETH-BRUSHING PROGRAM

Twice a week Manna Project Nica helps out with a feeding program that is hosted by the Augusts. Kathy August and Halle August are a married couple that have been doing mission work here for the past 7 years. They were an integral part in the starting of MPI Nica and even helped us find the Manna House to rent when we were just starting. The Augusts own the spaces that we use to run the majority of our programs in Cedro Galan and Chiquilistagua. Not only do the Augusts do phenomenal work in the community, but they're also the nicest people you'll ever meet.

After a good nutritious meal from the feeding program, MPI runs a little teeth-brushing program, where we give out toothbrushes and toothpaste to the children. Although it is only a small program and a small part of what we do, it is still very important. Many of the children here do not brush their teeth on a regular basis. For many families the extra cost of toothpaste is too much. It's crazy how you can bear witness to so much poverty, yet when you hear a simple explanation that a mother has to choose between toothpaste or food, you suddenly feel like you're seeing life here for the first time all over again.

Will making sure the right kids get the right toothbrushes

Escarlett

Marcos

Jimmy, Hamilton, & Daniel

(don't mind Luke in the background, he has a bronchial-pneumonia right now)

2010-10-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

A SHORT PIECE ON CHANGES TAKING PLACE IN

LA CHURECA

2010-10-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

BLOG ACTION DAY:

DRINKING WATER IN NICARAGUA

When I first arrived in Nicaragua I was ambivalent about drinking the tap water. Before departing I had dutifully gone to the travel clinic where I updated all my shots and of course got thoroughly warned about all of the exotic sicknesses that can be contracted in Latin America. Many of these sicknesses can be acquired by drinking contaminated water. In the Manna house I noticed that the old PDs were drinking from both the tap and a purified water jug. I asked around about this and learned that the tap water in Managua is reportedly treated the same way that tap water is in the United States. So, the argument here has been that maybe the water won't make you sick now, but in ten years or so maybe then you'll start seeing the consequences. In response to that worry I went to asked about drinking tap water in Managua to Amira to which she replied, "I've been here for 10 years and I've been drinking the tap water and I'm fine." Nonetheless, this does not carry off to outside of Managua, where bottled water is a must.

During my first two weeks in Managua while I was signed up for intensive Spanish school, I did a homestay. During my homestay I quickly learned something about the water realities for the people and families living in Managua, that most nights at around 6pm the water is turned off. After the water is turned off they use barrel that is filled during the day to flush the toilet, wash dishes, etc. There were many a nights were I would return from a day of 4 hours of Spanish school and an afternoon of exploring the city to a big bucket of water for a shower. Don't get me wrong, at that point I was thankful to be able to get clean. But, that experience got me thinking, if the water is regulated and restricted in such a way in the main city, what is it like for people living in more rural areas? After a little bit of research I've learned that there are many pueblos (villages/neighborhoods) that still do not have safe drinking water, not only in rural areas of Nicaragua, but in Managua too. Many of the community members that we work with in Cedro Galan and La Chureca don't have working toilets or running water. Without a proper sewage system, human waste will often contaminate water in the surrounding neighborhood, leaving the inhabitants permanently with parasites and in a weakened state.

Although Managua is on the right track with proper water sanitation with tap water, it still has a lot more development that needs to take place in order for all of Nicaragua's inhabitants to have access clean and safe drinking water.

Principe(or Prince in english) here, like many Nicaraguans,

has no choice but to drink untreated groundwater

the floods in La Chureca contaminate the roads and water

with harmful parasites and bacteria

To learn more about Blog Action Day and what you can do to help give the world access to clean water

please visit: http://blogactionday.change.org/

2010-10-12T09:42:00.003-07:00

Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition »

Blog Action Day 2010 is on October 15th this year.

Stay tuned for a blogpost about water in Nicaragua.

Please sign this petition in support of the UN's effort

to bring clean and safe water

to those who don't have easy access to it!

2010-10-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

CREATIVE ARTS CLASS

Every Tuesday and Thursday in Cedro Galan we host a children's Creative Arts Class that teaches everything from painting and jewelry making, to drama. The class size averages at around 12 children from ages 2-12yrs old. With such a wide range of ages in the class lesson planning has proven to be especially difficult. To accommodate all of the students many of the lesson plans are modified to be easier or more difficult. For example when we do beadwork, we use giant beads that are easy to put on string (for the little ones) and tiny seed-beads with tiny holes that are more difficult to work with for the older students. At many of the children's schools art is not considered an integral aspect of an education, so it is a little tricky trying to teach creativity. The children have little patience or confidence in their ability to make artwork and often can be heard saying "no puedo" or "I can't do it." We combat this with lots of encouragement and a regular exposure to all things creative. The program has been running for two months now and we are very slowly beginning to see improvements in these areas. My hopes for this program is to foster and nurture the arts in a place where they are often overlooked.

Rene

Gheral

Arleth

2010-10-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

RAINY SEASON

There are only two seasons in Nicaragua. There is rainy season/Winter which lasts from May-Dec and there is dry season/Summer which takes place from Jan-April. Managua normally receives 182mm of rainfall in September. However last month there was at least 300mm of rain.

Amira, who has lived here the past 10 years has also said that she has never seen rains like this before. The roads in the community that consist mainly of mud and in some places strategically placed rocks are being destroyed by this rainfall. Children who have been playing in community roads that have morphed into small rivers have been tragic victims of drownings and a total of 40 people have died so far due to the heavy rains. Already isolated neighborhoods are becoming even harder to enter and exit. Coastal towns and towns that boarder the lakes are having to be evacuated. Sections of La Chureca have been flooded, leaving community member's small abodes in ruins. The heavy rains are literally crippling the city. They also have a large effect on the programs we run. When it rains here it's as if all of Managua's life is put on pause. People remain wherever they are and wait for the rains to stop. Many community members don't even own rain jackets and only a few have umbrellas. Although this season there has been much more rain than normal, I find myself confused to Managua's inability to deal with it. Houses are built right on the dirt and flood at least a little on a regular basis, the roads are still constructed poorly and get immensely damaged in the rains, and the people refuse to go out in it. However, there's not much we can do to change an ingrained cultural behavior, all we can do try to accommodate our programs to the weather and hope for the rains to recede.

Eroding road and stream made by rains.

Annual average weather graph for Managua.

Last night coming home after having dinner over at a community member's house.

Where you see us standing is normally a road.

2010-09-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

RE-STARTING CHILDREN'S LITERACY CLASS

As we have been working for the past few months here in community we have been noticing in our english classes that some of the children that we work with have been having trouble reading and writing. Sometimes when a child is having particular trouble in an english class we will resort to explaining a word or concept in Spanish, only to have it still be misunderstood. This has been something that has been bothering us for a while now. So, after much brainstorming we decided to re-start the children's literacy class. In December 2009 the literacy class was converted into a homework help class, a program that has since been cancelled due to a low attendance rate.

Creating this class has been an especially daunting task because none of us have any previous knowledge or experience with teaching literacy. However, we recognize literacy's importance and we are trying to address it none the less. We started by having a couple of meetings, creating goals, researching literacy, and developing a plan of action. Last week we made flyers advertising the class, which we handed out as we walked around Cedro Galán. As we were advertising last week Alba Flores, a young adult in the community even volunteered to help with class too.

On Monday we were thrilled when 13 kids came to the first class and we're hoping to be able to sustain that number.

children's books, just waiting to be read

Maria hard at work learning the alphabet

2010-09-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

CORN ISLANDS

Last week we had 5 days off work to celebrate both Nicaragua and all of Central America's Independence Days. So, we all decided to go on a family vacation to the Corn Islands!

The Corn islands can be found off the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua and are a 1 and 1/2 hours flight away from Managua.

Great Corn and Little Corn are the two islands that make up this bonita island pair.

Great Corn has even been short listed as the most authentic Caribbean island around. But, Little Corn has no cars and many of the residents their never have to wear shoes (not even sandals).

The locals from Corn Islands speak a surreal mix of english, spanish and creole slang, sometimes all at the same time. I often found myself entranced hearing the locals speak, constantly asking myself, "i'm still in Nicaragua, right?"

We enjoyed snorkelling in crystal clear water, eating a plethora of seafood, exploring white sand beaches, relaxing, and of course eating lots of Eskimo ice-cream.

Our little trip has proven to be a great recharger and we're more enthusiastic than ever to be back working in Managua!

yield, crabs crossing!

Will, Ira, and Zac about to go spear fishing

sharks are one of many of the diverse species of marine creatures

that can be found around the Corn Islands

busy dock on Great Corn

the view from the lodge we stayed at on Little Corn

2010-09-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

DONATING BLOOD in NICARAGUA

Last week on the way home from La Chureca we stopped off at the Red Cross

where some of us were able to donate our blood. Among the donators was Karen Bustos, a community member that we work with in Chiquilistagua.

If you donate blood in the name of a person here, it bumps them up to the top of the waiting list and guarantees that they will receive the blood they need.

We donated for Sara Zeledon, a little girl who lives in La Chureca who suffers from anemia and leukemia. Sara is also a part of our Child Sponsorship program.

Today Sara's mother was excited to report that her daughter's platelet count is improving!

Red Cross Nicaragua

arriving at the blood bank

Sara Zeledon, age 7

2010-08-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend our Country Director, Amira Tahir, ran her first half marathon ever!

Amira raised just over $1500 for Manna Project International and has definitely inspired some of us PD's to start training for a half marathon ourselves. Not only did Amira meet her own personal goal of never walking during the whole 21km (13.1 miles), but she also completed in under 3 hours!

CONGRATULATIONS AMIRA!

and

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO DONATED!

2010-08-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

the other night

at the Manna House

we had a

PAPER MACHE PARTY!!!

here are some pics