Happy Birthday Gecko Killer!

Hola Amigos!



Your substitute-blogger Jamie will be running the show for now and giving Anne a break from her duties. Things have been so hectic and exciting down here that we have been behind on our blogging - thank you all so much for staying keeping interested!

Yesterday morning, as promised, we woke up feeling sore from our first day on the site. Even the `young ones´ were feeling the burn haha. In the morning we continued progress on the worksite building walls, tieing rebar and working on our tans - oh wait, that took no work at all. Our group also split to expand our project on the interior walls of the health clinic.

Some of the ladies were putting their painting expertise to the test with the large task of painting the front foyer of the clinic. If only it was that easy. The walls inside had been covered with many posters that were glued on! The women worked hard to clean the walls up as much as possible before laying on the first coat of paint. Even painting has its hazards - especially if you are a gecko as Mary Frook would tell you. More than once a gecko was trying to scurry along the walls, only to be caught in the wet paint. After several pokes and tail ejections, all the geckos were free. Mary Frook - 2, Geckos - 0



After a well deserved lunch, the group split up once again. One going to the school, and one pushing forward at the worksite. The group that went to the school had a blast with the kids! We had one of our translators, Francie, go with the group to do deveotions and help with songs for the kids, while the team members did crafts and interpretive dances. The children were extremely excited to have them visit the classrooms.

On our way home from the school, Annette Vickers, one of our Pan Leaders, took us on a special sidetrip. We were able to meet a young man named Julio who The Pan people had taken a special interest in when he was at the La Mascotta Hospital being treated for cancer. At his house we saw a very poor family facing many hardships. Julio is in a terminal stage of cancer and unable to afford the travel dollars to provide palliative care to return to Managua for treatment.

Our visit began with the family finding seating for each of us outside in their dirt yard. There were many animals on the small property. We had conversations with Julio, which Annette translated, and we decided that using contingency money to assist with two of his bus trips to Managua would be a great use of those funds. He and his family were so thankful and hugged us very warmly as we were leaving. It was a real privelege to meet such a warm family and feel as welcome as they treated us like family as we visited them.

We met back at the hotel for dinner, and surprised the gecko-killing Mary Frook with a Nicaraguan-made birthday cake, card, and small gift. Happy Birthday Mary!

The team then went through some decision making regarding which side projects to put our contingency funds into. After thoughtful (and very thorough) deliberations, we decided upon several small projects which include a new mop bucket for the clinic, a basketball net for the school, and hopefully repairing the leaking roof of the clinic and purchasing a new washer. The clinic currently washes all linen and clothes by hand and is constantly in a never-ending washing cycle (I bet they do even more loads a day than YOU Mom!).

The team then heard of news of the storm that had hit Ontario and our thoughts and prayers are with all of the people in our area experiencing loss and turmoil.

Until tomorrow!

Jamie Boley