November Clinic....

Well I am a bit late on writing this but at least it's before next months clinic..haha. We had such a great time, as usual, doing the November clinic. Rainy season had finally come the end of October and had rained enough that we weren't sure how the roads were going to be. We go no matter what, just a bit more prepared with a tow rope and all!! The roads were quite slippery but still pretty solid underneath, so it was no more than a bit of slipping and sliding as you can see in the pic below. (Roger was driving straight. I think he was a bit disappointed there wasn't more of an opportunity to drive in deep mud..hehe)

We made it in good time and there was a bit of a shorter line, which we expected with the rain that was coming in that morning. A couple of the ladies kept saying, "I told them all you guys would show up." It was so funny, but made me so happy to know that they know we are there for them rain or shine :) Of course as the word got out more and more kept coming. There ended up being a bit over 40 in all. It ends up being nice when there are fewer patients like this, we are able to spend more time with them and pray with them. It's really all about relationships and Him being glorified in it all!!

(This is a precious little girl...I still don't know how they keep their pretty dresses so lovely in the rainy and muddy weather.)

(I had forgotten our step-on scale, but thank goodness Susanna brings her infant scale and Roger his muscles..haha. The kids thought this scale was pretty fun though.)

(This family had come to see the doctor about other things but when the mom asked if we could remove the boys stitches we were more than happy to help. Saves them a trip to town to see the doctor, which could have been a whole day affair. He was so brave and a cutie.)
(And here he is, stitch free!!)

(Went to deliver meds and powdered milk to our faithful old lady, 80+ yrs. old, it was too rainy and muddy for her to have made the walk to the clinic....so we delivered. You like my boots?? haha)

Schools Almost Here!

Ok, so I am so far behind right now. I need to tell you about our trip to Rivas and our trip to Rio Blanco and so much. The only thing I need right now is time!!! I can't believe it is already the end of the month. Where does the time go??

This past week, after returning from Rio Blanco, we have been gearing up for the Nicaraguan school year to start. This will be our 3rd year with the honor to be able to provide school supplies for 5 rural schools outside of Jinotepe. For those that keep up, these schools are in the same area where we hold the medical clinics every month and also where we have begun to have movie nights. School begins here next Tuesday. I can't believe it snuck up on me this year. We are getting all the final data so that we know exactly how many students there will be in all the schools. This year I have been told it will be around 340.

This past year we were told that it was a very good year for attendance. The teachers and principal have noticed that the children and their parents have taken more responsibility to attend classes and also to stay in school (there is a high drop out rate after 2nd grade). It has really been a blessing to help these families and give them hope. Both through the school supplies and the clinics but most importantly through the tangible love of God.

It amazes me to see how many children aren't able to attend classes because they can't afford a pencil or notebook. Their whole school supplies for a year are around $10 per student. They don't worry about the new pair of shoes, or who has the cool new clothes, or their nice new backpack. The students are supposed to wear uniforms to the public schools, but for the rural schools they wave that so that they can attend. Most kids are happy that they have flip flops to wear, some have no shoes. And from what I have seen, less than half even have backpacks. All these things are the least of their worries. I remember last year Josiah asked if the boys would get upset if they got one of the kitty cat notebooks. I just smiled and asked him to watch as they opened their packs. The boys were just as happy with the kitty notebooks as the girls were with the car ones. They didn't care, it was still paper.

So once again, we are on our quest to get supplies. It is always a tiring week or so but so worth it. Even the teachers get supplies. The govt. only gives out very little, like paper and chalk. And with only making a little over $100 a month, they can't afford to supply it themselves.

Anyway I will quit rambling on about this, I just love to see how God touches these lives with the littlest of things that mean so much. And beyond that, how God reminds me how to be grateful for the little things in my life. Our lives are truly blessed through all the lives that have crossed our path and those who remain.

Thanks to all who have helped and who continue to help....there aren't enough words to express our extreme gratitude, so I will just say Thank You!!

Much Love!!

Literacy Training

Well the time finally came for me to train teachers to teach literacy. I had been a bit nervous about the upcoming 2 day training. It was a bit odd, a white girl teaching spanish speaking people how to teach other hispanics to read spanish. I am fairly comfortable in my spanish, but it is just in conversation, never taught a class before.

First I will give a bit of stats for the literacy here in Nicaragua. According to various websites the illiteracy rate is anywhere from 25% to 35%. With the population of Nicaragua at 5,800,000 that leaves anywhere from 1,450,000 to 1,800,000 that can't read. Now back to the training.

Thankfully I had a small class for the first one. I had a wonderful group of 4 that have a real desire to help others to become literate. And it also helped that they were all I know pretty well, so they were a bit forgiving with my spanish if I hit a rough spot.

We started Thursday morning at one of the student's house, Lenin. It is a small one room house and it worked beautifully. We had a wonderful day filled with learning and with fellowship. His wonderful wife had made lunch for us as well. Some very delicious rice, beans, platanos and cheese. I finished Thursday feeling very satisfied and thankful that I got the first day out of the way.

Friday, we began our second, and last, day of training. We had to change location to another one of the student's house, Jhossy. Once again we had a wonderful time learning and laughing together. Her mom was gracious enough to make lunch for us as well, (repeat of the first day, very tipical lunch). Once again a wonderful day. We finished it with 4 teachers ready to teach. I finished feeling a little tired of speaking spanish for 16 hours, and extremely satisfied that the first literacy class training was completed and successful.

First Clinic of the New Year!!

I couldn't think of a better way to start out the new year than to be out with our friends in the community and have our first clinic for 2009!! Susanna, our friend that's a nurse, was able to be in the States for the holidays, so I was able to great each patient and sign them in. I had a good time but I still have trouble sometimes with their names. It's not as simple as Bob, Jim, Sally and Sue. We had the priviledge to help 67 people this month.

After we finished we packed up and headed back to town for a late lunch...yummy pizza!! As we were on the road we noticed our faithful Emelia (80+ years old) coming for a consult. So we stopped and took care of her on the road and pulled out the meds from the back of the pickup, and of course gave her a ride back to her house. We would really appreciate any prayer for her, she is not doing too well.

As we continued on our drive home we saw this group of girls standing next to this little wagon that they were playing with. I thought it was pretty cool how they enclosed it.

I wished I had my camara but thankfully Jim and Lynne did so her and I hopped out and I asked if we could take a picture of their cart. I asked who had made it so nice and the girls pointed to the inside. I thought for sure that they were just pulling a younger sibling, which is very common here. So we looked in and to our surprise there were 2 bigger kids and one toddler. We just smiled. The kids got a kick out of us, but were proud to show off their wagon. I was very impressed by their good use of materials. They used foam insulation tied with ropes to make the encloser.

These faces of these children is only one of the reasons that we do what we do. How could we not help. What a blessing for us!!!! I thank God everyday for the priveledge He has given us. I so look forward to the things that are ahead.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Well it's here, 2009!! I can't believe how this past year flew by. I am looking forward to see the amazing things that God has in store for this new year. We desire that God does the same with each and every one of you and blesses you as we have felt blessed to know you all. Happy New Year and live it with expectation!!!!!

Just Hanging Out

It is amazing how much you really get to know someone just by doing something together.

We were out at one of the schools today, the only one you can get to due to the pure slush-like mud to try to drive through. Let's just say the roads are so bad we have gone 4 times in the past 3 weeks and due to 20 days of non-stop rain we have gotten stuck all but once. Though we don't feel so bad because the people out there have said that about every truck that goes out there gets stuck. :) The other good thing is that the oxen are readily available to help.

We went to the school to put up a swing for the school kids. The kids at Trinity Christian School in Neosho, MO had been saving money to help pay for a swing set for the school here that didn't even have one piece of playground equipment. They had gotten the money to us a few months ago but the logistics of getting the swing and a way for it to get to the school was a bit hard without a truck, until now.

We had a few guys that said they would meet us to help with putting it together and to set it in concrete. (have to detour the thieves) While we were there we had such a great time getting to know some of the other people in the community that we had not had much time to talk with before. And of course we had our kids and some neighbors of the school to try it out. Seemed to work great!!
(to see more pics go to http://picasaweb.google.com/rreuceda)

While we were there Roger had brought tools and materials to build a rocket stove. There had been a real need to do something about the amount of smoke that fills a house during rainy season when they have to cook in their home, and the cost of the wood to cook with. He had found the basic idea on the internet, from the Aprovecho group, about a rocket stove. And thanks to youtube, got many ideas. It is a very simple design with cheap materials. The total cost is around $5 per stove. We have already made one and had it with a friend in another community and his wife has been so thrilled. So today after they put the swing up, Roger and 4 other guys put the 2nd one together. After we finished the women that were there said they wanted to be on the list for the next and the guys are wanting to do a workshop for all the community to make ones for whoever wants to be a part.

The great thing about the stove is it gives off no smoke (completely burns the wood), saves on buying wood. The first stove, in it's first week, used 50% less wood for the family. (which pays for the stove in less than a month) Cooks faster, and because of not giving off smoke it is better for their health. We see so many people that come to the clinic with so many respiratory problems because of the constant inhalation of smoke within their homes and eye problems.

(to see more pics go to http://picasaweb.google.com/rreuceda)

It has been so great to see the response of the people. They are excited and want to learn how to do it themselves. When we left the school today the guys were going to start talking to others around the community to set up a day to have a workshop. We left the stove we made today with one of the families to show others as they ask. We will soon have a workshop in Dolores, where the first stove is, and there is also talk of doing one in Rio Blanco as well.

It is so exciting how God opens up doors to share the love of God with others. One of the guys that was there today was one of the ones that was part of the group that tried to kick us and the clinic out a few months ago. And he was the one that wanted to help facilitate the workshop. It is so great to see how God can begin to change people's hearts if we just trust Him, obey Him, and love them with the same love that God shows us daily.

These are such exciting times!!!

Rainy, Rainy, Rainy

One could never imagine how much it could rain till you have lived in the tropics, or at least have come during the rainy season. I just can't comprehend how it can rain so hard and non-stop. It has rained, at our house nearly 2 days without stopping. a few days ago we had a bit of sunshine but for 2 weeks before that it was the same....rain, rain, and more rain. It has its moments where it is just like God turned on the faucet (or faucets) to full strength and just let it pour. Nearly everyone walks here. Everyone has their boots, or they just take off their flip-flops, and roll up their pants and deal with it.

In the communities where we help some of the teachers have to get there from Jinotepe, the main town. Normally there is a cattle truck that transports people in and out if they can pay for it. The last 2 months there has been so much rain that the trucks don't run. They walk to get to their jobs teaching. The one teacher, Rina, says it takes here nearly 45 min to 1 hour to get to school and by the time she gets there her shoes are filled with mud. There are about another 3 teachers, that I know of, that live further in the communities, but on the other side of a river. Normally that river is a few inches high to cross and get to their jobs. But now who knows. Last year they said they tied ropes across the river to try to make a make-shift ferry to cross, or just walking but using the rope to guide them. I can't imagine that being the norm for getting to work. I know I like getting the parking space the closest to try to keep from walking another 20 feet farther to get to a store. I feel bad when I know people have to walk to get somewhere but in reality it is very normal. And beyond all that they are more than thankful that they even have a job.

I am so glad that God has me here to keep me grounded. To bring reality to life. None of the 'keeping up with the Jones'' business. But just keeping up with God's business. There is no greater feeling than being content, happy, where you are at and knowing you are doing what you have been called to do. No matter if it is at home, office, business, another country, pastor, or friend.

Be content and if not seek it out!!