A large part of the last few months has been figuring out how to pass along what we've learned in the past four years and make a healthy transition to those who are continuing the work as we leave. When we arrived, we both began in new positions where no one had been working before us. We have thoroughly enjoyed our work, so here at the end we live with a lingering sense of sadness mixed with deep gratitude for all of our rich experiences.
For Alan, the hand-off has involved preparing binders and course packs of all his syllabi, activities, readings, etc. for his classes. Since no one is yet assigned to work in his position, he left this wealth of information with his Nicaraguan and Cuban colleagues at the seminary.
In November, we spent 10 days with Lloyd and Goldie Kuhns, who will be coming to Nicaragua in March to work with Connecting Peoples and assistance in the MCC office. It was a very full time of traveling to churches and partners, visiting volunteers and families, and trying to explain to them all what I would do differently the next time! Lloyd lived in Nicaragua and Costa Rica in the 1970s, they served with MCC in Brazil, they both speak Spanish, and they are warm relational people who will do a fantastic job. Below, Lloyd gets to know some Nicaraguan young people who have participated in exchanges.
Another element of our lives here in Nicaragua has been the process of gradually building up (with the help of many of you!) a community lending library. Over the past year, Angela (MCC rep) and I have worked with a group of Nicaraguan educators to develop the idea of a mobile library system. Then in August, Marisa Clymer Shank arrived with great experiences and abilities to continue this work. Marisa and I spent a lot of time together in September, visiting other library projects, including this rural mobile library, below. If you are interested in continuing to follow the wonderful things that are happening with the books from our library, here is a link to Adam and Marisa's blog.
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