Friday, March 19, 2010

Great work

Just wanted to do a post about how I am very proud of the one year volunteers in SALT and YAMEN! They are building great relationships, working hard in their positions, having an impact, and allowing themselves to be impacted.
Amanda is using her mad occupational therapy skills with the kids at Hogar Belen. Helping them have appropriate technology, learn to eat independently, etc.

(Photo by Diana) Diana (bottom far right) está aprendiendo mucho sobre la comunicación. Se puede comunicarse en señas, español colombiana, y español nica. En su trabajo con las familias de los estudiantes (y con su familia Nica anfitriona) ella demuestra mucho amor . . . como dice aqui en la foto: "Te amo" en señas.
(Photo by Melissa) Abby is a strong campesina woman now. She has penetrating insight into life in the countryside and also into life "in-between"--in between city and country, in between wealth and poverty, in between North and South. She works hard in agriculture and in relationships.
(Photo by Melissa) Melissa is using her wonderful creative gifts to enrich the lives of the students at the Cultural Center. Here are her enthusiastic students who learned to express themselves and tell their stories through the lens of a camera.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Bird-sitting


Meet Pancho. Our neighbors (who care for Simon once a week) know that Simon likes the chocoyo (parakeet) . . . in fact, one of his first words was "choyo." So they "gave" us the bird while they went on vacation. Instant entertainment for a curious 13 month old!

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

The Ins and Outs of Giving

Part 1: Outside and Inside Giving

Remembering the Purisima (see blogs from December of 2009 and previous years) on our street in early December makes me think about the contrasts between December here and in the North. On our street in Managua, the majority of the lights, displays, and decorations are outside on the porches, with just a few inside. Gift-giving takes place outside on the street to anyone who comes. I watch as people who would not ordinarily have gifts for themselves or their children happily shoulder heavy bags full of food, kitchen utensils, games, and plastic toys—and visions of Santa Claus dance through my North American head. Gift-giving within families (even at Christmastime) is not emphasized—the greater emphasis is on eating together and exploding tons of firecrackers, which also happens outside with neighbors.

In the US, while many people have some lights outside, the majority of holiday decorations are inside. Similarly, most gifts in the US are given inside houses to family and close friends. Not that generosity is absent. This Christmas, while visiting the US, I witnessed many efforts by families and churches to think about “outside giving.” As they will tell you, doing this takes intentional effort and a fight against the cultural current.

Antony and Samira are two of our neighbors who often come by looking for food. Their attire includes dirty over-sized shorts tied up by an old computer cord that they snatched, along with their broken shoes, from a trash bin. If they had been born into an “inside giving” cultural system, they would have no chance of receiving gifts. But I saw their large smiles as they sucked on candy and toted their backpacks stuffed with toys down the street. They saw me and ran over, opening their bags. Elizabeth! Tell Simon to pick whatever he wants from here!” I wonder, as the tears well up, whether I will ever find any better teachers for my little boy of generous love and giving.

In a juxtaposition that makes my head swim, just two weeks later, we are visiting a church in the US when I am introduced to the Amy Grant song “Give this Christmas Away” as a soundtrack to the Samaritan’s Purse shoebox campaign. With uncanny irony, this campaign allows North Americans to pack shoeboxes with food, kitchen utensils, games, and plastic toys to send to children in “poor” countries like Nicaragua to teach them about love and giving.

Part 2: More thoughts about giving

We posted our funny list about Simon’s birthday gifts, but I wanted to add one more reflection on our cultural lessons (maybe more appropriately entitled “How Beth and Alan Continue Messing Up and Experiencing Patience and Grace from their Neighbors”) about giving. Even though Nicaraguans are normally not into specific invitations (showing up and visiting are more common), birthday parties are an exception. Since I have received invitations to birthday parties in the past, I assumed we would need to send invitations for Simon’s birthday party. So I made and printed invitations and began handing them out like candy to everyone we knew or sort-of-knew or who came to ask for one once the word got around. For some reason, I assumed that most people would probably not bring gifts. A Nicaraguan friend quickly set me straight, explaining that the expectation behind an invitation is a gift, and that if someone can’t afford a gift, they will refuse the invitation rather than come empty-handed. “Oh no!” I thought. “The last thing this only-grandchild needs is more gifts! The economy is worse every day and I know that many people don’t even have enough to eat. I don’t want people to feel obligated and spend their money on unnecessary gifts.” I quickly tried to go around to neighbors and friends, back-peddling and explaining that I would prefer if people do not bring gifts. I received only confused expressions. Nonetheless, I hoped they would take it to heart and didn’t set up a gift table, wanting to save everyone hassle, embarrassment, and money.

The day of the party, I saw some of the first guests come in with gifts, and I tried to quickly shuffle them off to the back and not make a show of it. They would have none of that—they insisted on giving the gift directly to Simon. In some cases, they also insisted on telling him ahead of time what it was. This was a ritual and part of the fun of the party, and I was trying to smash it. Something clicked: This silly North American is still in the mindset that buying and giving gifts is an obligation instead of a special joy! The poorer the party guest, the more pride and joy I observed in offering their gifts to Simon.

Part 3: One more reflection on giving

This time the lesson has come from church. Our church has been in the process of expanding the building for the last few years, working slowly as we can raise the money, taking great pride in the process. Finally, this week we needed to commit to putting on the new roof, the one part that weather and security will not allow us to do “poco a poco.” The pastor preached about Elijah and the widow—about the oil and flour didn’t run out even though they knew it should have long before. He encouraged us, many of whom are unemployed and find daily nourishment a struggle, to pray in faith and watch how God would provide miracles. The next night, the co-pastor preached on cheerful giving, and we took the final offering. Now, less than one week later, we are rejoicing in the miracle that we have a roof and a functioning new sanctuary. (Alan even helped a little with tearing down the old walls!) What most struck me was the slogan our pastor coined, “En medio de la pobreza, abundemos en riqueza.”

“In the midst of poverty, we have abundant riches.”

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Feeling at Home




One month ago, I woke up to a cold Kansas morning and went to Mother Goose time at the public library with my mom and Simon. This morning I woke up sweating, took a refreshing cold shower before our water ran out, and walked around visiting the neighbors with Simon. Home, sweet home. Both places, I mean. Also, South Central Pennsylvania and Southern California. We have many homes now, and have visited all of them during our last two months of “home leave.” Sometimes we feel spread thin as we try to keep fingers and toes in far-flung areas of the continent. Mostly, though, we enjoy the depth that comes in knowing that you are welcome in many different places.

On Sunday we went to a birthday party for one neighbor and a baptism of another. It was one of those afternoons in which everyone is outside on porches or in the street, accompanied by plenty of loud music and talking. We were sitting on our neighbors’ porch, eating chop suey, chatting, and trying to keep an eye on Simon, who was working the crowd, showing off his new talking and walking skills. A group of kids was playing Uno on our front porch, waiting for us to be done "visiting" so they could come in and read books and play with Simon. I was struck with how much I felt like a part of things. We know people here. Their kids come to our house every day, we share special foods and celebrations together, we rely on each other for a variety of needs. We will never exactly fit in like Nicaraguans, but we are still part of the fabric somehow.

There is something beautiful about going home to friends and family and participating in the rituals and traditions of those places and people. It is exciting and sometimes you don´t even want to sleep at night because you don´t want to miss anything. There is also something beautiful about coming home to the rituals and routines here. We all (especially Simon) have been sleeping more peacefully and enjoying the consistency of the life we have carved out as a family here.


Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Documentary on Nicaragua

We recently ran across this documentary on youtube about the recent history of Nicaragua. We recommend watching this four-part series if you want to understand a little more of the social, political, and economic context that surround us. Each video is between 10 and 14 minutes long, so you can watch a little at a time. The documentary was aired by Al Jazeera in July of 2009.




Drought

We wrote a post last year about el Niño and its effects on the climate in Nicaragua, in particular the lack of rain. Our teammates, Seth and Sarah Hays, are working in a region most gravely affected by the drought. Here's a post that gives more information about consequences of drought in rural Nicaragua.

Saturday outings



The last 2 weekends we've taken some day trips, taking advantage of the few Saturdays a year when Alan doesn't have class. Last week we went to a private nature reserve with our friends Martin and Lily. Simon loved riding on our backs in the sling. He also enjoyed walking around in the dirt. We saw an owl, some monkeys, and a really great view from Managua to Masaya. This past weekend we went to Granada for the day, visiting with a young guy who will likely spend next year volunteering in the US. We met his family and ate a yummy lunch of chicken and rice. We then dropped by a few other friends' houses, as we don't get to Granada very often.
This next Saturday starts the academic year for Alan, which means that he's got class pretty much every weekend from now until the end of November. We're glad for a chance to have some Saturday getaways!