Los Chaguites Part 2

are all the parts still here?

...We arrive. This is definitely the most impoverished town I have seen. The houses are all very poor--I don't see any types of business at all--not even the "sell chips out your back window" kind of stores.  One of the biggest cues to me about the poverty of this village is that I can recognize every child from photos I've seen from Jonathan's previous visits--they all have on exactly the same clothes.


There is a well for the town, which is now only pumping mud. Since it is now the rainy season people collect water--but it came too late for their crops. There is no electricity anywhere in town, nor any motorized vehicles.  As we walked into the village, everyone began following us to the school to see what we were up to. Kids ran along the road in front of us and grandmothers holding babies peeked out of doorways. It was definitely like we had walked down the mountain and back in time.


We meet briefly with the teacher at the school, and begin setting up.  The school is among the newest and nicest I've seen in Nicaragua so far--a very shocking contrast to the rest of the village.

so hungry to read!

huevos verde con jamon

Soon we are screening eyes, reading books aloud to non-readers, sharing books with kids who rarely if ever had had a book to read just for fun, are administering anti-parasite medication, blowing bubbles, tickling and teasing and talking with the people of the town who have all come to the school for this exciting afternoon.



The hardest part of any mission day is having to close the doors when there are people you either don't have time to serve or have run out of resources for. It's tough to tell someone, "No, I'm sorry, we only have enough medicine for the children and the very elderly..." or "We can't wait for your mother to come for the eye screening--we have to pack up."

But time was weighing heavily on our minds. We knew that the hike out was going to be MUCH more difficult and lengthy than the hike in, and already dark clouds were blowing overhead. This is after all, the rainy season in a tropical country. It rains most every afternoon here. And what we just hiked down looked an awful lot like a river bed....

line up for parasite meds. can you see pajama girl?

hmm...lemme see if I remember how to do this

about half the crowd is on the other side of the camera watching how it works

Wanna see some great pictures of this day and other Nicaraguan adventures this week? Check out my hiking buddy's website at Go Christian Go!