The Rio Coco Adventure - Part III--Jonathan

The final two days of our river adventure ended as they had begun, but with different types of adventure.

Day 6 (Thursday) - Back in San Andres

     The final day of clinic work brought visitors from across the river in nearby Honduras. We had heard that the Honduras side of the river was more well off, and everything we saw from the boat and the visitors seemed to bear this out. You could tell because everyone of them had shoes, they had combed and brushed hair, and were wearing their "Sunday best."

Sunday Best...and shoes, too!

     On this morning I found the odd sounds of a drum line pounding out a cadence in the distance. It sounded every bit like a large Central Texas corps providing background beats for the drill team and horns setting out for Main St. My curiosity got the best of me and I headed out to fulfill my duties as staff photographer and snap some photos of the band. The younger children were in school, and I assumed the older children were in the field at morning practice preparing for whatever event was next for them. I walked across the soccer field and around the next bend of houses as the volume grew. I knew I was getting closer but I could not find them anywhere. Finally, I decided the sound was coming from a barn, I walked to the window and was surprised by five boys, aged about 9 to 11 years, beating on a variety of plastic jugs and other homemade percussion instruments. The sound replicated the finest drum brigade and the boys beamed with pride as they performed for their audience of one.

"I'll play my drum for you parumpumpum..."

     School was back in session and as we began our clinic work I noticed what appeared to be children moving desks from one building to another. We had celebrated the most recent Independence Day in Nicaragua (they observe 4 for various reasons) so it would not have been a surprise for furniture to be rearranged for such an event. At the invitation of the school principal I went to see how class was progressing. Much to my surprise a shortage of desks had children hauling their desks to school each day and back home after the session ended. What an uproar this would cause in the good ol' US of A!

     The number of animals that roamed everywhere, including in and out of buildings, was astonishing. In Jinotega an occasional church dog will visit during worship but leaves when he finds the sermon long or objectionable. I guess I thought that some animals were natural enemies like dogs and chickens. In this setting, however, all the animals got along with all the other animals. It was very ark-like, I'm sure. I guess my animal husbandry education was skewed since most of what I learned about animals was from Saturday morning cartoons about a wolf and a sheep that punched a clock, or my useless weenie dogs that shared an affinity for frogs, lizards and baby birds,  However, the fear-induced excitement of watching two stallions kick box and a nine-year-old boy lasso one of them to break it up was pretty high excitement for me on my last day in San Andres.

     Since it was our final evening on the river I decided to take a stroll from one end of the community to the other. As I wandered I saw the sun preparing to set, the river sounds starting to take grip, a peace encompass the village and the outline of some of the buildings starting to darken against the sky. It was a setting I have branded into my memory.

     As the sun went down (and as you might expect), Sheila and I found a pack of children with whom we could play. Having packed not nearly enough stickers we soon invented a game by which the children could win the stickers by being the first to touch various things around the center of town - a boat, a tree, a coconut shell, an ill-prepared Nicaraguan or a passing pig or dog (neither of which wanted to be touched.) It was great fun!

     By the end of the day our 1/4-inch sleeping mat was becoming more welcoming as the exhaustion of the adventure began to take its toll. I quickly took my dip-the-river-water-out-of-a-55-gallon-drum shower and collapsed on my mat.

Day 7 (Friday) - Travelling back to Jinotega

     We were told that this would be the most grueling day of the trip, and possibly our lives. We were warned of a 12 hour boat ride upstream back to the community of Wiwili, followed by a four-hour ride by bus to the city of Jinotega. All of this began with a 4 am wake-up call. I'm not sure how it happened but the boat ride was only nine hours and God provided rain-less cloud cover for much of the trip. It was beautiful. In a little less than an hour, we off-loaded the boats and reloaded the bus and were on the final leg of the adventure. It was good. Some 50 travelers, including about 11 Gringos completed the journey no worse for wear. During the four days there were 1,520 medical contacts among the dentists, doctors and vision screeners. The four-day Bible Institute hosted 17 students. There were 10 people who took on a new life through baptism. People were helped in the name of God. Jesus was shown to a desperate people and I had a wonderful experience.

Final Question: Will I consider doing this again?

Yes. One week form today I will be back on the river for an adventure of a different type. May God have mercy on my soul.

Isuhvey