Rio Coco Revisited, Part III

Rio Coco Revisited, Part 3 of 3

I just returned from my third venture to the Rio Coco in the remote northern border of Nicaragua. Here are the facts:

·         Goal: Three days, six communities

·         Purpose: Take Christmas gifts and candy to about 800 children and distribute eye glasses to about 90 people those whose eyes warranted them based on a previous trip.

·         Theme: Rain

It was the best of times. It was the wetest of times…

Monday, Day Four: Tuburus and San Andres

     We got up early once again and loaded the boats in the drizzle. The final two legs of the journey lie ahead of us today.

     The community of Tuburus is the second largest village on our journey. In many ways it seems to be the poorest. The signs just seem to point that these people have less and their brawls over piñata candy, although good natured, were nothing shy of frightening.

Crawling for candy in Tuburus

     As is the case with many of these communities, livestock roam freely. Finding a piñata place where there is a tree with a branch high enough and terrain free of bovine/swine blended mud is a challenge. With the amount of rainfall and the bare feet trampling and pushing through to get the sacred candy, the mud was inches deep. If only it were only mud. Maybe the most disgusting and sad thing I have seen is watching children battle for a piece of candy that is covered in mud, etc. And yes, I have already begun to develop a plan so that can be avoided next year.

     Did I mention that there is a wonderful organization out of Lubbock, Texas called “Dress A Girl” that makes dresses for girls? One of the gifts many girls received on this trip were dresses. The Mision Para Cristo staff who manned this trip was comprised of the following: Luis – a 20-year old, single man who was taken as strong muscle and who has been trained to help fit eyeglasses; Marwell – a mid 20’s single man who went to translate and is also trained to fit eyeglasses; Alberto-MPC’s School Project Coordinator, our river trip group leader, father of Luis and three other boys; Deyra-taken for the sole purpose of cooking for the four of us men and the four boatmen and was out of sight and in the kitchen the whole time; and yours truly. If you read carefully, you will notice there is no one in the group with experience in sizing dresses for girls.  Alberto took on the responsibility because I had been charged with making sure we had some “usable” photographs of the girls in their new dresses and the other two guys had piñata and boys’ gift distribution duties. Before long during our second stop Alberto was waving the white flag and asking me for help: too many dresses and too many recipients for one man to manage alone.

     Allow me to interject an editorial note: We watched as apparent greed was a part of our stop in Tuburus and other places. I think what we would perceive as greed is a manifestation of a parent’s fear for their child who might miss out on a rare opportunity.

     At each gifting opportunity we refined the process until it worked smoothly at our last stop.

     The candy wars were second only to the melee of gift distribution. Mothers literally pushed me backwards, using their children as battering rams, in order to score a new dress. It was just sad. To find we were short some gifts shifted our situation from sad to almost scary. We were surrounded by people who were more than just disappointed. (We were ultimately able to make some adjustments to make sure everyone received something.)

"If he doesn't give me a dress I'm gonna smack him in the head with this baby!"

     Even in the face of poverty and fear, I witnessed a scene of compassion. In this remote place, much as is the case in any developing country, clothing for children is often at some level optional. On the Rio Coco children age three and under often wear only a T-shirt. This is mainly for potty training years--diapers are scarce. For children seven or eight clothing may be limited to a pair of shorts or underwear. It’s no big deal for them or those around them and as visitors from a culture where clothing is mandatory one becomes more accustomed to it, similar to the adjustment we southerners must make when we see a women breast feeding in public. 

     This morning I heard a small child screaming. It appeared that the one-and-a-half to two year-old was miserable from being in the rain, and probably forces unseen as well. She wore only a rain-soaked cloth diaper and was perched on the hip of a girl that was probably seven, maybe eight years old. The older girl, whom I assume is big sister, briefly put the younger child on her feet, took off her own shirt, and wrapped the toddler in it. Down to the final dress in the stack, I stepped over to the big sister and slipped it over her head as I had now done probably 75 times in two days. She immediately took the dress off, wrapped the little one in and headed down the path.

     San Andres is probably the core of the communities on the Rio Coco. It has a health center, police station, and a military base. They even have a store. They are also the largest community and have special housing facilities for mission-type groups.

     It is probably my second favorite community. I have spent more time at San Andres and know more of the residents there. It was home base for my previous trips on the Rio Coco. It, like all the others, is wrought with poverty and multiple special requests by its many residents. God smiled on us as he smiled on San Andres this trip.

     Luis and Marwell found a way to mass distribute toys that was equally fun, efficient and fair. The piñata was still a muddy mess, but managed in a way that even the little kids got candy (and very muddy) and was a big hit.

Five new dresses

     The dress distribution also went exceptionally well. They girls formed a line at the door of the church. We allowed five in at a time, sized the group, gave them their new dress, photographed the group and sent them out the door happy. I was getting concerned as I could see that the number of dresses in my pile was insufficient for the line forming. Alberto came in to check the progress and we shared concerned glances. As it turned out, he was concerned because he had found more dresses needing to be delivered. As word spread through San Andres more girls showed up. When the last new face entered the church there was one dress remaining. God knows how much we need.

The last dress

     Bath #3 was more Huggies. “One and Done,” it states on the package. “No chance in the world,” replied my physique.

    

Tuesday, Day Five: On the river

     In spite of all the rain, and the fact that the final day was a ten hour boat ride in wet clothes that were suffering through their third day of use, and with the heaviest rain so far, God still provided. The Rio Coco is a beautiful place. Just before the most torrential rain we were blessed with about 30 minutes of wonderful sunshine.

Even reptilians need a little sun once in a while.

     As it turns out, 30 minutes is enough time to make my cheeks rosy (and my arms and my neck) and to get some wildlife moving that we might miss otherwise. God has a unique way of reminding us that He is in charge and, although He wants us to manage blessings we are provided, He will make all things work for good for those that love Him and who work according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28)

Briefly, we saw blue skies as the clouds went to rest.