There and back again--again.

So, last week I got the wonderful opportunity to return to the Rio Coco. Jonathan has been several times since our first adventure there exactly a year ago--but this was my first return. I was curious, how a year in the country would change my perceptions of this remote and wildly different place. I was curious what new things I could learn. I wondered if I could be more useful than I had been a year before.

"before" taken in our hotel in Wiwili before boarding the boats the next morning

The Trip
This journey was very different than my previous trip, primarily because of the make-up of the group. There were 11 of us in all, rather than the roughly 50 travelers from the time before. This trip, was made up of Jonathan, me, and our beloved Carl L., two young strong guys for translating and working in the eyeglass clinic, one dear sister to cook for us, and five preachers to conduct a bible institute. We brought with us our vision screening machine, glasses, some basic over-the-counter type medicines, school supplies for San Andres, some items the churches had requested, and "Feed my Starving Children" soup mix for the church leaders to distribute.

loading up the pair of boats

we took much more than we brought back

The river was running very high--I saw examples of why those homes need to be built on stilts even when so seemingly far away from the river bank. I confess, I love, love, love the ride. Hour after hour of scenery sliding by; the roar of the boat motor covering the sounds of conversation; giggling, splashing, and teasing with the other boat as we periodically pass them or are passed by them. True: there is nothing to do. But also, there is nothing to do. We were blessed with no rain and periodic cloud cover. It was terrific.

Oh Luis, you're so crazy!

The Accommodations
Again, because the make-up of this team was so different, our living arrangements while on the river were different than the trip before. We all stayed together in the church building in San Andres, (and later in La Esperanza) which is also where we ate. With so many fewer gringos on this trip, the flavor of our time together in the evenings was also much different. It was a very playful, wacky, boisterous time of laughter (and snoring)--language not needed.

The church building has one small room and one large room with an oven in a corner. This room has walls up about 2/3 of the way to the ceiling. The building sits up on stilts at the top of the high bank of the river. There was an out-house near by, and Luis even took a sheet of plastic and hung it near a tree for a bath-house for those of us who weren't up to braving the muddy hike and traffic at the creek where the townspeople bathe. I learned that my hair needs exactly 3 coconut shells full of water to get completely wet.

I have to be the only gringo to go on this trip and gain weight. It is a running joke among repeat travelers, "Do you want rice and beans or beans and rice?" I don't know if it was the fresh country air, the wood stove flavor, or if I just really like rice--but I certainly enjoyed every serving.

I also really mastered the art of hammock sleeping this time around. And it takes some practice. Don't let those afternoons spent laying in a wood-pole-flattened hammock make you overconfident. Learning to juggle a sheet and mosquito net, shifting in the night to evenly distribute the waffle pattern in your fat, realizing that every movement will make you swing (and likely swing into the person sleeping near you, making them swing into the person near them)--it's definitely an art.

Of course, there is no electricity in this place--but since we had a generator to run the autorefractor, we also used it for power at night. The guys brought along wiring and electrical sockets--the same kind I have in my apartment at this very moment--and just draped them all around the church house. This made our place quite the happening gathering spot in the evenings.

the kitchen corner of the church house

sister Maria Magdelena hard at work--see the river in the background?

this is the sink. so ingenious! a slatted box that sticks out of the building to let the water drain away

all tucked in and ready for sleep

The Work
We spent the first two days in San Andres. Carl, Luis, Ricardo, Jonathan and I operated the eyeglass clinic from the health center, while Luis, Luis, Alberto, and Isidro conducted a bible institute for around 30 students. In the evenings we set up a movie screen and showed some cartoons "for the kids" and served prepared soup to every kid who brought a dish. Of course, the whole town came out. It's hard to describe the camaraderie and excitement of an entire town dragging over their one bench, and standing in the mud laughing and sharing something together.

Isidro soon left with Alberto to conduct a bible institute in a neighboring village, where he would stay and we would eventually meet up with him. On day 3, while the bible institute in San Andres continued, the vision team loaded up in a boat and headed for a village about an hour away called Pankawas.

As remote and primitive as things are in San Andres--it seems rich and urban compared with Pankawas. The level of poverty here was startling to me, even with eyes that have slowly grown accustomed to a different standard of living over the past year. Luis and Alberto met with community and church leaders. Carl, Luis and I did vision screenings, and Jonathan and Ricardo met with people to distribute some of the basic medications that had been sent with us. Jonathan listened to people's concerns, took notes and photographs of anything potentially serious to report to the doctors back "in town", and did simple things like take temperatures, give anti-parasite medications, and fever reducers. The kinds of care we can provide just by walking to our medicine cabinet are completely out of reach for this community.

Carl, Luis and I got a crash course in the Miskito language, and lots of practice honing our non-verbal communication skills. While many of the people we saw in San Andres spoke Miskito, there were many bilingual folks around willing to help. Here in Pankawas (and the following day in La Esperanza) we only found 2 or 3 Spanish speakers at all. This meant it was jump in and sink or swim! I think we did pretty "paen" (good).

It was a hot--really tropically hot--sweltery hot, hot day. And even the lack of walls on the church building did little to keep things cool. Some men from the town soon brought us green coconuts to drink--the most refreshing and generous gift I have had in a long time.

As afternoon came on so did the rains. Rain so hard kids were filling water bottles in minutes straight from the sky. We rode the boat back upstream to San Andres with the rain filling the canoe almost as fast as it could be bailed out. And it felt delicious! One thing I was reminded of on this trip--when things are unpleasant, just wait. Sometimes, the very thing you bemoan now, will be what you long for soon. In the cold driving rain, you long for sun. In the heat, you long for the refreshing rain. I spend so much of my time longing for something I often forget to appreciate what I have in front of me.

Our last full work day was in the very rainy village of La Esperanza where Isidro had been conducting a bible institute for several days. We packed up and said our good-byes in San Andres, boated about 2 hours upstream where we set up "house" in the church building and the eye clinic in the school.

There was good news and bad news in La Esperanza. The bad news? Jonathan was feeling pretty crummy and had to medicate himself and lay down. The good news? It is the first time I've had the experience of completely finishing every person who wanted to be seen with time to spare. It felt so great not to have to turn anybody away, or tell anybody we had run out of supplies. It also gave me some time to really sit and talk with people from the town. I especially cherished the time I got to spend with the teacher of the school here.

oh a parent's relief: "no, there's no fever"

Carl teaching how to use eye drops in Pankawas

Luis screening vision in San Andres 

fitting glasses with English-Spanish-Miskito translations in San Andres

mm...that's some refreshing coconut water!

back in San Andres after a hot, wet, day in Pankawas--about half-way through the trip

Jonathan tries to recuperate in the La Esperanza church building--neat pews, huh?

The People
Yes, even better than the boat ride, is just being with the people here. Are there some odd ducks? Sure. Are there some people who are manipulative? Yep. Are some kids bratty and wild? Of course. But I have also been very few places where people were as open-hearted and real.  It is delightful to see the genuine relationships that have been developed by the frequent travelers (like Jonathan, Alberto, & Luis) and the community members here. The relationships developed here go beyond "the guys who brought us pencils or soup".  I see people who have been so ignored by their government, and let down by big promises, who are grateful to be respected, grateful to have their names remembered and their concerns truly heard. This is a people who, for good or bad, are very genuine. Maybe it comes from living 10 feet away from your neighbors with no windows or doors between you. Maybe it comes from spending generations with the same groups of families. But there is little that is secret--and so there is little reason to dissemble. There is so much I have to learn from people who live so intimately in community. There is so much I have to learn from people who have learned to bear and accept what comes. There is so mush I have to learn about being generous, not just with material things--but with your spirit.

a little rain never stops the fun

La Esperanza--amazed by the movie

celebrating having 80+ years and still tough and strong

yes, we are duct tape buddies. anything new can be big fun

how can you not smile back?

The Return
Even with a two hour head start by staying in La Esperanza, the boat ride back to Wiwili was still about 11 hours due to the high water. We zig-zagged the river trying to stay out of the current, hugging the banks and dodging low hanging branches--which made the ride home feel so different than the ride up. The rain held off until we landed--but unfortunately not until we had unloaded the boats. A very rain-y four hour drive back to Jinotega and we were back in the land of light switches and showers.

Once home, our count showed that we screened 236 adults in the 3 towns, and over 40 students were served in the Bible institutes. But perhaps most of all, it was a week of mutual encouragement. Two deeply different communities sharing together, learning from each other and building each other up.

"after" the faces of people who know they are mere feet away from a shower