Fruit of the day: Jicaro

I find it amazing that after over two years here, I am still constantly learning about new fruits. This is one I had seen many times without really realizing it. It wasn't until I dug in and started asking questions, that I realized how many times I have encountered it without knowing. 

This is Jicaro. The ones around here are small, about twice the size of a softball--but the ones that come from up on the Rio Coco are as big as a basketball.

Jonathan brought back a whole sack of giant jicaro from the River. 

The big ones are even bigger than a coconut!

Left to right: coconut, giant jicaro, regular jicaro

While on the tree they are green or yellow. As they dry they get progressively darker brown. Every time a group of visitors comes they ask me about the bright yellow fruits growing oddly from the black bark of a very distinctive tree. Even once I knew enough to answer "jicaro"  I still didn't really understand what they were.

not my pictures--but weird looking, huh?

A very tough, smooth wooden shell encloses a mass of seeds and stickiness not unlike what you'd find inside a pumpkin. When green they are really hard to crack open, and the stuff inside smells like a haunted middle-school locker-room. (by which I mean it is not a pleasant smell) Once they are mature and dry the shell cracks smartly--and the insides smell like a brewery. 

While visiting on the Rio Coco, I asked a woman if those big fruit were edible. She said they were used for making bowls--so I assumed them to be completely inedible gourd-type things. And that is kind of correct. They are not only used as practical containers, but are a popular canvas for artists who carve them into special drinking cups, and other decorative objects. 

also not my pictures. I have no explanation for why I thought they were made from coconuts.

The fact that they are so often made into cups should have been a hint. Because jicaro is in fact used widely in a local drink. I have heard it referred to here as horchata,  pinol, and semillias de jicaro (jicaro seeds). While horchata and pinol also have other variations in other Latin American countries, I haven't heard of anyplace else that uses jicaro. 

The drink is made by grinding the dried seeds along with dried maize and spices like cinnamon and clove. Then milk or water is added and the seeds are left to steep. Sugar is added, and you drink the liquid along with the "grit" from the grains. It is quite filling. 

You can also run down to the corner store and buy some already made up. 

Jicaro! 

Something's beginning

Where do I even begin? I want to share how very excited I am about a project that I see amazing potential in.  And I want to share how excited I am that God has arranged partnerships to make this project possible, before we even knew what He was up to!

One of the great needs here in Nicaragua is education. Our schools function very poorly. The reasons for this are broad, and not quickly solvable. Our spiritual training in the churches is also an area of weakness, and shares many of the same challenges. It has been easy for me to become discouraged, as I see sooo many needs I don’t know where to begin. So many people send materials or offer help—but the challenge of matching the help that’s given to the abilities and needs of the educators is a truly daunting task.

But now we have a plan.

It is only a beginning. But it is an exciting beginning.

A major inspiration came from John & Elma Clark’s various adventures in creating reusable materials for Joy Bus and Bible Hour programs. We saw a real challenge in our local churches feeling dependent upon styles of instruction that rely heavily on consumable materials which they just don’t have the resources to replace.

Additionally, many  groups that have come to work have brought or sent individual Bible lessons to present during their time here, but there was no effective way of equitably sharing those limited materials  with a couple of dozen congregations.

Our beginning? We’re creating a Bible class curriculum library. 

Using the special donation provided by the Deming Church of Christ’s “Yard Sale for Nicaragua” we purchased simple things like paper and tape and photo copies, which allowed us to organize the materials we had on hand that were not being used effectively.

We are creating packets of materials that are organized by their “scripture address” in the Bible. We hope this will make the materials flexible, easy to add to, and will help us avoid creating a curriculum that runs for a year and subsequently needs to be replaced. Teachers can use this resource chronologically or by themes and topics, and hopefully will come to see themselves as capable of creating their own programs and not dependent upon a set of lessons provided externally.

Check-out systems of various kinds have had challenges in our region. We have no public or private libraries of any kind in our department, due to the challenges of maintenance and management. For this reason, we have been piloting the curriculum library with select groups for about 3 months now.  Last month we opened it for the first time to all the congregations we work with.  We know there will be challenges in learning to share and manage these materials, but we are excited by the potential and the positive reception the plan has received from all the users.

This is only the beginning. We finally have a strategy—we are organizing the odds and ends of donated materials into a useable, flexible, accessible resource. But now we see how much more we need!

You can help. We need your help.

Many of our Bible class teachers have virtually no experience or training with teaching methods, and some have very little Bible knowledge of their own. Many are young teenagers trying their best to provide something for the kids in their congregations.

One of the types of materials most effective for our purposes are illustrated Bible stories. With some pictures to show the children, we can print the Bible text from a Spanish Bible and provide our teachers with an easy to use, effective, re-usable tool for their class.

So: has your congregation got some old flipbooks or posters lying around that aren’t being used much? Do you know somebody who does? Can you print or color some Bible story pictures for us? Have you got some great ideas to share?  Do you know someone who might? Have you got an idea for a way to raise some cash for storage cabinets or printing, or lamination? Do you have a group of friends who's just dying to come provide some training? If you are interested in helping and excited about the possibilities this new resource could be for our congregations, please contact me for more details.    coachandsheila@gmail.com

interns Amanda Rachel and Jamey help sort pictures

preachers selecting materials for their congregations