vision nicaragua

I had the awesome opportunity to meet up with some friends in Chinandega, Nicaragua this past week. Linda, a good friend and mentor, and a college roommate Kayla, were leading a group of girls from Butler on the service trip.  This “plan” for me to join them had been in the works for awhile.  Pretty much since I knew I was going to be in Costa Rica and they knew that they were going to be leading the trip.  And it worked out that I needed to leave CR to renew my visa, so two birds with one stone!

We worked with an organization called Vision Nicaragua.  The area of Chinandega is home to several sugar cane plantations.  It is the primary source of work in the area.  However, routine exposure to the pesticides that are used in the cane fields cause kidney disease.  For that reason, the men in the area die really young (between 20 and 30).  The sugar companies are aware of the health risks, and workers’ blood is routinely tested for indicators of the disease.  As a “protection for their employees”, workers are terminated from the company when this indicator is detected at a level “too high”.  So needless to say, this area suffers from deep levels of poverty perpetuated by these social factors.  Most of the men in the area have either passed away, leaving their widowed wives and children, or are unemployed and chronically ill.

So that’s the context we found ourselves in for the week.  Every day we went to a different village.  Vision Nicaragua has a local doctor on staff.  He sees these dialysis patients (although most of them are not on dialysis...it’s not a feasible medical option for them) and other ailing patients.  There were some medically trained members on our team and they helped Dr. Michael triage patients and distribute medical care.  As a group, we also gave out 100s of toothbrushes and instructed proper oral care.  While the clinics were in session, the rest of us played with the kids.  Hundreds of kids!  I literally have never seen so many kids in one place.

And it was awesome!  We got to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  We got to love them just for being kids.  We got to play and laugh and dance and run and sing.  We got to share and give and receive.  It was such a blessing to see the world through the eyes of a child for a week.  And not just any child.  A child who faces the harsh reality of poverty every day.  A child whose heart is full of love and joy despite his circumstances.  A child who lives freely despite the world being against him.  A child who loves deeply without words.  A child, despite his vulnerable situation, sees hope, possibility, and life to be had and to be lived.

Meet Jorge.  Full of joy.

Vision Nicaragua walks alongside these kids and their families.  They strive to truly know the people in their community so that they can assist them in the best possible way.  They offer comprehensive assistance.  Everything from building, updating, and maintaining widows’ homes to offering medical care to facilitating food distribution to organizing the sponsorship of high school and university students.  But they are able to do this, and do this well, because they are present in the community.  They are familiar with their needs and struggles and are able to serve them out of the richness of lateral relationship.

It was a great week, personally, for me as well.  The Lord gave me new eyes for Latin America.  Yes, I live in Costa Rica.  And yes, I see things here every day that would be shocking to most of my friends in the States.  But I also live a very “safe” life in Costa Rica.  For the most part, I don’t have to be overly exposed to poverty unless I choose to be.  It’s like living in any big city.  Life is advanced and developed.  Sure there are homeless people and struggle, but if I’m being honest, it can be easy to ignore.  So even though my normal now is Costa Rica, this trip allowed me to step outside that.  It gave me new eyes to see my neighbor.  My neighbor who lives in the wealthiest gated neighborhood in San Jose, or one of the poorest barrios of Nicaragua.  We are all brothers and sisters in Christ.  We can all share and encourage one another if we are willing to get close enough.  If we’re willing to rub elbows and enter into the hard but beautiful work of doing life together.

Nicaragua is a beautiful country.
This is a field bordering one of the villages.

Sunset at “The Project” where we stayed.  

Locals enjoying the local beach.
Enjoyed some time to process the week before the rain came.