Nicaragua February 18

So Thursday night we went to the Cathedral for Mass.

The people here are very spiritual.  At Mass the priest

thanked our group and the Vincentian brothers for the work

at the clinic. After Mass they had benediction and procession

of the Sacrament.  Then we were taken to meet the Bishop.

The Bishop just celebrated his fiftieth year in the

priesthood on Feb 6th.  He is very nice and thanked us

and spoke with us for 45 minutes. Then we went to another

late dinner.  Toña is the beer of choice here and is very

good.  Today we woke up and took our cold showers and I tried

in vain to maintain my fast.  No breakfast.  Then off to the

clinic.  The plan: work till lunch, quick lunch and then

back to work till three then on the road to Managua.

The clinic was swamped.  We left only a little late and

then had our car trouble.  Still and all we got to Managua

in time to have yet another late dinner (forgot my fast

and ordered steak).  Now we are going to bed for an early

rise tomorrow and the airport which is literally across the

street.  I will see you soon and will call your cell when I

get to Houston.  Please have it on, I want to hear your voice.

Nicaragua Feb 18 pm Broken axle

Just arrived back in Managua.  We rode here from Jinotega in this broken-down Hyundai

micro-bus which had a broken axle half way here.  It was rea-al fun.  We are going to eat

and stuff soon.  We drove from the high mountain area down to Managua through the

afternoon and shortly after we got through Matagalpa the axle broke.  The van had been

straining through the entire trip but apparently had had enough.  The Vincentians pulled to

the road side and there was a dairy farm across the street.  We looked at the cows.  They

all had big ears.  Then we drove back to a repair shop which looked more like a vehicle

grave yard.  This was when I became somewhat concerned.  It was getting late and we were

going to be half way there with no transportation.  The Vincentians assured us that it would

only take 15 minutes to fix.  It actually took 25 but that was way less than I expected.

And then we were off towards Managua again.  The trip was still a couple hours more

but I admit the ride was smoother.  I do appreciate the Vincentians calm in the face of

my American impatience.  

February 17 PM

So today despite little rest I awoke early and went to the

Cathedral, with Dave (who I just today found out is Michelle's

brother) and Roger.  The wood work was cool and they had

Eucharistic Adoration.  Then we went back had a very nice

breakfast served by the very nice staff (and owners) of our

very cheesy hotel.  Then the brothers picked us up to go to

the clinic.  They were very punctual.  As opposed to Esteli,

they are much more businesslike.  They started the clinic at

8.  The pharmacy was a little behind because they had to

unpack still but we got in the rhytmn.  I have prayed with

every family so far and they really appreciate it and I

really love it.  The girls have names like Exceliente Maria

and Aruscelly de Succor and many other titles of Mary.

Of course the boys all bear Saints names.  I have had to

give people money to buy medicine (if our traveling pharmacy

did not have it) or get an xray (only 3 bucks and worth

about the same) and many of the kids seem to never have seen

a doctor before.  They are showered with presents.  Jessica

brought so many toys.  Each child gets candy, Bible (both

at our office) tooth brush and paste, toys coloring books

and their meds.  Today I handed out the remainder of my bars

and the kids really went for those.  (chocolate is not 

common here, it melts).  Then at night some of us went to 

Mass.  

Nicaragua February 17 AM

The hotel in Jinotega is kinda bad.  There is a very narrow 

staircase to our rooms that has nothing on either side but a 

rickety handrail.  The room is for three but is not really big 

enough for three songle beds.  The shower and commode and sink 

are in enough space that you could not go to the bathroom while

someone is showering or you would get just as wet.  The shower 

was very very cold.  This room did not have bugs ( I checked) 

but is by far the worst accomodations I have stayed in short 

of actual camping.  All night long the roosters crowed and the 

dogs barked.  In Esteli they had a city wide alarm clock at 6am.  

Literally a big siren would go off for thirty seconds.  In Jinotega

the roosters just crow louder and louder until at last at daylight 

they stop.

Nicaragua -- February 16 PM

Today was very fun and also exhausting. We were supposed to work from 8 till 11 am and then go up to the preserve with our Esteli friends. We worked a little longer, maybe till 2 or 2:30 and then get in Curtains, our bus and after a brief stop at our hotel, we drove up to the cloud mountain. We were crammed into the bus with all of us and the Esteli staff. Also with us is a woman named Edith who is a botanist and also plays guitar very well. She made a very good tour guide. All the way up, I sat with Jessie who is Chilo's 16 year old daughter. She is trying to learn English. We would point at things and I would say it in English and she would say it in Spanish. Meanwhile Roger was trying to talk with Edith. Dave sat in between Roger and me and translated like crazy.

The cloud mountain. The air has enough humidity that the plants are greener. There are pine trees there but it was not cold. We hiked a short distance to a bed and breakfast (actually looked like two new wooden cabins.)

The preserve has a bed and breakfast (three cabins and a family

that lives there cooks for you) And they made us an excellent

dinner.  The preserve was beautiful with natural orange, coffee

and plantains growing all around.  There were pines and what looked

something like oak trees. 

There the Esteli staff entertained us with Edith playing some traditional Nicaraguan songs. Then Ronnie played his self-penned song. Last year for his birthday, the Hope Clinic team had bought him a guitar. This year he can play well and is writing songs. The food was delicious. You had a choice: chicken soup which appeared to be 1/2 of a chicken in broth or 1/2 of a chicken cooked over open flames in a spicy special mix. Actually you didn't have a choice and I luckily got the barbeque chicken. It was very, very good. The staff got each a little present, a keychain or something. They are very tender hearted. We appreciated greatly their help to us. There were definitely tears, but we were not to separate so soon.

We drove down to Esteli, arriving later than planned. Bridget said, "okay ten minutes to bring your suitcases down and load onto the bus. " We entered the hotel courtyard and there was a mariachi band which immediately began to play for us. We each danced with a staff member. It was fun. Then transfer the suitcases to a bus and then get the pharmacy stuff and we are finally off. We arrived in Jinotega about 11:30 at night. The Esteli staff had ridden up with us. There were many more tears.

Finally we were off to Jinotega.  This was a loong uphill bus ride

in a bus that was probably used by some North American School past

its useful life.  We arrived late in Jinotega and they insisted

that we go eat as they had already prepared food for us.  First we

wanted to drop off all the pharmacy stuff at the clinic which 

looked pretty nice.  The St Vincent DePaul Society runs the clinic

out of a sort of boarding house.  (hard to describe because just

about everything here is built of cinderblocks or cement.  So

nothing looks like a house.  Then we ate and then went to bed.

A very long day.

But the St. Vincent Depaul people in Jinotega (Heeno- tayga) are men. And they had been waiting for us. They told us that the people at the restaraunt had been waiting hours for us and that we must eat or we would insult them. So, several of us went to eat. I saw a beautiful painting on the wall and when I purchased it, they were not mad at us any longer. The hotel here is not the same. There is a very narrow stairway with a rickety metal railing. I could barely fit my suitcase through. The room has just enough for three beds (Ron, Roger, and me) and the bathroom is a shower and commode and sink in as close proximity as is impractical. Still no visible bugs so we cannot complain.

Nicaragua -- February 16 AM

This am, ready for breakfast.  Good sleep.  Our accomodations

in Esteli have been very good.  The hotel has free internet.  

The hotel has a nice restaraunt connected.  Today we work from 8 

to 11 and then we pack up our stuff and then they have a surprise 

for us from 12 to 4 and then to Jinotega.  (2 hour drive).

Nicaragua February 15 night

Imagine this.  After seeing one hundred and twenty patients today, the staff

and patients of Tim´s Clinic led the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe (in a big 

wooden procession stand) on the shoulders of the clinic doctors and Charlie

through the streets of Esteli to the parish Church.  This is followed by Holy Mass

and then a night time procession back to the clinic.  Along the way people join in

to the procession and others look out from their windows and doors, many with 

tears in their eyes.  The tears especially in the eyes of the older ones who may

remember one day when they were very young watching such processions.   

All along the way people are singing Nicaraguan folk songs to Mary the Virgin

of Guadalupe.  Fifty people or more join the procession as it crawls through the

 streets.  We end with clapping and singing at the clinic.

Nicaragua Feb 15th afternoon

We went to the clinic this am and just got back.  I am writing as we wait for lunch.

It was busy this morning.  The kids were perhaps overall better nourished and less anemic than those yesterday

A grandmother brought in her 12 year old granddaughter who weighed 20 pounds.

The report was that she had had polio, but that is not enough to explain her extreme condition.

She was malnourished and developmentally delayed and she had flies all around her.  

She will probably not live long because any infection could kill her.  She has no reserve to fight off an infection

or other illness.  But in the meantime her Grandmother cares for her and loves her.

Most today though are happy well fed (relatively) and everyone has pinworms.

They come with assorted other problems and I like that I can solve some of them in seconds.

They have certain idiomatic phrases which lead to a quick diagnosis.

¨Sleeps with his eyes open¨ means restless sleep and thus pinworms or some other infestation.

We sang and prayed with Chilo leading prior to beginning. Lori would really like Chilo.

Chilo has four children of her own, but many street kids come to her to be fed and now

she has many teens who play music and so forth.

The whole clinic is run by young men and boys and some older women.  They are a big help.

The pharmacy is getting backed up and we have to solve some of that with standard prescription writing.

In the meantime we get done a half hour before the pharmacy. 

(There are still people in the waiting room and the teens play music and do sketches to entertain them.
Bye for now.  

Nicaragua February 15 am

I don´t know how many patients I saw because I always saw whole families at a time.

Bridget will know that.  It did not feel like that many.  We had to send some to come back (today)

because the pharmacy was so backed up.  Our pharmacy is staffed by three people but they are learning

the doses and calculations, as well as the meds, so it takes some time to get the medicine ready.

Jessica ("Tim´s Honey", Jessica¨) was honored at the dedication as was ¨Carlito¨ 

Neither spoke.  Carlito is taking on more responsibilities for Tim´s clinic.

Sometimes Bridget being a woman can not get things done by asking, 

whereas the same thing asked by a man will get done immediately.  Charlie is a great guy.

We talked awhile last night.  Jessica is fitting in well also.  

The head of the Saint Vincent Depaul Society in Nicaragua spoke, as did ¨Chilo¨ who is Maria Auxiliadoro.

Today will be our longest in Esteli.  Tomorrow we will have to stop a little early to get ready to move

to our next stop.

I love you kids
I love you Momma.
I miss you all.

Nicaragua-- February 14 pm

The dedication went very well.  We had another ribbon cutting/ dedication today before we saw too many patients.  The local media were there.  Charlie and Roger did the family proud (or is it humble.)  He said that today is a day of hope for us all.  For us particularly because we believe that God is the God of the living and not the dead so therefore Tim is here, with us.  And for the people of Esteli because they can know that God is with them and cares for them.  

The morning was fairly okay because of the dedication and so it was short.  And the afternoon was much harder, busier and the people were poorer.  This afternoon the people who live at the dump (yes, live) were brought to us for their needs.  They all were anemic, malnourished and with parasites.  It was very hard because we could solve such a small part of their problems.  It is very physically, mentally and emotionally draining.  The people are very nice and happy.  The children are beautiful.  All could use a day of soaking in a bathtub and several steak dinners.  We prayed with every child and family as we took care of them.  Dave has been a huge help.  I am learning Spanish and he is learning medicine.  Both of us at a very rapid pace but probably not with the depth that we will later learn from books.  The difference is this experience will give us much to hold on as motivation to do better.

Everyone here is well except a very few who have had mild diarrhea.  Roger is doing well but looks a bit tired tonight.  (no surprise)  Everyone on the team is pitching in mightily.  The nurse with us was an agnostic before this trip.  If she can remain so afterward I don't know how.  

I had to send a patient to the hospital, a little three month old girl.  She was dehydrated and febrile and was panting her breaths.  She looked okay when she came in the room.  Then when she woke up she did not.  We had to run her down the street with her older brother and her mother and hail a taxi to take her to the hospital.  It was very hard. The nurse was with me.  

I also took care of a girl with seizures (none in the clinic) who could not afford the 480 cordobas for an EEG or the medicine.  And another child who was ten or twelve  years old who looked as though she had some undiagnosed syndrome.  Could it have been (or now be) treated?  I don't know and probably never will.

Anyway that was my day.  We have much to be thankful for.  So much that we don't even know.  
Hug em and kiss em for me. 

On the way home we bought more medicine and charged it to my card.  Should be between 40-60 bucks.  788 cordobas.

Nicaragua --February 14 am

Good Morning.  Happy Valentines and Sts. Cyril and Methodius Day.  Are your roses holding up?  A siren awoke us at 0600.  It was a morning siren apparently, not a fire or something.  The town has sirens at 6am, noon and 6pm.  Had a good sleep and looking forward to a busy day.  Now for breakfast. 

Nicaragua February 13 evening

We are now in Esteli.  The hotel is in fact better than the previous.  I am rooming with Roger.  It is very nice.  It has a shower and a nice bathroom.  Even a TV, which does not work but looks nice, kinda fifties.  The room and the courtyard are in tile.  There is a garden in the center and the rooms arranged around it.  Small about 15-20 rooms.  A small hostel in which all the profits are given to help families and children.

The dedication of the clinic was amazing.  In the entrance to the clinic, they had placed an old painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  The town used it to process around the town on her feast day for many years.  They would start the processions from the very building that is now Tim´s clinic. Chilo, whose formal name is help of Christians after Mary Help of Christians, prayed so eloquently in Spanish that many tears were shed.  Then Roger spoke of the meaning the Guadalupe image carries for his family and for us all.  It was VERY moving.  Christ and Mary were present.  The clinic is in Esteli not too far from the church.  We will go to Mass later tonight.

All the hotels (all two of them) have Internet stations, so you have three or four computers at your disposal.  I will be able to email you regularly.  I don´t know what happens at our next stop, Jinotega,which is the poorest and most rural of all.  Esteli is more of a city than I had expected.  It is surrounded by mountains and is somewhat elevated itself.  The people are incredibly happy and friendly.  One young man, Chico is incredibly funny.  He can mimic just about anything.  He learned his Englsh (it appears) from listening to songs on the radio.  To hear his imitations of our English through actors and popstars is very entertaining.  We rode the bus up from Managua for two hours and sang Christian songs most of the way.  First we would sing them in English and then he would teach us them in Spanish.  We just finished lunch.  There is no way I can´t have meat.  There is no beans and rice at the restaraunt.  While we were eating a little girl came up to Chilo.  I asked if it was her daughter.  She said no, that children just come to her.  I gave her my chicken and Chilo packaged it with several other peoples donated meal remains and the girl took it with her.  There is definitely poverty.  The town though is fairly nice with cement streets and mostly cement or cinder block houses. 

When we were praying before the Guadalupe image, Two people were holding her image up because they had not gotten her hung up fully yet.  So then I helped them hang her up.  They used nails into the cement walls for brackets and so forth.  It felt precarious at first but we kept working at it until we felt the image was secure.  Many of the local people came by while we were having the dedication.  They would pray or tear up.
God is good.

Nicaragua February 13

Today is a day of rest.  We prayed this morning (The doctors and my med student translator)

in the outdoor chapel.  The hotel is like a fancy motel.  There are numerous blocks of four rooms spread amidst several 10-15 gardened acres.  The chapel is in one corner of the property.  There are two pools.  We went swimming last night.  The beer Toña is very good.  The agua is not bad bottled.  The food for breakfast was good.  No bugs in room.

Having fun.  On to Esteli to dedicate the clinic tomorrow.  I think this is a change of plans.

To be in Nicaragua

Just arrived. The weather is warm even after dark. Many of the people on our plane were also on mission trips of various sorts. I sat next to a REAL cowboy on the airplane. I have now met our whole team. We will be going to the next stage of our trip tomorrow after breakfast. I am llooking forward to all of the activities. Dr. Ron Otremba was very helpful in orienting me to what we will be doing. It sounds like it will be fun. I have to modify my lenten fast of meat, because if you are served something, that may be the only thing you get for quite awhile. Anyway, I´m so glad!!