La Soyada

Yesterday all of my co-workers, three US guests, and I attended a Soyada in the community of Nance. A Soyada basically is a huge meal where everything is made with soy products. The women in this community began to grow and learn how to make food with soy beginning two years ago. They noticed their children were undernourished and wanted to improve their nutrition in some way. Meat is very expensive and beans are not as nutritious as soy. So after laerning about the health benefits of soy they began to grow it and promote its use throughout the community. The soy season begins in July, so our meal was kind of a celebration of the opportunity it brings to the community and was in hopes of a good crop this year.
We loaded a total of 12 people into our organization´s truck along with a pinata and sports equipment. Theorganization received money to buy sport´s equipment for the leagues in the different rural communities. We drove as far as we could into the rural area and then all got out and walked the rest of the way. When we arrived all of the women were in the kitchen of one of the lady´s houses cooking and the kids were in the yard playing. More women, men, and children began to arrive. I met more of the women, whom I had not met before and then proceeded to stand in the kitchen of this two room house with dirt floors talking and laughing with the women. They showed me what they were making and when I asked questions about it, they quickly grabbed a piece of the food or poured me a cup of the drink so I could try it. All of it was delicious. When I told them I liked it, especially this drink called atoule which has soy milk, sugar, and something else, they were very surprised and pleased. We joked that by the time I leave here I will be a Nicaraguan cook.
All of the women were very nice and happy. We laughed and talked about many different things including if I was married, had a a boyfriend, what I could cook, their reasons for growing soy, and their wealth of knowledge about food. There will be an opportunity for them to come to the church I attend to teach the women how to make different food with soy. They ar excited for that activity. I will probably be living in this community in the future for a week or so at a time. I am really excited to get to know them more.
After the pinata and distributing the sport´s equipment we ate. Our meal included gizo ( atype of soup), tortillas, rice, fried potatoes, a dish I don´t remember the name of, tamales, and a cold drink with soy milk, cinnamon, sugar, and pineapple. All of it had soy and was wonderful. AFter eating we bid them farewell and walked back to the truck.

village travels

For the past three days I have been traveling in my organization´s truck to the rural areas where the organization does the vast majority of their work. We typically leave between nine and ten in the morning and then return sometime between 2 and 5, depending on our work or traveling difficulties we encounter along the way. Luke´s Society works in 8 different communities. So far I have gotten to know four of them, three in particular.

Traveling into the rural areas is always a little bit of an adventure. We talk the paved highway to a town called la conquista and from there we take one of two different dirt roads that give access to the communities. These roads are in "good" condition during the summer or dry season and then get progresively worse during the rainy season. Right now, so I am told, they are in good condition. Good conditions means that the four-wheel drive truck can get the majority of the way to the communities and we only have to walk a little bit. This is really my first time that I have ever really understood the need for a four-wheel drive vehicle. There are huge holes and ravines all along the roads and before driving on them I would have thought it was impossible. But we make it. It will become increasingly more entertaining as rainy season progresses and access to the communities becomes increasingly more difficult. But my co-workers assure me that we always go and always find a way to go whether by motorcycle or walking.

The community work is really neat. I now understand their work better than before since I´ve seen it in practice and met the people who´ve received the organization´s help. So far I´ve assisted in helping to weigh and measure the height of the children so we can track their health and their nutrition levels, participated in a consultation with three women who receive loans, talked with several women who have received wells and clean water access due to the organization´s work, and seen various results of the loan projects. The people have lots of admiration for Luke´s Society´s work and they continually comment that since they began working there eight years ago conditions have improved.

I look forward to seeing more of their work and participating in it in the coming days and weeks.

I´m here!

Well I arrived safely in Managua last night without any problems. There were lots of tourists and missionary groups on my flight, so I felt slightly out of place being all alone. But at the same time in a wierd way being alone just got me more excited for the opportunities I will have to interact with the people of Nicaragua. After getting through immigration and getting my bags I saw a man and a boy holding a sign with my name on it on the other side of customs. The man was the director of Luke´s Society and the boy, his 9 year old son. After exchanging greetings and introductions they took me to the truck. We then drove the hour or so back to Jinotepe where I met the rest of his family - his wife and 16 year old daughter. We chatted for a while and then I went to my room to sleep and unpack a little. Their house is wonderful and they are very nice people. I have my own room and my own bathroom, which included a towel and soap.

I came into the office today for orientation. Their work is really neat, but a bit overwhelming with all of the details. Basically they work doing community development where they help to make people in the rural communities authorities and owners of their own futures and course of development. At the end of the day luke´s society basically facilitates, trains, and gives others the tools and knowledge that they need to improve their lives. Tomorrow I will follow different people around to see the actual work they do in the different communities. I am very excited about it all and I definitely feel this is the right place.

More to come!

Three Days and Counting!

As many of you know, I am a part of a special program at Wheaton College called HNGR (Human Needs and Global Resources).  This program involves living, working, and studying in a country in the Global South for six months.  On June 9th, I will be going to Jinotepe, Nicaragua, which is a city of roughly 45,000 people in the southwest part of the country.  There I will work with an organization called Luke's Society.  They are an international organization that does a combination of community development, health care, microfinance, and discipleship.  The particular branch in Jinotepe focuses primarily on community development and women's empowerment projects.  I am still not entirely certain specifically what I will be doing or what part I will play in their work.  I am sure I will find that out shortly.

In addition to interning at Luke's Society, I will also be working on an independent study.  My independent study is in the discipline of Latin American theology.  Although there are many different theologies in Latin America (Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal, popular) all of them place an emphasis on how Christ came for the oppressed in order to liberate them as He ushered in the new Kingdom and the new creation.  I hope to look at how theology informs and affects the treatment and place of women within the Nicaraguan society.   

I leave in three days and I am very excited to go to another country, use/improve my Spanish, learn more about another culture, and see life and the world from a different perspective.  I know I will grow a lot, learn much, have many cultural mishaps, and funny stories to share along the way.  Stay tuned!