Heading back to Boston

It'll be good to be back home but we'll miss our new friends in San Juan. We learned a lot from them and hopefully gave something back in the last week. Adios amigos!

Final day at the Baston Escuela

Thursday Update: Baston And Ancianos

The main activity today was helping the Jean Brugger Foundation host a lunchtime party for the "ancianos" (the elderly) of San Juan. I missed the morning preparations for it because I was with a small group finishing up with some of the painting at the Baston school. By the time we got to the harborside restaurant where the party was being hosted it was in riotous full swing -- the people of San Juan love music and dancing and there was a lot of both at this event.

 

Wednesday Morning: Mobile Library Trip

Wednesday morning once again saw the group spilt into two posses -- one to head back to Baston and one out to nearby villages to help out the San Juan Del Sur Biblioteca Movil distribute books to school kids. Here are a few photos from the latter trip.

 

Tuesday Morning

We split into two groups this morning. One group travelled by pickup truck to a local village to help the Mobil Library loan books to the students there. That trip will be covered in another post -- hopefully.
The second group, of which I was a part, went back to Baston to continue our work at the school. The day started out cool and breezy but steadily got hotter and hotter, by noon we were a pretty sad looking, sweaty, exhausted bunch. In the end though, we made a good dent in the pretty daunting amount of work that needs to be finished before we leave for the states.

One major task of ours is to plant some fruit trees that will be used to supplement the kid's government supplied lunches. To that end we dug up some manure from the neighboring farm, sifted it and then hauled it back to the site in wheel barrows where we crushed some sort of rocky substance with big wooden mauls and mixed the resulting dirt, the manure and water to form a gelatinous mass of nutrient-rich loose soil for the saplings.

Sifting manure.

Walls and Doors -- Photos from around town

More after the jump...

Mobile Library Presentation of Donations Photos

It´s a gorgeous breezy evening here in San Juan del Sur.  We are all a bit sore but very happy.  Today we boarded the micro bus at 7:30 and after a few stops headed out to San Antonia del Baston to pick up where we left off on Saturday.  Some settled into pealing bark off logs with machetes, logs which will be ceiling rafters for the cooking areas we are going to help build.  Others cut and twisted wire to fortify cement casting for stoves, while still more sanded down a very sad and rusted swing set before bringing it back to life with a fresh coat of vibrant blue paint.  Through it all about 30 primary school kids tried to focus on their morning lessons, though I think we proved quite a distraction.  During recess there was a mighty game of soccer and lots of fun on the few very decrepit swings. 

About mid day when the sun was just too hot to endure we headed back to our homestays for lunch and a shower before some check in and reflection time.  It is clear that already, this experience is proving to be a fertile ground for some rich growth.  What a priviledge it is to be sharing this experiece with each other and with our partners here, and to bring it all back to our church.

The day concluded with a visit to the San Juan Del Sur Biblioteca Movil . http://www.sjdsbiblioteca.org/  A really remarkable project that is as inspiring as it is effective. 

Thats it for now but there is so much more .....  Peace to you, Stacy


The Reverend Stacy Swain
The Union Church in Waban
14 Collins Road
Waban, MA 02468

Back at the Baston Escuela

We were back at the school this morning helping make eco-stoves, paint the swing sets and meet some of the students.

Visit to a local church

After lunch and a bit more pool time we walked into town to visit the church that the student we sponsor attends. The service was wildly different from anything the Union Church has seen: it started with a live band, lots of clapping and singing -- all in Spanish of course and thus lost on this attendee -- followed by a very long sermon (or "message") and ending with a dance by four of the local kids. There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm in the room.

The front of the church

 

 

Looking in during the sermon.

 

Nicaraguan kids like to text too.

 

 

Zipping

Went zip-lining this morning! The truck ride up the rugged hills was more frightening than the zip-lining itself. The road up to the top of the run was badly worn and rutted, so we really got thrown around in the back of the big truck we were in. By comparison, hanging from a wire while flying through the tree tops felt perfectly safe and sane. Couldn't get any photos while zipping, but it was a thrill!

Afternoon at the stove factory

We visited the nearby stove/filter factory after lunch today and had a great tour. They didn't have any work for us to do, so we've decided to take rest of the day off and hit the pool. Yay!

First morning of work

Started the day bright and early with ashort trip in the bus to a boys baseball game where we presented them with 75 baseballs. Then went on to El Baston to start our work on the Azul y Blanco school where we moved lumber, stripped the bark off logs and prepared cement forms. We'll be back there are on Monday.

And yes, that is our machete wielding minister below.

Long trip but we made it

A bit of a delay in the Managua airport but all are safe and sound. Now eating a delicious meal at Carlos' house.

About to board in Miami.

77 degrees here. So far all is going according to plan -- the groups on the various flights met up here and are now getting ready for the flight to Managua together.

The adventure begins

We're at the airport. Easy check-in, no charge for our bags!

Photos from 2010

Here are a few photos of the teachers and children from Escuela Azul y Blanco the site of the Union Church mission trip in February 2010. We visited the school about a year later.

The many improvements to the school and the school grounds were apparent and the impact on the school climate and learning environment was lasting. The teachers and students were proud of their school , enjoying their school and taking good care of it . The Union Church travelers will visit 

 Azul y Blanco again this month, renew our friendships and resupply the  school with pens, pencils composition books, rulers, crayons and other essentials. This will be a happy reunion and a nice respite from our work San Antonio Norte.

Azul y Blanco

The Students and Teachers

October,2010

Happy Boys and Girls make Happy Faces

Gracias Union Church Amigos.

Let's play!