¿Y Entonces...?

What a week! As soon as I got back from a Peace Corps meeting in Ocotal last Thursday, I was non-stop on the go up until this morning! Ocotal was a blast, like usual, with the other awesome volunteers, an intense trivia night and lots of story telling with great new friends.

I got back to Jalapa early Thursday afternoon and before I had time to make a quick bite to eat after a really fast workout (gotta stick to my exercise program!), the director of MINSA (also my housemate; she is living with me and the professor. We are also renting out one more room to an architect that is helping with the construction at the Centro; very nice and quiet lady) took me and one of the physical therapists to one of the local lodging areas “El Pantano”. We were setting up to have the welcome party for a group of nursing students from the states called ISLA who were going to be arriving shortly.

ISLA is an organization based out of Minnesota that seeks to empower Latin American communities to become more resourceful and self-sustaining, aided in part by ISLA's medical, education and construction programs.

I asked the doctor what I would be doing for the group and she said if I could just translate what she was going to say to the group and in turn translate their questions for her. When the group showed up, I was so excited to see more gringos! The group consisted of about 12 students, their instructor who is also a Nurse Practitioner, a Criminal Justice professor, all from Idaho, and the two ISLA representatives from Minnesota. I was a surprise to them since they were only expecting Nica translators but were very excited that I would be assisting thru the week.

After a quick snack for dinner, the doctor, PT and I said our goodbyes to the group and went home to start preparing for the busy week ahead.

Friday

I met up with the group at the Centro where they presented the doctor with a TON of new medical supplies for the hospital. Stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, scrubs, catheters, just a huge abundance of EVERYTHING. I was in such awe of how many things they all brought and I know that the doctor and staff were very appreciative. The group was also lucky enough to come to Jalapa during the time of the 37^th anniversary of the instituto (high school). 

They got to meet my site mate, a TEFL volunteer (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and we got to partake in the parade to the school and watch some of the festivities that they presented to the school’s students and faculty. Some of the group even got to meet the Profe I live with! She was very excited to meet them and introduced me to the group as her “hija” (daughter). Another Nica madre!

After lunch, the group went back to the Centro and went to some houses that have history with Dengue and Malaria larvae with some epidemiologists so that the students could see what their job is and what to look for. It was very educational and a chance for the students to see what “typical” Nica houses look like.

Saturday

I met the group for breakfast (which they treated all week for me, lunch, too! I was completely grateful and was NOT expecting it!). I then went with the Criminal Justice professor to the women’s clinic, Oyanka, to translate some interviews with women. She is doing a study to compare the reasons why women come to clinics in Nicaragua and why they go in the states and what services are offered.  We heard 3 stories and they all were different but extremely impactful. Nicaraguan women go through so much in their lives and yet they continue to raise their families and are some of the strongest women I’ve met.

After lunch, groups were broken up and some went to the elementary schools to read books, some people went to the high school and others went to a neighborhood above the lodge to do some basic eye exams for reading glasses and take blood pressure and check the heart rate to some of the locals. 

Sunday

After breakfast a group of the students and I with another translator went to the high school to give more eye exams and blood pressure/heart rate checks to some of the professors and adult students who have weekend classes. . On the way there, a burst of cuteness decided to cross our paths in the form of baby piglets! Little snorts and all!

It was a great turn out and I actually got to meet and talk with some of the professors who know my site mate. I am looking forward to sit down with them and the principal and finally get a schedule to start giving presentations there about adolescent pregnancy, STIs, etc.

More barrio work was done in the afternoon and we went to a house that had an elderly woman with chronic pneumonia. Luckily her family was taking all the care they could for her but it was a grave situation and seeing someone in such a fragile state was hard to take. On the positive side of the trip, we gave out clothes, tennis balls, and toothbrushes to the children and they were very excited.

Monday

In the morning the entire ISLA group and all translators went to one of the poorest neighborhoods in Jalapa, called New Jerusalem. It was a little trek to get there, what with walking in the mud, crossing streams and climbing up steep hills, I felt I was back home walking to the base of a 14-er with my dad! When we got to the community, I saw what I you usually only see in National Geographic: houses made of basic material, kids without shoes (and some little boys without pants) and dirty faces, tarps in place of front doors and no running water to be found. We broke off into small groups and went to different points in the community to do the basic exams and were surrounded by children every which way we turned.

We were definitely a new sight for these kidlets to see: a bunch of gringos helping the community, let alone a gringo who could SPEAK Spanish! The majority of them got toothbrushes and I helped one of the ISLA students translate a Dr. Seuss book about teeth into Spanish: turns out it is really hard to try and rhyme in a different language, but they got the gist of it!

The afternoon I went back with the professor to do a few more interviews and it was the latest day that I worked with the group. After a few more stories, I was able to get home at about 5:30, do a workout (which on the schedule was the longest of the series, how lucky!), took a shower, and traded eating dinner to crash for the night.

Tuesday

One of the best days! I went with about 5 students to the neighboring community of TEOTECACINTE. Why is that so exciting? Well, that, my dear readers (if you’re still reading) is the sister city of Glenwood Springs, Colorado! We went to the high school to talk to the students and I was able to meet up with the Agriculture volunteer. This particular high school was a dream child of a professor from Colorado Mountain College in CO (who Mamala knows) and is still around today. Oh, the connections! The high school itself is in very poor conditions: there is no electricity, no water, windows have been destroyed by weather, chalkboards are filled with graffiti, classrooms are overcrowded, and some classrooms are even outside because storms have destroyed them and no funds have been received to rebuild or do any maintenance. Luckily, the alcaldia (mayor’s office) recently donated and built a set of fairly nice classrooms, but that is just one building. The entire school itself needs a makeover. I also got to speak with one of the professors who has a sister who lives in Glenwood Springs and is a middle school teacher at GSMS!

After hanging out there and going to the puesto de salud (health post; smaller than a centro and are in many communities that doctors occupy once every other week so that patients can get vaccinations and medicine closer to home rather than making the trip to the city of Jalapa), we hopped on a bus to the last community before the Honduran border, Porvenir. We got to hang out with border patrol and put our toes in Honduras before we walked into the community to do more house calls with blood pressure and eye exams. 

It was a LONG day, but ISLA hosted me and my site mate for dinner that night at El Pantano, and it was very delicious! I’m not sure if my site mate would be comfortable with me releasing his name, so from here on out, his name shall be SM. The two of us walked back, at night, to our houses; but if he weren’t there I would have taken a taxi because it was: A. DARK, B. raining a little, and C. I don’t go anywhere alone at night.

Another full day! In the morning, I took some of the students and the CJ professor to the Police Station where the chief of police took us on a tour of the station. Apparently, the police have 1-week shifts where they are on-call the entire week; they only receive C$12 per day for food, have maybe 4-6 beds to sleep on, only one toilet to share (I feel for the two female cops), 2 showers and only ONE patrol vehicle to use; they usually have a motorcycle, too, but it is out of commission at the moment. The chief also showed us the jail, inside the station, where there were actual detainees. The cells could not have been more than 10x10 feet (10 square feet?) and there were up to 4 guys in a cell. The chief told me that until this past Sunday there were 30 detainees/prisoners divided into the three cells. I’m glad that they are putting people away, but for them to be in conditions like that? I felt bad for them; they also do not receive food, they rely on their families and/or friends to bring it to them and for those prisoners who don’t have anyone, the prisoners with food share. They don’t even have a toilet or plumbing; they just do their business in a tube.

After the police, I took a small group to see the Catholic Church on the way to the library where they painted the auxiliary room that they use as a children’s free area. I introduced myself to the librarians and they would like to collaborate in the future as well. We then sat in on a reading time with some children from the elementary school, and some even did folkloric dances and poetry for us!

In the afternoon, people went to more barrios, had free time, or went to the women’s center to do blood pressure and eye exams. I went to the center to help with more interviews, and afterwards went with the group to meet the people I work with at the Casa de Adolescencia. It sounds like ISLA may be able to do some small fundraising for the organization, seeing as how their main donors are cutting their funds this year.

Later in the evening, we had a nice farewell dinner at El Pantano, a rousing game of Catch Phrase (in the dark! The electricity went out!), and enjoyed each other’s company.  They were all trying to deload (or make more room for souvenirs) so I obtained a “like-new” pair of Keen shoes, a wick-away shirt, some bug spray, trail mix and Costco sized peanut butter. SCORE! They left this morning to Matagalpa and Granada before and head back to the states on Sunday.

I had a great week with the group. Not only did I learn about potential opportunities I have as a volunteer, but the opportunity to work with them in the future and be a type of liaison between them and Jalapa until they come back with a new group of students next May! I gained new knowledge, new contacts and new friends and I can’t wait to meet future ISLA groups!