Happiness & Sadness

Happiness...for returning safe and sound and to have been able to be a part of such an amazing mission.

Happiness...in seeing my church friends and their excitement in my return, and talking to friends who sent me off with good wishes and prayers for a safe journey.

Happiness...in finding in the pile of mail birthday cards from the church, and my sister Lori and her girls.

Happiness...in wishing Pastor Jeri well for her journey to the Holy Land tomorrow, and being home in time to see her off on that marvelous journey.

Happiness...taking the initiative to seek out fair trade food in my own community.

Happiness...for finding MOM's Organic Market http://www.myorganicmarket.com/.

Happiness...for finding Equal Exchange bananas and coffee.

Happiness... knowing that I am supporting the farmers I met on my trip and ones like them.

Happiness...in joining my community in purchasing organic and fair trade goods, ensuring those products will continue to remain on the store shelves.

Happiness...in getting the contact information for the managers and owners of MOM's, so I can (hopefully maybe perhaps!) speak to a group at the store and share what I learned.

Sadness...that my mom called me as I was shopping to tell me my dear Aunt Aggie died.

Sadness...remembering the street children, those who followed us that day in Managua, as well as the children who rushed to vehicles in the busy dangerous streets to wash windshields for a nickel.

Sadness...thinking about the children and women who lived and scavenged in a trash dump, seen in the photographs of Carl, an American missionary in Nicaragua who was with our group.

Sadness...in the struggle to live under the crush of poverty.

Sadness...thinking about Haiti.

Happiness...that moments after my mom called, my friend Joan called, to welcome me back, wish me happy birthday, update me on the fundraiser for Haiti, and comfort me in my sadness over my aunt.

Happiness...thinking about the time shared with an absolutely amazing mission team.

Happiness...in meeting new people and sharing my story and experiences with them.

This has been a journey. I will post more over the next days and weeks, because my mission did not end with the conclusion of the trip. Now the blog is set up to accept comments. Sorry if you tried earlier and it didn't work.

I have many marvelous beautiful pictures to post and thoughts to share. The mountains, the bright blue sky, the green countryside. The laughing children. The spectacular starry nights. The hard work and long hours to earn a living. The little girls in frilly dresses for a party at the coffee cooperative for our team. The shining sun, the bright moon.

I leave you with a funny picture of Aunt Aggie, who is showing off how she can crush a soda can with one hand, taken one of the last times I visited home. Too funny. We all had a great laugh.

I had that blurry picture in my camera during my trip, and had looked at it and others of my family with a smile, as I flipped through my pictures, careful to save those that are the dearest to me. Bye Bye Auntie.

In memory of dear Aunt Aggie, who would have been so excited about this trip and to hear all that I learned and experienced.

Adios Nicaragua

The team is on its way back to the United States today. Some left in the pre-dawn darkness, I am among the afternoon travelers.

One hour we leave the office and head back in the hot morning sun through the chaotic streets of Managua to the airport. We have many pictures and so much information to share about our week together in this beautiful country.

Safe travels to all. Vaya con Dios.

Buenos Dias!

Today is Friday, the last full day of our trip. I write this frantically as we are about to leave for a pottery cooperative, Esperanza en Accion's Fair Trade craft store in Managua, and a sweat-free t-shirt shop, the Nueva Vida Women's Sewing Cooperative. It is really inspiring to meet so many people that are benefiting from the cooperatives and fair trade, especially in a country where jobs are scarce and wages extremely low.

Yesterday, we spent time at the Women’s Pottery Cooperative of Ducuale Grande, and watched the magic as a slab of clay turned into a perfectly shaped bowl in minutes, guided by the hands of a potter with decades of experience.

The pottery is intricate, beautiful and the women who work hard at their craft earn a fair price for their art.

We stayed two days in the beautiful countryside. Kim, a pastor from Montana, and I stayed in the home of a farmer -- a simple four room house with dirt floors, and no electricity or indoor plumbing. Jose built the house with the help of his sons. Critters abounded, a friendly and quite large spider greeted us each night at the front entryway. Jumping crickets and other bugs lived in our sleeping area. I remember in the darkness, following Jose, crawling under a barbed wire fence and hiking up the hill to the home under the cover of darkness, thousands of stars twinkling above.

The rugged terrain and lack of material comforts did not matter one bit. We enjoyed the laughter of the children, and the shy smile of the wife, Angelina, as we presented her with pictures of our homes and memories of our friends, family and church. We had a wonderful time spending time by candlelight with the family, admiring the beauty of the countryside and the fruit and exquisite flowers that grew around the house, watching children dash through the front room, and seeing the chickens and kittens scurry in one door and be shooed out the other.

We were touched when she put our coffee in delicate matching tea cups with saucers, the best of their tableware reserved for the visitors, while they used the random mismatched pieces. I remember the smiles on their weathered faces when I told them that on my church grounds there is also a Spanish-speaking church, attended by the large Hispanic and Central American population in my community. Ah si!

It was wonderful to spend time and stay in their home, to catch a glimpse of life on the farm, in the country, among the crops and animals. It is also a blessing to know that the farmers are guaranteed a fair price for their crops, will not be exploited by middlemen, and they have the support of a cooperative, access to markets and opportunities that otherwise would not have been available to them. But life means hard work, in the house and in the fields.

The country was beautiful and green, alive with chickens and cows, and flowers and fruit trees of all kinds. Roosters crowed, birds sang, cows mooed.

Perhaps the most magnificent times were gazing up and seeing the thousands of stars in the night sky and sitting in the morning and watching the day begin in the lush countryside, the mountains in the distance covered by fog and mist.

The trip has been amazing, beautiful and we have met a host of wonderful people. I have enjoyed the time with the group, we had a fantastic time together laughing and learning, and laughing some more, and learning some more.

I will be sad to say goodbye to this beautiful country.

¡Gracias por todo, mis amigos!

Bienvenido a Managua

Today was especially special for me: it is my birthday! My wonderful team members sang Happy Birthday to me in the morning, and then surprised me with a beautiful cake after dinner! The cake was lovely, look to your left to see! :) What a great way to spend my birthday -- with an amazing bunch of people from around the country starting a magnificent journey. It was a special, beautiful moment. And there is video of it as well... Muchas Gracias!

I touched down in Managua yesterday, then had a chaotic fun drive to the mission office in the sweltering mid-day heat. The city was busy with trucks and cars, and people darted into oncoming traffic, rushing to get to the other side. It was hot. The streets were busy. It is a beautiful country; the people are wonderful, gracious and welcoming. The team arrived at various times, until late in the night. We all made the long journey safely. I probably will not get a chance to write any more entries until later in the week, as we will be doing a homestay in the countryside for the two days with members of the coffee cooperative and then off to the town of Esteli. I am quite excited about meeting the families, seeing how fair trade benefited them and their community. I am most excited about the one-on-one meetings and seeing how life is in the village of El Bejuco and the towns of Boaco and Esteli.

The team traveled from around the country: California, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Montana, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. They bring an amazing multitude of interests, world experiences and expertise.

We toured Managua today. Many funny tales to tell about that, but I think the image of these two little unaccompanied children will stay with me for a long time. They tagged along with our group, and the itty bitty boy, maybe 2 or 3, in underwear, sandals and a little shirt was walking right along with the adults. He found an adult or two in our group to play with, and for a brief moment was a little boy at play. My heart strings were tugged and tugged and tugged at. It was heartbreaking.

I am blessed and so happy to be here and be a part of such a wonderful team in such a beautiful country, and to bring back what I learn and experience to my own community.

Thank you team for making my birthday so special!

On My Way!

The 3:30am wake up and 4am cab ride to the airport are all a distant memory as I sit here in Miami waiting for connection to Managua. I am usually a nervous wreck on planes, this time it was beautiful and peaceful as we glided away from Washington DC, overlooking the city as dawn was yet to break. The lights glowed, the sun began to rise on the horizon.

Last night (as I was frantically packing - and did by the way successfully fit a sleeping bag in my luggage, along with enough bug spray for 5 mission groups), Cathy from my church presented me with a package of cards and letters from my church for me to read, one for each day of my trip.

Let me share the first one: a Good Luck card from Cathy that contains a wonderful note with a bon voyage message from all my church friends and a "Prayer for Mission."

Thank you church, I will have much to report back to you, my friends and my family.

Packing, Praying and Procrastinating!

4 a.m. comes mighty early and for some reason that is why I decided at this very moment to write my thoughts and blog, instead of getting down to that very essential task of putting all those glorious items in a giant duffel bag...aka packing.

But first: my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti right now and their immeasurable suffering from this devastating earthquake. What can I do? I have so much in my life, and the seemingly inescapable poverty and suffering in the country is so unfair. Seeing the humanitarian catastrophe unfold is heart-wrenching and horrific. And the nation has suffered for so long. I donated to the Red Cross, by texting HAITI to 90999, as did my colleagues and friends, and many many other people, millions of people. I pledge to do more.

My church is collecting money, Presbyterian Church USA www.pcusa.org/pda/response/latinamerica/haiti-index.htm is collecting funds, UNICEF, the United Nations, the Red Cross, and all aid organizations have all made this their highest priority, people have flown at a moment's notice to help in rescue and relief. The United States and countries around the world have deployed emergency teams and resources. My lovely and dear dear friend, Joan, is spearheading a fundraiser and (it is all her effort - I am just showing up since I will be on my trip) I am proudly listed as a co-host. Within minutes she received an overwhelming response, even a Senator's office wants to promote it. Wow. And that was just her talking among friends and getting the local community involved. Everyone wants to help. The human spirit, generosity and kindness are so powerful. People are called to action. But it still is unfair. People are still in dire poverty, susceptible to disease, violence and suffering through no fault of their own. People are still in need of basic necessities. I pledge to always be an advocate, always use my gifts to volunteer, help others and share what I have been blessed with. That is what I can do and continue to do. My life. My Mission. Tomorrow is Managua.

Travelogue

You Go Nowhere By Accident
Wherever You Go, God Is Sending You.

The beautiful picture on the left was taken in Nicaragua by a colleague, Steve Baragona, who loves the country and has been giving me some great travel advice.

Today was an exciting day, I was commissioned for the trip at Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church, my church for three years now. I have gone on other mission trips with the church (including of course the aforementioned Guatemala!) and been involved in all sorts of community outreach. The volunteer opportunities are what really attracted me to this congregation. In fact, the first time I visited the church, as a perfect stranger, I signed right up for the Guatemala trip.

This afternoon, it was thrilling and exciting to stand before the church as my pastor, Jeri, who has been guiding me and encouraging me in the application process, told the congregation about the mission. At the end of the commissioning, with a big smile, said: "Will you have a great time and tell us all about it." My response: "I will!!" It truly gives me strength knowing that the church, friends, family, neighbors and colleagues -- and even strangers I have met along the way -- are supporting me.

Six days and counting...

But First Reflections on Guatemala

10 days until Nicaragua...and I wanted to share some thoughts. My mind keeps wandering back to my trip to Guatemala in 2007.

I think often about the rugged and lush mountainsides, the wonderful Mayan people and the packs of laughing children, but also about the poverty, the constant struggle to earn a living in the remote villages and the fight to keep families healthy and warm in the highlands.

Some children were kept away from school for a variety of reasons: the family could not afford the school fees, the father would not allow the girl to attend, or the chores of cooking, washing, caring for young siblings and fetching heavy buckets of water were just too time consuming to allow a young girl to attend school.

I think about the stunning beauty of the countryside. The spectacular views from 10,000 feet. The Mayan weavers in huts creating beautiful textiles. The welcoming families, the smiling children and the sunny afternoons. The days were warm, the nights very cold on the mountain.

This Mayan village was relocated by the government high atop the mountain after devastating Hurricane Stan destroyed their homes on the slopes, making access to local markets and travel even more difficult. No indoor plumbing. Children sneezed and coughed, as did the women who spent hours each day hunched over an open flame cooking in an enclosed shack. We were there to build cinder-block stoves with proper ventilation. Rural and remote, the village was a far distance from medical care and medicines.

My story on Guatemala: http://www.contactomagazine.com/articles/mayanindians1207.htm

I loved the spirit and gentle kindness of the people, their strength in surviving the nightmare of brutality and injustices of war, their will to move forward from those horrific events and their marginalization in society. Their life is a constant struggle to care for families, with the men working all day to earn a living and women toiling for hours cooking, weaving and caring for many children in their simple homes along dusty roads, tucked away in cornfields high on the mountain.

The adventure begins...in two weeks

In two short weeks, I will be in Nicaragua for a mission trip where I will meet with local coffee farmers, artisans, leaders, teachers, church members and families as part of a delegation with Presbyterian Church USA and Equal Exchange. And I thought of no better way to inaugurate my blogging experience than by writing my thoughts about the trip ahead. I hope to be able to have Internet access while in the country and write about the people, post photographs and detail my experience.

Scared at first, I am really looking forward to the trip. I am blessed to have been selected to be on the trip that will include people from across the country. Nicaragua will be the third country in Central America I have visited (Costa Rica, and a mission trip to Guatemala, to be discussed soon in this forum, I am most certain), and let's see....my sixth country in Latin America and the Caribbean. I love the region. I love the laughing children, the warm and inviting people, the culture, the history, the religious traditions, visiting old cathedrals, the natural beauty, the beat of the music, the sunshine and dazzling blue skies against whitewashed churches, the food: black beans, plantains, mangoes, meat, fresh fish.

Nicaragua has been for years a country at peace moving forward to overcome the horrific scars of war, the ghosts of the past. Just like anywhere, problems persist: corruption, narcotics, crime, violence, gangs, trafficking, poverty, unemployment. But we are hopeful. I am hopeful. So as it goes, January 16th, I head to Managua.