First Home Visit

 It was the end of the school day and I was leading the preschoolers out of the classroom. Once we reached the bench this beautiful girl, Sulema, ran up to me and gave me a huge hug and didn't let go for about 2 minutes. As she hugged me, she kept saying mama. It wasn't until she grabbed Dougy and calling us mama and papa, that I realized that she was wishing for a family that cared for her. It broke my heart,  she had to pretend that she had a loving  family to be happy; Her mom doesn't care about her. When Lisa- Marie went to visit Solema's  house the mom was gambling with men that abused Sulema.  She had so much lice it was falling out of her hair.

This afternoon Kevin and I went on home visits with Mrs. Gutmann. We went into the slums and saw a couple of the houses that had children with challenges living inside them. We went there to meet the family and children. I was so happy Kevin was there to talk for be because I was so surprised by how they lived I couldn't even speak. Many of the houses were smaller than my room, and 9-10 people live in them. Many of the houses didn't even have windows they had bars.

The first house we went to was the home of Marisol. She was 2 years old and weighed about 8 pounds. The parents were split apart and the mom lived with her parents. Her dad is an alcoholic and comes home drunk. Marisol is very malnourished, and I am really worried about her. Kevin held up two of his fingers and it was thicker than her leg. This made me feel sad and also I had way more than I needed. I have parents who love me and beautiful sister and enough food to last me the rest of my life and they are lucky to have one of those things.

The second house we went to was the home of 15 month old  Deanna, again the parents no longer live together but this split up was different. Her father had another family. while he was married to his mother he was also with another girl they have kids the same age and all the kids are disabled. Deanna has an enlarged heart, so she cant do physical therapy.  Because her heart is enlarged  her circulation is cut off and so her feet nose and fingers all have a blue tint.

In the third house we met Julissa. She is a 22 year old woman with epilepsy. While we were there she was having a Grand Mal seizure. It was so sad to see that all she ever did was lie on the floor, she did nothing else except for sit. Her mother thought that Juliussa was a curse on the family so she gave her child to her mother (Juissa's grandmother).  The grandmother didn't know what to do so she never took Julissa to therapy. Now she lives with her husband, mother and father in law and her little brother who is 10. They all do the best that they can but even that is not good enough.

Lastly, we went to Clara and Franklin's house they are 13 and 14. Clara has a heart disorder and Franklin has a brain disorder. They were not there because they were at the Doctor's office. I really wish they were there so I could meet them. Overall, today was a sad day!

first day at the school

Today was our first day at the school with the kids.  Being there felt like your first day of kindergarten when you walk around asking people to be your best friend. If you accept you leave all your previous thoughts and everything else behind and you are with them fully for the time that you have you will be amazed by what you can do. These kids are so special that not even 5 days is enough time. The kids have no worries while they are at the school because they don’t get teased for what they look like or called stupid. 

Soon after arriving I was given hugs by many of the kids, and a hand shake from and adorable little boy who was about 6. The kids were so excited to see new people and show us how much they knew.

 I was ushered off to the classroom in which I would be helping at. There were about 8 kids they were all deaf and in either 5^th or 6^th grade. In that class I talked to 3 of the kids and got to know them. The first was the oldest. He was 14 years old and we had the same birthday!!!!  Second was this really shy boy. He sat in the corner of the room and barely said thing. After trying to communicate with him many times he finally started to warm up to me. He showed me every sign in the signing dictionary then he started to look through my drawings in my notebook and sign them also.  So I gave him all my drawings because I know he will take better care of them than I willJ. The last was this tiny girl who was 14 also; she had her hair up perfectly with many rubber bands, and an adorable head band. She reminded me of my best friend Rychelle because everything that little girl did ended up perfect even if it took an extra 20 minutes just like Shelly.  Her name was sander.

In that first class I realized how different teaching is when you can’t verbally explain things, and even harder when you don’t know much else then the alphabet in Nicaraguan sign language.  I was trying to explain how to add addition problems from right to left wit out talking, or understanding what anyone was telling me unless they spelled it out really slowly.  That didn’t go to well so I just wrote the numbers 1-100 and pointing to the answer.

When the bell went off at 10am for lunch/recess people were everywhere.  During this short period of time I braded a girls hair, she had a huge smile on her face for the rest of the day I made me so happy to think that one braid could make a child so happy.  She was such a sweetheart and has an amazing since of humor. Then after that went and saw what the kids had for lunch. The kids were eating lots of pasta with butter and rice. There was no nutritional value it made me really sad, but the worst part was that lunch was the only meal that some of the children got all day because their parents couldn’t afford dinner or breakfast. When lunch was over Meaghan and I were pulled over to the swings to push the boys.  The only thing the boys would say is “más alto” which means higher.

In the last class I was with the 3^rd and 4^th graders they had science. They didn’t need much of my help so I wrote in my journal. The funniest part was when I brought my Gatorade into that classroom and all the kids were signing about me and how weird I was to be drinking blue water. So I tried to say its Gatorade but they can’t there me so I tried to sign and tell them that id made it so I didn’t get dehydrated. But that was a mess so I ended up giving them each some, but they really liked it so they wouldn’t give it back.  That’s ok though because I have more!

The best part of the day was when the kids were leaving and we gave them bags full of food and hygiene stuff. They were so happy to get home and show their parents. The bus was a crazy mess there were probably 25 people in a bus for 12 people. The kids were just piled in there waving good bye. 

Day One

Arriving in Nicaragua was great we got off the plane and a mariachi band was playing, and we had Lisa-Marie and Carlos our driver waiting for us as soon as we got of the plane.  Driving away from the airport was nothing like any other vacation I had ever been on.  It was so real. It was dark outside but you could see the houses and buildings that you were passing. The houses were nothing special but you could feel the love, care and culture bursting out from the windows. 

Falling asleep was really hard because I couldn’t think about anything other than seeing the school and all the kids. but as soon as morning came I really wished I had more time to sleep because oh my goodness three hours of sleep was not enough for the long day of hard work we had ahead of us.

Today!!! Where do I start? We did a lot of cleaning and learning today. We cleaned the entire inside and out of the school we picked up trash around the perimeter of the school, and got lunch for the teachers. Even though it was a lot of cleaning it makes it all worth it to know how happy the kids will be when they see their classrooms. I am feeling more self-confident with my Spanish speaking skills and cleaning.  Today I learned how to use a washboard and I learned that there were many many kinds of bugs that can kill you in Nicaragua.   But I mostly learned that you can have a language barrier but still make great friends. Crystal is one of the friends that I have already made.  She is 20 years old and our translator.  I really got to know her when we were scrubbing all 200 floor mats. And one of the things that hit me was how hard it is to get a citizenship in the United States. Crystal is already a citizen but had to get her 4 mouth son lineal a citizenship so she can give him a better education. I wish crystal the best of luck.

Good luck Mom, Julie, April , and Natalie with your Crossfit!!!!  

I can't wait!!!!!!!

Next Week!!! I am so excited to be leaving for this life changing trip in just nine days. After hearing my sisters stories and and seeing all of the pictures on Facebook. I become even more excited ( if that is even possible) but also inspired.  It was crazy to think that My friends and I are in the ages between 12-15 and we are making or are going to be making a huge difference in so many peoples lives, weather that is giving them love, clothing, shampoo, or just even a smile it makes my day to even think about that. :)