POLITICS: Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, Dead

"It has been reported in Venezuela that President Hugo Chavez has died after a long battle with cancer. Vice President Nicolas Maduro reportedly took to Venezuelan television to announce the 58-year-old had passed away.
He had been suffering an undisclosed pelvic cancer since June 2011 and had undergone four operations in Cuba. His last surgery was on December 11 and he had not been seen in public since."

This report could POTENTIALLY be huge for Nicaragua, as they depend on Venezuela for so much - particularly in terms of their relationship through ALBA.

CLICK here to read article

Health: Nicaragua Declares H1N1 Health Alert

First lady and government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo today announced a nationwide health alert for the H1N1 and H3N2 influenza strains following the detection of nearly two dozen new cases of the viruses in Managua, Estelí and Chontales.

CLICK here to learn more

POST by ANNA: Please Don't Cry...

The day started off all wrong (Atmosphere lyric for all the thugs out there reading my blog). Well, really, it didn’t start off all wrong. I just wanted to start my blog with a song lyric. But I promise it will relate to the rest of the blog.

The day honestly started off a little strange though. I overslept my alarm so I didn’t wake up until about 7:50 when I am supposed to be at the meeting by 8:00 and usually wake up before 7:00. I pretty much just brushed my teeth and called it good. Of course I did change my clothes as well.

The meeting went well except for there was a bit of a drama with one of the lads who lives here, or rather, used to live here, because he is not living with us at the moment. But otherwise, a normal day.

Footloose and Fancyfree, Anna enjoys a Toffee Apple

After teaching my class, I am sure I did something productive with my time but I can’t honestly remember what I did. Evidently, I am really getting old.

Anyways in the afternoon, Liz (the missionary who I live with) and her sister-in-law Bindi loaded everyone up in the car, and we were all set to go to Malecón. Malecón is an area of Nicaragua where there is a free carnival with tons of free rides and cheap food.

As usual, it took about fifteen minutes to get everyone in the car and work everything out. At last, we were on the road excited for a trip to the free carnival. To our demise, it was discovered that we had a flat tire, which isn’t necessarily significant because we always have a flat tire.

This time though, it was realllly flat. We weren’t able to keep everyone in the car and make it all the way to the nearest petrol station to fill up the tires. So we all piled out of the car, and just Liz and a few others went off to fill up the tires.

We waited around for a while until they returned, as jubilant and excited as ever to go to Malecón. I wasn’t really focusing well on the day, but somehow the dogs got out of the gate and were roaming around the neighborhood.

Therefore, we had to chase the dogs down and get them back through the gate. After about a half hour and several sprinting folks, young and old, the dogs were safe and secure inside the gates, which meant we were free to go!

Capital on the Edge People, having fun at Malecon...

I have been to Malecón before and we waited in line for 2 hours for one ride, and as soon as we got to the front of the line, all of the rides closed because it was too late. So this time, I did really want to get on a ride, but I was expecting the worst.

We approached the first ride, which was a nice albeit rusty rollercoaster that seemed appealing. I didn’t actually pick it, but it looked alright to me.

This time we only waited in line for about a half hour and we were able to get on the ride. Like most amusement parks, it doesn’t matter if you ride with your friends or with strangers. The line goes according to who is there.

Lucky for me, a stranger was right behind me. She looked like she was from the Caribbean coast because according to my sources, people who live on the Caribbean coast are darker skinned than the rest of the country.

We sat down and I tried to give her my nicest “Hi, I am a stranger and a gringa. You can trust me” smile. I don’t think she really bought it because as soon as the ride moved, she began to cry.

I tried to speak to her in Spanish and in English, but she didn’t understand either of them. I assume this is because she speaks Miskito, the language of the Caribbean Coast.

Feeling trapped, I began to pat her back quite awkwardly, and gave her a thumbs up with a corny smile. Nothing seemed to work. She got off the ride and ran to her friends.

The worst part of all this is that everyone who watched thought that I was the one who was freaking the girl out. But the truth was I honestly don’t think she had ever ridden a carnival ride, much less a rollercoaster, in her young life. OF COURSE she was scared.

The Famous Photo In the end, I got a great laugh out of the whole situation. Someone even captured a photo of the girl and I where it truly does look like I am trying to frighten her.

POST by SHANE: Hope for the People (Part Two - Visiting the Edge)

In the 2004 film “Hotel Rwanda”, the true story of hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina (portrayed by Don Cheadle) saving over 1,000 refugees from the nation’s genocide in 1994 was told.  Part way through the movie, an exchange takes place between Cheadle and an American camera man played by Joaquin Phoenix. 

The dialogue is as follows:

Paul Rusesabagina (Cheadle): I am glad that you have shot this footage and that the world will see it. It is the only way we have a chance that people might intervene.
Jack Daglish (Phoenix): Yeah and if no one intervenes, is it still a good thing to show?
Paul: How can they not intervene when they witness such atrocities?
Jack: I think if people see this footage they'll say, "Oh my God that's horrible," and then go on eating their dinners.

I’ve always found that excerpt to be one part powerful and the other insightful. We commonly watch the news; make broad statements to those within earshot about how things need to change and then move on with our lives. It’s an understandable reaction within a culture where every terrible thing happening on earth is hurled at us each day by a myriad of media sources. 

A little CHAMPION in Managua's Children's Hospital

We battle to push it out of our heads. We distract ourselves to avoid facing the thought. We make up excuses to focus on something else. Many people sleepwalk, some stay in the shallow waters of the pool to avoid the depths they’ll find at the opposite end, and still others hone their ability to remain apathetic. These are all ways to cope so that we can remain happy and optimistic about life, but unfortunately, they are also equally ineffective at solving these terrible things that are happening.

The people of Nicaragua are poor. 

Oliver & his family's Pigs

The average per capita income is less than $1,000 a year. Nicaragua is the second most impoverished nation in the western hemisphere (Haiti being first) and the poorest Spanish speaking country in the world. The underemployment rate (those unemployed or working for less than Nicaragua’s legal minimum wage) hovers close to 50%. Minimum wage scales range between $0.40 and $0.80 per hour (officially) depending on industry. Those in the population not malnourished subsist on a diet of mostly rice and beans every day. 

Elizabeth handing out medical equipment in Solis... Thanks Shane & Jen for your support of our community!

 Houses, particularly in rural areas, are often made up of a composite of materials from the nearby landscape, both natural (stones, tree trunks or branches, etc.) and fabricated (aluminum, tin, lumber, etc.). There is no heat and no air conditioning in almost all of the country’s non-commercial structures.  The rural population approaches 50%, but only about 1 in 20 Nicaraguans own an automobile. The average person spends less than 5 years in school and almost one-third of adults over the age of 15 are considered illiterate. All of this is ordinary to the citizens there.

Cedro Galan public school

So, imagine a life where all of the above is true. You are average, which means you are poor and surrounded by those who share that same status. Jobs are scarce and when available, they are hotly contested to the point where the winner often ends up working for a wage beneath the required minimum. The government and police exist, but make little more than you (sometimes less) and are almost never above reproach. Most are only accustomed to small bribes, but there is always the possibility they are complicit in more serious and violent crimes. Theft is so widespread it is an accepted part of daily life. Trust, as we understand it, is a foreign concept.

Billy & Francesca Learning to DANCE!

During my family’s visit, it was unexpected, but at least a little encouraging finding that despite all of the above, happiness does not evaporate entirely. People smile and laugh easily once they’ve had a little time to warm up. They tell stories and ask how you are just like anywhere else in the world. To the casual observer, you might even say that they live like you might imagine you would in their situation. It’s when you peel back away from the surface a little that the differences become more apparent.

Chapel time on the Edge

While happiness and laughter are present, characteristics more rarely found are hope and a belief in the future. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both are in such short supply. What the circumstances in Nicaragua seem to have caused is a permanent survival mode mindset.

In the U.S. people around my age associate the Latin phrase “carpe diem” with “seize the day” (that and Robin Williams standing on a desk at some stuffy New England prep school in the 1950s). However, it’s the extended version of the saying that goes, “carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero” meaning “'pluck the day, trusting as little as possible in the future” that applies here. You see, there is no future to hope for in the minds of many Nicacaraguans. There are only the needs of today that must be met and tomorrow isn’t considered until it arrives. Goals and dreams are commonly uncommon because, really, what’s the use? The population at an overwhelming rate is locked in a regular struggle to survive.

The Disciples, disciple...

I was supremely impressed by the 8 young men in the guesthouse that I met while staying with the Briens. All of them fall somewhere between very skilled and incredibly talented as “trickers” (street gymnastics) and/or dancers (bboy – breakdance, and electronic). They are delightfully adept at improvising and are applying themselves each day to learning choreography. They also seem eager to finish their education and learn English. Having said this, what does their future look like if they don’t have faith that there’s a good one waiting for them? If they don’t believe they can overcome the challenges they are sure to face, how far can they go? Absent hope, is the effort worthwhile?

Elizabeth & Lorenzy working with Missionary Doctors to Make Sure the People of Cedro Galan get Appropriate Medical Care

In the Bible (Jeremiah 29:11), it says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” This is what I pray for in those 8 young men and also for Nicaragua as a whole.

Francesca Brien, a 15 year old missionary in Nicaragua

I believe the opportunities will arrive, but also know that such prospects come and go frequently all around the world. Do the people of Nicaragua know they have a future and a hope? Is it just a whisper in the ears of a few or will it be heard as a shout from the lips of thousands?

The children of Capital Edge Community School

This is why my friends and others like them have come to Nicaragua. It’s so they can be used as tools to help bridge the gap between the few and the many.

What of you and me? Why have we been placed wherever it is we’re currently taking up space? What’s our purpose?

I think we can come up with more than a few good answers, but I’m pretty sure it’s not so that we can go on eating our dinner.