Final lunar eclipse of 2010 set for early morning of December 21 – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

Final lunar eclipse of 2010 set for early morning of December 21 – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

I don't think I've ever seen a lunar eclipse. It would be an awesome, glorious sight to see, so I may have to just get up in the middle of the night to see this. On the other hand, I could just stay up until it happens, further exacerbating the problem of my horrible sleeping habits I've developed since getting home for Christmas break.

Either way, I hope to get to see at least part of this eclipse, and I hope you all do to.

I'm back to working and making money finally, though I'd say I much prefer work at Opportunity to working at Russ or Calvin pool...oh well

What I'm Reading: When Helping Hurts

When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself

By: Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert

When Helping Hurts is a book that any person who wants to fight poverty should read.  I think it is safe to say that the average person thinks that every bit of giving they do is helpful.  Americans on short term mission trips bring tons of donated clothing, assuming they are helping the poor, but not realizing they’ve just put the local shirt producer out of business.  Development organizations enter poor communities, decide what is needed and carry out their projects; creating dependency, and leading the poor to assume that if they need something all they need to do is sit and wait for a Development agency to do it.  This type of relationship leads to poor communities bringing a laundry list of needs to organizations that work in their country and expecting them to be done through no effort of their own. 

The authors of When Helping Hurts point out the many potential dangers in what we always think of as helpful aid.  Corbett and Fikkert wrote specifically on two important themes: determining the type of aid needed, and asset based community development.  They wrote of three different types of aid; relief – urgent and temporary provision of emergency aid to reduce immediate suffering from a natural or man-made crisis; rehabilitation – restoring people and their communities to the positive elements of their precrisis conditions; development – process of ongoing change that moves all people involved closer to being in right relationship with God and the rest of creation.   A key distinction is that relief aid is immediate giving to people in crisis, and rehabilitation can often be giving to people as they recover from crisis.  Development however is not giving to people, but working with people to improve their livelihood. This is what Opportunity does.  We work with our clients, empowering them to pull themselves out of poverty.

The books other main theme is Asset Based Community Development (ABCD).  ABCD focuses not on what a community lacks, but what assets it has, and how to make the most of those assets.  Focusing on assets rather than needs helps build confidence in a community, while encouraging them to maximize returns on their assets.  Again there is a connection with Opportunity.  Most of our clients already have micro-enterprises going; we help empower them to grow and develop these enterprises, taking what they are good at and helping them use it to make a difference in their community. 

For anyone who wants to fight poverty and wants to ensure that their efforts promote effective development, When Helping Hurts is a must read.  

Home...

I'm back in Grand Rapids, and it hasn't really hit me yet (at least I don't think it has) that my semester is done.  This weekend kind of felt normal, since I've visited home on occasion throughout the semester.  As the week goes on I think I'll realize more and more that my semester is done, and my internship at Opportunity International is done.  It's kind of weird not having a set schedule all day long, but I also am kind of liking it, so I'll just enjoy it while it lasts.

On another note, it is SO great to be back with family and friends.  I've gotten to see some friends so far, but there's many more I need to see.

Closing Time

Closing time - time for you to go out, go out into the world.


So I'm sitting here at Opportunity International, for my last half-hour of my fall 2010 internship experience.  It's been a good one, and I've learned a lot.  I can't even say how thankful I am for this experience that I've had.  The staff here have been so incredible, making sure all along the way that this was an educational experience for all of us interns.  I learned so many things, developed many skills, and got to know what it's like to work in a non-profit organization.  


We closed off today with the first ever Opportunity International Chili Cook-Off, hosted by the fall 2010 interns.  It was a great time, and we raised over $120 for Opportunity South Africa.  This group of interns was a ton of fun to work with, and we had a blast, while teaching and learning from each other all along the way.


Closing time - time for you to go back to the places you will be from...


I'm excited to go home tonight, back to Grand Rapids, back to my own house, to my own room, to my own bed.  Mostly I'm just excited and thankful that I get to spend the next almost 2 months spending time with family and friends.  It's been tough being away this semester, especially with the fact that I've been away from Kristen for most of the last 6 months now.  I can't wait to get to just enjoy spending time with her this break.  


Closing time - you don't have to go home but you can't stay here.


I'm not quite at the point of really thinking about DC yet, but at the same time I'm excited for the experiences I'll have living in DC and interning at InterAction.  I'm confident that this internship at Opportunity has prepared me well, and I'm excited for all that I'll learn in DC as well.  


God has been so good to me all of my life, but especially in this year as I've gotten to gain internship experience while living and learning in the great city of Chicago.  Chicago Semester really was an awesome time, and I'm so thankful for all the friends I made and the great times we had.  


So now we're closing up the semester, and we're all getting ready to head home, then graduate later this year and go out into the world.  Some of us are going home, but others are going to be spread out around the world.  


Goodbye to everyone at Opportunity, it's been great working with you.  Goodbye to all my CS friends, it's been a blast.  Goodbye to Grevengoeds, and thanks so much for having me live with you, you really were a blessing.  Goodbye Chicago, I'll be back sometime.


Closing time - every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end... 

What I'm Reading: The Poor Will Be Glad

I got this idea from my internship at Opportunity International.  Once a week they do a blog post "What We're Reading" and it's a review of an article or book someone at Opportunity has read on poverty, microfinance, development, etc. Running with that idea, I'm going to try and occasionally do a "What I'm Reading" post.  This first one is actually a post that I wrote for the Opportunity Blog.

I recently finished reading the book The Poor Will be Glad, written by Peter Greer and Phil Smith. I don’t know about the poor, but reading the book made me glad. The first thing I felt when reflecting on what I had read was the hope it gave me. It also gave me realistic, practical steps that I can take to make a difference in the lives of people living in poverty. Through its stories of financial success and failure, as well as direct, practical guidelines for eradicating poverty, accompanied by incredibly moving photography, The Poor Will Be Glad provides a great balance of the sad reality of poverty with the hope that exists for a revolution.

The book’s stories of failed attempts to help the poor really makes you step back and think: “By trying to help, how can I avoid becoming part of the problem?” At the same time, the book’s presentation ofmicrofinance and the way it has revolutionized development efforts gives cause for great hope.

At Opportunity, we know exactly what the authors mean when they say that microfinance can change the world. In fact, we’ve seen it. The book actually highlights Opportunity as one of the best models for an MFI that does its work in a way that helps the poor build themselves up, creating independence rather than dependence.

The authors also address how faith communities and individuals can get involved in fighting poverty. While they clearly want people to be excited about microfinance (as they should be!) they don’t want their readers getting carried away and running off to try and start their own MFIs without properly examining the feasibility of such an attempt. They do encourage individuals and churches to get involved with MFIs as a way to fight poverty.

Key suggestions for how to have an impact on global poverty:

• Be an advocate – Spread the word about microfinance whenever you get a chance.
• Make a donation – Any amount of giving can help. For the price of a Christmas present one can make a practical difference in the life of an individual in the developing world.
• Fund a community bank – Members of a faith community can work together to raise enough money to fund a community bank loan portfolio. In this way, one community can reach out to directly impact another.
• Fund a project – Pick a specific project to support that is being done by an MFI .

Another important topic with which The Poor Will be Glad deals is the balance between the emphasis on the social needs and the spiritual needs of people living in poverty. For a long time, churches and mission organizations focused only on saving souls. This emphasis ignores the fact that we should spend our time on earth bringing God’s love to the world. That means addressing spiritual and social needs, not one or the other.

This book argues in favor of the very thing that motivates Opportunity’s work: empowering people to work their way out of poverty and responding to Christ’s call to love and serve all people. It is a message of openness and inclusion that resonates with me.

Imperfection

So I said earlier I was going to write about imperfections.  Here I am, writing about imperfections.  Unfortunately I’m also quite tired, so this might be a short post.  My thought about imperfections came about earlier today while I was sitting and watching presentations of our final projects for the Arts & the City class for Chicago Semester, Fall 2010.  One of my friends was performing a song on the piano (I think it was Cannon in D by Pachelbel).  It was a beautiful song, and she performed it beautifully, full of emotion, and with great pace.  She was however, not perfect.  At a few points she got stuck and missed a few notes.  It was a great overall performance, but there were just enough mistakes that I could tell she was pretty nervous and I felt kind of bad for her. 

That led me to my thought about imperfections.  Watching my friend struggle at points in the song actually made me admire her more for what she was doing.  I started thinking about when we had seen the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and when I’ve seen other musical performances, and how perfect they usually are.  It then occurred to me that when you perform every night in front of thousands of people, and you’re perfect every time you have such a high confidence level that it takes absolutely no courage to go out there and perform.  You simply know you’re going to perform well.  The difference here was that my friend wasn’t used to performing in front of people, and she hadn’t done this over and over, so it took a lot of courage.  I also think it’s harder to stand up in front of friends and perform.  When you don’t know the audience it’s easier because you don’t have to worry about what they might say when you’re hanging out with them later.  When you know the people you’re performing to it’s tough because you know that after you perform, you have to go spend time with those people afterwards, and if you don’t perform perfectly you sit there wondering what they’re thinking but not saying (I’ve been there before, it’s not fun). 

So I tip my hat to my friend, and all others who step up and show the courage to perform in front of others even when they know it’s not perfect. 

(I need some kind of tagline to end these posts with, any ideas?)

This week keeps getting busier. I'm not sure when i'll have time to post, but i hope it's soon. I have some thoughts i want to write out.

Imperfections...more on that later

The Decision

No LeBron James doesn't have another 1 hour special on ESPN to announce that he's taking his talents to South Beach.  I'm talking about my decision.

Today was decision day for me in regards to my internship in Washington, D.C. for this upcoming Spring semester.  I had been offered a position at the ONE Campaign, and was waiting to hear back from InterAction after also having an interview there.  Pressure was on, because ONE had said they needed a decision by the end of the day today.  The only problem was that InterAction was my #1 choice, and ONE was second (so ONE was really two, haha bad joke). I went into the day having decided to hold out as long as I could to hear back from InterAction before responding to ONE.

When I got to work this morning at Opportunity, there was a surprise in my email inbox.  InterAction had responded, offering me the internship position.  Excited, and glad that I didn't have to spend today stressing about The Decision, I responded that I would love to accept the position.

Soooo, I'll be interning this Spring with InterAction, an alliance of International Development Organizations that does coordination, organization, and advocacy.

Stay tuned, more to come later on...

Opportunity International Amazing Race

I'm in the middle (more like on the home stretch really) of a competition among interns here at OI.  We get points for different things we do (read a book on poverty, comment on a blog post, write on Opportunity's Facebook page, write a blog post for the Opportunity Blog, etc.).  For most of the semester I had a good lead, but in the last 2 weeks one of the other interns has almost caught me.
The great thing about this is that all the things we can get points for only help to spread the word about Opportunity International and microfinance in general.
I hope I win, but more than that I hope that all the writing and "liking" and commenting I'm doing makes someone take a second look and consider supporting the transformational work of organizations like Opportunity.

Now I Can Email Blog Posts Too

I'm making this easy on myself.  I can now text posts to my blog, email posts to my blog, or actually go on my blog and write a post.  Oh, and I can use Windows Writer to write blog posts when I'm offline. 

Hopefully this will get me to post regularly. 

--
Eric J. Walcott

New Opportunities

This may seem like an odd time to be re-starting my blog, seeing as the semester is coming to a close, and with it my internship in Chicago is also ending.  My original goal had been to blog throughout the semester, telling of my experiences in Chicago and what I'd been up to at my internship. Unfortunately that didn't happen, so here I sit in my last week of my internship, blogging about  what I wish I had blogged about all semester.

This semester has been an incredible 4 months, and a great chance for me to learn a lot about life, international development, microfinanace, non-profit organizations, and myself. For those who don't know, I spent the semester interning with the Resource Development Department at Opportunity International.  I was responsible for writing  reports on our microfinance initiatives around the world, doing research on potential new programs, writing stories about our clients, writing proposals for funding, and writing position papers for the organization.  It was an awesome experience, and I really appreciated that I was pretty much treated like a member of the staff.

Living in Chicago was also a ton of fun. I'll write more about that later though, for now you can check out the blogging I DID do this semester, as I was the student blogger for Chicago Semester Fall 2010.  You can check that our here.

Starting my blog up again. checking to see if this text-to- blog thing works...

Getting Started

Moved to Chicago yesterday to start off the Chicago Semester for the fall of this, my senior year.  For this week (orientation week) we’re living at the Hotel Allegro in downtown Chicago.  This weekend I’ll be moving in with the Grevengoeds in Roselind, on the South Side.  Nothing too exciting has happened so far, but interviews start tomorrow, so that should be quite exciting.

I have interviews at Opportunity International, ACCION Chicago, and Heartland International.  All three of them would be exciting internships that would provide great opportunities. 

Today’s been busy, and tonight will be too, so right now is nap time…

Flipping the Switch

Getting back to Michigan was like flipping a switch. It's like the flight from Nicaragua back took me to another world. It is so different here, it's hard to even compare the two places. I don't really like that the change is so instantaneous, like flipping a switch. The sad thing is that I feel like for so many of us it is so easy to flip that switch in our hearts as well. Living in a place like I was it is so easy to feel compassion for the people there and fall in love with them. It's nearly impossible to not feel a strong desire to do something, to help them. When we flip the switch and come back to the comforts of home, where we don't necessarily see visible examples of poverty and suffering daily, it can be so easy to forget that it is so common in the world, and lose that desire to help. I don't think it's that we don't want to help those in need. I think it is more likely that because we aren't faced with those need daily, we forget that they exist and are so important, so we lose the sense of urgency to help solve the problems that exist.

Realizing that was a sad thought for me, and I pray that I would not be a living example of that. I hope that I can be one of those who remembers those in need always, and works to help those who need help, even when I'm not daily faced with those problems and situations.

One Last Adventure

Tuesday night we embarked on one last adventure. After finishing with adult education classes at 8pm, a group of 10 of us headed out for a walk. When we left, I was unsure as to our exact plans, knowing only that we were going to go walking and not knowing where we were really going. We walked, and walked, and walked, and having walked for over and hour, decided we were sick of walking. So we got a taxi. Now this was not a normal full size car taxi like we have here in the US. This was a motorcycle with an extended body that has two benches, and is really more of a mini-car on a motorcycle frame. Somehow, we managed to cram all ten of us into this taxi, a feat I'm still not sure how we accomplished. We finally arrived on the outskirts of Managua at a restaurant called El Quesillero. Here we ate Quesillos, which are tortillas filled with cheese, sour cream, and onions, a fairly famous food in Nicaragua. They were delicious, and afterwards we started for home. On our way we passed by a police post, where a cop was sitting by the side of the road. One of the girls asked if we could take some pictures with him, so I got a picture of myself being held in handcuffs by a Nicaraguan Cop.

We managed to snag a taxi for the way home, this time an actual car, though still not a big one, and we again crammed all ten of us inside. We finally made it home at about 11:30, quite late for my time in Nicaragua. It was a great last night in Nicaragua, and a fun way to say goodbye to my new friends. I'm so thankful for everything they showed me during my time there, and the blessing they were to me.

An Adventure of Sorts

This afternoon I had a bit of an adventure. After church this morning, (I’ll go off on a short tangent about church first). Church here is quite different from what I’m used too, but also different from what I’ve experienced in other Latin American churches. It starts off normal, with singing, scripture reading, etc. Once we reached the time for a sermon however, it changed. Rather than the preacher give a sermon to the entire congregation, we were divided up in age groups (adults, youth, kids) and each had our own lesson and discussion. I actually quite liked this, because it allowed the lessons to be specifically directed a each individual age group, and allowed for discussion among the groups.
Now back to my story. This afternoon I went out with a bunch of friends to a local rec center. They have basketball and volleyball courts, soccer and baseball fields, etc. After walking partway down the mountain we live in, and down some side roads, this took about an hour, we arrived at the rec center. We played basketball and volleyball, which was quite fun. Next we wanted to play soccer, but the soccer fields were closed, so we decided to walk to nearby Nicaragua Christian Academy, hoping to play soccer there. We arrived there, after another 35 minutes walking, to find that it was closed. Unable to play soccer, we started our journey home, about 5 km by now after walking away from home, then partway back but on a slightly different route.
At one point on our way home I experienced something new: drinking Coke out of a plastic bag. We had gotten thirsty, so we bought at 3 Liter bottle of Coke. Not having cups, we improvised with plastic bags. It’s actually pretty cool. You pour the pop into the bag, tie the bag, then bite a hole in the corner of the bag and drink from it. Next time I can’t find any cups, I hope I remember this, it really is pretty cool!
We continued back up the mountain, though on a different road than usual. At one point we decided to cut through on a shortcut. This lead us first down a dirt two track through the jungle, then across some fields where beans and corn are grown. At the end, we had to cut through some jungle, off the beaten path. This was quite interesting, and a challenge for me. At various points we had to squeeze through spaces between trees or under branches that were quite small. We joked that this path was made for Nicaraguans (it was a Nica-path) not Americans, because I had trouble fitting through some of the spaces. After trudging through the jungle for awhile, we half slid, half jumped down a hill, squeezed through some more trees, climbed up a bank, and arrived back at Monte Hermon. We were home after our adventure through the jungle.
The real adventure parts of the day were drinking Coca-Cola from a bag, and trudging through the jungle. All in all we were out for about 5 hours, just hanging out, having fun, joking around, and enjoying life.

Las promesas del Señor son puras ¡son come la plata más pura, refinada en el horno siete veces! Tú, Señor, nos cuidarás; ¡siempre nos pretegerás de tales gentes!
-Salmos 12:6-7

An Adventure of Sorts

This afternoon I had a bit of an adventure. After church this morning, (I’ll go off on a short tangent about church first). Church here is quite different from what I’m used too, but also different from what I’ve experienced in other Latin American churches. It starts off normal, with singing, scripture reading, etc. Once we reached the time for a sermon however, it changed. Rather than the preacher give a sermon to the entire congregation, we were divided up in age groups (adults, youth, kids) and each had our own lesson and discussion. I actually quite liked this, because it allowed the lessons to be specifically directed a each individual age group, and allowed for discussion among the groups.
Now back to my story. This afternoon I went out with a bunch of friends to a local rec center. They have basketball and volleyball courts, soccer and baseball fields, etc. After walking partway down the mountain we live in, and down some side roads, this took about an hour, we arrived at the rec center. We played basketball and volleyball, which was quite fun. Next we wanted to play soccer, but the soccer fields were closed, so we decided to walk to nearby Nicaragua Christian Academy, hoping to play soccer there. We arrived there, after another 35 minutes walking, to find that it was closed. Unable to play soccer, we started our journey home, about 5 km by now after walking away from home, then partway back but on a slightly different route.
At one point on our way home I experienced something new: drinking Coke out of a plastic bag. We had gotten thirsty, so we bought at 3 Liter bottle of Coke. Not having cups, we improvised with plastic bags. It’s actually pretty cool. You pour the pop into the bag, tie the bag, then bite a hole in the corner of the bag and drink from it. Next time I can’t find any cups, I hope I remember this, it really is pretty cool!
We continued back up the mountain, though on a different road than usual. At one point we decided to cut through on a shortcut. This lead us first down a dirt two track through the jungle, then across some fields where beans and corn are grown. At the end, we had to cut through some jungle, off the beaten path. This was quite interesting, and a challenge for me. At various points we had to squeeze through spaces between trees or under branches that were quite small. We joked that this path was made for Nicaraguans (it was a Nica-path) not Americans, because I had trouble fitting through some of the spaces. After trudging through the jungle for awhile, we half slid, half jumped down a hill, squeezed through some more trees, climbed up a bank, and arrived back at Monte Hermon. We were home after our adventure through the jungle.
The real adventure parts of the day were drinking Coca-Cola from a bag, and trudging through the jungle. All in all we were out for about 5 hours, just hanging out, having fun, joking around, and enjoying life.

Las promesas del Señor son puras ¡son come la plata más pura, refinada en el horno siete veces! Tú, Señor, nos cuidarás; ¡siempre nos pretegerás de tales gentes!
-Salmos 12:6-7

A Mixed Bag

Today I saw a couple of things that ranged from incredibly awesome to frustratingly tragic. I’ll start with the awesome, since that was how the day started. Daniel wanted to give me a chance to see a bit more of the country, so for today we headed out to the outskirts of the city of Masaya, about 30km from Managua, where lie two volcanoes, one that is still active, and one that has been inactive for years. Driving up the road to the ridge of the volcano I spotted a large cross standing near the edge of the volcano (more on that later though), which looked really cool at the top of the hill. We arrived at the end of the road, which brought us to the ridge of the volcanic crater; an active volcanic crater. Looking down into a 300 meter deep, really really wide crater and seeing smoke rising from the depths of the still active force of nature was an incredible experience. We walked up a trail to a high point at the edge of this one crater, where the cross was located, and which actually overlooks three individual craters right next to each other. The view from there was incredible. In front was the view of the triple crater. To one side was another volcano less than a mile away (this one inactive). To another side was a view of a far away range of volcanoes beginning just past the beautiful Lake Managua, and behind us was a great view of Lake Nicaragua (the 8th biggest in the world, and apparently the only one with fresh water sharks), which has multiple island volcanoes within its waters. Now back to that cross. The volcano first erupted in the 1600s, and the crater has been smoking and erupting mildly ever since (though no eruptions since 1999). Following the eruption, the natives believed the bottom of the crater to be the entrance to hell. Because of this, one of the local priests had this cross erected to keep the demons away.
After going back down the trail, we headed up another trail to the ridge of another (this one inactive) volcano. It’s crater was filled with thick vegetation, and around the ridge was a nice trail, which we hiked. This one was 200 meters deep, and 600 meters in circumference. Walking around this volcano, and taking in the panoramic view it provided, was wondrous. A laguna lay not far away, and there was an even better view of Lake Nicaragua.
Imagining these volcanoes prior to their eruptions, and seeing pictures that had been drawn before the eruptions, put me in a state of awe at the force of nature. I’ve seen Mount St. Helens, and that was a huge eruption and destructive force, but this was different. It was different because here I could stand at the edge and look into the depths of where this eruption had come from. I could stand on top of the now much shortened mountain and imagine how high it had once risen, and how much mountain had been blown from its place in the eruption. Thinking about the power of nature, and that our God created and rules over all of it, makes me even more awestruck at the incredible power of our God and Creator. I truly am thankful for the opportunity to take in more of His beautiful creation in a setting very different from what I’m used to.
I also saw something today that angered me and hurt as well. Holly is one of the boys who Daniel and Darling recently adopted (4 months ago). His mother had basically abandoned him; while she was present, he was given very little care. He is 6 years old. Because of the lack of care he received prior to his coming to live here, he has a (suspected, though not yet confirmed) condition that causes him to bruise incredibly easily, which can also cause internal bleeding from even light contact. This past week it seemed worse than normal, so Daniel took him to the doctor. This morning he was to be brought in again for some blood tests. However, yesterday afternoon Holly’s birth mother came to his school as class was getting out, and without telling anyone or asking Daniel’s permission, took Holly, and brought him to the hospital. Apparently this is now the second time she’s come and taken him without permission or without even telling them. The first time she just wanted money. This time, while she may have done so out of legitimate concern, Daniel was still visibly angry. First of all, this woman who had not shown the responsibility to care for her child had come and disrespected Daniel, who is caring very well for Holly, and broken their trust yet again. Second of all, while Daniel had taken Holly to a private doctor who was quite good, organized, efficient, and in an overall good situation, Holly’s birth mom brought him to the local public children’s hospital. It’s chaos there. We went and visited today, and the entrance was a mess, people everywhere waiting for slow service. Also, Holly doesn’t even have a room, because there aren’t any open, which means he’s in a large room, with a surface to sleep on, but it’s a hard surface, not a bed. He’s being cared for adequately, but had he been left with his new family, he would have been cared for just as well if not better, and under better conditions.
Besides being upset that his son (Daniel and Darling very much consider Holly and his brothers their sons, which they truly are), had been taken from him without a word, he also told me that the health care situation in Nicaragua always upset him. In the 1960s, 70s, and even into the 80s health care here was actually quite good, he told me. However in the 1990s, and recently, things have actually deteriorated, and the government has spent tons of money on failed projects, while apparently mostly ignoring health care.
It was sad for me to see the situation at the hospital, and what happened with Holly upset me as well. Holly, Axel, and Gerald have become as brothers to me, and not having Holly around last night and today was sad. Seeing Axel and Gerald visibly upset (crying at various points because they missed their brother and weren’t sure about the situation) hurt. Seeing how this woman (Holly’s birth mother) seems to be taking advantage of the situation was angering. When Daniel confronted her about this at the hospital, she said she could do what she wanted with the children because she hadn’t signed any document giving up any rights over them. This is true, she hasn’t singed any document, so legally she still has rights to them. This, as far as I can see, leaves the Aragon family in a tough spot. If they want her to give up her rights to the boys they can ask her to sign a legal document, but if she doesn’t want to there’s no way to pressure her to do so. It’s not like they’re going to say “If you don’t sign we won’t care for the boys.” They love these boys and will care for them no matter what.
I was going to continue on and share some thoughts about this situation specifically, as well as the general problem that I see, but it’s making me upset, so I’m not going to right now. However, I will say that seeing the way that Daniel and Darling care for these boys, how they’ve taken them in, and are fighting for the right to give them a good life, a solid education, and a Christian upbringing is inspiring. The love that this couple has for these boys, for the Church, the school, and the community, has been an inspiring example for me to see these past few weeks.

Asi fue, y Dios vio que todo lo que habia hecho estaba muy bien.
-Genesis 1:31

The Substitute Teacher

Today one of the high school teachers was sick, so rather than my usual task of assisting in teaching classes, I was given the opportunity to teach classes by myself. I taught 2 hours of English class to 8th grade, 1 hour of English to 10th grade, and then helped teach 2 hours of Social Studies to 9th graders. It was quite fun. I enjoyed teaching the students, and for what seemed like the first time since I’ve been here, they actually paid attention and did all of their work.
One thing that has been discouraging during my time here has been the lack of respect that the students give the teachers, and their general lack of interest in their studies. This isn’t to say that all of them lack respect or dedication, but many of them do. They routinely act way out of line in class, and repeatedly fail to complete assignments. Now I know that students in schools everywhere act out in class and don’t always pay attention or listen, but this goes beyond anything I’ve seen in any school before. For example, two days ago, during the final hour of the day, the entire 8th grade class decided not to go to class, that they’d rather stay outside and hang out. One of them even walked into the classroom, saw Reyna (the teacher) and I sitting there waiting for them, walked out and went back to socializing. Had this happened once I would’ve attributed it to simple acting out, but I was told that this had been happening repeatedly with this class.
I also realize that for many of these students completing their work at home can be challenging because of the lack of resources available to many of them. At the same time, most of these students don’t even try, and the teachers here do a good job of assigning work that the students should be able to complete without assistance. Even so, it is rarely done.
That being said, it was quite encouraging today to see that the students were actually paying attention and showing somewhat of an interest in what we were studying.

En el principio ya existía la Palabra; y aquel que es la Palabra estaba con Dios y era Dios. El estaba en el principio con Dios. Por medio de él, Dios hizo todas las cosas; nada de lo que existe fue hecho sin él. En él estaba la vida, y la vida era la luz de la humanidad.
- San Juan 1:1-4

The Little Engine That Could

So we had a bit of an adventure tonight (Wednesday). After giving adult classes tonight, a group of us headed into Managua to hang out. The six of us drove to Metro Centro, which is a commercial center in Managua. We got there at around 8:45, and unfortunately almost everything was closed, so we decided to go somewhere else. Except there was a small problem…the car was having trouble. The cap on the engine coolant tank was broken, so it wasn’t able to contain the coolant (in this case water) to keep the engine cool. We messed around for a bit trying to figure out a way to make the cap stay on, but couldn’t come up with anything.
We had to make it home, so we made our way to the gas station across the street, filled up the coolant tank with water, as well as filling up two water bottles with water so that we could refill the coolant tank if necessary. We started making our way back to the house, carefully watching engine temperature gauge. Somehow, I’m guessing by the Grace of God, we made it back to Monte Hermon, the little car made it, and I am thankfully safely back at home.

Tu palabra es un lámpara a mis pies y una luz en mi camino.
- Salmo 119:105

Prayer Request

I’d like to ask you all to pray for the Aragon family. Darling, Daniel’s wife, is leaving tomorrow for Texas to be with her mother, who is quite sick. I’m not sure exactly what she is sick with, but it is bad enough that she received a call late Saturday night, and then made the decision to leave as soon as she could, which is Tuesday afternoon. I’m so appreciative of all the Doña Darling has done for me during my time here, she has done everything possible to make me feel like one of her own children. While saying goodbye tonight (she won’t return until after I’m back in Michigan) she told me that she considers me now part of her family, and that I am welcome in this house any time. Being part of the family, seeing Darling have to rush off to care for her mother is quite saddening. My prayers are with her and the rest of the family, and I ask that yours would be too. This family has done so much for me, the least I can do is share this prayer request.
No dejen ustedes de orar: rueguen y pidan a Dios siempre, guiados por el Espíritu. Manténganse altera, sin desanimarse, y oren por todo el pueblo de Dios.
- Efesios 6:18

Story Time

Today during class I heard a story which broke my heart. It began with a discussion on politics, which I found quite riveting. We talked about what the government did, what the purpose of government was, and how that was carried out. The students shared their opinions of Daniel Ortega, the current Nicaraguan President, and of the politics of the country, which were pretty much all negative. They also asked me a bit about US politics, so I was definitely enjoying class. Then we got to the topic of building/fixing relationships. It began because one of the girls accused Ortega of buying votes, while another pointed out the possibility that Ortega was simply trying to mend/build relations with the common people of the country. This led to a few girls sharing about reconciling relationships in their own lives.
Guadalupe, a 10th grader at Colegio Cristiano Monte Hermon, shared about how she would go about reconciling with her friends after fights, then went on to talk about struggles in her home, where her parents fight all the time if she’s not around. When she’s around they don’t fight, she told us, but if she leaves, the fighting begins. She also talked about how her mom was never home, gone before she got up in the morning, and not getting home until almost bedtime, and how they very rarely talked more than to just say hello. Her parents rarely ever asked her how she was doing, or took a whole lot of interest in what was going on in her life. After her sister got married at a young age Guadalupe said she felt basically alone in the world that was her home. School was one world, she said, work another world, and home a completely different world in which she felt alone most of the time. She and the other girls shared stories about problems in family life and in the relationships of their parents and relatives. A lot of it seemed to stem from poor communication, which they attributed at least partially to the fact that almost none of their parents had gone through much school at all, and few were Christians.
Hearing all this broke my heart…it also gave me hope. Hearing these girls talk about these struggles was painful, but the fact that they recognized these struggles, where the struggles came from, and how to truthfully deal with them in their own lives, gave me hope that they would not have the same struggles as their parents in their adult lives. Sure, most of them will probably struggle financially for part or most of their lives. However, many will not, thanks to the education they are receiving. Additionally, even if they struggle financially, they will be much better off in their relationships and lives as a whole, thanks to the knowledge and values they are gaining through constant attendance at school and church. The work that the church and school, led by Daniel’s family, in this community is incredible. I know that this is not the only place such work is going on, but I also know that if such work could be replicated in every community of the world, this planet would be much better off.
In order to effect changes for tomorrow, we need to guide and instruct those who will decide how “tomorrow” is carried out. For this to happen, those in a position to have influence must make sacrifices, as the Aragon family has in leading this community. This applies to politics, where leaders should hold the interests of their country above their own; economics, where business owners should keep in mind the well-being of the communities in which they operate; Churches, which must take advantage of the opportunity to reach out to the community in which they are placed, serving as a beacon of light in a dark world, and all other areas of life. May we seek to be the salt and light of the earth, just as we all are called.
“Ustedes son la sal de este mundo. Pero si la sal deja de estar salada, ¿cómo podrá recobrar su sabor? Ya no sirve para nada, así que se la tira a la calle y la gente la pisotea. Ustedes son la luz de este mundo. Una ciudad en lo alto de un cerro no puede esconderse. Ni se enciende una lámpara para ponerla bajo un cajón; antes bien, se la pone en alto para que alumbre a todos los que están en la casa. Del mismo modo, procuren ustedes que su luz brille delante de la gente, para que, viendo el bien que ustedes hacen, todos alaben a su Padre que está en el cielo.
- San Mateo 5: 13-16

Sunday, May 30

Mother’s Day here in Nicaragua. There was a big celebration at church this morning, and both of Daniel’s biological sons spent the day here, which was fun. Their little kids are a of fun as well, and seeing them hangout with Holly, Axel, and Gerald was fun. After lunch we had a nice lunch as a whole big family (Darling, Daniel’s wife, has begun introducing me as her new son). Then we hung out around the house, talked, ate dessert, etc.
This afternoon we went over to the soccer field (which is really a concrete basketball court which has goals at each end) and played soccer for awhile. On Sunday afternoon the church/school open up their field/court to the community. This not only makes for a fun time, but it also serves as a way to connect to those in the community who are not part of the church or school.
I’m excited for this coming week. We aren’t supposed to have as much rain, so we should have school more regularly. That should keep me busier and having more fun. Last week was fun, but after so much time around the house, it began to be a bit too much of the same. This week should bring more variety, and I’m excited to see what’s in store.
Así pues, no hay ninguna condenación para los que están unidos a Cristo Jesús, porque la ley del Espíritu que da vida en Cristo Jesús, nos libera de la ley del pecado y del la muerte.
- Romanos 8:1-2

Day 7: Saturday, May 29

Today was a nice change of pace. As with the rest of the week (except Tuesday) there was no school…only this time it was because it’s Saturday, not because it was pouring rain. There was however, no rain today, rather a nice bright, hot sunshine. It felt and looked glorious, though at times a bit warm (oh well, I can’t expect anything else being in Central America). This afternoon we went into Managua to get some shopping done, mostly groceries, but the boys also got new shoes, which they were all quite excited about.
This afternoon I took part in a great little game of 4v4 soccer. The boys all played, plus Daniel, Kinly, myself, and a few others from the neighborhood. Our team won, but most importantly it was just a good fun time. At one point it was starting to mist (not quite rain) which felt amazing, and also looked really cool in the sun. Tonight I went to the bible study which is led by and for the youth, which was followed by a birthday party. The bible study included a great discussion on 1 Peter 1:5-15. The party was also a ton of fun, I even won at musical chairs :)
Tomorrow is Mother’s day here in Nicaragua, a few weeks after ours in the States, and I know they have a few things planned for church. Should be interesting/fun….
Y por esto deben esforzarse en añadir a su fe la buena conducta; a la buena conducta, el entendimiento; al entendimiento, el dominio propio; al dominio propio, la paciencia; a la paciencia, la devoción; a la devoción, el afecto fraternal; y al afecto fraternal, el amor.
- 1 Pedro 1:5-7

Speaking Spanish

Today I’m in a thankful mood. I was thinking this morning about the simple fact that I am in a completely Spanish speaking community, as a Gringo in an area where nobody speaks English but me. Thankfully my life has followed a path that has allowed me to learn Spanish and maintain the ability to speak it. I’m thankful to God for putting my family in the Dominican Republic as I was growing up, helping me learn Spanish at a very young age. I also want to thank my parents for putting me in a Spanish immersion school when we moved back to the US, and ensuring that my language development would continue. Thankfully through the years I’ve maintained my Spanish speaking, so here I am in Nicaragua, living with a community of people who don’t speak English, able to communicate perfectly well. I hope that one day, if I have kids, they can have the same opportunity that I have had.

Day 5: Thursday, May 27

No classes again today. It’s been raining on and off now for 36 hours, so again the students couldn’t get to school, in fact, many of the teachers couldn’t make it either.  Normally on Thursday afternoons after school gets out Daniel leads a class for the teachers, which I guess is primarily aimed at faith development.  Today, since there was no class in the morning, he held this class in the morning.  It was quite an interesting time.  Daniel spoke for awhile, leading us through some scripture and a message, and then it continued on into a conversation between Daniel and the group.  The key point of the whole discussion today, or at least one of the key points, was that Christianity, and our faith, should not be about religion, but about relationship.  It’s about our relationship with Jesus Christ. 

One thing that was mentioned, was something I hadn’t really thought of before. We got to talking about the resurrection, and the story of Jesus raising Lazarus, and how Martha had said she believed that at the last day there would be resurrection (John 11:24).  So then we were talking about the end times a bit, and how there would be a new heaven and a new earth.  So Daniel asked, “why will there be a new earth?” to which someone responded “because there is sin on earth.”  So logically the next question was “okay, so if there will be a new earth because there is sin on earth, and there will be a new heaven, is there sin in heaven?”  My initial thought was of course not, how could there be sin in heaven.  Then someone mentioned that Satan had been angel, had sinned, and been cast out of heaven.  So based on that, there once was sin in heaven.  That caught me off guard, because I’ve always thought of the sin in the Garden of Eden as the first sin, so I’m still not sure what to think about this.  I would appreciate some opinions here.  If Satan did commit sin in order to be cast out of heaven, what significance does that have?   This was the first time that had ever occurred to me, so I don’t really know…

La Lluvia

It’s winter here right now. Basically all that means is that there’s more rain, cause it certainly isn’t cold. Although I guess the rain does cool things off a bit. But wow, when it rains, it rains. Unfortunately there also aren’t very good drainage systems here, so that means lots of flooding. This afternoon as Daniel and I were driving home from the Nehemiah Center we had to take a different route than usual because the normal road was flooded. On our way down the other route we had to stop because there was a van stuck in the road. It had to be pulled out by a pick-up truck, and then as we continued on the road Daniel had to pick and choose his route because in most cases, there was on available path on the road, and the rest was filled with holes and running currents.
Because of the rain there isn’t a whole lot going on around here. There aren’t classes when it rains like this because the students walk to school, so when it floods the roads, and it rains like this they can’t get to school. Classes this morning were cancelled, and most likely they will also be cancelled tonight (the adult ed classes) because it’s been raining all day.
That makes for an afternoon of hanging around the house with the kids. That should be pretty fun, they’re a blast!

Day 4: Wednesday, May 26

No school today.  It rained all night last night and all morning this morning so far.  Since there are no classes, I’m going with Daniel to the Nehemiah Center.   While I have the chance I want to write a bit about the family life that I’ve experienced so far.  One thing I’ve greatly appreciated is the way in which Daniel and his family make me feel as if I am part of their family.  The family dynamic here in Nicaragua is quite different from in the US.  For one, we eat almost every meal together.  Breakfast, lunch, and supper.   The kids and I are done with school by noon, so we’re all there for lunch, and Daniel and his wife also come home for lunch.  That is something that I think is super cool. 

It’s also cool for me to see how excited Axel, Jerril, and Holly (their 3 adopted sons) are to see Daniel and his wife whenever they come home.  They always go running to give them hugs, and beg for attention as if they hadn’t seen them in weeks.  The family’s are all so tight, and the community is like one big family, something that I’ve really enjoyed experiencing.  Because of this, everyone is quite closely involved in almost everything that goes on in the community.  The night classes for adults which I’ve been helping out with are led almost entirely by the youth (high school and college age).

Y me ha dicho: «Bástate mi gracia, porque mi poder se perfecciona en la debilidad». Por tanto, de buena gana me gloriaré más bien en mis debilidades, para que repose sobre mí el poder de Cristo.

-2 Corintios 12:9

Day 3: Tuesday, May 25

Today was the first time that I helped teach classes.  It was quite an interesting experience, though for today it was mostly observation.  As the days go on I think I’ll be more involved in helping teach, but for now I was just watching and learning.  The teacher I’m working with is named Reina.  I’m not sure how long she’s been teaching, she seems to know what she’s doing pretty well, but she’s also pretty young, though most of the teachers are. 

Classes started at 7am and went until 12 noon.  It’s an early start, but it also makes for an early end to the school day.  Today we taught 2 Bible classes, and 2 English classes.  To be honest I’m not sure how valuable the English classes are.   We spent some time talking about classroom objects, and modes of transportation, but most of the conversation is still in Spanish.

As I’m writing this, I’m being interrupted by Holly, he’s one of the boys who recently began living with Daniel.  They have three boys who have been living with them now for four months.  This morning at breakfast Daniel was asking them if they wanted to change their last name to Aragon, which is Daniel’s last name. 

Now back to the classroom.  All the kids wore uniforms, blue pants (or skirts for the girls), with white button down shirts tucked in.  They all refer to every teacher as “Profe” never once mentioning the teacher’s name.  I was somewhat surprised to see that the school, called Escuela Cristiana Monte Hermon, had a decent sized library.  Most of the books are for teachers to check out to use during class, such as dictionaries, Bibles, etc.  As we (the teacher and I) entered the classroom all the students stood up to greet us.  One thing I was happy to see was that in class the teacher would give instruction, and then proceed to have the students review/practice what they had learned in groups.  When we were in the Dominican Republic last year it seemed as if most of the instruction we saw was simply the teacher feeding information, and the students copying it down.  Seeing Reina get her students practicing what they were learning, and then showing it through various activities was encouraging. 

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this almost makes me want to move to a place like this and be a teacher.  Reina at one point had a group of students convinced that I was helping her for a few weeks and then going to be a new teacher.  Now that would be a crazy experience. 

I don’t think there is anything going on between now and classes at night.  I’ll probably take a nap sometime tonight (this heat makes me tired) and then write more after classes.

Preséntate tú en todo como ejemplo de buenas obras; en la enseñanza, mostrando integridad, seriedad, palabra sana e irreprochable, de modo que el adversario se averguence y no tenga nada malo que decir de vosotros.

-Tito 2:7-8

Day 2: Monday, May 24

Today was a bit of an introduction to Nicaraguan life.  Well, except for the getting up early part.  Normally they start classes at 7am, which means getting up at 6am (yay…not).  However, today Daniel said for me to relax and just enjoy the day, so I did.  I slept in, which was wonderful, and then got a tour of the community.  After lunch I hung out with the three little boys who live with Daniel, they’re all around 8-10 years old, have tons of energy, and are a blast to hang out with.  I also had the chance to play some soccer with a bunch of kids from the community, that was pretty fun, but also really tiring because of the heat. 

After some soccer we went to the school (which is right next to Daniel’s house) to do a lesson plan for classes tonight.  Each night from 6-8 they have classes for adults in the community.  Tonight I helped teach pretty basic Spanish spelling and writing.  Tomorrow I’ll start helping out at the school during the day, assuming they have school.  Today they had off because it rained so much last night, that most of the kids weren’t able to get to school today.  Classes start at 7am, which is crazy early, but hey, the early bird gets the worm right?

As I sit here writing this at 8:15, we still haven’t eaten supper.  That is quite different from what I’m used to, but it’s okay, I’ll get used to it.  It’s quite warm here, and very humid.  We also spent a good portion of the day today without power, but Daniel said that is actually quite unusual.  I’m used to frequent power outages in the Dominican Republic, so it was no big deal; thought Daniel did say that electricity here is much more consistent than in the DR. 

Tener fe es tener plena seguridad de recibir lo que se espera; es estar convencidos de la realidad de cosas que no vemos.

- Hebreos 11:1

Day 1: Sunday, May 23

Not quite sure when I’ll actually get to upload these posts, since I don’t have internet at Daniel’s house, but I’ll write them out as I go and then upload them when I get a chance.  I find it odd typing in English, since all I’ve been talking is Spanish.  Gotta say, I love the language. 

I finally made it here at around 7pm tonight, after my initial scheduled arrival of noon.  I had the pleasure of sitting on the runway in Detroit for 2 hours waiting for the fog to lift, and causing me to miss my flight out of Miami.  The next flight to Managua was a mere 7 hours later. 

When I came through customs, literally the first people I saw were Daniel and his wife.  They are great.  We talked as we drove home from the airport, mostly them telling me about the city, and explaining where we were going.  I guess the highway we were on goes all the way south to Costa Rica, I kinda think we should’ve just kept going all the way there.  Dinner was fantastic, rice with like a chicken/veggie skewer and platano maduro (yum!) 

Daniel also told me about a lot of the stuff that goes on in the community.  It sounds like the youth are pretty active leaders in the community, and that there are lots of things going on all the time, so I’m excited to get involved in that.  He also gave me a lesson in Spanish, which was cool.  Apparently in Nicaragua they don’t use the “tu” form, instead they use “vos.”   That’s not to be confused with “vosotros,” just “vos.”  (I confused them at first)

Tomorrow will be pretty chill.  Kinly, one of the young women who lives with Daniel and his wife is gonna show me around the community so I can better get to know what’s going on in this community, and get introduced to what life is like in Managua. 

I have to say, the thing I am most excited for right now is sleep. It’s almost 10pm here, which means it’s almost midnight in GR, so I’ve been up for 22 hours.  Tonight I’m thanking God for safe travel, and for the amazing opportunity that I have here.  These next few weeks are surely going to be a great adventure and and incredible experience. 

Feliz el hombre que no sigue el consejo de los malvados, ni va por el camino de los pecadores, ni hace causa común con los que se burlan de Dios, sino que pone su amor en la ley del Señor y en ella medita noche y día. 

-Salmo 1: 1-2

I’m heading to Nicaragua tomorrow to spend about 3 weeks in Managua working with a local school and church community. Before my trip I wanted to start this blog to keep all those who are interested posted on my trip. I’ll keep updating this while in Nicaragua, as well as throughout the next year as I spend semesters in Chicago and Washington D.C. I’m so thankful for the opportunities God has given me, and I can’t wait to see what He will do with my life.

Pero él me dijo: Te basta con mi gracia, pues mi poder se perfecciona en la debilidad." - 2 Corintios 12:9