Nicaragua Day Four

Today (Monday) was the first official day of work with the people of the village of Quince de Julio, so there is much to tell!  First thing this morning we added two more to our ministry team, Coca (on the left) and Frank (on the right), our interpreters.  Even though two of us on the team were already fluent, their help was invaluable as there was so much to be done in so many places. 

After we left the hotel, we had to stop back at the seminary for some of our supplies, a stop we'll need to make most mornings. As soon as we arrived at the church Pastor Greg set up the Tippy Tap, a simple handwashing station:

After a morning devotion by Pastor Silvio on Psalm 121, some of us went out into the village to the homes that had been selected to receive the 24 water filters we brought with us. We were able to visit 7 homes today and Greg spent his morning making Tippy Taps with the families. (Pastor Paul took his spot in the afternoon). Margarita is prepping the soap that hangs with the water jug here:

Here Greg is showing Juan Carlos' younger brother how to tip the jug with his foot:

Here a local mother is learning how to tie the different parts of the Tippy Tap:

While Greg was making Tippy Taps, Pastor Brian was making water filters out of 5-gallon buckets and filter kits. Here at the first house Brian is explaining the filter to Juan Carlos and Pastor Silvio:

Very soon after, Juan Carlos was able to help Brian with the filters. By the time we got to our second stop (which was his house), instead of me translating for Brian, I was able to have Juan Carlos teach his sister how to clean the filter. 

At our final stop before lunch (House #4), Juan Carlos filled the bucket with well water to purify it:

While Brian, Greg, and I were making and explaining Tippy Taps and water filters, Pastor Dave had the task of conducting the family surveys for MOST Ministries. Dave thought this might not be the most exciting job at first, but he and Coca worked together to try and get the family health and hygiene information in a sensitive manner.  He learned that most of the families eat a half pound of beans per day and two pounds of rice, along with eggs and maybe some meat. 

By the time Dave got to the second house, he and Coca realized that this information gathering was going to be ministry. Every single family was able to tell about family members who had been sick with fevers or gastrointestinal illnesses in the last month -- most families said their children had been sick three times in the last month. One man's son, Luis, has been in the hospital for a month with dengue fever, a mosquito-borne illness that is rampant here right now.  Four of the families told Dave that they had children who had died, most of fever. Dave began praying with the families as he learned of their illnesses. 

The 7th house Dave visited today was the only house that had little illness and, not coincidentally, it was also kept the cleanest. The house pictured in these next two pictures, House #4, unfortunately was much different. 

When we arrived, we saw that the mom and baby were so sick from fever that the mother was convulsing and shivering under a blanket (in 90-degree heat and humidity!) and her baby was crying nonstop. All of us present gathered to pray over her, but afterwards Pastor Silvio was so concerned that he skipped lunch and took her to the hospital in one of the local bicycle taxis. 

While some of us made home visits in the morning, the rest of the team stayed at the church to begin VBS with the local children. 19 students attended this morning and began with learning about John 4 when Jesus talks to the woman at the well. Here Lisa is holding up a verse from John 4 for a game:

It was refreshing to play a game  similar to “Duck, Duck, Goose.”  We called it “Jesus, Jesus, Agua.”   The person picked to chase the leader was sprayed with some cool refreshing water. This time it was Kara's turn to chase:

The leaders and children all enjoyed praising God with some great VBS songs:

Part of our health and hygiene curriculum today involved helping the children learn about germs. Here Sam, Lisa, and Pastor Paul show off their "germs":

The children then created their own “gérmenes” pictures using their thumbs, inkpads, and crayons.  They had fun making their own funny but mean-looking germs:

The children practiced good, thorough handwashing techniques with washing the various parts of their hands for 5 seconds each:

Once hands were all very clean, they created some of their favorite food items with some cool colors of playdough:

The children learned about some of the top five times that proper hand washing is especially important:

VBS for the children was wrapped up with some prayer time led by Julie:

After lunch we had a little bit of a break before the afternoon session for the adults. Greg took the opportunity to learn a Spanish praise song and practice it with the team. It was awesome!

For the afternoon, Greg and I (Diana) stayed at the church for the adult health and hygiene program. Here I'm meeting the 16 women (and 10 children) that came. Greg only said hello to some of the women but had glitter on his palm. After the greeting, the women were able to see that nearly all of them had glitter on their hands because I shook hands with women who shook hands with Greg. This was a simple way to introduce how easily germs are spread. 

Greg holding up drawings of different events that lead to a need for handwashing:

Greg demonstrating how to use the Tippy Tap while I translate:

When we finished for the afternoon, it was time to a trip to hardware store. It was not like a trip to Home Depot, as you can see in this photo of most of the store. We have plans for skylight repair tomorrow in the school and are also trying to find a way to keep the gaskets on the water filters from dry-rotting. 

If you're still reading, gracias!  If you would pray for one thing, please pray for health, especially in the village but also for the team. The two of us who are bilingual are battling sore throats!