First day of work in the village
Tuesday, February 22
Today the team split between traveling to Matasano and staying at the farm. My day began at the farm. Andrea, Jane and I stayed at the farm and completed the home health kits while the construction crew of Carty, Bill and EJ began a couch frame. Mid-morning a messenger arrived with a note that some meds had been left behind so Andrea and I grabbed the missing box and jumped into the truck with our hosts Norman and Chepita and the team’s lunch, and headed to Matasano. The village was bustling with activity as our presence is of much interest to the locals. After getting equipment and medicines organized, the medical clinic received 40 patients and Dr. Phil (our loco dentist) treated thirteen. Sandy and Bart Finney presented classes to nearly 100 families, teaching them how to use the contents of the home health kits, while several other team members provided fluoride treatments to the younger children. The families expressed tremendous gratitude for these gifts.
A few observations from the team that were shared during group time:
Sometimes it feels like our contributions are too small.
The people of Nicaragua show so much strength as they deal with the challenges of their daily lives.
We see God at work in this community through the strength of their village council and the community spirit of neighbor helping neighbor.
Each of us has played a part for caring for the people here, as it is just important to know where a particular medicine can be found in the clinic as it is to be able to diagnose an illness. The ability to build a table or couch will serve many groups who come to visit Cepana for years to come.
