Cindy Irey and I arrived in Managua on Thursday. We had with us all of the adult, prenatal and children’s vitamins so that we could get them approved by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health (MINSA) before the rest of our team arrives. That will give us an extra day for the clinic in Jinocuao, the village where we will be working this week.
Thursday afternoon Harold, the person from CEPAD responsible for our group (and who has been our friend and guide here for several of our trips) took us to buy some supplies for the group.
Yesterday morning we spent at MINSA. Mostly we waited, but finally both our group and the vitamins were approved. In the afternoon we went to Esperanca en Accion (Hope in Action), a fair trade shop here in Managua. They have beautifully crafted pine needle baskets and pottery and other crafts. We bought a lot of great things for The Well there. Now to get it home!
After shopping and visiting a nearby bakery (yum!), we spent the rest of the afternoon filling small bags with vitamins for the health kits. After dinner, several Nicaraguan students who are here studying rural development helped us. I even practiced my Spanish!
We will go with Harold to buy tools this morning, and this afternoon the rest of the group arrives. Raul and his family are coming to visit us this afternoon as well. It will be great to see them.
Tomorrow, we head to Somotillo, where we will stay at night during the week.
– Nancy Lear
