Back in Nica!

Yesterday was my first day back in Nicaragua. The plane ride went smoothly, and we were lucky enough to have an air-conditioned cab ride to Casa Blanca (but of course it's been hot ever since). We put our stuff upstairs, but we were informed that next week, the girl interns will be moving to a house down the street. It's going to be great for us to have our own space so that we can really settle in, and it will be great bonding for us girl interns :)

A medical team has been staying at the house the past week (they left this morning), so after we dropped our stuff of, we went with them to the dump. The dump is what inspired Amigos for Christ to do what they do. The story behind it starts with Hurricane Mitch. The storm hit Nicaragua a little over a decade ago, and the people whose homes and livelihood it destroyed were moved by the government to this dump. They were promised that it was only temporary, that they would be provided with new land on which they could farm and new housing. But years later, they are still living at the dump, away from their source of income, in houses that they built from trash. They make a living by digging through the dump for metal and plastic that they can sell to recyclers for less than $6 per 100 lb. bag.

Amigos is working to move these people out of the dump to places where they can find jobs in agriculture (their former source of income), have access to education for their children, and have a dramatically improved standard of living in general. They build houses, schools, health centers, and wells for these people and other people in Nicaragua who are in living situations that they just can't get out of without outside help.

The sad part about it is that even when some of these people see the Amigos communities that they are invited to live in with their own eyes, they don't want to move. They have lost all trust that they will actually be better off because of the broken promises of their government, and they would rather stay where they believe they are safe. And they weren't meant for this. God created them for greatness, for fulfilling, healthy lives. There is so much potential in these people, and Amigos is working to bring that to the surface and provide ways for these people to thrive.

After visiting the dump, we went to El Chonco, a community that Amigos has been working in for several years now. Amigos has built a school there and is now building a well. It is a place where people are full of joy and hope, a total turn-around from the dump. We played with the kids for a little bit, and all of them were laughing and smiling. They wanted to hold your hand, be picked up, be chased, have their fingernails painted, and just enjoy our company. I can't wait to learn more about this community and spend more time there.

When we returned from El Chonco, the interns and some of the staff ate dinner at Tacos Mexicanos and played games after. It was a great time of fellowship - I can't wait to get to know this group better! It's a caring, passionate, fun-loving, all-around great group.

We said goodbye to the medical team today (a team which, by the way, performed 48 surgeries in 5 days!!), and soon we'll be saying hello to some UGA girls who are here for the week. I can't wait to meet them, to see how God works this week, and to really dive into work here in the communities!