In a nutshell...

From L to R : Nashira, Sheyla, Karla, Mary, Brenda, and Adilia.

Last week was a busy week! Mary and I held the Adult Literacy training conference. We had a small group of five, solid women who embraced the curriculum and are now looking for students to enroll. I had to get Mary up to speed with the curriculum and the vision behind it. Mary is a sharp individual who has a passion for education and she took the information I gave her and ran with it. Her enthusiasm and love of teaching showed the minute she started to interact with the facilitators. Not only was she able to accurately teach the information, she had those teachers participating non-stop in discussion and activities. She has told me countless times that she wants to do this to the best of her ability so to not hesitate to correct her or tell her how she could do better. She has a great attitude.

The students were attentive, enthusiastic, and were good sports when we had them do wacky team-building activities. Every day was filled with serious discussion and a lot of laughter. I enjoyed watching their expressions as I told them that they are the first spanish speaking country to use this adult literacy curriculum - in the whole world. Their reaction actually gave me goosebumps. 

A quick re-cap for those who don’t know: Last year, Erin and I, went to India to be trained on an adult literacy and life skills curriculum that is incredibly successful. It has been translated into 21 different languages native to India but has yet to be taken out of the country. If I remember correctly, there was one other man in the training with us who planned on using it in Pakistan. Kamala Chiranjeevi, the creator of the curriculum, was so excited to hear that we were going to translate and adapt it for use in Nicaragua.

We originally were projecting January (after the holidays) to be the start date for the classes. We don’t want to lose the momentum we have so we are giving the facilitators two weeks to enroll students and plan to start after that. I am looking forward to the day where I can visit these classes in action!

Me and one of the graduates, Brenda!

Yesterday Dustin and I went to Betania so I could meet with the literacy teachers and to visit the farm. Dustin was taking video and I was playing with the kids. After lunch, a bunch of men from the community joined together to play a game of volleyball. Austin was playing, Dustin was shooting film, and I was playing with a different set of kids. There is nothing more entertaining for those kids then watching themselves on a video camera! I love going to Betania. I enjoy seeing the familiar faces and sounds of the village outside of town.

Right now, I am enjoying my Sunday afternoon on my SOFT chair! A good soft couch or chair is hard to come by, it seems. Well, we finally moved into our house this week and we are really enjoying the space after living out of a suitcase in a single room since we’ve been here. Living in a Miskito style house with a lot of windows allows for nice cool breezes throughout the day. It’s nice to finally be settled in. 

Van Halen and Barry Manilow

Panama City in the background (it was breezy that day!)

The last two weeks have flown by and our time spent in Virginia doesn’t feel like it actually happened. I really enjoyed spending time with family and my girlfriends. It was a little bit of a recharge to be around such love and support. My Aussie friend, Noeleen, sent me a forward the other day (I’ll admit I don’t read 99% of the forwards I get) about how the best thing a woman can do for her health is to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends. We share our feelings with our sisters/mothers/friends during our “girl time” which helps us to create more serotonin - a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well-being. Apparently this was studied in Stanford but regardless, I would have to agree with the benefits of spending quality time with my girls. 

After our time in Virginia, Dustin and I flew to Panama for a conference (cue Van Halen’s Panama). We were asked by the senior pastor from Grace Fellowship Church in Snellville, Georgia to attend this conference and report back our findings. We traveled to Israel last summer with our friends Jamie and Donna Winship and a group from Grace Fellowship Church. The conference focused on partnerships between North American and Latin American churches. We met a lot of great kingdom minded church leaders and look forward to seeing some of them again in the near future. 

While we were in Panama, we had enough time to visit the Panama Canal. It was interesting to learn the history of the canal as well as getting to watch several container ships pass through the locks. After reading the vacation guide that was in the hotel, Dustin and I hope to someday come back to see and experience more of the country. Especially now that we have friends we can visit while we are there. I smell a road trip!

So now we are back in Nicaragua, spending a few days in our house in Managua and trying to squeeze in some meetings with people. I had my fastest meeting to date with Pastor Berman about the Adult Literacy curriculum we are trying to implement in Nueva Vida. It might have been a five minute meeting but it was probably the most productive. He has found a group of adults who are interested in facilitating the classes and has also found a local woman who can partner with me in this adventure, who can continue to work on this in Nueva Vida even while I am in Port. This is very exciting to me since there wasn’t much I can do from Port and the Pastor is way too busy to be taking on the tasks I need to get done in order to start this program. Celebrating small victories!!

Today, Dustin and Alvaro are bonding as they tackle the craziness that is our yard! I am working on my Adult Literacy presentations for the upcoming training this week in Port. We have several more teachers who are interested in being facilitators so we decided to hold another training conference. Tomorrow we are waking up crazy early so we can catch the first flight over to Port. Our house is ready and waiting for us so we get to move in as soon as we arrive! 

*If you’re wondering why I referenced Barry Manilow....the trip to Panama was the first time I flew Copa Airlines. Do I need to explain any further.....?