Dustin and I have been in Port for a few days now and trying to get settled in. Dustin, Austin, Johnny, and I drove roughly 250 miles from Managua to Puerto Cabezas with one overnight stop in Rosita. Most of the road was unpaved and either a mixture of dirt and rocks, gravel, or dirt riddled with holes of various sizes. This was my first time traveling to Port by car and I new it would be a rough road but was hopeful that maybe it was recently grated. That wasn’t the case. The constant bouncing around from side to side wasn’t a match for the Dramamine but my neck was a different story. I did enjoy the beautiful landscape throughout the trip. Since it’s the rainy season, everything was lush and green.
Now that we are here, we are trying to get as much accomplished before we return to the US in October for week. Earl is back in Port and we are ready to get things rocking again! Mary is the principal of the VERBO school and will the be person responsible for overseeing the literacy classes once they are up and running. She is very passionate about the program and is extremely eager to start. We’ll be getting together with the teachers in the coming week and setting up our plans to get the ball rolling. I’m looking forward to working with her and getting to know her more.
Dustin recently visited the farm in Batania that is being managed by college student Austin Fricker. Here is a link to video clip from his visit to the farm and a link to Austin’s blog. we drove past Betania on our way to Port and it’s exciting to see the visual changes in the community since the first time I was there several years ago and after Hurricane Felix in 2007. All the new houses that were built after the Hurricane by CFC and other partners, are painted and looking good.
It’s been a year since I’ve been here because I did not go on the usual Spring Break trip. One of the first kids from the orphanage that I saw was Chanoi. Chanoi and his sister Seraina are some of the first children who quickly found a secure spot in my heart. I’ve watched them grow over the last five years. As I was walking over to the guest house, I spotted Chanoi in the distance but had to take my glasses off because I wasn’t sure if it was really him. He’s taller, his face has matured and he greeted me very politely. Long gone are the days of him hanging from my neck and drawing me multiple pictures. But it made me happy to see him and know that he’s been a part of my life for this long and that I don’t plan on that changing any time soon.
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| Chanoi and me in 2009 |
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| House near river bank in Wawa Boom |
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| Austin and Dustin waiting to board the river barge. |
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