We visited the dump, also known as La Chureca, today. I have literally stared in the face of poverty. Poverty is so bad that the people of Nicaragua built their own homes and started a community in the largest LANDFILL in Latin America. The “houses” were made of cardboard, aluminum scraps, and literal pieces of trash. No electricity. No food source, besides the trash. Children were naked. 12 year olds pregnant. Horses with ribs clearly visible. This is how the families make their living: they dig in the trash to find as many recycle-able items they can. They then take their findings to a small make-shift, run down, “recycling center. They receive a certain amount of money or each recycled material. No digging in trash, no money. No money, no food. These people live of less than $1 per day ($2 if you sell your daughter to prostitution). They pick through trash 24hrs/day to make $1. Please take a moment to wrap your mind around this concept.
If they get hungry throughout the day, which they probably do because they are ALL malnourished, they pick through and eat anything they can find. Yes, I said, they eat the trash. The community goes into a riot to grab the 1st pick of spoiled meat. No doubt they get parasites. The really sad thing is: there is constant smoke from burning trash. In the pictures you will see, it looks like there is just open gray land behind the inhabits; however, it is actually a wall of smoke. Inside the wall of smoke are hundreds of people digging in mountains of trash for miles. Think about how many respiratory diseases they experience.
The comforting thing is that there is a health center and a school that was built in the heart of La Chureca. The health center was started by a missionary, and the school was started by a Florida State Alumni!! I so proud to be a Seminole! We finally got out of the van to go into the clinic and spoke with the nurse on site. The health care team are actual educated medical professionals who commute to La Chureca daily, working under extreme conditions to provide care to the inhabitants of the landfill. There, the women receive contraception and sex education so they won’t have more kids than they can bare/afford. There are families with at least 6 kids in each, most of them bastard children from rape. The health center is pretty legit, but expensive to upkeep because it is free to the community, of course. They run on donation only. It only costs $1 for one month’s worth of penicillin for one person! So, I left $20 with the nurse there. Now they have 20 months worth of penicillin. Not much, but such an easy fix!! They truly care about these people here and are doing everything in their power to help these people. But neither the people nor the medical team get enough help. Maybe I want to come back to help. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be here, but I am certain that my medical mission work dream is becoming more of a reality. God is showing me so many possibilities!!! It’s not longer a fantasy, now I have a pretty good idea of what I am up against. A people in need, hearts willing to help, but a government that is nearly impossible to receive help from. Oh man, what will my family think? Needs more prayer. Anyway, my heart shattered today, and I have seen almost everything I have learned in nursing school so far on this short trip!
- Cerebral palsy
- Multiple sclerosis
- Down Syndrome
- Bi Polar Disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Depression
- Sexual Abuse
- Physical/Mental Abuse
- Abandonment
- Cognitive Developmental Delays
- Sensori-neuro Delays
- Severe Malnutrition
- Kwashiorkor (only seen in malnourished countries)
- Marasmus (only seen in malnourished countries)
- HIV/AIDS
- Skin Cancer
It makes me wish I had paid more attention in class had I known I would encounter all these things first hand! I took many pictures, but some things I left off camera because it was way too graphic for anyone to see. I will forever have it etched into my mind. At least it will push me to spring into action! I’ve finally seen what I have been so passionate about all my life. I have been shaken in a way that EVERYONE NEEDS to be shaken. My family won’t like the pictures I have taken because there is disaster and heartbreak written all over them. But please look passed these pictures at face value. You might see horror, but I see hope.
Some missionary women began a sewing center so women from La Chureca can have a place to learn a trade and make an honest living for their families. The idea is: teach them how to sew, bake, and make jewelry, and they will make enough to get out of the dump. So far, it has worked!! The first graduating class was of 30 women, and now they have had over 150 women graduate from the sewing center with an amazing trade and another shot at life! We visited the center and bought LOTS of merchandise!! One purse fed a family for about a month. THAT is what I call a Christmas present that keeps on giving!! I got most of my gifts from the sewing center because it was so inspiring and the women were so talented!
We went to Hogar Belen Managua today where the orphans age 0-10ish stay. Moises lives there. He is the child that Kaley, our trip leader, fell in love with four years ago. We get to meet the little boy that brought us all to Nicaragua!!! Moises is now 5 years old and has really really skinny legs. He was told that he would never be able to walk. However, when we walked into the orphanage, he was running around and getting into trouble!! When he saw Kaley, he ran to her and embraced her!! We ALL got tears in our eyes!! Here was this little boy that stole Kaley’s heart. Our little miracle in so many ways. Below is a picture of Moses! All of the kids were living miracles!! Elvira has cerebral palsy and she was destined to never move around. However she is able to scoot around the floor on her stomach to get to the people she wanted to hold her. MIRACLE! All of these children have tragic stories, but they are all coming out as champions. The caretakers of Mustard Seed are so patient with the kids. They work with them one on one and have Jesus’s healing heart and hands. I have witnessed 32 little miracles on this trip and, once again, my life will be forever changed. Hogar Belen is a little taste of Heaven amidst the other orphanages in this world.
Our last night with the kids at Hogar Belen Diriamba
Tonight was so bitter sweet. Each night, it’s more and more of a joy to be with these kids. Such a change from when we first got here. All of my pictures are of everyone playing with the kids on the first day but I was not in many of them. It is because I was the one hiding behind the camera so I didn’t really have to get near them. The one picture I had was with the “normal” kid. But now, EVERYTHING IS CHANGED! I honestly wouldn’t mind spending every day with them and watch their progress. Little Sara pulled me aside tonight just to “talk.” If you knew Sara, you’d know this was strange. She is usually going so fast, and is so bossy that it’s hard to keep up with her. But she pulled me aside tonight and brought me to this little corner in the yard. We sat on a huge tree stump and shared our stories. The Lord was blessing me with the ability to say Spanish words I have never learned before! She told me that she is 15 years old, even though the orphanage estimated she was about 12. She told me she lost her mother a few years ago and that is why she was at Hogar Belen. When I asked her if she loved it here, she began to cry. Tough girl, Sara, balling her eyes out. She misses her home and wants to go back but she doesn’t realize that her family didn’t want her. I decided that was an issue I was not going to press or explain. But what I did emphasize was God’s love for her and how He kept her safe by bringing her to Hogar Belen (Bethlehem Home). I am not sure how much she understood, but I know a seed was definitely planted. Sara and I share a special bond in which none can come close to having. She lost her mom and so did I. But our God didn’t stand by and leave us drowning in misery. OH NO! He worked quickly and graciously put people in our lives that, wouldn’t replace our moms, but definitely make an amazing substitute! We are dearly loved. Always given affection. Always provided for. Always nurtured, mentored, and we will always prevail because of the people that care enough about us to answer God’s call to do those things. The more I spend time with them, the more I realize how similar we are. Yes have handicaps, but don’t we all? Pride handicaps us from accepting advice from others and avoiding preventable mistakes. Selfishness handicaps us from providing help to those who have one last hope left and might never receive it again. Gluttony prevents us from cherishing the “little” things in life that are so huge in God’s eyes. And hatred, grief, guilt, and shame handicap us from living a fully meaningful, joyful existence!
My heart is breaking just thinking about leaving them and knowing that I might never see them again. Especially my little Sara. I was so sure I was going back to Guatemala and never followed through. So who knows what I will do with Nicaragua? The country doesn’t interest me much, but the kids have each of their little faces and eccentric personalities etched on my heart. I don’t know, but somehow, I feel like this trip was different. I’m excited to see where God leads me.
Lagoon, Market, and JUNGLE CRUISE tomorrow!!! Hasta Manaña!
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