Nicaraguag Trip

Medical Missions Outreach

Nicaragua, June 16-23, 2012 

Team members: Approximately 36, plus translators; 2 medical doctors, 2 doctors of pharmacy, 1 nurse practitioner, 4 RNs (registered nurses), 1 LVN (licensed vocational nurse), 2 pharmacy techs, 2 pastors (MMO director Bradley Edmondson and Pastor Stephen Henderson of Manhattan, KS, Harvest Baptist Church), and a variety of other skilled lay people.

My translator was Nola, an American that left the States 12 years ago after some personal tragedies, and has served with the Peace Corps and a variety of other positions in Condega, Nicaragua for that entire time.  She has a bachelor degree in education, a master’s in special education, and a certification in American Sign Language.  She is also proficient in Nicaraguan Sign Language.

I had great flight times out of Philadelphia, PA to Atlanta, GA.  In Atlanta, the majority of the team rendezvoused, with the exception of a few that flew out of Houston.  I just love traveling with a team, even though I knew just a few team members.  Of course, I know Bradley and Kelleigh Edmondson from my trip to Haiti, and also Pastor Henderson, as he is one of my supporting pastors.  What a thrill it was when I heard that one of my supporting churches would be working on this mission with me! 

I was able to get a meal in the airport so that I wasn’t hungry all evening.  In my experience, American based airlines rarely serve meals, even internationally.  Some of you know that if I’m cranky it’s either time to feed me or time to put me to bed, so I surely wanted to avoid being hungry!  The flight itself was about 3.5 hours – time to talk with a woman and man from a Southern Baptist team going to host a Vacation Bible School in a city north of where we were going. 

We arrived in Managua around 8 pm Mountain Time.  With a team this size it took a while to get all our luggage (but, praise the Lord, we did indeed get all our luggage!) and get through Customs.  The folks that flew in from Houston were delayed and didn’t arrive for a couple hours after us, so we had a late departure from Managua.  This gave me time to walk through the airport and pass out tracts.  I loved turning around and seeing folks reading the tracts, too!  A school bus (I assume donated from the States as a placard said in English, “Do not stand forward of the white line while bus is in motion.”) was our transport from Managua to Esteli, about a 2.5 hour drive to the north.  Our driver, Raymond, stayed with us all week, and I was quite impressed with his ability to maneuver that thing through the tightest of places!  Never did he make me nervous, although I did hear a few others gasp occasionally.  And, I was very surprised at how nice the main roads were – paved and without potholes, wide enough for two-way traffic, well marked and for the most part, everyone followed standard driving patterns.  Because of all the luggage and the group size, there wasn’t quite enough room for everyone to have a seat, so some of the guys had to stand the entire trip.  The breeze from the windows made the temps quite comfortable. 

The day before we left the States, we all received an email stating that the hotel we were to stay in all week had been changed.  Rumor had it that the hotel gave away our rooms, but I’m not sure what really happened.  All I know was that I was relieved.  The new hotel wouldn’t have air conditioning, and I was glad about it.  I still haven’t adjusted to cooler temps, and am still wearing my fleece jacket when in A/C, so I was afraid that I’d be in a room with someone that would want to keep the temps too cold for me.  I wasn’t sure if I should pack flannel jammies or light cotton!  Where we stayed were actually individual cabins with fans, and the elevation was 7,800 feet.  With that elevation and the fans we were all quite comfortable – well, at least the folks in my cabin.  There were five of us in our cabin, and at first we were a little concerned about sharing one bathroom, but a good spirit prevailed, and we figured out quick how to work around each other.  The other four were all from the same church – Harvest Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, PA.  Melody, Bobbi, Joyce and Katie were my roommates and a lot of fun, I might add.  Melody brought chocolate for everyone, and Joyce brought cookies and pretzels.  All of them brought clothing, shoes or other gifts to give away throughout the week.  Very generous folks and very ‘tough’.  Both Melody and Joyce were ill at different times, but neither of them complained – they just kept working and serving. 

Saturday night/ Sunday morning we arrived at Cuallitlan Hotel at 2 am.  Maricel, our hostess and hotel proprietor, was waiting to greet us and show us around.  Of course, at night, we couldn’t see a thing outside, but I found the cabins to be very nice – tile floors, a shower and Western toilets.  We didn’t even have to share beds J! 

So that was Saturday.  I’ll try to post Sunday, June 17, tomorrow.