end of November

As always, there's probably too many stories to tell in the length of this blog since I've again waited so long to send an update.  Here are the topics I hope to hit: school visits and the computer refurbishing program, the FRB video contest, an outing with the kids, and the return of the Dama.

 

Wow, it's almost December again!  It's amazing sometimes how the days turn into weeks, and the weeks into months and years.  I've been surprised lately when people ask me how long I've been here and I tell them almost 6 years.  I remember when I thought that people who had been here six years had been here forever.  It has been a real pleasure to join the work of the Lord here in Nicaragua during that time.  He has been working here for a long long time and it's exciting to see how he is moving among the people of Nicaragua.  Starting with his church, he's affecting everything from business to education to prostitution to agriculture.  There is a movement of people who are coming to see His love for life and their perpsectives are changing.  Through a better understanding of how God created the world and set us in charge and how He wants us to dig in and develop it and care for it, many people are finding new joy in life and it is sending the church outside its walls to have an impact on society as a whole.  Thank you to all of those who have supported me and invested in Nicaragua.

School Visits & The Refurbishing Program

About three weeks ago I started visiting the schools where we donated computers.  If you'll recall, we received 100 refurbished computers that we re-refurbished and distributed to 5 schools.  I say we, because it was a combined effort between the Nehemiah Center, Food for the Hungry, Missionary Ventures, EduDeo (formerly Worldwide Christian Schools Canada), and ACECEN (a Nicaraguan association of Christian schools).  The schools received between 10 and 25 computers.  As we gave the computers out we started to form a network of computer teachers called RedProCom, where teachers could share experiences, work together, and receive training in their subject area.

Visiting the schools has been motivating because I've been seeing first hand the computer labs in action, and talking with teachers and principals.  There has been some great benefits from the computers, and there has also been some challenges.  Two of the five schools previously had no computers, and the other schools were able to expand or replace existing labs; where students had previously shared a computer with two or three other people, they now each work independently on their own computer.

Below is a photo of two preschoolers from Colegio Bautista Belén enjoying a paint program that comes packaged with the free Edubuntu software pack (feel free to click on the photo and  explore more photos in the album a bit more).  In preschool they mainly try to work on their ability to control the mouse and use its buttons.  It can be a bit of a challenge for those little hands!

Here is a picture of Ana and Humberto from Bautista Belén standing in front of their wall decorations for Christmastime.  For those that don't understand the significance, the penguin here is Tux, the mascot for the Linux operating system (a Windows alternative), which all five labs are using--they're obviously fans of this new software!

 

At Sendero de Luz (below) we see Jeriel, María, Jacqueline, and Lennin.  Jeriel and Jacqueline are teachers, and María is the principal.  Lennin is a roomate and good friend of mine, and also works for EduDeo.  He and I were doing the visits together.  Behind them there are 10 computers that are used in their library as a second lab.  They reported that the younger students love the new computers and the new software and that with Ubuntu, they haven't had any of the virus problems that plague the first lab.  Students visit the lab in groups of 10 students or so, while the rest of their classmates receive a different class.

The FRB Video Contest

Some of you have already heard through the Facebook grapevine, I'm sure, but we at the Nehemiah Center media studio submitted one of our participatory videos to a video contest put on by the Food Resources Bank.  Probably about three weeks ago we recieved first place in the contest!  You can check out the official announcement here.  The video was made through a process called "Participatory Video", meaning the subjects of the video actually make it.  They planned it, filmed it, and gave us the instructions for editing it.  We spent a week in the community training them on tools and techniques for filming documentaries and left at the end of the week with everything we needed to go back and edit the video to their liking.  We returned to the community to present the video a few weeks later and they loved seeing themselves and the fruit of their labors!  And we love showing it to other people.

I plan to show the video at Brookside if I have the opportunity to do so.  In case you're interested in watching it, but aren't sure if you'll make it to my presentation, here it is right now!  Enjoy!

A trip to the Lake

I haven't spent a lot of time with "the squirrels" lately (that's the name that my roommate has affectionately given to the Nicaraguan boys that we're mentoring), but on Sunday we made the time and took them to the Laguna de Apollo, a great big crater lake with crystal clear water and no motorized vehicles.  Breyling and Mauro are going to be graduating from 6th grade this Friday!  I taught them English when they were in first and second grade at NCA Nejapa, and have kept a relationship with them because they come from difficult home situations where there is no father.  Mauro will be switching to a new school for the next school year starting in January, as a result of his good grades.  Breyling seems to be less motivated, although he is very bright, and so struggles a bit more.  Here are a few pictures from the day.  We also took along Mauro's brother and a kid from the church where Dan works.  If you click through to the album, you'll find a few videos there.

The Return of the Dama

A year ago August I was in an accident on the way to the airport to pick up Steph, a friend who was coming to visit.  A woman turn in front of me on a red light and we collided in a pretty good accident.  She of course believed that she shouldn't have to accept any responsibility (based at least on part on her claim that she was divorced, had kids, and debt, and didn't want to pay for the increased insurance premium) and began pulling strings in attempt to push the blame on me.



The appeal process lasted until September of this year, at which point the blame was officially mine.  Fortunately, I was not required to pay her anything out of pocket for fixing her car.  My insurance covered part of it, and her insurance covered the rest.  All I had to do was take care of my own vehicle, which my insurance does not cover.  So, a year and a month later, The Dama went into the shop to get the chassis and body panels straightened and repainted.  After three months in the shop, she was finally returned to me...almost working.  While the paint looked pretty decent (it's amazing what people can do with bondo!), the 4x4 was still stuck in 4-low, the air conditioning wasn't working, and a whole bunch of little problems persisted.

Two weeks later I've fixed the 4x4 problem, purchased a new battery, a new radiator hose, got an alignment, and a several other smaller things.  Feeling confident that we were back on track, I thought it appropriate to give the truck a test, and took it to the lake (see previous section).  Everything was great until the return trip, when I suddenly noticed that the temp guage was in the red.  So, I guess it's back to the shop for the Dama.

The question on my mind is, "Should I sell it?  Or...fix it and 'drive it 'til it dies'?"  I keep going back and forth on the answer.  I find it slightly humorous and interesting, that most North Americans tell me to sell it, but Nicaraguans tell me to keep it.  This might make an interesting poll for the next post!

To see more pictures and videos from these events and others, please click here.

Prayer items:

• I've been fighting this cold or something for a long time, and I just can't shake it.
• We're meeting with the computer teachers next week for two days and we'll be working on getting a curriculum ready to put into action for next year.  Pray that we're able to complete it during those two days.  We'll also be electing leaders of our group and defining some roles. Please pray that goes well.
• Pray for the leadership of Nicaragua.  We recently had presidential elections, and there seemed to be a general lack of transparency, and a lot of reported abnormalities.  Pray that local leaders and Christian leaders will learn and exhibit true servant leadership as they go about their lives, and that any resistance will be peaceful and tolerated.