Exciting Stuff

So, lately in Bead Amigas we have been thinking of ways to involve more women in the US while getting help with some of the prep work that needs to be done to keep the project rolling (no pun intended). Rosann (project director) had a good idea of involving some female prisoners at a women's prison in Georgia to give them a project to work on and at the same time, help us out. The plan is to have them cut and paint old wallpaper rolls that can then be cut and rolled into beads by the Nicaraguan women. So Rosann went through all the necessary background checks and forms and got clearance to start a program at the prison for any interested women. She made her first trip there last night just to introduce the women to the project and try to gauge interest level. When she got home, she sent me this email. I wanted to share it with everyone because for me it is so exciting and really shows the heart of Bead Amigas. It's not just about the jewelry and the work, it's about the connections that are made between the women that come into contact with the project.

"Yall, I just got back from the women's prison and I am so so so full of something -- I can't describe it...evidence of God's grace or decency of humans or redemption..

18 women not only want to process the rolls of wallpaper but also want to know how else can they help...can they have a walkathon? can they raise money for Amigos for Christ? can they get them some tables so the Nica women will have surface to cut on? And these women themselves don't have anything....

I kept telling them that if they could cut the rolls into 14.5 pieces and paint those pieces that would be wonderful

One woman was from a well to do family Nica. Her parents own a hotel and she testified about the poverty there. She told the others that even though they were in prison they had it better than many people in her country. Another woman said this project would give her a chance to give back "to make up for some of my stupid mistakes." Another said "this is something we can do even though we're inside."

Tears all around.

They wanted to know all about the women and their stories. They wanted to see more pictures. When was Darling's baby due? How old was Ana Rosa? Why isn't Fatima a model? They sat forward in their chairs and listened...I mean really listened...even the ones who were distant or angry looking when they came in.

They all wore this ugly beige shirt and pants and were so hungry for color!

I found out their favorite colors -- just like the nica women -- red, pink, turquoise, sky blue.

I took a color wheel and we had a little lesson on that. When I brought out the strips of different colors, they sighed and touched and carefully selected one. They had to use only coffee stirrers (no coat hangers) they concentrated so hard. 18 women using one little glue pen.

Two of them rolled an instantly perfect bead. I couldn't believe it. another jessica and darling. When I told them, this was a bead that Rachel would buy, their faces LIT up.

They weren't even allowed to take their stirrer back to their dorms but they were allowed to take only one bead and each one left cradling it as if it were the most precious object in the world.

For me this is the heart of the project, that groups of marginalized women who will never meet can help each other and themselves."

No, this is not overdramatic

So, the other night I got a little surprise in my room (pictures to follow). After the incident was said and done, I decided my boss (who lives in a beautiful, huge house in the United States) needed to know about the conditions that we were being exposed to here in Nicaragua. The email I sent went a little something like this...

Hi John,

It's 1:45AM here in Nicaragua. Stacey and I are crawled up in little balls in the corner of our room. No, we're not going crazy like you previously thought, but in fact, we were just victimized in our own room. Yes, you guessed it, a GIANT, HAIRY, tarantula just made his little way into our cozy nest. Now, if it wasn't for my eagle eye happening to glance over towards the angelic, sleeping, innocent Stacey, we could have perhaps fallen victim during the night. But thanks to me (the co-hero in this story), we are alive.

After I spotted this monstrosity making his way down the wall closer and closer to Stacey's hot pink sheets, I gasped, rose from my bed, grabbed a shoe, and made my way towards the bed. Now I won't say I wasn't afraid, I can admit, I almost peed my pants. As I reached it and opened the bathroom door, the beast froze in place. Ever so carefully hidden behind the bedpost in a position where I could not end his life. At this point, I figured the next logical step would be to take Stacey out of harm's way. I woke her up, she was frightened, I comforted her, moved her quickly out of danger, where she proceeded to run from the room and collapse on the floor into a helpless pile of mush. I ran back to the scene and weighed my options with Stacey rendered useless to help.

Option 1: Make Stacey move the bed from the wall while I smack him dead with the shoe. Problem: I was afraid he'd run with the movement of the bed.

Option 2: Spray the terrorist with Raid. Problem: Raid cannot be located and may be ineffective.

Option 3: Get Manuel the "cuidador" to help us out. Problem: Manuel might as well be renamed Rip Van Winkle.

Option 4: Wake up Chris Dubas to help out the damsels in distress. Problem: He is Chris Dubas.

After moments of weighing the options, we decided to go with #1. When I finally coaxed Stacey back into the room and got her into 'bed-moving' position, I couldn't pull the trigger. I then sent Stacey for the Raid. She could not locate it in our immaculately organized kitchen. So, I left her to man the fort while I hunted down the Raid. Once Raid was fetched, I slowly crept back towards the antagonist. I extended my arm and sprayed with all my might. Option 2 was not the answer.

The villain fled. Fast. While I had him on the spotlight, he was very, very far under the bed. To the point of no return. While the brave, selfless Parkway Presbyterian missionaries slumbered, the options once again floated through my mind. At this point, we knew we needed to call for reinforcements, no white person was up to the task.

Enter knight in shining armor, standing at a whopping 5'2'', Manuel Pablo Fransisco Jose Rodriguez Saravilla Machado 'el matador' Lopez. Yes folks, he is our security guard. And secure he did. Within moments of being awoken from his no doubt 3-hour nap, he was at the scene of the crime and ready for action. Armed with no more than a 5'' reading flashlight he searched high and low. Removing knick-knacks, suitcases, articles of clothing, and multiple dust bunnies, he was determined that we would sleep tonight. But to our dismay, he found nothing. I insisted the hunt the continue.

While our hero was crawling under the beds, crack on display, I was doing a little investigation of my own. And to my horror, I found the assailant at the corner of my bed. I kept my cool and calmly said, 'Manuel, esta AQUI' Manuel hiked up his pants and was on his feet. He went after the monster with his bare hands when I handed him the shoe and said, 'matalo'. Manuel was very gentle at first tugging at the legs, it almost looked like he was going to show the killer mercy. That was where I had to step in again with a little more forceful, 'MATALO!' At that point he knew we weren't joking around. He raised his arm and in slow motion brought down the hammer on our living nightmare. And that was it.

After a few pictures and promises to gift our hero with cookies and other sorts of food items, he was on his way back to his napping chair. But not before he turned and said, 'You know, there are a ton of these running around out in front of the house."

And now ladies and gentlemen, we have come to the point of this email. There are a ton of these running around outside?!?!? Does this seem like a problem to anyone else??! Before anyone else is alienized in their own rooms by these intruders, I think something needs to be done about this little infestation!!! Now I don't know the exact procedure for ridding an area of these pests, but whatever it is, can we do it?? Immediately???

Please forward this on to Jenkins if you think he is the appropriate person to be contacted in this situation.

Take care,

Rachel (co-hero)

-- Rachel Elledge

Amigos for Christ

Bead Amigas Field Coordinator

Sigh...

Well, I am enjoying a little 15 minute break here at the house from Crazy Town. This month has been busy (like always, right?!) with all my projects and all the groups that have been coming down.Since I got back from my trip to the States, we have had four groups in the house.The first was a mixture of med students from Purdue and a Young Life group from GA, the second was a group from St. Gabe's Catholic Church in ATL last week was a group of high school girls from New Orleans, and this week we have a mixture of adults from Sugarloaf church in GA and pre-med students from Wake Forest University in NC. So far the groups have been awesome and have gotten done a ton of work! For me, I have had a lot of exciting accomplishments the past month.

It's exciting to report that all 8 of our Bead Amigas have now graduated into making complete bracelets. All of their beads are looking absolutely beautiful, they really have come a long way. Last weekend I taught them all how to cut their own strips of wallpaper. (Up until now, the Bead Amigas in the US have been cutting all the strips for them and then sending them down) It was difficult for them at first, but I left a bunch of practice paper with them and am hoping that they are practicing this week! All of the women have been making money and being able to rely on the project for regular income. I'm hoping that within the next month all of the women will be on the same production schedule and making the same income and within the next two months, all of them will be relying on the project for their primary income and can quit any side jobs they have. Just for a little perspective, Ana Patricia (one of our second generation beaders) has been working at a peanut factory as a peanut sorter. She makes 30 cordobas a day. That equals US$1.50 per day. (In Bead Amigas, the women make 30 cordobas per bracelet and normally make around 20 bracelets a week.) She is supporting her two elderly parents, her 3 siblings, and her 3 children on her own without a husband. Many days that I go to Rotarios her daughter brings me her beads to sell since she is out working. I can't wait until the production schedule has normalized so Ana can stay home with her children, work from home, and make enough money to feed her family. Tuesday and Thursday afternoons this week, I will be bringing a group of American women here on the trip to Rotarios to meet the beaders. I am hoping that there will be an open flow of ideas and stories and information about their lives. The beaders are going to teach the Americans how to measure, cut, roll, and glaze the beads. I also would like all the women to make bracelets together so they have some sort of rememberance from the week. I think it will be a special time for all the women involved and cannot wait to see it unfold. I know the beaders are excited, and the US women also cannot wait to meet them all. They have been planning on this trip for months. Pictures soon to come!

On the health front, we have been working on moving towards a more preventative approach and just trying to make our program more effective all the way around. We did a major inventory of all of our medicines and supplies this month so we can better track all of our donations, what we're buying, and how much we're using per month. Last Friday, we had a diabetes health fair at Villa Catalina. It was an amazing success with 50+ adults showing up to get their blood sugar tested and learning about diabetes. After inviting the whole community door-to-door on Tuesday morninig, we were a little nervous about how the attendance would be come Friday. We have had many health classes in the past and have never had a really good turnout. So, I'm not sure if it was the games and prizes listed on the invite or that people are scared they have diabetes..either way, it was AMAZING! Stacey and I were near tears as we started the educational portion of the morning with Doctor Tania. The morning also consisted of games (think wedding shower games), a pinata, and prizes. The community was very engaged, asking questions, wanting to get their blood tested, wanting to get their weight and height taken, etc. Overall, a huge success for Stacey and I and the health team as a whole. It really is the morale booster that we have been needing lately. We are hoping that it will also get the community more excited about health education and build a relationship between them and the doctor. This is a picture of me, Doctor Tania, Stacey, and Roberto right after we got done cleaning the clinic after the diabetes fair.






This week, our group from Wake Forest will be teaching hand-washing classes on Tuesday morning to all the children in the school, K-6. That should be interesting! We have a lot of little fun games and activities that they will be partaking in as well as hands-on washing.
I hope everyone is doing well in the States and I hope to see you all soon---love you!!!

Almost home!

I know, I know..it's been about a year since my last update....oops. Things have been a little busy here! At the beginning of April, my parents came for a two-week visit!They stayed here in Chinandega with me
for the first week, and then we went on vacation to Granada the next week. Their first night here happened to be Kristin and Jeremy's bachelorette/bachelor parties! Kelly and Jayne also came down to celebrate with us! All the girls headed out on a bar crawl around Chinandega while the boys went to Leon. Us girls had the time of our lives and Kristin was the best sport. She had a long list of many tasks she had to complete throughout the night. My personal favorite was when she sang "You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling" a capella to a random Nicaraguan man! It was hilarious!! Other tasks included break dancing in the gazebo in central park, singing karaoke at a bar, convincing a security guard to let her hold his gun, receiving kisses from ten guys, and many unspeakable others. There was a big group of us, including: Jayne, Kelly, Rossanna, Rossanna's mom, Marierling, Iris, and Katie. We had a great time and my mom really got a good taste of the Chinandega nightlife!
My dad on the other hand is still sworn to secrecy about his night in Leon with the guys. All I know is that he didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning. I think it's better we all don't know about that.
That next week was a hot work week for us all! We had a group of 60+ people in the house from Georgia. They were a very fun group full of many of my friends from Atlanta. That week we worked on painting the school in Los Rotarios and also held the inauguration for the spiritual center in Villa Catalina. My mom and I worked on Bead Amigas and went out with the medical team as well. I was happy that my parents got to experience for themselves a lot of the Amigos project areas and participate with the employees.


This is mom working with Dr. Dinorah in a rural community called Villa Esperanza. We visit this community once a month in our mobile medical van bringing medicines and medical attention to those who otherwise would go without.
On the right is a picture of my dad putting his painting skills to work! This was the first day of painting the school at Los Rotarios and we were putting on the white primer. The next couple days we painted the school yellow and orange. It really looks great these days!







After an exhausting week of work, we took a vacation to Granada, Nicaragua, about 3 hours south of Chinandega. Granada is a very beautiful city with a lot of Nicaraguan history. It was colonized by Spain in the 16th century and has a very European feel to it in the architecture. Now it's a pretty touristy spot. It's located right on Lake Nicaragua which is one of the largest fresh-water lakes in the world. It also has over 400 little islands scattered around where people have extravagant homes, restaurants, etc. One day we took a boat tour around some of the islands and it was really neat.
Another day we took a trip to Laguna de Apoyo. It's fresh-water lake that was formed when a volcano collapsed and hit a water table. The water is unbelievably blue and you're surrounded by mountains. Some other highlights of the week included: our BEAUTIFUL condo that we stayed at, a trip to the artesan market in Masaya, daily trips to the market in Granada, and enjoying the food, nightlife, and culture of the city. Madeline and Rossanna spent the first three nights with us at the condo relaxing by the pool and hanging out around town. I was so glad that my parents were finally able to meet two of my best friends here.
All in all, it was a really great couple weeks with the rents visiting and I really think they got a good idea of what my life is like here. Although it did involve a LOT of sweating! haha


As for what I'm doing right now...
Bead Amigas has really been amazing lately. We have so much interest in the project from so many sides, it's very exciting. The women are all doing great and just getting better and better by the day. This picture on the left is of Fatima, one of the Bead Amigas, and her two sons. She has been a part of the project since the beginning and has really been a leader for the other women. We recently launched our "temporary website." I say temporary because it's just what we're using in the meantime until we get all of our marketing stuff figured out. But, I would love for you all to check it out! www.amigosforchrist.org/beadamigas.htm Or, you can go to the Amigos website, click on projects, community development, and then Bead Amigas. Also when you're there you can subscribe to get the Bead Amigas newsletter that Rosann and Allison and I write every few months.

On the health team, this past week we worked on rennovating the clinic in Santa Matilde. The makeover is almost complete! It has all been painted inside and out, windows repaired, doors repaired, and much more! It should be as good as new in no time! Also when I was there I put the lettering on the new library (biblioteca) in Santa Matilde. We're looking forward to another busy month including health classes, mobile medical van, and a visit from a doctor in the US to prescreen surgical patients for his brigade that comes in September. This month we're going to be starting some new initiatives on our preventative health side as well as continuing on with our kids' nutrition program. Exciting stuff!
I know a lot of you who read my blog may not know a lot about Amigos, so I just want to throw a couple links on here of ways you can check it out a bit more. One is our website:
www.amigosforchrist.org
And the other is a new social network that we launched where you can see all the employees, learn about the project areas, read employee blogs, etc.
www.amigosforchrist.ning.com
On Tuesday I am leaving Nicaragua to go to Atlanta for Kristin and Jeremy's wedding! I am so excited!! After the wedding, I'll be heading to Minnesota!!! I will be there from May 11-21 if anyone wants to catch up!
I hope everyone is doing well back at home and I hope to see you soon!
Love,
Rachel

Dan's here!!!!

Hello everyone!!!
This week has been wonderful as my good friend Dan Tewalt came to visit me! He arrived last Monday and will (sadly) be leaving tomorrow morning. Last week we worked alongside a high school group from Mississippi preparing the new community center, building a bridge, and participating in Young Life.
The first day he was here we took a trip out to Los Rotarios to visit the beaders. We had a big meeting with all of them to discuss where we're at, how everyone is doing, technique, and future plans for the project. All of the women are doing very well and are still so excited about the project.
On Saturday we headed out on a mini tour of Nicaragua... We left Chinandega, made our way to Managua, and then onto a little town called Catarina. There you get a view of a huge crater lake named Laguna de Apoyo. It is absolutely breathtaking. They have a bunch of little restaurants and shops. We hung out there for a while then went to Masaya. It is the artesian capital of Nicaragua. Several little stores and markets to buy artesian crafts, jewelry, and art. No doubt my family could do some major damage there! Very beautiful stuff there. We walked around town, stopped at a couple little restaurants/cafeterias, shopped in the market then made our way to Laguna de Apoyo to try and spend the night. When we got there we drove around for what felt like forever trying to find hostels that had room for the night but couldn't find a one. While on the dirt road circling the lake one of our tires popped! Luckily we had two strapping young men to change the tire (Chris and Jeremy) and we were on our way again. Since we had nowhere to stay, a bum tire, and it was already 5PM we decided it was best to make our way to Granada. There we got the tire repaired, and then set off to find a hostel. After a good hour, we found one that could sleep all 7 of us. We unloaded, showered and went downtown to get a good meal. While we had good intentions of staying out all night and partying, sadly we were all EXHAUSTED and had to call it a night.
The next morning we all got up and headed to one of the best breakfast places in all of Nicaragua. After that we headed back to Laguna and set up shop at a beautiful restaurant/bar/hotel there. We had an awesome lunch and some delicious drinks and relaxed all day. It was very needed break and so much fun to hang out with each other and without work! I'm also so glad that Dan got to see some other parts of Nicaragua.
This week we have a surgical team here from the States, including Dave Barbara! I don't know how I got so lucky with these two weeks! They started surgeries today and I squeezed Dan in for one so he could observe them at work. Since there is not a group here this week that I will be working with directly, I will have a lot of time to catch up on all of my projects and such! Last week we began the SNAC program in the Villa (student nutrional analysis and coordination). We are measuring all of the students' heights and weights to calculate BMI and assess their nutritional levels against the national averages. With the information we hope to tweak our feeding center menus and work towards making sure all of the children are nurished.
That's all for now, but I will update again soon! As always I'm thinking about you all and hoping that you're doing well!

Mission Trips!

The last couple weeks have been extremely busy with all of our groups! Our mission trips come down for a week at a time and are usually back to back with one group leaving on Saturday morning and the next coming in Saturday night. Last week we had a group from Washington, NC for the week. They were different than most groups in that they've been working for the past year to raise money for a specific project. So when they got here, they were so excited to begin working on the house that they funded. The house is being built in Villa Catalina and it's the first new house to be built there since all of the originals were built back in 2003-2006. It's being built for a family that currently lives in the Villa in a house with 10 people! So, they thought it was time to give them a little more room. It's a very special project for me as well because I'm very close with the family that's receiving the house. The group worked really hard to get as much done as possible and when they left they had finished all the walls! It was a huge accomplishment to get that much done in just a week.
One of the guys, Taylor, is a medical sales rep in the States and had a lot of interest in helping me get some resources down here for our medical program. One day I took him on a tour of our hospital here to meet with the head nurse and survey all of the materials that we're using. Then we went out to the Villa Catalina clinic and met with our doctor there. We got a great list compiled of all the supplies he thinks he can help us with, I whipped up a powerpoint for his donors, and we're on the way! He's going to present it to different med reps and see how he can help us. It's really exciting and I'm hoping that we'll have some gauze and Triple A ointment on the way within a couple months!
This week we have a group of 20 kids from Marist Catholic High School in Atlanta. They are really excited to be here and extremely hard-working. This week they have been working on pouring the floor for the new house and building a fence around the new community center in Villa Catalina. Today they are off on Mystery Fun Day- that entails visiting the handicapped orphanage downtown, shopping, lunch, a trip to swim in the hot springs, then off to the Villa for dinner and a movie at the school with the kids. Big day! I'm here working at the house today on some marketing stuff for Amigos, Bead Amigas, and the health program.
I hope everyone is doing well at home and I hope to talk to ya'll soon!

Locura

Well, everything has calmed down a bit with the medical brigade since last week, but has picked up quite a bit with my other projects. A couple very exciting things are happening this week!
Since getting my first load of bracelets from the women last week, I have sold a ton of them to the medical brigade and people really seem to love them. I am getting so excited about this project and all of the possibilities it brings. I went out to Los Rotarios yesterday morning to visit with the women, drop off supplies, and tell them about a clinic we're holding tomorrow in the Health Center in Villa Catalina.
More about the health clinic:
Two of the doctors with this brigade, a plastic surgeon and a gynecologist, have volunteered to hold a clinic in Villa tomorrow. They will be conducting exams and scheduling small procedures and surgeries to the people of Villa and the surrounding villages. I am very excited for the women of Villa and Los Rotarios to have the opportunity to see a gynecologist, ask any questions they may have, and receive treatment if necessary. It's not very often that they get the opportunity to see a specialist, since they do not have access to one nearby and cannot usually afford to go to the city hospital. Today I ran around Villa trying to spread the word about tomorrow with flyers and telling all the big-mouth women I know!! haha Hopefully we'll have a good turn out tomorrow! If not, I guess I'll have to go yank them from the houses!