DAY 1
Hello Everyone,
Day 1 in Nicaragua is officially winding down.
Yesterday’s travel day was a long one, but everything went well. No lost bags, no lost passports, and no lost people. That’s what we like to see around here! Most of us fell asleep around 2am PA time (1am Nicaragua time), but fortunately, everyone had a late sleep-in-day this morning with a late breakfast at 9:30. After breakfast, we began immediately preparing for camp. Donations were separated into 35 sets, 1 for each girl: 1 backpack, 2 notebooks, 7 pencils, 5 colored pencils, 1 chapstick, 1 pencil sharpener, 1 eraser, 2 tootsie pops, 1 neckless, 1 glue stick and 1 bottle of nail polish each. Generous donors and staff parents provided the supplies for each girl! The girls at our camp average a family income of about $5 per day, and all students in Nicaragua need to buy their own school supplies. Having donations for each girl will be a major blessing for each of their families.
After lunch, we had the opportunity to visit the area where our young campers will be coming from. For many of our staff and CILTs, this was a level of poverty they had never experienced. Typical houses are built out of tree branches pounded into the sand with palm branches weaved for walls. Some are fortunate to have small (one room) handmade brick homes with cement floors and hammocks for beds. We visited homes of the girls who will be joining us tomorrow, handing out candy, introducing ourselves, and telling them how excited we were for them to join us for two days of fun.
For breakfast we ate beans and rice “arroz con frijoles”, scrambled eggs, grilled plantains, watermelon, pineapple, and Nicaraguan cheese. For lunch, we had “Arroz Con Pollo” (a dish of rice and chicken mixed and cooked with spices and sauces), fried plantain chips, cabbage salad, and coconuts from the property. For dinner, we ate “Nacatamales” (potatoes, onions, meat, and spices mixed together and steamed in a plantain leaf), more fresh fruit, and yes, more rice.
We are excited for tomorrow, keep us in your prayers as we serve these 35 girls. God Bless, we’ll be in touch!
In Christ, The Team
