Walking with the poor - notes from the field

MISSION AWARENESS TRIP TO NICARAGUA
August 11-18, 2007

Each mission awareness group—a gift

I marvel at the depth of goodness in the hearts of our sponsors. Just this week, they have sponsored a total of seven new Nicaraguan children. They have had a good visit with every one of their 25 sponsored children and in many cases, with their families, too. CFCA staff from all over the country mobilized and demonstrated their conviction of the beauty and importance of personal outreach.

Irish-born Franciscan Father Alfredo expressed great appreciation for the CFCA program.

New hope for Rosa

We celebrated holy Mass with the sponsored families and scholars of Masaya our first Sunday morning in Nicaragua. Music of the Mass and the excellent performances of the children were very moving.

During one of our home visits in Somoto, sponsors Virginia and Tom decided to sponsor Rosa, 18, from a very poor and humble family and no father. Rosa was able to finish only six grades of elementary school. She has promised her new sponsors that she will continue her education on weekends beginning next semester. Her sponsored older brother, Denis, is doing quite well in weekend agricultural school, university level.

‘Please tell my sponsors I love them’

Outside Managua and only 20 kilometers from the Honduras border, the 785 sponsored children in Somoto are very outgoing and friendly. “Please tell my sponsors, I love them.” The Somoto area is known for child labor. The CFCA subproject encourages children to stay in school. At the Mamma Margarita Center, the children receive daily lunch, uniforms, school supplies and health care. The honest spontaneity of the children tells me that they consider this place theirs. As part of the after-school program, the children and teens can opt for choral music, guitar, marimba and other electives. Their polyphonic choral group is impressive. One course is called “Affinity for Technology” and focuses on basic computer skills.

Bob serenades sponsored elderly with El Limonar, from “The Walking Years”.

A serenade for the elderly

In spite of distances and very high temperatures, we enjoyed a happy and touching CFCA gathering at the town hall of Matiguas. It was full---children, families, musicians, sponsors and elderly. Staff and mothers had spent the previous day decorating the hall, preparing the Celebration of the Word and the well-done dance numbers by the children. In spite of the heat, all sponsors were up dancing. When my turn came to participate, I gathered the elderly around me and serenaded them with El Limonar.

After lunch, my group visited a very poor family of five with no running water or electricity in two small rooms of corrugated tin. A little girl, Paula, is the only one sponsored. She is in second grade. Both parents are street vendors and told us that on a very good day, they could earn about U.S. $4. One of the sponsors was moved to offer a new pair of school shoes for Paula’s brother.

Sponsors and staff view the crater of the Masaya Volcano.

Masaya—the mountain that burns

In two buses we travel to Masaya Volcano National Park. This volcano is also known as Popogatepe, the “Mountain that Burns” in the Chorotega language. The last eruption was in 1772, although one of the craters currently displays gaseous activity and incandescent lava in its interior. The children and many of the staff had never seen the volcano.

CFCA’s newest subproject—San Lorenzo

In Muy Muy, we saw the new home built by Jenny, one of our 2006 trip participants, after she sponsored the new baby who is now one year old. The baby’s legal name is Milagros Guadalupe, but around the house they call her Jenny. Sponsor Mert was on that first trip with Jenny.

Sponsor Mert (right) with baby Milagros and her family outside the house built by a sponsor.

Early on Thursday morning, we held a special prayer service for the victims of the earthquake in Peru, remembering the devastating earthquake that hit Nicaragua in 1972. We visited our newest Nicaragua subproject, San Lorenzo—population 5,000—on the first anniversary of CFCA’s presence. Hazel, British volunteer nurse and inspiring lay missionary, has been the spark in getting this subproject going. Father Jimmy Ortega, the parish priest assigned to this vast area, has a nice way with children, and invited them to come up around the altar. The music was led by a blind guitarist. The children’s artistic numbers, piñatas, two huge birthday cakes, a nice lunch, and small group visits to sponsored families rounded out the day. The family I visited had 18 people living in three rooms. Work is scarce. Drought is often. Salaries for a day’s work in the fields runs about U.S. $2-$3.

Thank you for journeying with us always. Cristina and I will have one week at the Hermano Pedro project in Guatemala before heading to the CFCA Honduras trip. Know of our love and prayers.

Bob Hentzen
Managua, Nacaragua
Aug. 18, 2007

Sponsor a child in Nicaragua

Read the notes from other mission awareness trips