Brazos de Amor - Orphanage in Jinotepe
On Thursday, the Arms of Love Orphanage opened up its gates to all the boys of the local pueblos surrounding Jinotepe to host a 4x4 "futbal" tournament. The tournament was played on the concrete basketball court with miniature goals which is standard for play in these parts. Afterwards the teams were rewarded with a pool party. Most children here grow up without having any access to a pool ever therefore a pool party in 90+ degree weather is quite a novelty and the excitement among the boys was evident. Tournament play seemed fairly competitive, however in all honesty I was distracted by the arrival of 3 new boys to the Orphanage.
Emilio, the Nicaraguan house father, brought the boys (ranging between ages 6-8yrs old) to the orphanage on the very day of the tournament therefore I was able to witness their introduction. The house parents had a meeting with a Psychologist from the Government Agency called the Ministry of Family (or "Mi Familia") to learn as much medical, behavioral and psychological history on the children as possible before opening their home to the boys for the rest of their lives. Apparently there are often many questions left unanswered and traumatic events unrecorded. In some cases the exact birthdays and therefore ages of the children are unknown. Two of the three boys were brothers and the third boy, Jeffery, was alone and came with a black eye. When asked how he got it, his explanation was simply that he ran into something. Due to the timing of the tournament upon, the new boys arrived when everyone was outside either playing or spectating. I watched the boys explore their new environment with such fear and distrust of every new adult in introduced into their new life. The older brother was so protective of the younger one, and yet it was very difficult to get him to actually say anything at all. 
Each seemed to wonder off on an independent mission of exploration before I finally was able to grasp their attention by starting a mini-futbal game on the other side of the play ground away from the main tournament scene. Jeffery (the boy standing with his arms crossed) was easy to make smile, all I had to do was let him kick the ball through my legs on defense and over-react after letting him score on me. Earning the trust of these children and witnessing the healing process of both physical and emotional wounds is the greatest test of patience that I am being faced with in this country.
Preschool in the Carizal - San Juan del Sur
I was finally able to made it back down south to San Juan del Sur just in time for the grand opening of the Preschool in the Carizal. This last Saturday all the children in the surrounding community of the Carizal dressed in their finest outfits and school uniforms for the cermonial event. They majority of the reception was devoted to giving a multitude of thanks to everyone who partificated in funding and coordinating this project. We hope that this success story will encourage other future partnerships between investors, developers, tourists and the local community. Thanks to everyone who provided individual financial donations to this cause to make this dream a reality for the children.
Brazos de Amor - Orphanage in Jinotepe
"What is the name of your father?" Louisa asked me (in Spanish) in front of the other two girls. Before I could answer or change the subject, Louisa informed me that she doesn't have a father. She didn't say it in a way that begged for sympathy (although her need for love was transparent). She said it in a way that reminded me that all the hardship and loneliness that I had ever endured in my 27 years of living was not as much as she had already survived in her 10 year old lifetime. Luckily, before I had a chance to continue the conversation or overanalyze it any further, Estrellita (Spanish for little star) interrupted our conversation by yelling in Spanish, "I have three fathers and three mothers!" She held up two fingers to make sure that I understood and did so with a huge smile on her face that made us all laugh. It was obvious to all that Estrellita was referring to her adopted house parents. Estrellita is the youngest girl at the orphanage and I have included a picture of her biggest smile below. Her constant entertainment is great for interupting awkard silences in addition to awkward conversations.
After 7 months of communicating with the leaders of the orphanage in Jinotepe via phone and email, I was finally able to meet them in person this last Saturday at "the farm" (as in coffee plantation). It was warm welcome. After several introductions, a guitar jam session and 7 games of soccer with the boys, I do not yet know exactly what my role at this orphanage will look like. Without a car, a house, a concrete schedule or an ability to speak and understand Spanish, there is no assigned regular duty or responsibility that I feel comfortable or capable of taking on at this point. However I suppose that defining my role here will take time and patience, just like this entire process thus far. It will take time to earn the trust and respect of the children, along with the others currently devoted to raising and protecting these children. It will take time to learn and better understand the individual histories, the behavioral tendencies and the distinct personalities of each child. It will take time for me to learn how to communicate with them and interact with them appropriately for the role that I am supposed to play in their lives. And I am learning that all of this will happen, "en el tiempo de Dios"....in God's timing. It seems as though right now I am just learning how to trust that this unclear life path is a journey, not a destination.
East Beach Volleyball Tournament and Orphanage Fundraiser
On a day that required most of the beach to wear socks, four courts of long time East Beach goers gathered to play volleyball and raise funds for orphaned, abandoned and abused children in Nicaragua. The Queen of the Beach tournament format eventually transformed into challenging for winners on “center court”. Throughout the day players came and went (some home, others to the emergency room), nonetheless we were able to maintain consistent play on at least two courts, therefore most players received their fill of competitive volleyball and trash-talking dialogue despite individual win-loss records. Thanks to donations from numerous participates, spectators and absentees, we were able to raise over $400 for the Orphanage in addition to collecting several volleyballs, jerseys and other sports equipment which will all be donated directly to the children at the Brazos de Amor orphanage. The selfless support, enthusiasm and encouragement displayed by the East Beach community in support of this tournament (and the greater cause it represents) paints such a clear picture of the quality of human spirit that exists among the long-standing friendships (and rivalries) at our beach. Thank you Shayna for hosting this awesome event and thanks so much to everyone for supporting my efforts and this cause. In summary, it was...A BEAUTIFUL DAY.
Check out the slide show on YouTube and be sure to turn the volume up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfIUVjh11Bk
Preschool in the Carizal - San Juan del Sur
During my most recent visit to San Juan del Sur in April, I spent a few hours visiting the construction site of a Preschool being built in the Communidad Carizal. The "directora" of the Carizal confidently informed us that the community consists of exactly 56 families based upon the hand-written census she maintains on a weathered yellow pad. My friend Tim Kelly informed our neighboring developers, Donn Wilson and Juan Manuel Caldera (the gents responsible for spear-heading this project), that we will direct efforts to raise the needed money to buy building materials for a classroom in order to provide a clean and safe learning environment for the 16 pre-schoolers who currently accompany their older brothers and sisters to school and end up spending their schoolday on the outside porch (or sitting on the ground inside depending on the season) due to lack of facilities.
The contruction is already underway. Instead of throwing money at this problem, we are buying the materials and have asked that each family of every student be responsible for supplying a representative to participate in the construction of the building. Therefore, all labor is free and the community is 100% behind this project(with donated supervision from the city and local developers).
DONATIONS STILL NEEDED FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PRESCHOOL IN CARIZAL:
Water Filter (Made of concrete, this is a long lasting item, not something bought from a store, and they need one): $60
Legal Fees to get the Land Title into the school's name: $200
Inscription Fees to start the Power: $100
Materials for Wiring and Lights: $100
Flooring for Pre-School: $350
New Gutters (for water collection and to keep the yard from getting muddy): $150
Main door for Pre-School: $100
Two windows for Pre-School: $150
Materials to finish basic construction: Up to $2000 (even $10 helps)
You can contribute directly to the development of the Preschool in the Carizal by making a contribution to the Nica Dev Fund:
http://www.nicadev.com/PreSchool.html
Brazos de Amor - Orphanage in Jinotepe
The 10ft (high) x 2ft (wide) protective concrete wall surrounding the Brazos de Amor (Arms of Love) orphanage contains one entrance only. The entryway houses an armed guard. The armed guard greets visitors and opens the entry gate with his firearm visibly in hand. The dirt road to campus runs through the city of Jinotepe and just beyond its borders, 800 meters past the large green cross in the barrio Guadalupe, and 200 meters past the Enacal tanks (the villages water supply and filtration system). The road is littered with trash, lined with broken down 1-unit homes, and exceedingly potholed.
The Brazos de Amor campus consists of 4 one-story buildings: a boys’ house, a girls’ house, a storage unit and a team-house to host short term mission trips for visiting teams which are all visibly well constructed and respectfully well-kept. The campus also includes a swimming pool, a water tank, a dirt playground and a basketball court which serves predominately as a soccer field. The team-house overlooks Volcan Mombacho and a contiguous tropical rain forest.
Brazos de Amor currently provides a home and a family for 33 kids total (16 girls , 14 boys, and 3 really little girls) Brazos de Amor seeks out true abandonment cases; the children that entirely lack a single family member or any form of adult representation.
In this country birth control is a rarity, whore-houses are legal and abortions are outlawed (no matter what the circumstances); which means there are thousands of children that need homes, schools, protection, clothes, food and love. The individual histories of these children wreak of molestation, abuse and abandonment. The scars run deep in the hearts of each child and the lasting impacts of their past have not all yet proven to surface. Brazos de Amor is not the end of their pain, however it is the end of their abuse and the beginning of their healing.
My initial and overwhelming impression upon entering the orphanage was that the children living at Brazos de Amor are happy because they are loved.
You can sponsor an individual child at the Brazos de Amor orphanage in Nicarauga for only $35/mo at: https://app.etapestry.com/hosted/ArmsofLove/OnlineGiving.html
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