The day starts at 7:AM with the cacophony of the birds outside. Already the sun is up and breakfast is waiting – cereal, coffee, milk, juice, fresh fruit and sweet breads.
Also waiting for us is the news that there is no water. They are working on it down the street and we have no idea how long it will be off. I hear not one grumble or complaint.
The house sits right on the Leon–Chinendega Highway; a very busy thoroughfare and a rare good road. Eating breakfast on the porch is a front row seat to a fascinating parade. Every mode of transportation imaginable passes by along with cows, pigs, horses and other farm animals.
Each day starts with a devotion from one of the group, then a plan for the day. Our first full day is devoted to preparations for the clinic, but first; we take a trip to a black sand beach near Corinto on the Pacific Ocean.
The beach is not scenic in the “Club Med” sense; no rising hotels, landscaped lawns, or chairs and umbrellas for rent; just a rancho here and there, someone selling fish, and a hotel with an open-air dance floor built in the 40’s that has had little maintenance since then and looks entirely deserted. The beach is littered with shells, fruit peelings and coconut shells where families have been eating and relaxing in the sun. Occasionally a group of young people wander by. It’s the most “organic” beach I’ve ever seen. Beautiful, but as casual as your own backyard.
After spending a few hours there, we head back for lunch and to get down to the business of tomorrow’s clinic. But first, a few of us elect to be bussed over to some other missionary’s homes nearby to take a shower – that’s for me! The rest decide to take their chances for water later on or in the morning.
Meals are prepared by Claudia and Riana; cooks and housekeepers for the Dupont’s. It is not uncommon for working people in Nicaragua at any level to employ household workers. A full time person (8 to 10 hours a day) may be hired for $100 per month – less if they live with you.
The meals are not meager and are not exotic; they are great!! And they have 2 things in common; rice and beans. Every meal has one or both. Always prepared with purified water and meticulously clean, you will not have a problem with tolerance for the foods you are served here. And you will not be having Iguana unless you ask for it and clean it yourself – Claudia refuses to clean them, although she will cook them for you; Iguana frita (fried Iguana) or Iguana sopa (Iguana soup, which, by the way contains one Iguana egg per serving).
After lunch, Becky Briar, our pharmacist guides as we divide up the medications we have by their application – hypertension, parasites, diabetes, antibiotics, pain, etc. Each goes into a separate container. The doctors; Shawn Clements, Laura Hay, Cindy Lewis and Carolyn McKee make notes on what is available and how it is prescribed. Equipment is inventoried, tested and packed. This will go on into the evening, after supper.
While this was going on, a few of us went back to Managua to pick up some medicines from a couple who were bringing 2 more containers of medicines for us. Once there, we found out that one of them had an accident before leaving and could not make the trip. The other person was supposed to fly in from San Salvador, but we never were able to meet up with her. We later found out that she never made the trip either. It was a waste of 4 hours.
With everything packed and ready to go in the morning, we have our nightly share time. It is an important feature of these trips for several reasons; there is so much happening at any given time, no one sees it all. By sharing our individual impressions and experiences of the day, we get a better view of the work God is doing with us on these trips. The doctors and pharmacy talk about how they can communicate needs better and we all get to share in the joy of the salvations that day.
