by Trish Krider
Each time we come to El Ayudante we bring supplies to donate to each school that we plan to visit.
Simple things such as pencils, crayons and paper are a luxury here. The classrooms are furnished simply with desks, and humble ones at that. There is no need for lockers or backpacks as there are no books for the students to carry and no notebooks for them to store. Lessons are done on a blackboard, if one is available or on large sheets of paper taped to the walls. Even doing a craft activity can be a challenge as not every chair has a desk attached. But these are children who are used to sharing – you will often see them sitting two in a desk – and taking care of each other.
Today’s school was the Grandma Carmen’s pre-school. The first thing we noticed upon entering this one room school is that, by Nicaraguan standards, this school is well supplied. The teacher explained to us that the school was started because, years ago, there was only one school in the local area. Unfortunately, half of the children had to cross a busy road to get to it. Tragically one young girl was struck and killed on her way to school one day. When word of this tragedy reached an organization in Miami, they made it their mission to build a school on the other side of the road. The woman who owned the land on which it was built named it after her beloved grandmother who also had a passion for educating children.
The game that we have chosen this year involves teams of children batting a balloon around. The object is to keep the balloon aloft as well as within the outlined parameters of a circle. In some schools the decibel level of the squealing can become deafening within the confines of a classroom, as the rain has forced us to move our games indoors this year. In a stroke of inspiration our translator decided to spice up the game a bit (and curb the rising volume of excitement) by having the children play the game in silence. If anyone on a team forgot the rule and spoke out, the other team got a “point”. It was great entertainment for us to watch them try to stifle their words and their giggles.
The children in today’s school were so little that we dared not attempt to corral them into a circle made
of rope and sat them in a circle of chairs instead. It was a challenge enough to get them to understand that they had to pass it, not throw it, to the person next to them. After a little practice, however, they caught on. With time to spare when the game was done we asked if they would like to play again. One little girl said, “No, estamos cansados” – We are tired. We all laughed and decided to play again anyway. Perhaps we should have listened as it appeared their interest waned dramatically through the second round.
We shared our Hyde Park Bear Ministry with these children. Explaining to the teacher that bears just like these sit in our pews at home and that they come to them to assure them of God’s love and healing power, we placed one in each of their hands. We said goodbye as they made their way down the muddy road towards home clutching their little bears and hoped they understood how much love went along with them.
The Hogar Cristiano Nicaragüensa (Nicaraguan Christian Home or HCN) is an on-campus facility that many children used to call home. It now offers the children meals and a safe place to come and do their
homework on weekdays. Normally the children eat their evening meal at home but today we were providing meat pies and baked goods for them and their families. Vanessa, the director of El Ayudante, is proud of her Nicaraguan heritage and wants these families to understand that it is as important to give as to receive. To assist them in doing so, she invited them to come and work with us this afternoon. So side-by-side with these local families we began the project of painting the local women’s clinic. The parents painted as the older children entertained the little ones. One mother wielded a paint brush in one hand while balancing a baby on the opposite hip. No one, not even the HCN director in his business casual attire, gave a thought to the possibility of paint on their clothing. They simply picked up a brush and we worked in unison. I believe I speak for all of us when I say that this was the most gratifying work experience of this week.
We then walked back to the HNC to serve these families a meal. Arriving ahead of the group, Vicki sat with some of the older girls and, in serpentine fashion, they braided each other’s hair. As the rest of the group arrived they wandered through the house. On one wall of an office they saw that someone had fashioned “Bill Cox” out of pipe cleaners and mounted it on the wall. So his dream, his legacy and his memory are as alive here today, as when he headed home to Tennessee last year.
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