Nicaragua: Day 3 (Part C)

We also provided a small worship service of healing and communion. We were welcomed so joyfully and it was a great service. Here are some pictures from that. There is one sideways on here, because I haven't figured out how to turn it around. This boy was always up jumping and singing with the group. As soon as they said they were reading from the Bible, he opened up his Bible and turned to the page to follow along. I captured that image here.









Also, we were able to play with some of the kids here, and here they are. They loved to take the photographs too. Cute kids.

Nicaragua: Day 3 (Part B)

Triage: Braulio, one of our AMAZING interpreters, provided triage. He asked what they had concerns with and then directed them to the appropriate place.


Here's Dr. Alan with a patient.


Here's Dr. Ralph with a patient.


And, Debbie, the eye doctor, was able to provide glasses to sooo many people! What a blessing!


Thank goodness we had a chiropractor, Dr. Richard. He helped them, but he also adjusted us when we needed it! Thank you Richard!



We provided medical care for the patients at the facility. We were blessed to have two medical doctors, a dentist, an optometrist, and a chiropractor. We work a well-oiled machine by the end of the week. Each set up is different. But here are some photo's of the set up.

Nicaragua: Day 3 (Part A)

Monday was the day we went to the Rehab Center outside of Matagalpa. It took us 2 hours to get there, but the distance wasn't bad, it was the condition of the roads. Here are some photo's of the travel up there, one of the place, and a few of banana trees on site. This Rehab facility is very basic, but people go to get help for addiction to drugs, alcohol, prostitution as well as glue sniffing. We were the first group to offer medical care to the rehab facility. It was beautifully situated in the mountains, nearby was a beautiful waterfall that we could hear, unable to see. They had some of the coolest people!

Nicaragua: Day 2 (Part B)

Sunday night was a nice dinner at a beautiful resort outside of Matagalpa. It's called Selva Negra. We walked around and took pictures through the forest, walked through a beautiful chapel, and listened to the animal noises while eating on the lakeside. Here are a few of my favorites from the evening. The picture with the small white flower and brownish bean looking thing is actually a coffee plant. This is what it looks before it starts the harvesting process.

Nicaragua: Day 2 (Part A)

Once we landed in Managua, we drove to Matagalpa. The drive took about 2-3 hours to get to the other town. Matagalpa was the town we stayed in for the week, at a wonderful hotel. It was a nice, open air hotel with the most beautiful trees, flowering plants, etc. We had fresh breakfast and dinner at the hotel each day. We usually ate lunch at the site we were working at during the week. Here are a few pictures of the town of Matagalpa.

We had the chance to walk around town a little before church on Sunday morning. This is a picture taken looking up the hill.



This is the First Baptist Church of Matagalpa. We had worship service there in the morning, ate lunch and were able to get to know some of the congregation as well.



Sunday afternoon was spent sorting, counting, labeling, sorting, counting, labeling, sorting, counting, labeling all the medical supplies and medicine that we brought with us. It was loads of fun. What I didn't know at this time, was that I would be sorting, counting, and labeling for the week too. I worked in the pharmacy with a few others. Here are some pictures of us preparing on Sunday afternoon.

Nicaragua: Day 1

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Faith United Methodist Church from Tulsa, Oklahoma flew to Managua, Nicaragua to begin the Medical Mission. These are a few pictures from this first day. I'm sitting next to my little brother and little sister on the airport baggage holder-thingy. Whatever it's called, it was comfortable for a picture. The other picture is from the airport as well, and it's the entire group that went to Nicaragua, except one guy we picked up in Houston on the layover. My entire family came to see me off at the airport, and it was a wonderful time. Thanks for coming you guys! The first day went really well, and we had a wonderful time flying down to Nicaragua. The flight was short to Houston, and we went right to the gate and hopped on the next plane to Nicaragua. We had the chance to watch the most recent James Bond movie, but I didn't watch it. I listened to the cool music instead.

Off to Nicaragua...

Tomorrow I'm headed to Nicaragua for a short medical mission trip. We will be working with a program called El Ayudante, and helping the communities in medical areas. I'm super excited, even though I don't have exact details on what we will be doing. However, I know we will be in Matagalpa, Nicaragua and the surrounding communities that have a need for medical care. Our team of 16 includes two doctors, optometrist, dentist, physical therapist, and many other people. We are very excited and anxiously awaiting our arrival. It will be my first time in Nicaragua, so I'm excited about that. We will be able to eat at this wonderful place called Selva Negra, which I hear is wonderful. It will be a wonderful break from the day to day work and life experiences here in Oklahoma, a refresher for my spiritual and general well-being. I've finished packing everything, and have my outfit all ready to go tomorrow! I'm looking forward to it, and I'll blog about it when I return.

Together let us seek the heights.

Hera Day: On March 1 of each year, members recognize the Fraternity’s commitment to helping others by conducting service projects and offering assistance to others.

Let me tell you a little about Alpha Chi and what it means to me. Some of you know, some of you may not know (not that anyone reads this thing, though). I went to school at Oklahoma City University for two years before transferring to Oklahoma State University. A major part of my college career was a result of my joining Alpha Chi Omega. It's neat to think back of how that has changed my life. I made some of the best friends in the world, had some fun parties, wore cute little dresses (and I was much skinnier then), and made memories to last a lifetime. Here's to you, Alpha Chi.

The Symphony of Alpha Chi Omega
To see beauty even in the common things of life
to shed the light of love and friendship round me
to keep my life in tune with the world that I shall make no discords in the harmony of life
to strike on the lyre of the universe only the notes of happiness, of joy, of peace
to appreciate every little service rendered
to see and appreciate all that is noble in another
be her badge what it may
and to let my lyre send forth the chords of love, unselfishness, sincerity.
This is to be my symphony.
By Celia McClure

The faces of Kate...

A few of my very precious Kate. I can't believe that she's almost 3. It seems like yesterday I woke up to the news of having a brand new niece. My, how lucky I am to have her in my life. She's the most wonderful thing I could have asked for. I love my Kate.

The faces of Will...

A few of my favorites of my bright-eyed, funny, loving, and face-making nephew.

A few of my favorites...

Same weekend in Texas, and a few of my favorites.


Brother and Sister


Kate on the swingset, with hair blowing in the wind...



Will climbing on a side table...cute.



Kate in pigtails! Adorable!

Will's 1st Official Haircut

I went to visit the kids last weekend in Texas for an extended weekend. (Another wonderful benefit of working for the State Department of Education) Since I was there, we decided to take Will for his first official haircut. I think he enjoyed it. No tears, which I understand is a difficult feat with 1 year olds. It's funny though, I didn't think he had that much hair, but I realize he did have a lot of hair, and he looks like a little boy now! Oh, he's so cute. Here are a few pics pre-haircut, haircut, and post-haircut. Enjoy.


Sitting on the couch waiting to go...I think we were waiting for Kate to go potty first!


At the place...notice wet hair, but NO tears!



Hanging out at the sink. Will loves to play in the sink!



Look at that profile view...an adorable haircut! Too bad he is trying to get a straw in a cup without a strawhole! Poor guy!

The way to break a heart...

This will be short. I hope to write more soon.

I recently started volunteering at the Youth Shelter for abused and neglected children. Now, if you need a heart-wrenching experience, this is what you need. Be forewarned, it's difficult. Now, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change a thing about it. But it's sad. It's so very sad.

Today was my second day there, and the second one I left in tears. I must do something. So, I'm working on the empty bedroom and will try to get it fixed up and ready to go. I'm calling the Foster Placement office tomorrow. I've got to start the parenting classes and see what lies ahead.

Cutest, most adorable, precious children. I don't know HOW people hurt children. I haven't ever been this close to child abuse and neglect. There were some of the same kids at the shelter today as there were on Thursday. A great little four year old girl that wouldn't leave my lap on Thursday was still there, with her little brother. I walked in her room after nap and she was sitting on the edge of the bed. She saw me and jumped up and ran to give me a hug, "Miss Emily, I missed you so much." We had a good time, played, colored, read books, watched television, etc. I was needing to leave, and I told her I needed to grab my purse to go. She grabbed ahold of me by my sweater sleeves, started sobbing "Please don't go, please don't go." I told her I had to leave, but that I would be back, and if she was there I'd read to her again and we would have a good time. I got my purse and leaned down to give them hugs...and she cried some more "Just take me with you, ppppllllllleeeeeeeeeassssseeeeee", then her brother cried some more and they struggled to let me leave. Now, these were just the two of the kids....there were others, and before I knew it about 5 were crying when I left. No other way to break my heart, no other way.

Now, I'm laying down in my bed tonight to sleep, curled up with my dog that I love and the cat that I love too. Knowing full and well, the life of those children will never be the same and they have profoundly been changed by the bad things, and I pray that a good three hours every few days with a good person like me, will make a little difference. God, Dear God, I pray for the hearts of those kids sleeping tonight with 20 other children on little toddler beds in a cold house in Tulsa. Bless their souls now and forever.

Because I Said So...

I ventured out to the movie theater this afternoon...oh, how refreshing it was to see a great heart-warming movie. I laughed so much. I would guess that 90% of the theater-goers were female, as heard by their laughter. It was wonderful. It's a good movie to see with sisters, or mothers and daughters, or just a group of girl friends. Definitely recommend it! Ignore the film critics, they're wrong.

Overbearing mom: Is it crazy for me to want her to have one healthy relationship in her life?
Helpful daughter (sister): Stop being a helicopter mom, you're hovering.

It's very much worth it....for more information go to the website.

Exercise Suicide

Well, I've been trying to get back in gear with working out for the new year! Yeah me. (It's much harder than it sounds.) See, I'm not a morning person, so I can't get up earlier to work out. Then, I'm typically either too tired from the day or working late that I don't go in the evening. Which means, I'm not following my goal of working out. So, I've started doing some fun classes. I work out better in groups of people, so it helps to have accountability.

I love the abs class, the pilates class, piyo strength (combo pilates and yoga), as well as other general workout classes. I've also aspired to take Hip Hop and Salsa... however my hips don't move so well these days. All has gone well, except for today....I think I committed exercise suicide. I attempted to do one hour class, short abs class, and then to try SPINNING. Now, I couldn't even finish the class, and I felt much like a failure, but I'd like to think that I would have been successful if I would have done spinning only, rather than three classes in one night.

If anything, I learned that spinning is rather difficult. I don't know HOW people sit on that small little seat without it hurting..I may have extra body fat, but not enough on my rear to make the bicycle seat comfortable.

Oh well, life goes on....regular classes tomorrow.

Until later,