Employee Bonding July 2011
Every month, all Amigos for Christ staff members come together to
enjoy the company of their fellow colleagues without any work
involved. It is a time solely meant to build the relationships within
the family that is Amigos for Christ and through strengthening these
relationships, enable them to work even more cohesively. This month
the team climbed San Cristobol, the tallest volcano in Nicaragua!
Megan Fitzgerald says about experience as a whole, “ It was really
cool to see everyone help each other to get to the top. The team work
and comradery brought all of the employees closure together.” This
months employee festivities were certainly a hit, who knows what next
months will bring?
Finding Never Never Land at Villa Catalina
After much anticipation, Teatro Catalina’s summer production of Peter Pan has begun rehearsal. The performers have been working hard and will continue to give it their all until July 27 when Never Never Land comes to life on the stage at Villa Catalina. It is rumored that a few Amigos for Christ staff members will be making a special guest appearance as well. So, come and see the legendary adventure of the boy who never wanted to grow up on July 27th or, for those who reside outside of Nicaragua, the play will be available online through the Amigos for Christ website.
To find out more about the Amigos education and nutrition projects, visit http://amigosforchrist.org/education-nutrition.html
Water Flowing Into Every Home
The Amigos for Christ water and sanitation team, along with the many extraordinary missionaries visiting this summer, have made impressive progress on the six-mile water distribution system in El Chonco. Recently, Amigos decided to extend the main line of pipe an additional mile to afford more families clean water. Ultimately our goal is to provide two hundred and seventy-five families with one hundred gallons of clean water that will flow into each individual home on a daily basis. What a difference this water system will make for all the families that spend hours everyday finding and transporting water to their homes from surrounding communities!
To find out more about the Amigos for Christ water and sanitation projects, visit http://amigosforchrist.org/water-sanitation.html
New Dormitory Opens!
High-pressure showers, ceiling fans, and devotional under the rancho: these are things that we Amigos only dream about here in Nicaragua. But starting next year, these dreams will come to life at the new Amigos property. Considerable progress has already been made with the completion of the community bathrooms, boy’s dormitory, and rancho! Currently, the kitchen and girls dormitory are being built and the project as a whole is expected to be complete by the end of 2012.
El Chonco Feeding Center
After breaking ground less than a month ago, the future feeding center for the students of El Chonco Primary School is off to a great start. This feeding center will be providing a healthy lunch to the malnourished students in the village of El Chonco and provide incentive for them to attend school. Our diligent workers are ushering in change fast as they begin to lay the foundation of the place that will one day feed many.
To find out more about the Amigos education and nutrition projects, visit http://amigosforchrist.org/education-nutrition.html
Exercise in El Chonco
Yesterday, our new sports and wellness intern, Alex Olney, led a group of Nicaraguan women and American missionaries in an exercise class. Having little knowledge of this type of physical activity, the Nicaraguan women giggled as the Americans showed them how to properly execute jumping jacks and frog leaps. Jamming out to great music at the local pool hall in El Chonco, many bystanders gathered around to watch as all the participants broke a sweat together.
To find out more about the Amigos health care missions, visit http://amigosforchrist.org/health-care.html
Tannery Row + Amigos for Christ = Art
Amigos for Christ struck gold this week with an incredibly talented group of visiting artists from the Tannery Row Artist Colony in Buford, Georgia. Five women with an array of artistic skill sets have generously donated their time to paint a mural that will grace the exterior wall on the warehouse at the new Amigos for Christ property. Among the colorful images that have been painted so far, are scenes that embody our six different areas of development.
To find out more about Tannery Row Artist Colony, visit http://tanneryrowartistcolony.com, or check out their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tannery-Row-Artist-Colony/135519649824269?ref=ts&sk=wall
Judith Surowiec depicts Amigos for Christ's Pay it Forward Program
Henry the Hand Educates in El Chonco
As the medical team kicked off what will surely be another great summer, the excited new interns prepared a health presentation for the women and children today in El Chonco. Emphasizing the importance of hand washing, Brittany and Molly used glitter to touch all the children, leaving behind sparkly remnants in order to demonstrate how quickly germs can spread. Next, Molly reviewed the five steps of how to properly wash one’s hands, using a giant poster of Henry the Hand for assistance. To further engage the community of women and children in the presentation, the interns prepared a song in Spanish that addresses all the different occasions when hand washing is necessary.
To find out more about the Amigos for Christ health care efforts, visit http://amigosforchrist.org/health-care.html
A fresh start to an incredible year!
“Swish, swish, swish, TING!” The terrible sound resonated through the shovel. Three shovelfuls of dirt thrown to the side of the ditch sucessfully, and then suddenly– a fail- we’ve struck a rock. A crowd of workers from the community El Chonco gathers around, and we begin to overcome this obstacle in our way. Our hopes of it just being a small rock were dashed as we began to dig further, realizing that we may be uncovering Mt. Everest beneath the Chonco dirt. A half hour later we removed a boulder that, in my opinion, was roughly the size of a small sumo wrestler. (Ok, ok, ok, maybe just a small child, but you get the idea). After this feat, I was ready to rest (and maybe rest for days), but the Nicaraguans shrugged their shoulders and got back to work. “We’re moving forward for water,” one said, and another piped in, “Water to wash off all this dirt!” They erupted into laughter, and then got right back to the job.
Since January, this has been a familiar scene. Over the past few months, groups from Texas, California, Mississippi, and Georgia have worked alongside of families from the community El Chonco to provide a water system that will run to each home. They’ve plundered through the community taking out rocks and dirt to lay a line of pipe. We come home each day covered head to toe in dirt, full of energy and life. Our days at Chonco have been incredible, building relationships along with water systems, providing hope along with clean water, and making memories along with ditches. Thanks to these amazing and dedicated groups from all around the States, we’ve been able to complete over half of our water system. Can’t wait to continue on for the rest of spring!
To find out more about our water project and how you can be a part of it, visit http://www.amigosforchrist.org/water-sanitation.html.
Kasey O'haren reads to children of Chonco after a long day's work
Pay it Forward benefits 110 families in 2010!
2010 was another successful year for our Pay it Forward Animal program as we were able to benefit 110 families with cows, pigs, and chickens. Over the next year, these families will be able to reproduce their animals and return their young to us so we can benefit more families.
This past fall, Santos Rios from the community of Las Brisas received 10 chickens and 1 rooster. She was able to not only improve the diet of her family, but has also started a thriving egg business that has boosted her household income. Jose Santos’ family in Mina de Agua has been enjoying milk and cheese daily since receiving their cow in July. Last week we visited Victorino Osabas in Miguel Cristiano who is looking forward to selling some of his new piglets at the market for $25 each. The others he plans to maintain until they are older and can fetch more money at the m
arket.
In 2011, we hope to be able to increase the scope and scale of the Pay it Forward program. We are looking forward to handing out 30 cows, 990 chickens, and 25 pigs for a total of 145 families benefitted throughout the year.
Thank you to all of our supporters who continue to make these successes possible!
