This blog is for the friends and family of Kimberly Cook, RN who want to follow her adventures serving at Nueva Vida Clinic in Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua. Welcome!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Un Dia en la Vida

I have been here for over a week now, and am beginning to become accustomed to how incredibly different it is from home. My typical weekday is as follows:
Wake up at 6:00 or 6:30, depending upon whether or not I am working out in the AM. Work out using a Jillian Michaels work out DVD while sweating profusely due to the high humidity, although the mornings are much cooler than the rest of the day. Hop in the shower (the shower walls are composed of stone and cement, and the shower and bathroom floor is very dirty. I hope to scrub it this weekend!) Additionally, our shower curtain is basically two big pieces of plastic connected at the top, so water escapes easily from the shower onto the bathroom floor. I also hope to buy a different shower curtain this weekend at the grocery store. After showering and putting on my scrubs, I take some time to pray to refocus and surrender my day to God. Then, I make coffee (the coffee we have at the dorm is REALLY good because it is from a farm in the mountains who belongs to the farming Co-op here at Center for Development in Central America-CDCA) and usually eggs, toast (yummy homemade bread that is delivered weekly), and fruit. There are various types of fruit here and Nicaraguans are famous for their fruit juices. A couple of times a week, the women who work here at CDCA make fresh fruit juice that is incredibly delicious.

At around 8am, it is time to drive to the clinic. We take one of the three available 'ambulancias', old Nicaraguan ambulances that were donated to CDCA. Their names are 'Vieja' (old woman), '98', and '2000'. They are all basically dirty, old Land Cruisers with mechanical transmission and two bench seats in the back. Felicia, the volunteer coordinator, is teaching Leah (another long term volunteer) and me how to drive the stick shift. We are learning on the Vieja because the gears are very easy to differentiate. I did really well during my first lesson this Monday, thanks to all of my experience shifting gears while riding dirtbike on Grandma and Grandpa Cook's farm! Driving through Nueva Vida, where the clinic is located, is quite the experience. As I mentioned before, it is the rainy season here in Nicaragua and the roads are covered with potholes, many of them large enough for a truck to get stuck in if the driver doesn't accelerate sufficiently! Yesterday, it poured for most of the morning, and when we drove back to CDCA for lunch, the streets were literally flooded with water. The people had to walk through dirty, moving water that was deeper than their ankles. Of course, the kids were playing in the water pouring out of pipes in the low areas of Nueva Vida. It was quite a sight to witness!


The clinic walls were recently painted by a well-known artist from Managua, and are very beautiful. The clinic is a sanctuary for me and for others in the midst of a very poor city.
Nila (far left in the photo), the woman who cleans the clinic, makes the coffee, organizes, and makes us all smile, is wonderful at keeping the clinic spic and span despite all of the mud and dust that gets stomped in. Henri works as a medical tech in the clinic. He is a former war medic and is very talented with wound care and injections (he uses a little lidocaine to take away some of the sting). He always has a 'chiste' (joke) for everyone and keeps me laughing. He also loves to educate me about Nicaragua's past and present, the healthcare system, and Nicaraguan culture and medical sayings. Danelia(far right) is the angel of the clinic and basically runs the place. She has worked there for ten years, is very knowledgeable, and knows how to get things done. Additionally, she is a lot of fun and an incredibly sweet woman with a strong faith in God.

It is getting late and I need to get some sleep, but I hope to finish the rest of 'un dia en la vida' within the next couple of days to give you a more complete picture of a day in my life. ¡Hasta luego! (Until later!)

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

I'm here!

I wanted to post an update and inform you all that I am here safely and getting adjusted little by little. The flight and car ride to Ciudad Sandino went well. The volunteer coordinator, along with two of the organization founders' teenage son, picked me up at the airport. There were no issues getting through customs and my bags didn't even get searched! I was allowed two checked bags 50 lb. maximum each and one carry-on, and my bags were 49.5 and 50.0 pounds!) The drive from the airport to the Jubilee House Community in Ciudad Sandino was a cultural lesson in and of itself. Many stop signs are disregarded, there are cars swerving in and out of traffic, and street vendors sell trinkets, juice, and food at traffic lights as they stand in the middle of the street between lines of traffic. There are plenty of motorcycles and even some horse drawn carts. The highway that we take from Managua to Ciudad Sandino runs east-west along Lake Managua, then northeast from Managua (up a big hill- you are entering into mountainous territory) into Ciudad Sandino. Ciudad Sandino is located about 10km northeast of the city center of Managua.
Managua is very poor, Ciudad Sandino is a very poor part of the greater Managua area, and Nueva Vida is the poorest area within Ciudad Sandino. While Ciudad Sandino began as a resettlement community for Managuans after the major earthquake in 1972, Nueva Vida is the most recent resettlement community designated by the Nicaraguan government after Hurricane Mitch struck in 1998. The clinic where I am working is located in Nueva Vida. The streets of Nueva Vida are paved with cinderblock type pavement, but because it is the rainy season, the streets are covered in dirt and have huge potholes filled with mud puddles. The people's homes are sided with makeshift wood, which leaves huge gaps in the siding, and tin roofs. They usually have one sink, which is located outside on the porch, and the water is filled with bacteria due to the substandard plumbing.
Good news - I am living in a dorm type facility with a great system for purifying drinking water, indoor plumbing, and intact walls and ceilings. I have my own room with a queen sized bed (and a real mattress, although very old), cement floors and walls, a nightstand, a good fan, an overhead light and a lamp, and screened windows through which I can hear the rain, insects, birds, dogs, and monkeys (yes, we do have 2 monkeys here on the property!) The food is WONDERFUL. We ate black bean enchiladas last night complete with scallions, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, olives, and cheese. It was one of the other long term volunteers' birthdays yesterday, so we had chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting for dessert (AMAZING!)
Well, that's it for tonight...I'm really tired and am headed to bed soon. More to come soon!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

One week and a day...

I leave for Nicaragua in one week and a day. I am incredibly excited. I went through a period of time a few weeks ago during which I was SCARED. I kept thinking and dwelling on the unknowns and uncertainties. I wondered how I would communicate adequately with the Spanish speaking physicians and patients, since I am an intermediate Spanish speaker? What if I have health problems while I am there? How will I adapt to the culture and language? How will I deal with changes in independence? Will I become close friends with anyone there? How will I finish everything I need to by the time I leave? At times, these insecurities consumed me and I lost focus on my Lord.
In the book My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers states, "Keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you round the obstacle or remove it". The most difficult part for me is to keep focused on the Source, the One who has called me. I had to remind myself time and time again to remain in the Source. Trust and submit to the One who is faithful and has called you by name. Slowly, I worked through the fears and insecurities while continually reminding myself to fix my eyes upon Jesus. And now, God has blessed me with an attitude of peace and trust. Although I do not know all of the details, God is always with me. He will never leave me nor forsake me. There will be difficulties, yet the One who has called me is faithful.
I am excited. I cannot wait to meet my hosts at CDCA as well as the Nicaraguan people I will come into contact with. I am reading a memoir called The Country Under My Skin by Gioconda Belli. She is Nicaraguan that was heavily involved in the Revolution in Nicaragua during the 1970's. I am soaking up her story and the story of the Nicaraguan people who have survived natural disaster, injustice, poverty, and conflict. I am excited to get to know people who grew up in a place so different from my own and who have different experiences. I also recently watched a movie called Sin Nombre (Without Name). It is in Spanish and has optional English subtitles. This movie tells the stories of a teenage Honduran girl and a Mexican young man and their subsequent meeting and travels together. It is an eye-opening movie and one that I highly recommend.
During my stepdad's surprise birthday party last night, I spent some time with family. I couldn't help but think about how I won't be seeing them again for a long time, and how thankful I am for such supportive, wonderful people in my life. As I take hot showers and sleep in my large, comfortable bed, I thank God. As I eat foods such as dried cherries, granola, blueberries, and chocolate brownies, I am thankful for the abundance of food I have had all of my life. Although I won't be eating many dried cherries and chocolate brownies, sleeping in a large and comfortable bed, or taking long hot showers in Nicaragua, I have no doubt that it will be worth it. I will learn and grow in numerous ways, and will appreciate these blessings even more when I return home. I will be able to more fully understand what poverty means and our responsibilities towards the poor as Christ followers. I will see God alive and at work in the people that I meet, and God will teach me so much through them.
In closing, Confucius said, "wheresoever you go, go with all your heart". I say, "Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart, and go with God". God is already in Ciudad Sandino. Yet I can choose each day to abide in the Lord or to go my own way. I will strive to go with God.