Wow. Month one has flown by and I am sitting here trying to remember everything that happened! Here’s a brief recap:
1. Lots of farming. We planted banana trees, created paths, planted gardens, expanded water pipelines on the farm, cut down moringa trees to be harvested. Something incredible that my squad was able to accomplish (for the first time ever, and they’ve been trying for six years!!) is create a vitamin pill from moringa plants on campus. They will be given out to the community to combat calcium and iron deficiencies in many of the locals! This included BUILDING A SICK CONTRAPTION to dry the leaves in. My teammates are so rad.
2. Prayer walking. It was so fun to walk around the community and get to know the locals and their family. We bought mangos from local vendors and got to pray for everyone who we came in contact with! We prayed for job opportunities, healing and for the Nicaraguan government to finally be at peace.
3. Visiting hospitals, nursing homes and jails. We also went to the dump where people sort through trash to make a living and served meals.
4. Investing in the REAP staff. We gave the kitchen ladies a break by cooking and doing dishes as well as treating and pampering them to a spa day.
5. Basketball ministry. We had men on campus learning how to play basketball during the days and scrimmaging at night. It might not seem like a big deal, but a lot of men in Nicaragua are unemployed and gang violence was incredibly high in the neighborhood before REAP started investing in sports ministry. It provided a way for men to come together and have healthy competition and fellowship.
6. A few of us supported the local library and became friends with Marisela, the kind woman who runs it all by herself!
Heres a video to sum up all the joy we had this past month! ENJOYYY!
