GROW internship 2011, Siuna Nicaragua - Week One

After much ado--hello from Nicaragua! Amos and I have been having an amazing time so far and have so much to tell (unfortunately, our opportunities to use the internet have been somewhat scattered). As an overview, we are here in Siuna, Nicaragua working with our partner Salud Sin Limites on a "huerto comunitario" (community garden) in Las Quebradas, a nearby rural village. Let me go ahead and say--although I´ve loved our experiences in Durham, this garden is practically nothing like SEEDS!

This week, our plan was to spend two days in Siuna, getting to know the Salud Sin Limites office and the area, and then three days working in the garden in Las Quebradas. Because Las Q is so far away (approximately 40 miles, an hour and a half drive) we stay in the house for medical personnel behind the health center there. However, the night before we were supposed to leave, my stomach decided there would be a change of plans. You know how they always tell you not to eat street food? Really don´t. The family I was staying with wanted it for dinner, and to avoid looking like a spoiled American, I joined them, despite all warnings. About an hour or so later, while packing my bags for Las Quebradas, the carne asada that I shouldn´t have eaten came back up. I thought that was the end of it, and went to cool off in front of the fan in the living room, only to realize that Ligia´s little girl had gotten sick too! We sat nursing ourselves back to health until I felt okay enough to sleep. In the middle of the night, however, the saga continued--and Ligia told me I should go to the hospital.

Now, earlier that day we had had a tour of Siuna, starting with the hospital. There are only two doctors, a limited number of nurses, and zero bathrooms there. Dogs were sleeping on the patio in front of the farmacia. Conditions are so far from what you´d expect anywhere in the US. So when Ligia said the h-word, I got a little bit scared. But finally, after consulting my dad, I decided he was right: better a third world hospital than none at all. Juan picked the three of us up--Ligia, her daughter, and me--in the Salud Sin Limites truck, and we rushed over. It was an experience different from any medical visit I´ve ever had, if nothing else because it was extremely fast. They put me on an examining table with bloodstains still on it, and when I set my things on the floor Ligia moved them, saying there was too much bacteria. So much that we take for granted! They gave me a simple injection to stop the vomit, but I was a little afraid the whole time. I kept asking if the needles were clean, and when I explained to Ligia that I was just nervous because the hospital I´m used to at Duke is so different, she replied, "These are our conditions." Definitely an eye-opening experience from the health perspective!

We finally got to work on the garden Friday (there was a meeting on Thursday and I stayed in Siuna to regain my strength Wednesday) and it´s been incredibly rewarding so far. Amos and I used machetes! A big first for both of us. Since we didn´t do a very good job with them (the adults had to clear the land after us and the children, ha) we spent most of our time "raking." By raking I mean using forked sticks to collect all the underbrush that we had just macheted, a process called desbasurando. Got a good core workout--looks like this trip will jumpstart my new summer exercise routine, haha. After we were exhausted from working 3 hours, Fabian (from SSL) asked us, "jugamos?" And so we began a game of futbol (soccer!) in the middle of a cow field. We hit the cows from time to time, to their chagrin, and almost everyone stepped in cowpies (although the barefoot kids didn´t care at all!), but the game was so fun that I almost forgot about all the excrement and how tired I was. I remembered when I got back to the house to take our siesta, which wasn´t nearly long enough.

The children are wonderful there, and think we are just the funniest thing they´ve ever seen. One of the babies literally sat and laughed at me during the entire 2 hour meeting we had when we got there! They´ve been so fun to spend time with though, and I can´t wait to write more once we get to know them better. Oh, and my dad would be happy to hear that they LOVED the rocket balloons he made me take with me :).

As always, GlobeMed love--

April

PS- The internet here is incompatible with both images and video :( so those will have to wait until we get back, sadly!