Friday was the first and only full day in Awas Tingni. It
started out very early; the Moorish church in the town ran the bell for morning
prayer at 4:45! Our sleep was broken up in the early morning by the seemingly
hundreds of roosters calling at the sun and in opposition to each other. After
we moved all of our stuff out of the Baptist church and had a quick devotional
time then went to breakfast. Just like every other meal, it was a delicious!
Although it was simply beans and eggs, it was pine pine (Miskito for very
good).Two cooks from the FEI compound came with us to prepare all of our food
while we were in the small rural community. We didn’t miss a single meal while
we were there and ate much better than the members of community did. After
breakfast, we started the water education. Zac, Janelle, and Jared were
involved with the adult classes. Eric, Rachel, Linnet and I lead some classes
for the little children. The kids were adorable!! We understood very little of
each other’s words but that did not stop us from having a blast with them. We
tried to explain to them the broader points of the importance of clean water
but much of the information was totally lost on them. They thought we were
hilarious as we waved our arms about trying to explain the water cycle. Their
smiles were infectious, and their laughter was one of the highlights of the
trip. The lessons for the kids only took about an hour, so with our remaining
time before lunch, the four of us along with Ariela wondered to the more remote
water testing locations. Walking around the village on similar excursions and
living with the community while we were there gave the impression of belonging
to the community and feeling like a part of the everyday life. The sense of
family was palpable in the village. It was a sharp contrast to communities in
the United States where everything is centered around the individual rather
than the group. After we ate lunch, the group teaching returned to the school
to finish their lessons, and the rest of us returned to wondering around the
village and playing with the children. The afternoon was pretty low key; we
hung around the bus and house where we ate. The down time was nice because it
gave us a time to sit and reflect on the trip so far. It also gave us time to
interact more with the kids, playing baseball and soccer with them. The mother
in the house next to ours had her kids pick us oranges for us off their trees! The
orange wasn’t orange though, it was green!! Also, it was delicious. The afternoon waned on as we relaxed and
played with kids. The classes finished and the rest of our group returned. Shortly
after they got back, we had dinner (which was again amazing! Fried yucca, rice,
beans, and fried chicken made a wonderful meal). The Jesus film was shown for
the second night in a row. Since we had seen it the night before and it wasn’t
in English, our group stayed back and hung out on the porch of the house. It
was a fun night filled with conversation and laughter. After the movie we went
to the church and set up our nests for the night. We basically went to bed as
soon as we were all set up. No electricity and the knowledge of a very early
start the next day spurred us to lying down for the night just before 9. It felt
good to sleep. It was a long day where practically every experience was brand
new. I am sure that I speak for all of us when I say that it was a day that I will
never forget filled with lessons that will stick with me throughout the rest of
my life.
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