Objective Observer

As many of you may very well be aware, Nicaragua’s presidential elections will be held this coming November. Just like back home in the US, campaigning starts early. There are television and radio commercials as well as political posters plastered everywhere (i.e. the health center, mayor’s office, and police station). This is interesting because back home, it is against the law for government institutions to post political propaganda. The current president, Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista party, is running for re-election and the political climate here in El Rosario is super supportive of him. The Casa Sandinista here is quite active and those who work within the organization are also leaders within the community. We’ve met a few of them in the past month through our work here.

A couple of Saturdays back, these community leaders along with the Casa Sandinista held a big activity in the park to rally political support for President Ortega. It was quite the event with big signs, balloons, lots of music, several dance performances, and of course speeches by the mayor and local party leaders. Most of the town attended and of course we did too, but only for a bit. We couldn’t help being curious and were certainly entertained by all the performances. Obviously my favorite part was the dance performance!

It will be interesting to observe the progression of the electoral process as we draw closer to November. Stay tuned!

La Dalia and the Lookout Tower

Today we all went to a community about an hour and a half away called La Dalia. We gave charlas about nutrition during pregnancy and risk factors during pregnancy to a group of seven pregnant women. For most of the women, this pregnancy is their first child. The youngest pregnant woman was fifteen years old. The rest were in their early to mid twenties. We asked a few of the girls if they had names picked out yet for their babies and only one or two had thought of a name. Apparently most Nicaraguan babies are not named until well after they are born. This casa materna was really nice with its own garden and nice meeting room. There is a picture above of the garden and of a really nice mural there as well.

After the charlas, we had lunch a little place nearby. I had grilled chicken, beans, rice, cabbage salad, and a fried plantain. Delicious! We noticed that a man sitting at the table next to us didn’t finish all the food on his plate. So he gestured to a kid outside on the street to come in, sit down, and finish his food. Our hearts melted and we followed suit. When we put another plate in front of the little boy, he gestured to two more kids to come inside. Those three children inhaled the food. We haven’t encountered many hungry children yet in our training. Though it is something we may see often in service. Some towns here in Nicaragua have places called Comedores Infantiles, where children can go have a free meal if their family is unable to provide one.

After lunch, we toured La Dalia’s brand spanking new hospital. It was indeed beautiful and not quite fully moved into yet. I think the highlight of the tour were the newborns. We met a baby that was literally born yesterday J. However, it is important to note that there was NO soap in ANY bathroom.

Then it was a long, rocky, winding car ride back to San Ramon. My roommates and I took a quick descansito and then hiked up to the lookout tower on the hill above our hotel. The picture above looks down over the town of San Ramon.

We found out tonight that instead of staying here in San Ramon for another night, we are going to Esteli to meet up with the rest of our MCH group. All of us are looking forward to this because the word on the street is that the hotel there has hot water. Keep your fingers crossed!