My neighbor has a 3 by 3 tin structure by the road where she makes and
sells tortillas. You can hear her slapping the dough into a perfect
circle, a technique all the woman know here. I’ve “helped” with the
tortilla making a few times in my home & did not have the secret
touch. She works by the open flame in the daily 80-90 degree heat,
making an equivalent of $1 for every 16 sold. So when she called me over
to our barbed wire fence where our land meets and gifted me a tortilla
with melted cheese this morning, you can imagine how immense this act of
kindness felt.
Tesoros de Dios is the only center of its kind here, providing services to children with severe disabilities. All to often our kiddos are out for weeks to months due to pneumonia, another surgery, becoming too fragile to travel, etc. The physical therapists do home visits to check up on these families and I’ve had the pleasure of going with.
I love these home visits because they show me more of Nicaragua, what
life is like here. We visited a 4-year old with a laundry list of
conditions: deaf, blind, feeding tube, seizures, low muscle tone,
fractured leg due to a bone cyst, and a poor blood clotting condition.
Mom welcomes us at the gate. We walk under rows of clothes lines and are
led into a dimly lit room with a bed and tv. Her sweet girl is sleeping
on the bed, as she does most of the day, with a head of beautiful brown
curly hair and a cast one on leg from her thigh to her toes. We ask mom
how she’s been doing and move her daughter’s limbs through passive
range of motion. Once aroused, she loves playing with her hands. We
brought a crunchy cloth book and do hand over hand so she can hold it
and feel it. We tickle her, rub our hands over her arms, legs, and
cheeks and watch her reactions. We want her more stimulated during the
day so she’ll sleep at night rather than the nocturnal pattern she’s
currently on.
This was a mild visit- some stories hit me harder than others. Mostly we try to keep it light and fun - we almost always laugh at some point with the families- between my broken Spanish, the children’s reactions to things (they still have likes and dislikes and have no problem making these known), and whatever else is going on in the house. We visited a little guy with a strong startle reflex, meaning he jumps at loud noises- and his neighbors were watching a soccer game.. need I say more?
I’m learning a lot- more than I can express here- and am so thankful to all of you who made this trip possible!
Tesoros de Dios is the only center of its kind here, providing services to children with severe disabilities. All to often our kiddos are out for weeks to months due to pneumonia, another surgery, becoming too fragile to travel, etc. The physical therapists do home visits to check up on these families and I’ve had the pleasure of going with.
This was a mild visit- some stories hit me harder than others. Mostly we try to keep it light and fun - we almost always laugh at some point with the families- between my broken Spanish, the children’s reactions to things (they still have likes and dislikes and have no problem making these known), and whatever else is going on in the house. We visited a little guy with a strong startle reflex, meaning he jumps at loud noises- and his neighbors were watching a soccer game.. need I say more?
Photos of some kiddos receiving services.
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