Happy, Healthy 2015.

Happy, Healthy 2015. 

Well. The first half of our time as Program Directors is complete - happy 2015 everyone! 

Weird to think how fast it has gone by, but let me tell ya - we have been busy!! While holistic community development is dynamic and diverse, it definitely adds a lot of “to dos” to my list. However, addressing the triple bottom line (people, planet, profit - social profit that is), is our top priority. Having the opportunity to immerse myself into such special communities has been inspiring, challenging, ridiculously fun, and a true blessing. I’ve had so many opportunities to grow as a nurse, an individual, a Spanish speaker, a volunteer, a global citizen. While I came here to give my services and support, I have been given so much more - happiness, acceptance, realizations, friendship, and love. To give is to receive. And to receive is to inspire. 

I have been determined to make a change - at least starting here in the communities in which I work. To partner and listen closely to the needs and assessments of the community- to collaborate and make change. People often forget that it’s the community that knows what change they need, want and can address. Change must start coming from the bottom up- with that it is essential to target community leaders that are excited, passionate, and driven to make a difference. One must look to…women! In a machismo culture ran by men, women are often overlooked and given less opportunity. Inspiring them and educating them on just how powerful they are is critical. And the key to true, ongoing change.

The woman - mom, wife, daughter, sister… Change Agent. To give health and education to a woman is to give her opportunity. And to give her opportunity givers her power. With power comes conflict and with conflict comes change. Being able to protect pregnant woman from illness and provide a healthy pregnancy increases maternal health and decreases child mortality (two of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals goals… three if you include women’s empowerment). This leads to the opportunities of life… offering universal education to all - GIRLS and boys, which opens various, critical doors. 

As you can see, empower the women = empower the family. With a healthy family comes future and hope. I can rant about this forever but I think you get my point - we need to find leaders, namely women, who are passionate and care to change the world. 

…..

Safe to say there is a lot to be done but now that I have established a trustworthy, real, sincere relationship with the community I believe together we can catalyze change. My hope? A field, trash collection system program, health promotion program and an overall healthy Cedro Galán and Villa Guadalupe, the two communities I work in, live in, and now feel I truly belong in. 

Happy, HEALTHY 2015 you all - Feliz Año Nuevo… let’s start making change! 

p.s. - - My New Years' resolution is to blog more! So stay tuned. 

Give Happiness, Give Health, Give Life.

It is appropriate that we opened our second health clinic right before #GivingTuesday, the international day of giving that follows Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The new clinic in Villa Guadalupe has been approved by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health, so we are good to go! The clinic will provide free health consults to all community members who would not have access to health care otherwise. I'm so blessed to be a part of it! To support the clinic by giving to our #GivingTuesday campaign, click here.

Giving Tuesday

My Giving Tuesday photo is about giving kids a safe space to learn and play.  Through my time at Manna, I've come to see what an important resource our building in Cedro Galan, "El Farito," is for our community.  It's a space where we run everything from our English classes, to our clinic, to our exercise classes, to our camp JAM classes. Most importantly, it is safe and clean, unlike most other parts of the community that are littered with trash, glass and even needles.  

I often think about all the times I grew up going to the local community center for swim classes or day camp at the YMCA. Spaces like these are important and meaningful to a happy childhood.  The kids in Cedro Galan would not have access to a safe space within their community without "El Farito," and I'm constantly grateful to be able to run our programs from there.  As Manna grows, we may be able to offer even more safe space to our community in the future!

Click here to give to read more about #GivingTuesday and contribute to this great work!

By Erica Crosley

Generation Health

The past week in Nicaragua has been an exciting one for Cedro Health.  We've started a new round of our Generation class, with 18 new students present for the first lesson. Generation is an education and mentorship program for adolescents wanting to enter the medical field.  We teach classes on everything from major body systems to how to take blood pressure.  

During the first lesson on Wednesday night, our new students were broken up into small groups and learned how to properly find a pulse and calculate a heart rate.  We then segued into our lesson on the cardiovascular system.  During the next lesson on Monday night, we focused focused on the flow of blood from the heart to the body and lungs.  We finally learned how and why doctors use a stethoscope.  Their homework is to take the pulse of five people in their family.  

Generation class is something that never fails to warm my heart.  It's amazing to see a group of eager students give up a weeknight just to learn more about medicine.  As all of us "profes" climbed into the micro full of students to go to class, and they greeted us with huge smiles and hugs as they talked about how excited they were to learn.  As we dropped them off at the end of the night, they said they couldn't wait for the next lesson.

Camino Nuevo

​As someone who’s principal role on the jewelry team is behind the scenes, I found it challenging to establish relationships with the women in the cooperative at first. I help manage Camino Nuevo inventory, and my role mainly deals with material preparation and collection rather than direct interaction with the women. In addition to our primary roles, each PD on jewelry has been assigned one or two different cities in Nicaragua where they visit once a month and investigate potential vendors and different opportunities for selling Camino Nuevo Jewelry on a national level. We are strongly encouraged to take one of the cooperative women with us on our “market surveys” (when we visit our respective cities). Initially, I was somewhat apprehensive about taking a woman with me, especially because my market, Matagalpa, is one of the farthest markets we have, and the trip there and back is a whole day affair.

​Jenny, the woman who volunteered to accompany me, and I met near the bus station at 6:00 a.m. and did not return until 8:30 p.m. that night. Needless to say, it was a very long initial hangout! However, it was also one of my favorite days in Nicaragua. Jenny had only left the city limits of Managua a couple of times, and this trip was her first time to venture this far around herown country. Both of us spent the bus ride marveling at the change in topography, and Jenny continually pointed to the mountains and greenery outside saying, “Mira Katy, WOW!!” After our morning sales-stops, we ate lunch at a quaint Italian restaurant, a cuisine she had never tried before. After lunch we continued visiting different hotels in the city center, and Jenny became increasingly vocal and confident with each new hostel owner we interacted with. Jenny is soft-spoken and can be timid at first, but by the end of the day, I felt like she could be a one-woman show!

It was a privilege to see Jenny experience so much newness, excitement, and challenge in one day, but it was an even greater privilege to get to know Jenny on a personal level. We spent the bus ride back to Managua reminiscing about humorous events of the day, showing each other pictures of our loved ones, and talking about our families, pasts, and hopes for the future. We did not stop talking for three hours, and even at the end of a very long day, I was sad to see it come to an end because I did not want to say bye to Jenny. Since my first trip to Matagalpa, I have enjoyed our jewelry program and other programs in Villa Guadalupe exponentially more. Now for me, VG is not only the community that I work in, it is a place where one of my dear friends resides. I now see Jenny every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and I am grateful that Manna not only espouses relationship-building as one of their core tenets, but that they also grant usactual opportunities to make this happen.