El Proyecto Gerando Vida

The days start at 6am to the sound of my battery-operated alarm clock. Generally, I take a deep breath, stretch my arms and legs as long as possible, and then open eyes and remind myself that I am in N-I-C-A-R-A-G-U-A. I wash my face, put on some clothes, eat my morning oatmeal, and then I am out the door and on my way to Proyecto Generando Vida. During the bus ride, I try and mentally prepare myself for the day. What will I learn? Is my Spanish improving? How will I see God? How many times will I inevitably miscommunicate with someone? How many people will come to the library?

At about 7:30am after passing through the neighborhood streets filled with stray dogs, chickens and pigs, I arrive to the Project and am warmly greeted with kisses and hugs from my co-workers, but we don't waste to much time conversing and jump right into the day's cleaning (sweeping, roping, dusting).

This Project, "Proyecto Generando Vida" (Project Generating Life) is where I spend most of my days. It is run by the Sister of Sion and is comprised of about 25 volunteers (mostly Nicaraguan, with a few international volunteers) that work in the Project's nine programs:

· La biblioteca (library)- This is the program that I work in. Students of ages elementary to college come to “investigate” information and work on homework. Because most of the people in the neighborhood may not have comfortable or even safe home environments to study and concentrate, the library is used as a protected, quiet (well, maybe not always quiet) academic place to complete school work.

· Computación (computer classes)- There is no internet in the project, but the students learn Microsoft Office and other computer software.

· Comedor- Program that allows neighborhood children to come in the morning to receive a lesson and a healthy meal.

· Pharmacy- Because most Nicaraguans don’t have health insurance, this pharmacy allows people to buy medicine at a much discounted, wholesale cost.

· Salud visual (visual health)- This program receives donations of eyes glasses from organizations in the US and Spain and then redistributes them to those most in need.

· Gym- Here you will find very old gym equipment that has been repaired countless times. Margaret, another Jesuit Volunteer (JV) in my community, is working on starting an aerobics program for women in the community.

· Banks- This micro-lending program provides women in the community with very low interest loans to start small business. In this machismo society, most women are not given any control or say in how money is spent, and although many times despite the intentions of the project, the loans might be handed over to the husband, they are strictly given to women in hopes to empower them and allow them to make their own financial decisions.

· Cancer prevention- The project’s newest program that provides women in the community with information relating to cancer prevention. Without knowing the risks and symptoms of both breast cancer and cervical cancer, women in the community are at great risk, not to mention the fact that if cancer is detected little or no treatment may be available.

· Nivelación- Afternoon tutoring program that allows children who attend school in the morning to come and receive extra help. Nicaraguan classrooms in the public schools can have as many as 70 to 80 students, so extra help is almost always needed. Matt, another JV, teaches 6^th grade.

So, throughout the morning as I work busily behind the closed, quiet library doors, all around me my co-workers are also hard at work generating life in the neighborhood through the various programs. The walls of the bathroom are painted with the words PEACE, JUSTICE, SOLIDARITY, LOVE, and FRIENDSHIP, and I have been blessed to experience all these things here.

As noon approaches, my stomach reminds me that I am in need of a break, so we close the library doors for an hour and a half and walk a few blocks to the house where the Sisters of Sion live. Together in good company, about 10 of us sit around a table and gladly eat whatever Doña Elieth has prepared for us that day, usually consisting of a fresh fruit drink and some arrangement of beans and rice, and on a good day she makes her specialty—very delicious eggplant. After the meal we take turns washing the dishes, and I am continually challenged by all that I have to learn from Nicaraguan women…there is no running water in the neighborhood, so for me washing dishes has been a little difficult and definitely humbling washing along side someone who has known no other way their entire life.

The restful break passes quickly, and on the walk back to the library, I see the line already forming of people waiting to enter. But before I know it, the day is almost over because until 5 o’clock I am busy walking around, answering questions, and retrieving books. Unlike libraries in the US, no one is allowed to check books out to bring home or pull books off the shelves except the librarians, which can make my job difficult as I am still learning Spanish as well as the selection of books we have. Also unlike the US, most students are not permitted to bring books home from school, so the majority of the library’s users come to borrow school books to complete their homework.

By 5 or 5:30pm, I am looking out the window at the streets of Managua, as I ride the bus back home. Somehow the day seemed to go by slow and fast at the same time. I think I feel a little farther away from home than the day before. I am learning that there is nothing I can do to make the situation of this country right or fair or just, but at least I know I get to wake up tomorrow and do it all over again.