I am happy to report that the last of the Nebraska contingency of the medical mission trip is home, at last. Dean & I got back to Columbus just before 1:30 this morning and Sue & Karl would have made their way to Lincoln before that.
Our day of travel yesterday on Little Corn Island started by arising around 5:00 AM to be ready to walk to the other side of the island. We followed a teenage boy who carried our bags in a wheelbarrow to the dock where we hopped on a panga (water taxi) to take us back to Big Corn Island where we would catch a plane back to Managua. We were about 5-10 minutes away from landing when the motor cut out. We spent a couple minutes bobbing around in the ocean till the driver was able to get it going and we crawled the rest of the way in.
We flew to Managua, had something to eat and a couple hours later got on our flight to Miami. Everything is going very smoothly at this point. We got through customs and immigration & picked up our bags and were very pleased how well the day was going. We were going to be leaving for Dallas when the pilot mentioned over the loud speaker that there would be a short delay because a light needed to be changed. We knew we were going to have a tight commection in Dallas so that was a bit worrisome. A half hour later we leave and we're all hoping that they hold the plane for us especially because, by this time, we had heard Dallas was going to have bad weather move in there and Omaha was expected to get 9-12" of snow during the night & Thurs. morning. Well, we ran to the gate and were hearing last call for boarding to Omaha for "the party of 4". We made it on with NO time to spare. So needless to say, we're happy to be home!!
What an amazing 2 weeks we had. Our medical mission trip was awesome. The need in Puerto Cabezas and the surrounding region is so huge and the work seems never-ending. We can only touch so many people in the short time we're there but we do what we can and the people are so appreciative. The "Dennis' " are why we keep going back. I haven't had time to read the other blogs but his story is somewhat different that what I reported earlier. Apparently, he & his caretaker felt they had to lie (not really sure why because he still has a very sad story) in order for him to get medical care. But his mother is alive but kicked him out of the home because of his disfigurement from his cleft lip. His dad is dead but the stepdad beat him. Thank goodness for the wonderful man who took him in and took the time to seek out care for him. It was said that he would be going to the orphanage to live but can't because he & his caretaker would get in trouble in the village they live in. Instead, they will return and discuss it all with the elders of the village and hopefully Dennis will get permission to go and live there.
How Dennis got treatment is a miracle in itself. He & Enus (sp?), the caretaker, traveled to Puerto Cabezas but didn't know how to find the hospital. They were wandering the streets when one of the nurses from the hospital (Alice, who was a huge help to us during the week) took a different way to work that morning to the hospital and saw them. She saw his cleft lip & immediately took them under her wing and got them to the hospital and then he was brought to the compound to see the doctors for evaluation. From there everything moved very quickly and Dennis had surgery that day. Can you imagine how scared this poor boy was having a bunch of strangers flashing lights in his face, to see his mouth and palate, taking pictures, sticking him with needles and hauling him to surgery only to wake up from the surgery in pain with his face so swollen? But he was the best patient and we can only hope he can have a somewhat "normal" life, whatever that could be for him.
I could go on and on with stories of our time in Nicaragua but there's too many to tell. We were very busy so didn't have the time to blog a lot but hopefully we were able to give you a peek into what we did and why we do what we do. We have many pictures and will post some. Stay tuned for more. Thanks for following our story and keeping us in your prayers. We hope to return to Nicaragua next year! Carolyn
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