Stubborn determination to continue dreaming

By: Khelen Rhodes Kuzmovich

“There is nothing quixotic or romantic in wanting to change the world. It is possible. It is the
age-old vocation of all humanity. I can’t think of a better life than one dedicated to passion,
to dreams, to the stubbornness that defies chaos and disillusionment. Our world, filled with
possibilities, is and will be the result of the efforts offered up by us, its inhabitants. Just as life
was a consequence of trial and error, the social organizations that bring us the full realization
of our potential as a species will issue from the ebb and flow of struggles we jointly undertake
across the globe. The future is a construct that is shaped in the present, and that is why to be
responsible in the present is the only way of taking serious responsibility for the future. What is
important is not the fulfillment of all one’s dreams, but the stubborn determination to continue
dreaming. We will have grandchildren, and they will have children too. The world will continue,
and whether we know it or not, we are deciding its course every day.”

Gioconda Belli, The Country Under My Skin: A Memoir of Love and War. NY: Anchor Books,
2003.

Dreaming about the future is difficult, even though it should come easily to me. I can look at my past, at my family and their lives—I can assess my education, my skills, my place in life and on this earth—and I can dream pretty easily about my future. So it was profound to hear the young adult members of the health committee in Las Macias speak of their dreams for the future despite their current reality. Las Macias is a small, poor rural community in the department of Boaco in Nicaragua. The health committee there is made up of individuals who work toward improving the health in their community through the help and training of Project Amos. They educate their community on nutrition, hygiene, preventing anemia and diarrhea, and more. In speaking with the mostly young members of the committee (they are in their late teens and twenties), I had the privilege of hearing about their dreams for the future. Many of these dreams ran along similar themes—getting a university education and learning to speak English. Some wanted to travel to visit family (and to work) in the US or Spain. One young woman dreamed of getting a better education in order to return to Las Macias and help her community develop and improve. Yet no one in Las Macias has ever gone to college. Not many have finished high school (the high school is an hour away by bus so they must have enough money for bus fare and their families must be able to afford for them to go to school rather than work).  It was especially disheartening listening to the young women. Most of them want more out of life than getting married, raising children, and maintaining their households yet the schoolteacher was the only woman in their community currently working outside of her home. And yet they dream. They dream of a different and better future not only for themselves and their families but for their community as well.

When talking to these young adults I had trouble figuring out how to respond. Do I encourage them to keep dreaming, that they can do whatever they set their minds and hearts to? Do I ask them if they are afraid their dreams will never come true? What do I do about my realistic reservations that their lives may not actually get much better? Should they keep dreaming? Or should they resign themselves to enjoying a life like the ones of the majority of the people in their community?

How do we keep dreaming, keep pushing for change against all odds? Who am I to not be able to imagine a better future when these folks, who have no grounds for doing so, are able to dream their dreams? How can we be both realistic and hopeful?

What I love about the above quotation from Nicaraguan author Gioconda Belli is that it applies to both me in my life situation and to the members of the Las Macias community. Belli writes, “What is important is not the fulfillment of all one’s dreams, but the stubborn determination to continue dreaming.” I guess I disagree in some ways with this sentence; I do think the actual fulfillment of dreams is important, especially when those dreams are as simple and vital as being able to provide healthy food for one’s children. It does, however, push me to recognize the importance of being stubborn enough to dream amidst the “chaos and disillusionment.”

Perhaps one way to be in solidarity with the young adults of Las Macias is to keep dreaming on their behalf. Only through being able to imagine a better future can we find the strength and encouragement to work together for change.

Chicken ‘n’ Waffles

By: Justin Thomas

 

Growing up in the southern city of Atlanta, it is not uncommon for me to hear, “I am in the mood for some chicken n’ waffles”. There are many restaurants within the city of Atlanta and throughout the United States where one can go eat an amazing chicken n’ waffle meal. Well a little of over a week ago when I was in Granada, Nicaragua, a few of my classmates and I, along with our professor and
colleagues from Wake Forest Law School, decided to go to a locally infamous waffle restaurant for lunch. This restaurant had all types of waffles. From chocolate waffles to pecan waffles, the menu provided a variety of options from which one could happily choose. I was so excited to see the choices, when suddenly the desire for chicken ‘n’ waffles slapped me right in the face.  I looked the menu up and down
to see if they just happened to have it on their menu. To my disappointment this
delicious staple item that I could easily find in the States was nowhere to found.

 

“Oh no, what shall I do”, was the thought running through my head.

 

Then, like the Saturday morning cartoons, a light bulb went off. I looked on the menu and I saw they offered a chicken sandwich and they offered waffles. With the help from the law professor that accompanied us, I was able to tell the server to use the chicken breast for the sandwich and put it on top of the waffle.
It took the staff a minute to comprehend what I was trying to do, but they were able to comply.  About 15 minutes later the server comes out with chicken n’ waffles just for me.

 

Something as simple as being able to order chicken n’ waffles represents the little things I take for granted in my own culture. The crazy thing is, I was able to introduce a staple dish from my culture to another just because I had a taste for it at that time. But there are other simple things I take for granted–like
free public transportation for students to go to high school so they can further their education. It was sad to find out that Nicaraguans who live in remote villages had no way of getting to high school unless their families could afford the same transportation that comes through the village to pick up the men and take them to the sugar plantations early in the morning.  I had the privilege of meeting a couple of young ladies who desperately wanted to come to the States to attend a university.  How could that desire ever become a reality if they cannot even afford a bus ride to school?   A simple desire for chicken n’ waffles was granted in minutes, and as I reflect on the enjoyment of that one desire, I realized the simple desire for those young ladies to attend high school and a university here in the States is not one that can be met in like fashion. We take for granted so many little things because we are worried about “bigger” things, while at the same time there are people who simply wish they could get a seat on a school bus.

 

We may have problems in our lives but if we started focusing on the little things we have, no matter what we are going through, we will recognize we are truly blessed.  So the next time you put your child on a school bus, or make a special request from a restaurant’s menu (whether it is fast food or five star) take a moment to give thanks for the little things, and pray for those people across this world who would give anything to have some of your same, simply opportunities.

 

Project AMOS

By: Dr. Mark Jensen

Project AMOS (A Ministry of Sharing) signals in its name both its mission and method: from the biblical prophet Amos they take their mission for wholeness and justice for the most vulnerable of society. Their method is to come alongside communities where they are invited and help a community organize and empower itself to set and reach goals of better health for their community. They are also a mission education organization, so they graciously took us along and let us share in this work and learn from them and their partners in community.
The community of Las Macias, in the rural region of Boaco, is about two hours outside Managua. Their community has struggled with high levels of anemia and malnutrition among its children. They have committed to monitor and improve these levels in several ways. This year, AMOS worked with their elected health committee (several of whom are teenagers) to find and use locally available green leaves to add to “tortas,” providing naturally occurring iron and vitamins at no additional expense to families whose access to food is limited in both quantity and quality. (Read more about this project soon on the WFUSD Food and Faith website.) This approach frees the community from dependence on outside agencies to provide packaged vitamins, an approach whose logistics and dynamics are difficult at best.
AMOS team member Alberto (on the right in this picture) led a “workshop” for health committee members, who later spread out and repeated the demonstrations across the village. Don Alberto was a masterful teacher, whose words and actions encouraged fathers and brothers to join sisters and mothers in the work of preparing healthy food for the whole family.
It was a privilege to be welcomed and taught by AMOS and the people of Las Macias. It was also a privilege to travel, serve, and learn with Justin, Kessiah, Kevin, Kim, Khelen, Skyler, and Teniesha.

Languages, Loraxes, and Football

By Kim Priddy

I applied for the Nicaragua trip because most of those who had been
wanted to go back. They shared of their great experiences and
highs and lows, but all were encouraging that it was a meaningful
experience. So after it was decided that I was going and I shared the
news with family and friends, they asked me if I spoke Spanish. My
Spanish vocabulary included at the best maybe two dozen words and ten
of those would be numbers. So off to Nicaragua I went trusting those
I was traveling with, the kindness of strangers and the universal
understanding of the some things to help me be able to communicate.

We arrived in the community of Las Macias and were immediately greeted
by children. Not long after we were writing words of English and
Spanish, drawing our names and pictures (of animals, flowers, trees,
stars, etc…) and playing tic tac toe on the school house chalkboard;
we had found away to communicate despite our language barrier. They
chuckled when I tried my Spanish/English on them, but we seem to get
one another and understand each other. Also my colleagues and friends
from AMOS were able to help when we got stuck. Our differences in
language never slowed us down from playing hop scotch, football
(soccer), and capture the flag. Our laughter and playfulness captured
our imagination and allowed us to play like long time friends.

I had the opportunity to teach them the importance of washing our
hands so that our bodies could be healthy. We also learned the need
to pick up trash and taking care of our environment. They were
captivated by my AMOS friend, Miguel reading the book the Lorax. Each
child got to hold a book in their hands to read along with him. I
noticed that the children held their books as if it was a prize. Then
together we picked up trash around their school yard, we made it into
a competition (it seems to be a universal language). So we had three
groups of children running around picking up trash as fast as they
could and laughing. It was educational for all of us.

One last event that stands out to me was on the afternoon before we
were to leave, I had a couple of teenage girls ask me to play football
with them. It made me excited because I realized it was an
opportunity to help them see their strength and athleticism,
especially playing alongside and against the boys. It will be one of
my favorite football games I will have ever played. And we did well,
the girls played fantastic- even in sandals! It was an opportunity to
encourage the teenage girls to play sports and be active.

I do wish I knew the Spanish language, but reflecting back on my time
with the children, I know we found a common language; laughter and
playing together.

 

Hang from stars

by Skyler Daniel

Your littered corrientes,

your filthy politicians,

your bitter bullets tore nothing

but clouds in the sky.

Your littered tierras,

your sugarcane and sweat,

your lowest bidder always buys.

The Mother of God weeps

as she gives her guns to greed.

The peasants grimace

and sow their trash and seed.

Where the littered ríos run

and the ashy montañas burn,

bullets and hope hang from stars in the sky.

On clear nights children reach out,

try to pull them down, while

Esperanza smiles like a far off Sandino silhouette.

Here God,

even hope seems littered.

About the Immersion

Focusing on the intersections of religion, poverty, health, and development, the trip will include students from the schools of Divinity, Law, and Medicine. Together and separately we engage with each other and with partners doing health and development work in Nicaragua. The School’s primary partner will be Project AMOS.

Wake Forest University’s initiative in Nicaragua offers opportunities to develop cross-disciplinary courses for students in the University’s professional and graduate schools. The state of development and the extent of human needs within Nicaragua provide a compelling context to consider the role of the legal, medical, clergy and business professions both within their individual disciplines and as they intersect through development efforts.