News from Sheep Not Goats

Swamp Camp

When I (Steve) was last in Nicaragua, we issued a call for help so that young people from Malpaisillo could attend the Swamp Camp here in Nicaragua, five days of healthy and spiritual fun. At the time there were about 80 kids from Managua planning to go and zero from here..

Eleven of you responded, and 33 more kids from 9 to 18 were able to go. We even have a little money remaining for next year.

The picture above shows the group from Malpaisillo. For a video with the kids sharing what they loved about camp (with English subtitles), click here.

Anciano Breakfasts

The next item happens so much in the background and has been going on for so long that it's easy to omit, but I got to go out for the deliveries last Friday, took some pictures, and want to share them here.

Originally, we served the weekly breakfast next to the farm, but during COVID we couldn't have gatherings like that (remember, these are all very old people), so the team here in Nicaragua switched to home delivery.

Home delivery has been taking place for almost 3 years now. Some of the seniors have died, and all are less able to make their way to our side of town without some physical risk. So for now, we'll keep going out and delivering the food, coffee, and vitamins using our pickup truck. Here are some photos from last week:

Angela's husband Payito passed away about 18 months ago. She is 100% blind and lives alone. An amazing woman!

Sandy always loved taking hugs from this little woman, Mercedes. So powerful, but now she is very weak.

Doña Maria also lost her husband (Pito - everyone uses nicknames) in the last year or so. He was the most talkative at our breakfasts. Always echando bromas (joking)!

Juan is a super nice fellow who on Friday handed me a hand-written letter of thanks for everything. I'll probably share it in the next update. He needs shoes so we picked up a pair in Leon yesterday.

Alejandra

Alejandra is an older woman who keeps an eye on the farm Saturdays and Sundays. Her husband was one of our earlier workers before he died in about 2015.

Sadly, because she was his second wife and Alejandro's children wanted his property, they kicked her out and she's spent years going from place to place, such as the dirt-floor shack that you see below. Four posts plus a lot of plastic and rusted "zinc."

The Response

A number of people joined us (through donations) in getting Alejandra her own place on her own land, from which nobody could ever kick her out again.

Her shack above was actually on land owned by her ex-mother-in-law (from before Alejandro). That kind older woman cares about Alejandra and, like us, emphasized that she needed not only a structure, but title to her own property.

We actually bought the small piece of land that her shack was on. Our friend Paulino, who has done a lot of work for us and for the church here in the past, was in charge of the construction.

We paid the legal and surveying fees, bought the small plot, the materials (mostly cement/sand/gravel, bricks, rebar, purlins, and "zinc" for the roof). We specified that the floor should be concrete (most people with a small brick house still have a dirt floor). And finally, we wanted a decent front door, onto which Raul is putting the second coat of marine varnish today.

So Alejandra has her house, for good! She is in a permanently improved situation and will be high and dry when the rainy season comes later this spring. And due to the location, she is close to her grandchildren.

She still walks about 3 miles each way to work on our farm. If anyone would like to get her a bike, just let us know. $50 would probably be plenty for a used bike.

Next we hope to carve out a small piece of the farm for one of our other workers, someone on whom we depend every day, to have a place of her own.

Wrap Up

Sandy and I want to thank all who helped in the last two months with these projects - the camp, Alejandra's house, and the other things that happen in the background such as the breakfasts. Without you we could only do the bare minimum and would have to skip opportunities such as these.

We are working hard on the farm, selling over 1000 eggs a week and working on getting the second henhouse up and running.

We've hired an agricultural engineer to work a few hours a week helping us to better plan out what we are growing and to make sure best practices are followed. She has an organic philosophy.

Yesterday the wife of one of our workers got glasses following weeks of headaches and exams which determined that she needed them. Extra hours were worked to earn much of the $180 total needed, then we kicked in half of the cost for the glasses.

Today I'm installing a new inverter in one of our two solar energy systems. We love saving $300-$500 monthly not having to pay the government utility for electricity! Free power and water are definitely a boost for our operations.

Thanks to our monthly donors. We can't thank you every month but your generosity is really our lifeblood.

All donations occur on the Sheep Not Goats website.