we ran away from mangua to hit the beach for a couple of nights. we are rationalizing it by calling it a "study break". our spanish books have been put to good use, but i have to admit that our swim suits have also had their time in the sun. we are at las penitas, a gorgeous little beach town on the pacific coast just outside of the city of leon. besides the locals, a family from managua, and a guy named archie from norway, we seem to be the only people on the beach. craziness. chris has befriended a 16 year old surfer names patricio, and even though patricio has a cast protecting his most recent surfing fracture, i am betting that he will be chris's teacher by the end of the day.
we had an amazing time in managua on wednesday. the streets were filled with people celebrating ortega's inaguration. dry law went into effect on tuesday night, which means that for 48 hours it was illegal for any restaurants or stores to sell or serve alcohal. it was a preventative measure to make sure that the ortega partying didnt get too crazy. chris wants to start a campaign for a dry law if the stanley cup ever ends up in edmonton again. (residual bitterness from his neighborhood destruction and the impact on improvaganza ticket sales) i have a feeling that he wont receieve popular support on that one. hockey fans love their beer.
there were thousands and thousands of people in the streets for ortega. everywhere we looked people were wearing red and black (historic revolutionary FSLN colours) or bright pink (the new image of the FSLN party) and waving massive flags in support of ortega and of the party. every age group was represented, and people were dancing and singing in the streets. there were more police on the road to the plaza then i have ever seen in nicaragua before.
chris brought his video camera and we had the opportunity to interview tonnes of nicaraguans from all different walks of life. a retired military captain who served in the revolution in 79, a woman who works in one of the massive textile factories in the free trade zone outside of managua, a man who sells ice cream on the street to support his family, someone from the ministry of internal affairs, and a 16 year old boy who grew up hearing his father and grandfather talking about comandante ortega and the great revolution. and they were all so eager to talk with us on camera...to have their voices heard. it was powerful, and i think that chris ended up with some great footage.
we are so lucky to have angel here with us. he has been so key in setting things up for our clinic, and he has been such a great friend to have around the city. he is meeting with MINSA (the ministry of health) this morning to confirm that everything is set for the arrival of the brigade, and to ensure that our needles and herbs enter the country without problems. we are hoping that he might join us on the beach later today.
only nine more days until the AWN team arrives and the clinic begins!
i hear from my friends back home that all is going well with our fundraiser planning. If you havent bought your tickets yet, get them now! thanks to everyone who has lent us their support, their talent and their kindness! thanks to Kristy Harcourt for promoting our event and our clinic on CJSR's Gaywire last night!
abrazos muy fuerte,
jania
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In January and February 2007 our team traveled to Managua, Nicaragua, to provide Traditional Chinese Medicine services to the children of the Parajito Azul orphanage.
Saludos Amigos
the bloggers: Jania writes in red, Lindsay in black, Andrea in blue, and Lynda in purple.
The Acupuncture Works in Nicaragua team is made of
one acupuncturist (Andrea), one nurse (Lynda), and two social workers (Jania & Lindsay).
We are travelling with our friends Angel and Chris, who may make occasional guest blogger appearances. Angel is a Nicaraguan who is helping us with translation, and Chris is an Edmonton theatre artist who is working on a documentary film about Nicaragua. He will be filming our experiences at Parajito Azul.
Welcome to our little blog. Please email us with any questions or comments at AWN2007@gmail.com
Our Project
- Acupuncture Works in Nicaragua
- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- It is this team’s mission to investigate the use of acupuncture as a modality of healing for children with various developmental and physical disabilities in a community where access to health care is limited. Traditional Chinese Medicine, and specifically acupuncture, has been practiced for over 3000 years and has been recognized by the World Health Organization to provide relief for over 40 different conditions. We are interested in exploring how this safe, simple and inexpensive treatment will improve the quality of life for these children. Acupuncture is not meant to act as a replacement for Western Medicine; rather, it is our mandate to open the door to providing complementary care. Acupuncture does not require the careful administering of pharmaceuticals or extensive follow-up that many Western treatments and surgeries necessitate. For a community where the cost of treatment is prohibitive, acupuncture will provide high quality, cost-effective services to children who require care.
some of our favourite sites
- 1. Change for Children Association (CFCA) homepage --- Thank you CFCA. Without your support this trip would not have been possible. We believe in the work that you do.
- 2. Eastern Currents Distributing --- We would like to thank Eastern Currents for their kind donation of acupunture supplies. We are so grateful for the needles. Thank you for believing in this project.
- 3. Acupuncture Works in Nicaragua has a myspace page!
- 4. Chris Craddock´s poetry blog
- 5. Andrea House homepage
1 comment:
my girlfriend is so hot.
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