Blog entry - January 29 - 30

The COMMIT team made an early start to their trip early Friday morning by gathering at three locations to make their way to the airport. Dr Harry picked up Keagan, Heather, Diane and Danielle. They rendezvoused with Pam, Riley, Nancy, Morgan, Cindy, Laura and Sophia in Sebringville for the first stop for our charter bus. Meanwhile at the next stop Dr Doug’s in Stratford members of the team were gathering to help take over 50 hockey bags of medical supplies, clothes, toys, school supplies and sports equipment to the curb to be loaded into the bus. Doug had some overnight guests as the Grey Bruce contingent of Patrick, Steven, and Maurice arrived Thursday evening to ensure the weather would not delay their arrival. Also gathered for a 3:00 a.m. pick up time were Dr Peter, Kate, Maria, Mary, Angie, Lisa, Catrina, and Jackie. Not all the bags fit below in the storage area so the first few seats were filled with hockey bags as well. We then headed to the K-W area to pick up Milla - who is continuing a strong family tradition of joining her aunts and cousins in this international humanitarian effort.

A smooth ride to Terminal 1 was next and then a well orchestrated unloading as team members secured about twenty baggage carts to haul their supplies to the Copa Airlines registration desks. A few members remarked about the cold Toronto air as they were dressed for their destination and over a thirty degree anticipated difference in temperature. The folks at COPA were very patient with our large group as everyone was trying to max their allowable checked and hand baggage. Next step was customs and security and it went quite well considering the removal of belts, shoes, coats and any pocket contents that set off the sensors.

Once we gathered in the loading area some members  grabbed a bite to eat, others checked emails and text messages while others relaxed or chatted to others. We were all asked to wear our new green and blue COMMIT team shirts that promoted a sense of unity and fellowship and had a few travellers asking questions so that promoted some opportunities to educate and inform others about the purpose of our trip.

Our boarding occurred on schedule but a delay of almost an hour on the tarmac required our plane to need to be de-iced prior to take-off. A smooth flight ensued and we were able to make up time in flight and arrive in Panama basically on time. An early afternoon temperature of 34 degrees was a welcome bonus upon arrival. A lay-over of a couple of hours went by quickly and we were then on our way to Managua - the capital of Nicaragua on a smaller plane. We knew we were going to touch down in San Jose Costa Rica but thought we were allowed to stay on the plane but that changed and we ended up going through customs and security in Costa Rica and then reboarding the same plane an hour or so later. We were treated well by Copa staff with food and refreshments on all three legs of our journey. Thanks Copa!

When we reached our destination we were greeted by a very happy Janice and Bryan Rauser, along with Ken, Antonio, Edgar and Roman our trusted bus driver. After  a short distance we needed to stop to fix a flat tire on one of the buses rear dual tires, Fortunately there was an enterprising man who had a makeshift tire repair shop right on our journey and after a little over a half hour we were back on the road.

When we reached the orphanage we quickly unloaded the bags and we were extremely fortunate that our beds - complete with mosquito nets were all made up when we arrived. Many people headed to bed early after a short night of sleep the night before and a long day of travel.

Our first full day at Casa Madre Theresa was a bit of a staggered start to the day as people arose when they woke up. We had a breakfast of cereal, fresh fruit, toast and peanut butter. Ken and Janice gave us an orientation during breakfast. Janice had us organized into work groups as to what needed to be done in preparation for the first clinic on Monday. Some groups were involved with:

• assembling medical bags of supplies for Monday including sheets, towels, tarps, rope, duct tape, garbage bags, anti septic pumps, clothespins and a variety  of other items required to set up partitions for the clinic and supplies for the doctors and nurses.

• assembling a construction kit with hammers, tool bags, levels etc for the outdoor toilets we will be building in some communities.

• labelling and re-packaging pharmacy supplies with instructions in spanish

• assembling supplies for the dental clinic

• getting the sewing machines out and making sure they were working properly. Also sorting through all the material that was donated

• sorting out school supplies to donate to a few area poor schools. These supplies included  paper, pencils, construction paper, crayons, pens, notebooks and various arts and crafts materials.      

• sorting and counting tooth brushes and tooth pastes again with the hope of donating one to each person attending the clinic

• sorting the previous intake sheets from our cliinics last year and separating to the location they were seen at  last year.

• sorting the hundreds of reading glasses and prescription glasses for the clinics to assist people with vision issues.

• Making name tags for the clinics including all team members, our interpreters, and community members.   

• A shopping trip in town to get some clinic supplies that we did not have available and needed based on our experience last year.

• sorting and counting baseball hats. We had a great number donated and it was our hope to take 300 to each clinic to donate to the children and adults attending the  clinics

Most of the first time visitors went on a tour of the orphanage in the morning and were very impressed with the size of the property. Some  children are home visiting family as school doesn’t start until next week and this is their summer vacation.  

We then ate lunch with the children at the Ranchon (an open air multi purpose building). It was  a typical Nicaragua meal of rice and beans, some tomatoes, peppers and a small piece of meat.

After lunch we continued to sort the supplies and finish up tasks from the morning. We were able to accomplish a great deal as well as sort out supplies from previous years.

We attended Mass at 6:00 p.m. followed by supper at the Ranchon. This time we had Gallo Pinto with plantain chips and fresh salsa.               

Our day ended with some quiet time at the visitors house as some chose to connect with family, play cards, read or relax. A very productive and fun first day for our team!

Adios

Maurice