Second Weekend
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Second Weekend
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| On Saturday, November 14, employees of a Managua communications company, along with other private citizens loaded three boats in Granada and delivered food and stoves to the water logged residents of the river community of Tepalona. |
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| The relief effort began in late October when Hurricane Mitch first struck and word reached Granada that the people living along the river were in grave danger. The river Tepalona had overflowed its banks and over 600 of the flood victims had to be evacuated to Granada. The following week ready to eat food and powdered milk were brought to the families that remained. By the second weekend flood waters had receded but some families were still living in ankle deep water. |
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| Last week food stuffs like rice, sugar, powdered milk, and oatmeal, were collected along with necessary items such as bleach, lighters and candles. Seventy bags of food weighing more than twenty pounds apiece were readied for the weekend delivery. |
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| Meanwhile elementary schoolchildren from Armarillo Texas collected money for the victims of Hurricane Mitch . With the money they collected, local residents here in Managua bought 100 stoves with tanks and regulators and 12 dozen flashlights. |
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| This week an aide to the Controlarilla General, (General Controller which functions very much like the General Office of Accounting in the USA) joined us to help. Representatives of the Controllers Office are checking all arriving shi pments and performing spot checks at random distribution centers. They are manning the airport and other points of entry 7/24. The good news was that the controllers office had yet to find wide spread fraud or theft. |
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| By November 14 the water levels were much lower and things started to dry out. The boat drivers pointed out that the electrical wires, now well overhead, had to be lifted over the boat with sticks just two weeks ago. They took great pleasure showing us where they had tied the boat to a corral which was now quite far from the river. Its much better now but families living along the river are still deep in mud and living conditions could only be described as hellish. |
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| Its easy to feel real compassion for these unfortunate people. Its also easy to spend hours and dollars to help them. The part that's really hard and painful is when you've given out all the food and there are hungry people still waiting on the bank. Their calls for assistance ring in your ears long after we are out of hearing range. |
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| The first weekend we saw some of the skinniest dogs imaginable. At
one house the dogs were still on the roof. The water levels were still too high for
them to walk on the ground. This week the dogs were looking better, they too were
excited about the strangers in town. It will take a few more weeks for the cattle to
fatten up. |
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| On our way back down river we were hailed by a group of Health Service workers. We learned from them that one of the greatest medical needs is for anitfungus creams called antimoticos. They are finding sporadic cases of intestinal illnesses caused by bad water and they are undertaking a large educational campaign to teach the local people how to purify water . |
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| We gave them a ride to their rendezvous at the edge of Lake Nicaragua.. The water was pretty high so they got out at the highest and driest place they could. Even in these serious times there are still plenty of things to make you laugh here in Nicaragua. |
