July 2, 2014

By Shan Moore
Staff Writer

PLATTSBURGH  — Evidence of earthquake damage was everywhere when Sister Debbie Blow and two North Country Mission of Hope volunteers visited Nicaragua recently.

Two quakes, both higher than 6 on the Richter scale, had shaken the country in April, and countless aftershocks kept the ground trembling — and the people on edge — for more than two weeks.

They feared another quake like the one that in 1972 killed some 10,000, Sister Debbie said.

"Chinendega Hospital is in ruins," the Dominican Sister of Hope said. "It looks like it's going to fall, has some huge cracks."

Its equipment and furnishings, many items donated by North Country folks through Mission of Hope, was moved out for use in a smaller facility called Espagna.

"There is no way they can serve the number of people they did at the other hospital," Sister Debbie reported.
And Valez Paiz Hospital was also shut down after the quakes, she said.

That facility was also a recipient of assistance through the Plattsburgh-based humanitarian aid group.

Holes in roofs
Sister Debbie, James Carlin of Peru and David Fuller of Schroon Lake toured as many of their project sites as they could on the short trip.

Nino Jesus de Praga School and Church suffered damage, including a partially collapsed wall between the church and convent area and significant trauma to one of the school buildings.

"The other schools have what we would call fissure cracks," the nun said.

And that's what they found at the Mission of Hope compound not far from Nino Jesus — surface cracks that did not pose a danger of structural instability, Carlin said.

"We breathed a sigh of relief from that perspective," Sister Debbie said.

El Crucero Orphanage, which with Nino Jesus was where the mission did major work on its first few trips more than 15 years ago, saw an increase of decay of the metal roofs.

That, Sister Blow said, was due to increased activity of a nearby volcano, likely because of the earthquakes.
Acid from volcanic ash quickly eats through metal, she said, and the sky was clearly visible through huge holes in the roof of the girls dormitory.

It will cost several thousand dollars to replace the roofs, she added.

‘Don’t forget us’
There was a reunion, too, at El Crucero.

A year or so ago, Sister Debbie met a little girl named Xochitl, whose mother was serving jail time for prostitution and drug crimes.

The child, the nun said, "was so tiny, so sickly." Now, Xochitl ran to Sister Debbie, throwing her arms around her, She wouldn't leave my side the whole time I was there," she said."She's still undernourished, struggles with schooling." About 10 years old, Xochitl is more the size of a 4- or 5-year-old, Sister Debbie said. The child's history, she said, "is a gutwrenching reminder of why we do what we do. The children always grab your heart — like they're saying, 'Don't forget us; we're still here.'"

And Mission of Hope does not forget them even in the bigger picture of improving their living conditions.
For the projects undertaken at the orphanage, Mr. Carlin said of larger mission contingents, they always assign more volunteers than really needed. "Because we know eventually someone will wander off with the kids" to play with them," he said, "and that's great."

Safehouse
The three missioners in May did some advance work for the next larger group of volunteers, who will head to Nicaragua on July 8. And they got some work rolling on a safehouse for women and children in Managua.

A donation of $10,000 from a North Country couple has given that effort a jumpstart, Sister Debbie said, and she hopes structural repair to the walls and roof may be finished by July. Next, they will tackle the bedrooms.

And Mission of Hope, working with women's health-care facility Fondacion Juan Pable II (for Pope John Paul II), has made it possible for more poor women from the remote barrios to access treatment.

A donor contributed enough money for the Mission of Hope van to take at least 15 women a month to  Juan Pablo, where they can see a physician and have breast exams and PAP smears done.

Sister Debbie had sat down with the local junta, comprised of 11 women, to ask what their most vital needs are.

"They all rattled off in Spanish at once," she said, listing such needs as more medicines and food for the children, more latrines to serve the barrio populations and more health care for women.

The nun proposed the van trips, asking whether the women would take advantage of them.

"They said, 'Yes, and we'll be the first to go.

"That's great modeling," she said, "that the leadership women are the first to go. They see this as a great need, as they, themselves, have never had these exams.

And, Sister Debbie added, "as a two-time cancer survivor, I see this as a great step forward for the women of the barrios."

How to help
Mission of Hope is accepting donations to establish an emergency fund for use when such crises arise as earthquakes, for foods, medicines and for sending a large shipping container of goods and equipment to Nicaragua in September.

The cost of food has continued to rise in Nicaragua, so the poor are more hungry, Sister Debbie said.

And there is increased need for medications and first-aid supplies, in part because of the closure of the hospitals, she said.

The group is hoping for donation of two refrigerators in good working order, as those used in the mission meal program have broken down.

Composition books (700) and other school supplies are needed for students sponsored by the mission, along with duct tape and packing tape for use at the Plattsburgh warehouse of the mission, MO-Town, new batteries of all sizes, small tarps and paint supplies such as disposable rollers and plastic liners.

Learn more at ncmissionofhope.org or reach Sister Debbie at 570-5443. Donations can be mailed to North Country Mission of Hope, P.O. Box 2522, Plattsburgh NY 12901.

PHOTOS PROVIDED
David Fuller of Schroon Lake, above, not only assessed earthquake damage to North Country Mission of Hope facilities in Nicaragua on the recent trip, he bonded with children at El Crucero Orphanage. At right, .Xochitl, a 10-year-old orphan in Nicaragua whose life has been bettered by North Country Mission of Hope intervention, poses for a photo with Sister Debbie Blow's translator, Olympia, during the Plattsburgh nun's recent visit to the third-world country.