Off to Nicaragua to help

Posted Feb 16, 2012 By John Curry

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EMC News - Building two houses. Constructing a security wall at a school. And creating murals.

These are projects which a group of a dozen youth and adults from Stittsville United Church will be doing when they travel to Nicaragua this coming March.

While there, they will be working alongside local residents in one of the poorest barrios in the capital city of Managua in undertaking these projects.

They will be living with host families while in Nicaragua and besides working on their community development projects, they will also be visiting with church groups and other social service agencies to learn about what is being done there to help the six million people of Nicaragua who live in the second poorest country in the western hemisphere after Haiti. Half of the population lives on less than one dollar a day.

Right now, the group is making a final push on its fundraising, having already reached the $15,000 mark on the way to the $25,000 fundraising goal.

Rev. Grant Dillenbeck, the minister at Stittsville United Church and the group leader, explained at last Sunday's service where the Nicaragua-bound group was introduced that funding for the trip to date has come from several sources including some from the United Church beyond the local congregation.

The national office of the United Church has given $5,000 while $1,125 has come from the Presbytery's Youth Ministry Fund.

These funds are being supplemented by local funding. Already about $7,000 has been raised, thanks to a Time, Talent and Treasures Auction and spaghetti dinner last November, a fiesta night where traditional Nicaraguan dancing was performed, a series of Sunday brunches and a bottle drive. There have also been donations from members of the congregation as well as from others outside the Stittsville United Church community.

This fundraising is meant to reduce the cost that must be borne by the individual trip participants. These individual costs are close to $3,000 per person, consisting of $1,200 per person for expenses while in Nicaragua, $1,200 per person for air fare and insurance, and $500 per person to cover costs related to the community work projects that the group is undertaking while in Nicaragua.

The Stittsville United Church has ties to Nicaragua in that the United Church in Canada provides financial support annually to the Moravian Church, an affiliated church in Nicaragua.

In his remarks at last Sunday's service at Stittsville United Church, Rev. Dillenbeck said that God can be seen at work in Nicaragua not only through the work of the Moravian Church there but also at places as diverse at ramshackle homes at the constantly-burning Managua dump where there are signs "God Loves You" over the door and at an active volcano where there is a giant cross, erected by early explorers who thought that the volcano was the entrance to hell.

Rev. Dillenbeck said that those going to Nicaragua in March will see God at work not only in each other but in the faces of others in Nicaragua including the children.

He said that the trip and the work to be done there will help those involved see how they can be instruments of God's work in the world.

He said that those going to Nicaragua will not only help make a difference in the lives of the people there but will also experience a personal growth in their faith and their understanding of the realities of life in Nicaragua.

This is the third time that a group from Stittsville United Church will have travelled to Nicaragua to undertake community service work. The trip, which will take place from March 9 to March 18, is being coordinated and hosted by Companeros, an organization based in Nicaragua that is dedicated to helping the people of Nicaragua and which was created by Gonzalo Duarte, a Canadian who now lives in Nicaragua.

Companeros, which Mr. Duarte founded in 2001, has since then assisted more than 1,000 people from various countries to travel and work in Nicaragua on numerous community development projects, working with local leaders and residents in socio-economically challenged neighbourhoods in central Managua.

Among the projects planned for this year by Companeros are installing a waste and sewage waste system, building houses, creating street murals, building a security wall at a school and constructing two classrooms. The Stittsville United Church group is building two of the houses, working on the security wall at a school and doing street murals.

The perimeter security wall at the school is needed to protect the school and its library from vandals and gangs and to allow the youngsters there to feel safer.

Painting murals along streets is a Nicaragua tradition. They add beauty to the streetscape, provide people with a sense of pride in the street and provide work for local artists.

The Stittsville United Church welcomes donations to help the group with its expenses related to its trip to Nicaragua this March. There are several ways to donate. Donations can be made online at http://nicafund.hallconsulting.ca. Donations can also be made by sending a cheque to the Stittsville United Nicaragua Fund, c/o Stittsville United Church, 6255 Fernbank Road, Stittsville, On. K2S 1X5. Donations can also be arranged by calling the Stittsville United Church at 613-836-4962.

Those from the Stittsville United Church who are traveling to Nicaragua this March are Rev. Grant Dillenbeck, Ruth Richardson, James Hurst, Amy Mesdag, Carol Danis, Ellen Strike, Phoebe Strike, Steven Strike, Colin Gaudet, Sasha Newar, Elizabeth Schmidt and Jonathan Lareau.




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