Nicaragua 2015 ~ Home Visits Part 2

Our next stop was Maria's home. We had already picked Maria up at the Compassion project and were getting to know her in the van. She showed up in a beautiful, green dress and sneakers. It was precious. What we weren't ready for, was the condition of her home. Just thinking back to that moment when we pulled up brings tears to my eyes. We quickly learned that eight people live inside this home.

Maria's mother, Margarita, was the only other family member we met. She is just recovering from a long illness caused by mosquitoes (but not malaria). You could tell she was proud of her daughter.

I am so thankful that my mom sponsored Maria shortly before this trip. And I'm so thankful for all the pretty things my mom brought her.

There were additional buildings in the back, where other family members lived. This was very common in Nicaragua - for homes to include several smaller families within a larger family, all using the same piece of property to live.

After Maria's, we had one more home to visit...Kerlint's. My mom sponsored Kerlint shortly after Kevin's trip to Nicaragua three years ago. He is almost a birthday buddy to Sydney, having been born just two days before her. Kerlint is an only child, like my mom, and has a really bubbly personality (also like my mom). He lives with his parents and grandparents.

Kerlint's grandparents own and operate a small store out of the front room of their home. When we arrived they gave us each a bottle of water from the store.

Kerlint brought our a folder of all the letters and photos my mom has sent him in the past three years. He was so proud of them. Even the stickers she had sent were unused and treasured. It was weird to see photos of Sydney and Kayleigh from a couple years ago in his house.

After the homes visits we went to Tip Top to eat. Tip Top is a very popular restaraunt that serves fried chicken and french fries. All the kids ordered happy meals. We asked the kids if they had been there before and each one had eaten there one other time. Josseling, who is a bit older than the others, had been there a couple times. Kerlint's grandfather, Kendry's mom and another Compassion staff worker were able to join us.

Kerlint and Kendry had fun climbing up the playground and sliding down the slide.