Nicaragua

Our Summer 2010 Trip

Dear Friends and Family

This was the first trip in which my family (Dan, Ivy and Ian) and my friends (Ilene and Anevay) joined. We took off from LAX with the 6 of us and a total of 12 pieces of luggage full of donated clothes.

We arrived in Managua, where we were picked up by Aaron and Lola to help us navigate out of the city. It was hot and humid, and non-stop rain welcomed us.

I had not seen the shelter in person after we started working on fixing it up. We were very excited to see the state it would be in, as we have been working on getting it up and running for many months.

Our Trips AccomplishmentsThe security wall and gate:Most importantly we finished the security wall and the security gate. Until that project was finished , we would

not be able to leave anything in the shelter. Unfortunately, poverty does bring a lot of property crime . We had to deal with this during our construction period as many building materials had to be replaced due to theft.

Painting: Casa Oma was painted on the inside and the outside. Electricity:Electricity is running. Kitchen: We bought the sink, stove, propane container, and a kitchen table with chairs. Furniture:We bought living room and bedroom furniture all built by local craftsman. We needed to make sure that Casa

Oma was not too fancy. We are trying to be part of the community.Managing the Shelter:We also met up with Lola, our shelters manager. She has been in charge of the construction. She will be working

with the battered women and their children 7 days a week. We had to go over our shelters’ rules and regulations to ensure that Casa Oma will be a safe haven.

Hand out the Donations:We had a great day handing out all the donated clothes to the families in the neighborhood.

Before picturesThe Shelter Building . The basic structure is up.

The floor is still dirt throughout the house

Dividing up the inside living spaceDividing up the space for each rooms walls Three bedrooms will be made here

Adding the Bedrooms

Building the walls with concrete And they are looking good!

Electricity

Adding Electricity to the house And let there be light!

Pouring concrete FloorsDividing Walls are up and they look like real walls

Pouring Concrete Floors thoughout the whole house

The old outhouse/bathroom

Ivy with the toddler ‘Siad’

The new bathroom

The Septic tank is dug and put in The spot next to the wall is dug out

Bathroom being built

The walls start going up And up

The Security Wall goes up

The place where the gate will be The wall is all around the house

Painting the Shelter

The outhouse is ready with the roof The painting begins

Painting the Bedrooms

Primer goes on In every room

Fun Colors

First coat of paint is applied Bedroom #3 is done

The blue room

The other bedroom is painted Blue

The Kids love it

Playing games with the local kids And hanging with people we met

JamieJamie (Lola’s daughter) is a girl we met there She was very cute and sweet

Making friends is easy

This is Siad Jamie's little brotherPlaying outside with the neighborhood kids

Security first

Serpentine is being put up All around the perimeter

Start of the front gate

The front gate is going up Making the front gate

Installing the gate

Continuing on the gate Putting in the gate

Casa Oma sign on the gate

Putting up the Casa Oma sign Dream coming true…..

Final touches on ‘Casa Oma’Oma, means grandmother in Dutch. This is to recognize my grandma and my mother, my kids grandma

They would be proud if they could see me trying to make a difference

Painting Outside of the Shelter

Painting outside and bathroom Or at least the first color scheme

Hand washing machine

Hand…Washing machine New border colors

Kitchen

Start of kitchen counters Counter tile is put in

Furniture shoppingOur truck full of beds and living room furniture

Lola is holding the couch we picked out . All is made by local craftsman

Furniture arrives

Stored at Lola’s home

Bedrooms

Bunkbed's in the rooms Beds and mattresses

Living room

All bedrooms filled, ready to be used The living room couch and chairs

Donated Clothing Handout

Dividing clothes by gender and age

Shoes/Flip-flop's

Shoes all lined up All sorted out in to size and gender

Families with new outfitsEach person got a new outfit, and each person got a new toothbrush

She loved the striped dress, we pictured her wearing it the day after. (see below)

Waiting in Line

Kids are patiently waiting their turnA thankful girl. She found a cute new outfit

One family at the time

We had to stay organized At least 100 people showed up

FamiliesIf it does not fit, they will trade within the neighborhood.

We saw him the next day with his new T-Shirt ( see picture below)

Babies

How sweet…. We ran out of boys clothes too fast….

Little princess

A little princess With her potential boyfriend

The Line outsideMany single mothers have 4 plus kids to take care off Waiting, the line outside

Lots of Excitement

Many families waited for their turn Anevay and Dan handling the boys clothes

Girl’s clothing

Ivy finding the girl a cute outfit If it fits…its good

Party time

Of course cake and soda tooBaked by Jessenia, a battered woman living in the barrio with her 5 kids

Aaron and the Cake

All hand made by Jessenia Aaron (Lola’s husband) adding more cakes

Kids in town with their new clothesFun to see them in town wearing their new T-shirt

She was so happy with her new dress, we ran into her the next day

Downtime and visitingXiomara Sandino, 14 years old got an English Scholarship donated The gang of kids

The VolunteersMy friend, Ilene and her daughter Anevay Strike a pose

Family helpers

My lover, DanMy daughter, Ivy. She wants to go on every new trip to San Marcos

Friends and family

The boy, Ian. He loved Nica Lola , the Shelter’s Manager

Last Day

Last night in the Barrio Final farewells in front of the shelter

Our goals for the future

Running water:Municipal water is infrequent. We need to build

an underground water reserve container and a tower to create water pressure.

Kitchen: We need cabinets built, so the women can cook

store food.

Thank you’s

We had a great trip, my kids thought is was the best place they had been to (who needs 5 star accommodations…..)

We left feeling fulfilled, our goal was met and we could not have done any of this without your support, Thank you…..

• My special thanks goes out to all my dear friends and family who believe in my mission. I love you all……

Donors and volunteers, 2010

Thanks to: Ilene and Anevay (my trip volunteers), Thom Treen (Casa Oma’s

first volunteer and co-founder), Connie & Michi, the Lei/Schaberg family, the Hovland family, the Coleman family, Stuart Yanling, Winnie Lam, Harriet Sustarsic, the Dutch family Donkers, Mariette and Nelson Verhoeven, Donna & Billy, Gioconda Quant, the Klein/McKenna family, Renee Bell, Shannon Bell, Marilyn Darracq, Rebecca Balogh, my dad John v.d Velden, Marlena, Shannon Bell, Yolanda Beckers, the Sutton family, Miss Anne and Eric Sharp, Louie and Ethan Rodriguez, Trina Gagliano,

If I forgot anyone to name anyone please forgive me, and contact me immediately, many donations were given anonymously to all those….thank you.