Escape to Selva Negra (with Clair and Beth)

It has been great to have parents/grandparents Clair and Beth around for the past week, which is also Semana Santa (Holy Week). The kids have off from school for this week and some of next week as well.

Being the hot time of year that it is, we have generally planned all our activity together around staying cool. So far, we've introduced Clair and Beth to the pool, the crater lagoon Laguna de Apoyo, a few air conditioned restaurants with indoor kids' play areas, and varieties of ice cream and smoothies.

But our favorite escape is heading toward the mountains around Matagalpa.  In January we went here with my parents, staying in the city of Matagalpa and traveling one day to hike around the coffee plantation and lodge of Selva Negra. Between the long sleeve pull-overs, the trails, and the restaurant's food, we were fairly confident we'd be back.

With temperatures in the upper 90s every day this past week, we went with Clair and Beth to enjoy the better part of three days, staying in a cabin at Selva Negra this time.  It was great.

New this time: seeing howler monkeys, deer, an agouti, hummingirds, ticks on Clair and Rebekah, a fat lip and knee scrapes on Silas, more delicious food, staying in great little cabin up the hill, reading time, and new trails.  Between our two visits we've now hiked all but one of the trails across their mountainside.  Trail #9, we'll be back for you.

Encounter in Guatemala: Advocacy and Connecting People

At the end of February and the beginning of March, I (Derrick) had the chance to go with our Connecting People Coordinator (Andrew) to Guatemala City for a regional MCC and partners encounter.  It brought together a significant span across Latin America: Bolivia, Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, and the U.S. and Canada.

Day 1: as participants trickled in from many different directions, I joined a group organizing a taxi-van riding down to the main square.  Rebekah and I were here back in 2007 and it was interesting to be back.

Ted and Katherine Oswald

Ted and Katherine Oswald

Days 2-4: The first half of the week was partner-focused, sharing experiences and ways of working with advocacy and change among the many different, but often related, contexts.  It is humbling to think about the effort and commitment represented in this group: struggles for rights among indigenous communities, work within the context of war/violent crime/political turmoil, struggle to protect natural resources, risking personal safety to promote understanding, and more.  In addition to the sessions, another highlight for me was evening supper conversations, hearing stories and perspectives from different country contexts.

Anna Vogt

Ted and Katherine Oswald

Ted and Katherine Oswald

Anna Vogt

Ted and Katherine Oswald

Days 5-6:  During the second half of the week we were joined by staff working with Global Service Learning: the SALT, YAMEN, IVEP, Seed, Learning Tours, and other programs. There was opportunity to have some good conversations to improve and close some gaps in some of these processes.  I enjoyed the chance to meet again with some people we had been with in the orientation and others who I had not yet met beyond Skype and emails.  This is really helpful for future conversations that happen at a distance.

Anna Vogt

Anna Vogt

Anna Vogt