Alisa Stanton: Making a difference in rural Nicaragua
Written by Alisa Stanton, Canadian Red Cross aid worker
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Stanton poses for a group photo with the mothers and children the ENLACE Project helps. | |
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While in Nicaragua, I travelled to a remote region called Rio Coco, which is among the poorest in the country. Most communities there do not have access to electricity or ground transportation. In fact, in order to reach the region we traveled on a narrow wooden boat called a “lancha”.
It was bright and sunny as we embarked on our first day. I was filled with curiosity regarding the trip, the work and the people I would meet in this fascinating and secluded region of Nicaragua. There are only two health posts in the area, and the monthly visits by ENLACE Project are the only direct health care in many of the communities that we visited.
We arrived in El Venado to find a gathering of about 60 women and children waiting patiently for our arrival. Mothers were calmly fanning their babies with their vaccination cards as they wiped sweat from their foreheads. Little girls with bare feet and party dresses smiled brightly at us as we approached. I looked forward to speaking to community members about the project, its impact and the barriers families face in terms of staying healthy.
Project staff members began to set up for a long days work. They prepared a vaccination station, a consultation area for people with various illnesses, a weighing station to determine the growth rates of children under two and an education table where they teach mothers about various aspects of child health.
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Stanton traveled to Rio Coco on a narrow boat called a lancha. | |
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Next, the mother visited the counselling station where she learned about early childhood stimulation exercises, what foods to introduce into her baby’s diet, and what to give her child if she were to become ill over the next month.
My interviews were fascinating. Many of the mothers had walked for up to three hours through thick mud to arrive at the session and said that they had not missed a single visit since the project began. There was an overwhelming agreement that the project visits were positive for the community.
It was a long but rewarding day’s work. The team was tired and hungry but in great spirits as we loaded the boat to return back to our sleeping post. We arrived in time to eat dinner and get cozy in our hammocks before dark.
In Somotines, where we slept for five nights, I felt totally embraced and welcomed by the community. In the evenings I taught English lessons and in the mornings I received cooking lessons from Digna, a sweet yet powerful woman who was preparing three meals a day for all 14 workshop participants. She and her daughter prepared the meals in a two room dirt floor house with a fire stove, no running water or electricity, a few pigs, cows and chickens in the yard, and a water pump beside the pig pen.
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Stanton enjoys a flavourful meal prepared by health post cook Digna | |
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I have been treated with such generosity by the people I have met on this trip. Not only by the staff and health post workers, but the families and mothers we have worked with. I am moved by the perseverance and tenacity of these communities who are faced with so many challenges but manage them with such grace and positive spirit.
I have returned to Canada with a renewed sense of respect and admiration for the people of rural Nicaragua and a determination to continue to work to improve health in these and other communities.
