For Glen and Rhonda Hanley of Eureka, Mont., it was an easy decision to leave the comfort of their mountain home to help the Adventist mission in Nicaragua. Their son and daughter-in-law, Clint and Marilyn Hanley, run the mission for the Tasba Raya Adventist Clinic there.
Marilyn, a registered nurse, is the sole medical help at the clinic for most of the month. She handles everything from delivering babies to sewing up machete wounds. Situations beyond Marilyn’s expertise are transported to hospitals in Waspan, two and a half hours away, or Puerto Cabeza, five hours journey in the mission’s Toyota truck.
Bill and Catherine Patterson, also of Eureka, felt impressed to volunteer at the mission. Catherine is a horticulturist and Bill is a farmer, so they helped with the mission garden.
The villagers were shown that the soil needed to be enriched with manure and compost in order to grow good crops. Their diet is very limited, consisting of rice and beans, so Marilyn hopes to introduce easy-to-grow vegetables that will add variety and nutrition. Once successfully grown in the mission garden, she will distribute seeds to the villagers for them to plant in their gardens.
Clint’s foremost project was to teach the villagers how to make concrete building blocks. Wooden structures deteriorate rapidly in the hot, humid climate. Villagers mixed the concrete by hand and made the concrete blocks individually from a mold. American volunteers helped the villagers lay the blocks.
There is always work to be done at the mission. One long-term goal is to develop industry or agriculture endeavors that will be a continual source of income for the villagers. For more information, e-mail Patterson_Farm@yahoo.com.
Clint and Marilyn Hanley, operate the mission in Francis Sirpi, Nicaragua, for the Tasba Raya Adventist Clinic.
Albin Ball Romero loves his bicycle without wheels.
