Los Paquetes

C an't believe it's October already? Neither can we. While we're all waiting on colder weather and dreaming of snow, Nicaragua is in the thick of its rainy season. Katy sent me this photo of the road earlier in the week. Can you imagine trying to get your car through this? I suggested they wait a few days to see if it dried out a bit and her response was that the mud just made things more of an adventure! Well when the going gets tough...it seems friends show up to help. The next photo I received shows Carolina, the driver, and her three children volunteering their time to help separate the bulk food items and create the 50+ packets of food they delivered that day! Pictured above, Carolina in the Teal in the rear and her daugher in pink Here is a better shot of Carolina with her son. We appreciate her braving the mud and all the extra hands! With Carolina's help, we raised funds and delivered another 50 food packets on Friday. You can see all the photos...

This month I'd like to spend a moment giving a giant shout out to Katy, Lucia and Jogeli. Without these three women, Los Paquetes would not be possible. Left to Right: Katy, Lucia & Jogeli      John and I are forever grateful for the work they do each month to secure transportation, spend the morning at multiple markets buying supplies, then the labor of repackaging it all into individual portions in whatever weather...To say nothing of the hours of actually delivering this food that then follows. As the photos roll in I am watching the sun slowly set in the sky while the smiles of these three faces get brighter and brighter.      For me, it is a day spent on the phone as photos and updates roll in from start to finish. Almost from the moment I receive word the funds have been successfully transfered, they are off and running. And so is the little notification bell on my phone! And it is those communications, which speak volumes toward t...

These beautiful angels delivered 50 food packets on Sunday. Our August update includes new t-shirts! Check out the new style below and, as always, you can look in on our Gallery page for a full look at how our August delivery went.

We successfully delivered another 50 packets of food yesterday! It's always an exciting time as photos and text updates begin to roll in. I can see how hard Katy, Lucia and volunteer Jogeli are working and I already know how hot and humid it is. I can see the smiles on the increasingly familiar faces of family members who are there to receive the food. And I can see the increasingly brighter smiles on Katy, Lucia and Jogeli's faces depsite the hard work, the long day and the rising heat. I know that feeling, even if I can't be there in person to share in it specifically. It is the feeling of joy and constantly renewing energy that comes from actively doing something - anything large or small - to improve the world around you. I hope our donors are sharing in that sensation too. And I wanted to leave off this month's update with a translation of the texts I receieved from both Katy and Lucia as they reached out at the end of yesterday to let me know they were finish...

Rain or shine, Lucia, Katy and Jogeli were out delivering food packets to 50 families yesterday. Check out some of the best pictures of the day below!            

Our second month was a great success! Despite the rising heat and humidy that is late April in Nicaragua, these amazing women were out for hours, buying, preparing and then handing out 56 food packets. I look at their exhausted smiles and wish I were there with them. Check out some of my favorite pictures from the day below and visit the Gallery page to see them all!

I was speaking with Katy the other day as we geared up for May's deliveries and she mentioned a few things I wanted to share. She was filling me in on the wind down of the tourist season in Nicaragua. With April ending, rain will be returning soon to Nicaragua and the very few tourists who had made it over this year will be packing up to leave. Local restaurants are already letting go of all but a skeletal staff and in some cases closing down all together. She mentioned that more and more men are lining the sea coast, or crowding onto small boats, attempting to fish for their dinners.  She wanted me to know she was grateful for our efforts and thankful to be a part of them, that she loves her country and is heart sick to see its people suffer. When I replied that ours seemed such a small effort in the face of such a looming hardship, she proceeded to tell me that there were still folks approaching her in the streets to thank her for the food packets they received a month ago...