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Bethel Missions: Rama-islands, Nicaragua - March 23 till April 5, 2014
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RamaCay Captured beauty of an hidden island.
This is a member of the family that took care of our team while being on RamaCay. She was unaware of my presence, which enabled me to capture her quiet moment.
The lady in the hammock noticed me after I took the photograph. She gave me a huge smile when I asked if I could take another picture. Later that week, I found a whole family on the same porch. Life on the island happens outside.
As I observed their daily life - cooking, cleaning, raising kids - I noticed that we are not so different at all. Their household activities are similar to ours, just on a different pace and in a different style.
A tradition of the island is to bring a gift when you come to visit. We brought a cow, so we could provide a feast for the village. But the journey from a living animal in a boat to pieces of beef on a plate was quite an adventure. I won’t share more bloody pictures for those with a sensitive stomach. Besides, I tried really hard not that city-girl, but as soon as the knife dived into the skull of that animal, I was too much in shock to take more pictures. This cow provided meat for many people for days, and taught me about the source of my food.
With the meat of the killed cow and the daily ‘rice and beans’, we fed the community. A colorful line of children was formed in front of the kitchen, giving me a great opportunity to capture the colors of this culture.
The sidewalk where the little girl on the left is sitting on, led me all around the island. During my short walks, I met families sitting on their porches, children playing around the field or people working around their house.
This family on the right saw me walking around and invited me into their home. The friendliness and hospitality of the people of the island has surprised and inspired me over and over again. These people know how to do family really well. It’s a lost art in most of the Western world that we get to relearn from this indigenous tribe.
The man on the left looks out of his window to the activities that are happening on the baseballfield. Community and connection seem to be strong values for the Rama-tribe.
RamaCay is home for approximately 1200 people, and a large portion of them are children. The kids seemed a little bit timid in the beginning, but stole our hearts quickly. The older ones are incredibly sweet, caring and loving and the little ones turned out to be full of energy and life as soon as they got used to us. These are the ones that will carry the future of the tribe on their loving hearts.
Baseball, basketball, soccer... people gather around sports. There’s a huge baseball field in the middle of the 8-shaped island. Its location at the center of RamaCay seems very appropriate for its function in the community.
Team-time; worship, debrief or ‘cuddle puddles’ on the porch
Fun...
... is a universal language.
During our last night on the island, we played with the children, hung out with the community and made a bonfire on the baseball field.
We also stayed in Managua, the capitcal city of Nicaragua. On one of those days we visited a neighborhood that used to be a trash drump. We helped with a feeding-program for kids. We learned that bubbles, balloons and facepaint can only catch the attention of a child with a full stomach. But you’d do anything for one of those beautiful smiles on a kid’s face.
The end For more information and travel reports about this mission trip, go to http://exploreopenhorizons.wordpress.com/tag/nicarama14/ Photos and design by Eline Millenaar