Backpacks, Dentistry and Dignity

The first full day in Playa Gigante would have to happen on  very little sleep because of the travel mishaps the night before. The van had dropped Mario, Krystal and myself off at our lodge sometime after 2 a.m., but apparently hit another large and more problematic water hazard about a quarter mile further up the road. The remaining group, made up mainly of Rotaractors had to struggle to free the van, requiring a lot of mud, a flat tire and unloading of the ton of luggage on top. When finished the crew went to bed only after 5 a.m.

On the Road

So just a few hours later we were piling into vehicles to head out to the Escuela Humberto Amador about a kilometer inland, a school that serves the rural area north of Playa Gigante. The building is a simple rectangle of one classroom and two smaller auxiliary spaces; a barebones reinforced concrete framework infilled with brick, jalousie windows, and metal grates and roofed with corrugated sheet metal over lightweight metal trusses. Dangling cables from the roof belie a former lighting system, but the building stands powerless today. Two outbuildings stand nearby; one, a neglected two stall outhouse with broken doors; the other a non-functioning covered well structure.

The  major project of the Rotaractors was to help fix up the school; repair more than a dozen broken desks, bring the well and bathrooms to a decent state. We would return at another day to make the big repairs. This visit was mainly to interact with the kids. They also brought backpacks with school supplies and other goods to outfit the kids and teachers, took Polaroids of the kids to create an art project and helped the children to plant a new vegetable garden.

After the school, we packed fifteen of us into a Toyota Land Cruiser for a 15 kilometer hot, bumpy and dusty ride, most of us crammed in the cabin, but Eric and Dale hanging for dear life out the back. It was simultaneously comedic and painful.

We arrived in Tola where we Rotarians delivered a portable dental unit to the medical clinic there, which was our group’s big effort, spearheaded by Mario, who is our International Service Chair. This clinic serves a vast rural area, including Playa Gigante. Those needing medical attention must make the arduous overland trip here. It is our hope that the portable dental unit would allow the medical staff to deliver services out in the field, thereby improving access. The estimate is that close to 1200 people may be served annually this way.

Mario and Dale demonstrated the unit to the chief dentist there and the staff was effusive in their thanks. Hopefully this is an early step in a long term relationship with this community that can lead this area ultimately in a self-sustaining effort to improve their health and well being. A hand up rather than a hand out, it seems.

I am a Rotarian because of efforts like this, where we get the opportunity to do something as a collective to help others prosper in their lives as we have in ours. It is always wonderful to see the younger members of the group passionately involve themselves in the work.We have had some wonderful discussions already, among Rotarians and Rotaractors, about what exactly does it mean to do ‘good.’ How do we know if what we are doing for the Nicaraguans is good for them? How do we know if we are misapplying what we think is good for them, rather than resources that may prove more beneficial? We are a very different culture for certain. To some extent, Rotary does rely on local knowledge to help us plan the nature of our aid. How can I make this more about them than about assuaging my middle class guilt?

I have to believe that I can distill some basic notions that allow my life to have the dignity to which we are universally entitled. Access to education, access to clean water and safe food, available basic health care. Because when we have dignity, we will work for what we want, we will aspire, we will fight.

This is not political or religious or cultural. It’s human. I want to look at one of these kids in the face here in Playa Gigante and show, in some way, that I respect him, that I respect his dignity. Sure, we are bringing him backpacks and books, a portable dental station, but I hope that can be the lasting effect of my brief time here.