Hola Nicaragua!

Yes, I am here...the travel was smooth. I am at the Mision Esperanza clinic with a few days to get adjusted before I dig in...Internet is down the road at another location and cell is sketchy...getting this blog entry in will be a sign that miracles do happen.  I am so happy that I am able to be in touch, even for a few minutes!

I will update as often as I can and really hope to hear from all the CMMB volunteers and keep up with your blogs too.

Blessings to all,
anna

CMMB orientation & On my way!

Just returned home from my Catholic Medical Mission Board orientation which was held at the Stella Maris Retreat in Long Branch, New Jersey. The location and facility was absolutely beautiful, situated on the shore. The weather was gorgeous and we all had the opportunity to enjoy the beach. Very peaceful and a wonderful place to have all of us new volunteers meet and share our histories and learn together some of what our journeys will entail over the next year. We met a few former and current volunteers who shared with us their stories and very valuable advice, toured the UN building, were treated to dinner in New York city, had lunch with the CMMB board members, and much much more!  To all the CMMB staff, Thank you for such a warm welcome and send off! The local parish, Holy Cross church has a special Mass and Blessings for all of us and an awesome banquet after mass where we met many of the people who so generously give to our missions. I could not of asked for or expected such a lovely experience.

I will be arriving in Managua on Thursday, September 22nd. Very excited and just about packed up!
Please follow along with me on my journey as I will be following as many of my fellow volunteers on their blogs. The more followers the more I feel motivated to journal and post pictures. This is an opportunity of a lifetime to serve the poor and marginalized communities in the world...I want to share it with everyone that I can.  And, please comment and let me know what you want to hear more about.

I will post photos from the orientation very soon as well.

Blessings,
Anna

A few photos from Mission 42 in Nicaragua

Watertown Daily Times | Morristown woman makes mission trip to Nicaragua

Watertown Daily Times | Morristown woman makes mission trip to Nicaragua

Mission of Hope in the Nica Community

 A Grateful Family!

Nurse Anna, Elizabeth and Barbara

Mision Esperanza

I just returned from Nicaragua this very evening...and, well, I just have to touch base. I don't know if I have ever felt such profound sadness, helplessness and hope in a single moment, a single day or any period of time in my life as I feel right now and since I boarded the plane in Managua... to leave, el irse... I had twelve hours of travel to feel all of these things...I had a moment when I felt paralized...walking from the plane to exit the airport in Jacksonville...there was a pull...a pull back to Nica.
Of course, I was very anxious to see my daughter and share my experience. Of course, I wanted a hot shower and the comfort of my bed and my stuff and to read all my emails and just breath.  But, I am not ready to leave Nica and I am ready to return... October cannot come soon enough. I know exactly the location of my heart.   So many  hopes, dreams, plans...prayers...
The mission team I spent the last week with were amazing in so many ways...I will be forever rooted in Mission #42 and to the wonderful people....the companions I shared this experience with and blessed to continue onward with the vital work that needs to be done... siempre!
I will elaborate a bit more later, but I just had to get some of this emotion off my heavy heart.
I love all of you and you are all in my prayers and always will be. Sister Debbie...you have way of capturing the heart of the matter and of the people you touch.
Blessings,
Anna

Leaving for the short mission

Ok. I am leaving for the short mission to Nica tomorrow night. I am hoping that I will have some good stories to tell and many photos to share. I am not sure of the projects that we will be involved in yet, but I am sure it will be an adventure. I am very excited to meet the Nica team with North Country Mission of Hope and will also be meeting at least one of the Doctors with the The Jessie F. Richardson Foundation based in Oregon. We are hoping to start discussing the development of a home visit program with the elderly. The JFR foundation has been working with the elderly in Nica for over ten years, so I am sure they have a wealth of information to get us started. I am thrilled to find such great resources for my long term mission.
I really should get packing!
Chao for now, anna

All my Docs in a Row!

I hope everyone had a fun and injury free 4th of July!   I am officially getting ready for Nicaragua now. Just a dozen or so documents to notarized, apostilized, photo copied, get the photo copies notarized... send all the docs to the consulate and wait for them to come back and have them all copied once more and get ten copies of my passport and ten sets of passport photos and .... well I am there!

Ah, I cannot wait to meet the Nicaraguan team of volunteers and take a ton of photos to post. It will be nice to journal about my experiences there and not just my preparations here.

Also... thank  you for your prayers!

Chao,  Anna

Independencia feliz y seguro día!

I really like the babel translator. See it on the left of the posts here. I hope it will encourage my spanish speaking friends to visit more often!

   The fireworks started last night... I believe I will stay in and study this holiday weekend. I have many prayers and prayer requests from friends, family and followers of my blog and facebook. I feel really honored when someone asks for prayers. I suppose I never thought about it that way before. I know that I often ask for prayer and feel a comfort knowing that people do follow through.

As always,
Blessings
Anna

   

Hooray! I found someone to practice Spanish with!

Today I met a very nice person who answered my online ad for a language exchange partner. We had a little conversation in Spanish and are meeting again tomorrow morning to practice conversation and do verb drills.
I am working very hard now to pick up what I can with my audios and videos. This will be a great addition. My new friend is offering this help because he knows that I need to learn for the Nicaraguan people that I will be serving. This is exactly how I feel. I not only feel it is my responsibility to learn but I really want to speak Spanish and to show respect and appreciation for the culture that I am about to enjoy.

Continue those prayers for my progress with Spanish lessons. 

Bendiciones para todos ustedes,

Anna

Making Slow Progreso!

   I am trying to recover at least the little bits of Spanish skill that I had three years ago when I spent a year in Panama. If I don't use it... I lose it! Same with Italian...I have family there and have to study for 3 months before my visits. So, I took a couple of leaps today... I changed my keyboard layout to Español and am working on my Rosetta Stone. I also put a local ad online looking for a language exchange partner. I am running out of time, but making slow progress.

  It is difficult for me, even though I am a compulsive list maker and maybe overly organized, to stick to my study plan... an hour of Rosetta Stone, an hour of Learn Spanish like Crazy online, some Byki, and verb drill practice at least once a day. Is that too much or too little?
 
Pray to strengthen my self-discipline and memory skills!
Bendiciones,
Anna

My inspiration for this day.. St. Francis of Assisi

Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console,
not so much to be understood as to understand,
not so much to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
it is in dying that we awake to eternal life.

Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Prayers/Catholic/Work/Make-Me-An-Instrument-Of-Your-Peace.aspx#ixzz1QUPe80se

“Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” 1 Corinthians 10:17

From the Weekly Reflections of Prayer (CMMB)

June 26, 2011 Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

Singing and even dancing – led by the priest carrying the Blessed Sacrament! I recall so well processions through the streets of Nigeria on this annual feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. One year it rained. It poured. Everyone was drenched. But that did not matter. The procession continued, the prayers and singing of hymns did not stop. Lawyers, doctors, parents, and children stood their ground as if nothing was happening except the Eucharist. Such is the power of faith, Such is the strength and depth of Catholic belief in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.


Lord Jesus Christ, you gave us the Eucharist as the memorial of your suffering and death. May our worship of this sacrament of your body and blood help us to experience the salvation you won for us and the peace of the kingdom where you live with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen

Rev. Peter Schineller, S.J., CMMB Board of Directors

Thank you for the toothache!

Yes, I am thanking the Lord for a toothache today! Make that two toothaches! My daughter and I both woke up with toothaches, not just a little ache either, big pounding gland swelling toothaches, and in the same tooth. No kidding! We have matching toothaches!
Why am I thankful? Well, after we walked the six blocks to the storage unit I rented to store the things that I felt I would not need on my mission trip, digging around in my medicine box, I failed to find a single leftover antibiotic from a previous event, (not wise anyway). So,we walked the six blocks back, both of us moaning and my daughter, Jen, crying a bit, I called my doc and got him to call in something for us. My excuse being that I cannot afford a dentist this month! After fetching and taking the first dose of antibiotics and a pain pill I began to pray...to my surprise, Jen prayed with me.
I know that sometimes it takes us some pain or despair to pray...My Jen stopped attending Mass and lost her way a long time ago... oh, she will still attend Mass with me, if it is on a Saturday, when I want to go for reconciliation, and if she has no other plans, but she has been saying that she does not believe for years. Which, by the way, tears away at my heart every time she says it. But, today she prayed! No matter to me if it was only to relieve the toothache, it is, I truly believe, the start of something beautiful.
To make a short story long, "Thank You Lord for our toothaches!"
This is a very blessed day,
Anna

Going to NICA!

Sister Debbie, NCMissionofHope.org, sent my Itinerary for a week long mission trip to Nica the end of July! This trip will be amazing. I am so not prepared... not in a bad way, just so enthused and excited to meet the Team in Nica and experience a small part of what the MOH is accomplishing there. Also, we talked about the year long mission coming up this Fall.
Now I really really need help with my list! Prayers are always welcome and appreciated.
Anyone recommend the best mosquito spray?

Chao for now,
Anna
Mission Fund

Lists

I am beginning to think about the little things...not so little after you think about it. Making lists of things I may need: flashlight, reusable water bottles, first aide kit, cotton clothing, hats, mosquito net?, bug spray, antibiotics?, language dictionary, a fanny pack?, copies of passport, etc...
Anyone want to help me add to the list?

I am determined now, more than ever, to reduce my material life down to two suitcases and a backpack. Challenging, but I believe doable.

Oh, yes, I need to take my laptop in for a good cleaning.

I would like to take a full suitcase of gifts for the children, um, ok, maybe three suitcases...

To answer a frequently asked question...

Recently quite of few of my friends, family members and others have asked me the same question, " Why have you decided on a volunteer service overseas?" and "Why CMMB?"
And the answer came from prayer.

The willingness to learn,to hope,to trust,
and to live on God's promises

CMMB speaks for itself in the values:
Building Individual and Community Capacity
Social Justice
Integrity
Leadership
Accountability
Quality Collaboration
Courage and Risk-Taking
Compassion

Summer is flying by!

I cannot believe how fast this Summer is flying by.  Preparing for my mission I have finally finished my Fundraising page on the CMMB website:  Please click on the following link to have a look at my page and to donate if you can.
Anna's CMMB Fund
Also, I have begun to make lists of supplies and other "to do's" before I embark on a year long journey. I am hoping to eliminate my surplus storage and simplify life a bit. Maybe down to two suitcases and a backpack! That would be a dream for me!

I would also like to hear from any of my friends or family and welcome you to post here and sign up as a follower in the blog. I am hoping that my posts will include the destination of my mission soon.

Blessings,
Anna

Preparing for Anything & Everything!!!

I started this blog in preparation for my CMMB mission. I will be posting as often as I can the how, what, when, where, and why, I have decided to become a CMMB volunteer nurse and my experiences throughout my assignment both as a healthcare volunteer and personal prospective.
Also, I will be encouraging you all to follow along, contribute your experiences and ask for your prayers for my journey.  I will posting a link to my CMMB fundraising page as well...as it does cost $15,000 to send 1 volunteer on a year long mission!  I hope to raise at least a third of that amount to contribute to my mission.  I am working here in Florida this Summer to help with that effort.
Blessings! I am looking forward to sharing...

Anna
Anna's Mission Fund Page