If you are not very familiar with Nicaragua, here are some sobering statistics:

• Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, behind Haiti.
• 17% of the population lives in extreme poverty, on less than a dollar a day.
• Four million Nicaraguans earn less than $2 per day; the total population is 5.4 million.
• Three out of four children suffer from malnutrition.
• 1.1 million Nicaraguans do not have a home.
• Two thirds of the population does not have access to adequate sewer services.
• 33.2% of Nicaraguans are illiterate.
• More than 15% of the population (800,000 boys and girls) does not attend school.

In 2009, my wife Tina and I visited the barrio of La Cruz Nicaragua for the very first time. It was an incredibly eerie feeling. The smell was overwhelming, the people were distant, and there was a strong feeling of emptiness and darkness.

I knew we were not welcome, but I also knew that La Cruz was exactly where God wanted us to be. This is where God had work for us to do.

“Lord, help us spread your good news all over the world, especially to Nicaragua this week. Use our team to transform lives and break down social barriers.”

As I walked around the dump site at La Cruz, God stirred inside of me a fire to do something and to use the resources He has given me to help the people of La Cruz.

Since that day, the organization our mission team was working with began visiting the people of La Cruz regularly and building relationships. They provided daily feedings for the children and the people of La Cruz were being given something they have never had before: hope!

In 2010, we returned to the barrio of La Cruz. The reception our mission team received compared to the year before was amazing. The people of La Cruz welcomed us and were thankful to see us again.

Relationships had been built, and are being built. God’s love is at work. God is transforming lives, and it is incredible to see.

As of today, all of the children who live in La Cruz (about 50 kids) are now sponsored by members of Grace Church, and a brand new school was built for the children of La Cruz!

Only God could take a little barrio in the middle of Nicaragua where people live off of a dump site, call it La Cruz (The Cross), and then use it to impact the lives of so many people.

North Americans simply do not know enough about extreme poverty to get involved. But the bottom line is this: we all have an obligation to help the helpless. We should use the resources and gifts that God has given us to do the work God wants us to do.

For Tina and myself, our experience in La Cruz has inspired us to create ResQrags, a company that uses clothing as a resource to help children living in extreme poverty. ResQrags is partnered with Compassion and inspires others to take action by sharing the message of hope and love.

As you consider ways to help those living in extreme poverty, this is my prayer for you:

“Thank you God for relationships and the opportunity to serve You, the Almighty Creator. Help us work together and fight to end extreme poverty. Help us use our gifts and resources so that we may fulfill Your will and not our own. Help us share Your love, shine Your light and see the world through Your eyes. Help us care about the people You care about and give us the courage and strength to do Your work always. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael Gannon and his wife, Tina, are the founders and owners of ResQrags. They live in Fort Myers, Fla., with their twin 6-year-old boys.

Statistics cited from Wikipedia and United Nations Development Program

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In episode four we find ourselves on the outskirts of Iloilo City, Philippines in the dumps of Calajonan. Sisters Florence and Hannah forage through garbage to earn (at most) $2.50 a day. They are the first generation in their family to have the opportunity to break the cycle of extreme poverty.

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The House of Diamonds Student Center in El Guanabano, Honduras, serves people whose livelihood is found in garbage. But that doesn’t mean they’re garbage themselves.

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Squatter communities under a bridge, within a cemetery, and on top of a garbage dumpsite are a few of the places in the Philippines that create vivid memories for visiting sponsors.

Last year, Korean sponsors visited their sponsored children living near the city dumpsite of Iloilo. They climbed the mountain of rubbish to observe how the children scavenged. I heard that after their visit, most of them decided to throw away or leave behind their soiled shoes and clothes because the stench would not go away.

A few months later, it was my turn to visit the “mountain.”

At the home of Hannah and Florence, the sponsored children who would take me up the gigantic pile of rubbish, I wondered why they and their mother, Lusita, put on rubber boots, two pairs of pants, and face masks as though they were preparing to go through a gas chamber. They offered me a pair of boots and extra clothing, but I refused and said, “I’m fine.”

Today, I wonder why I didn’t take them.

I’ve been to the crummiest, smelliest and most depressing communities around the Philippines, so I thought that climbing up a pile of trash wouldn’t be any different. I have visited a similar dumpsite in Manila and gotten through it quite well. In Manila, they call it Smokey Mountain because the smell of methane never goes away.

I followed Lusita and her children as we climbed a concrete wall with a barbed wire fence on top. There is open access to this walled dumpsite through the front gate, but Lusita lives at the back side of the wall. That first step just to get to the dumpsite was not easy. Then it was time to hike up the mountain.

As I first stepped onto the squishy mountain grounds, Lusita said the trick was not to look down so I wouldn’t know what I was stepping on. I did look for a few moments and saw a dead bird, fish bones, animal waste, and other gooey stuff with flies swarming.

From all my visits to homes of sponsored children near sewers, garbage pits and slaughterhouses, I have been trained not to cover my nose or make a face lest I offend anyone. This time, however, as we climbed higher and higher, I had to cover my face. Now I know why my companions and everyone else on top of the mountain were wearing face masks.

I pulled my shirt up to my nose and tried to continue walking. I was surprised not only at the foulest smell but also to see so many people there scouring through the pile of trash and filth. They ran toward the garbage truck that just arrived. I ran along not knowing what to expect. They stood behind the truck and as it opened to spew out a new set of smelly garbage, the scavengers raced to get the biggest recyclable chunk that could be sold at the highest price.

I took photos of the commotion and focused on Lusita and the children. I noticed that Lusita sorted through the discarded pieces of rotten vegetables. She feeds her neighbor’s pigs with these, but I later learned that some scavengers eat some vegetable parts that are still “clean” and “edible.”

Despite the smelly and sorry surroundings, the scavengers still seem to be having fun — a very Filipino trait. They laughed, sang, made jokes, and passed around pieces of trash as though they were playing catch with any regular basketball.

On my jeepney ride back to my hotel, it was obvious that people were staring at me. I knew why. I smelled bad. The dumpsite is so smelly that the stench sticks on you.

Inside my hotel room I ran straight to the shower and tried to wash off the smell from my clothes. The stench filled my room. I dumped my clothes and shoes on the bathroom floor and kept the shower running through the night.

From this “mountaintop” experience, I was reminded of two things that I already know:

1. Filipinos always make a way to get by.
2. Compassion is in places like this, always ready to offer help.

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The Dominican Republic has a population of around 9.6 million people; 73 percent of the population is of mixed race, 16 percent are Caucasian, and 11 percent are of African descent. Around 95 percent of the population is Catholic. There is freedom of faith in the country, which allows around 2 percent of the population to practice Voodoo.

A typical Dominican family has four people. Statistically, while 42 percent of the homes are run by both parents together, about 31 percent are run by single mothers, and the rest are run by relatives.

The Dominican Republic is divided into 31 provinces; 14 are in the northwestern region of the country: Dajabón, Duarte, Espaillat, Hermanas Mirabal, La Vega, María Trinidad Sánchez, Monseñor Nouel, Montecristi, Puerto Plata, Samaná, Sánchez Ramírez, Santiago, Santiago Rodríguez and Valverde.

Each province depends on the central government. Each, however, also has its own local authorities: governor, senators, deputies, mayor, etc.

Nationwide unemployment is around 15 percent. To help fight the situation, the government has created and granted a debit “Solidarity” card to more than 800,000 families across the country so they can get food for themselves and their children by using money allocated by the government every month.

Free-zone industries have closed in some towns causing unemployment to rise even higher. Unemployed parents don’t have many options; most try to find small jobs each day. The most common regular occupation in the urban areas of these provinces is that of motorcycle-taxi driver, which allows a man to make between $6 and $15 daily.

When family income is not enough, it is quite common to see children in the streets begging, cleaning windshields at crossroads, shining shoes, or selling pirated DVDs and CDs to generate income to help their families.

Children are also involved in scavenging in the dump, drug trafficking and child prostitution. Some of the worst cases of child labor and exploitation can be found at the Rafey garbage dump near the community of Cienfuegos in the province of Santiago. Entire families search the garbage to collect cardboard, glass, plastic and metal waste materials and anything they can sell or barter.

Given that many homes in Cienfuegos serve as warehouses for the variety of sorted waste materials brought from the dump, good hygiene is a challenge. But health consequences are dramatic and include skin diseases and other related illnesses. Even the street dogs get fungus that cause them to lose their hair.

A similar form of child labor and exploitation can be found in Dajabón, a border town where unemployment is high and the children often stop attending the Compassion-assisted child development centers because the parents take them to the local Haitian-Dominican market to help carry goods. The Haitians sell items like shoes, clothes and personal care products to the Dominicans. The Dominicans sell the Haitians foods such as corn, wheat, rice, beans, chicken, eggs, spaghetti, oil, herring, vegetables and others.

Families living in extreme poverty in the northwest usually have one meal a day. To help keep the children from going to bed with an empty stomach, the meal is eaten at around 5 in the afternoon. Many families use firewood to cook their meals, and the smoke will sneak through the gaps in the wooden walls and the tin-sheet roofs of homes.

Primary and high school education is generally available in the northwest, but not all students can afford it.

Thousands of families in the Northwest become homeless each year due to the tropical storms and hurricanes that hit the island of Hispaniola between May 1 and Nov. 30. Their poverty worsens when their homes are destroyed, and the small amount of money they have must be used for relocation.

Examples of child development centers located in areas like this include:

DR-125, 127, 208, 242, 251, 254, 255, 293, 294, 300, 303, 306, 307, 313, 324, 326, 337, 346, 361, 380-383, 386, 388, 404, 406, 430, 466, 459, 500-505 and 600

To help you when writing to your sponsored child, here are some commonly used phrases in the local language of the northwestern region of the country:

• Mi niño (My child – when writing to a boy). Mi niña (My child – when writing to a girl). This phrase is received very dearly because it is generally used by people who love children a lot.
• ¡Hola, campeón! (Hello, champion!). This phrase is used to speak to boys. It highlights the competitive qualities of a boy.
• ¡Hola, princesa! (Hello, princess!). This phrase is used to speak to girls. It is an encouraging phrase that links a girl to fairy tales, success and the qualities of somebody who is dearly loved.
• ¡Hola, estrella! (Hello, star!). This phrase is used to speak both to boys and girls. It pertains to the children’s talents, good school performance, etc.

Mangú Recipe

A typical dish in the northwest is mangú. This Dominican dish can be eaten at any meal, especially when having a complete breakfast. This is how it is made.

Ingredients: fresh green plantains, water, salt, onion and oil.

Remove the outer peel from the plantains with a knife and slice the plantains into chunks for faster and more thorough cooking. Place the plantain pieces in water in a deep pan that allows the water to cover the chunks. Add salt to the water to taste.

Place the pan on the stove and let the plantains boil until they soften (around 20 minutes). If you can easily pierce the plantains with a fork or knife point, they are well cooked.

Remove the plantains from the water and put them in a bowl. Mash well by using a potato masher or even the flat bottom of a bottle or cup. As you mash the plantains, you can simultaneously pour in a little cool water and you will notice how soft they become.

On the side, pour some vinegar in a bowl; slice an onion and dip into the vinegar for a short while. Also, pour a little oil in a pan and place the pan on the stove flame.

When the oil is hot, remove the onion slices from the vinegar, place them in the hot oil, and stir for several seconds, avoiding burning.

Turn off the stove and pour the onion-vinegar-oil mixture over the mashed plantains, and mash again to allow all ingredients to mix well.

Serve hot either with cheese, fried eggs, boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, fried sausage, or any other food desired.

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Yunita had grown up filled with passion for God. She entered the university in 2001, became involved in a campus ministry, and was entrusted to become the leader of the organization in 2006.

Yunita has a heart for children, and with six of her friends she established a group to help children from a landfill in Sumampow, Manado — children who don’t have the opportunity to go to school. She and her friends go to the landfill every Friday and Saturday to teach the children.

God’s love for her kept flowing. She had taken English literacy as her major, which gave her the opportunity to translate child letters for Compassion East Indonesia. Even though she was a student and didn’t have much time every day, she volunteered to translate 100 letters a week, which she’s been doing since 2006.

God had entrusted Yunita with many things and she felt alive. Though she came from a broken home, she began to believe that she could do anything. But all the success caused her to become arrogant. She thought that she would be able to do anything by her own effort.

When Yunita started to work on her thesis, things changed. Her university lecturer told her that she couldn’t finish her thesis.

“He was always angry with me every time he read my thesis. He told me that I couldn’t write a thesis. I shouldn’t be a university student because I couldn’t understand anything. I was in anguish.”

Yunita felt like God had abandoned her. She felt disappointed and that she couldn’t trust Him. Yunita felt that she didn’t have strength to write.

“I felt empty at that time. I was very embarrassed with myself. I thought that as a Christian leader I could do whatever I wanted to do. Arrogance had gnawed my heart.”

Embarrassed about her situation, Yunita began to lie to her uncle who had paid for her university. She told her uncle that her thesis was in progress.

Until one day God spoke to her.

It was when Yunita was translating a sponsor letter. Although she had read similar words before, Yunita was shocked by what she read in the letter. It was like her eyes were opened.

“God loves you. You are precious. You are special.”

The sentence that sponsors always write for their sponsored children suddenly shocked Yunita.

“I then realized that He never left me even for a second. He saw me as his precious one … I felt encouraged and got new strength.”

With a broken heart, Yunita prayed and gave thanks for God’s blessing in her life. After she surrendered to God, Yunita got the wisdom she had been looking for all this time. After eight years struggling in the university, Yunita finished her degree.

Another responsibility was then given to Yunita. She began to teach children in preschool, which is based in international literacy.

“I’m very happy because He still gives me an opportunity to prepare the next generation.”

Yunita’s days are still filled with passion for God. She gives everything for children as she continues to volunteer translating sponsor letters, helping children in the landfill, and teaching preschool. She realized that the ministry entrusted to her is God’s own.

“God is the one who put His picture on me. I’m just His tool. Now I just rely on Him and obey what He wants from me,” says Yunita.

Yunita is just one of the many translators who sacrifice their time and talents to be advocates for children. Their devotion to children has affected many children across East Indonesia.

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Garbage is everywhere. Two children and their mothers used to trudge over the piles, holding a hook to dig in garbage. They were here at the dump at 5 or 6 in the morning every day.

Nearly 150 children used to work at this dump in León, Nicaragua, looking for food and other necessities, helping their families’ financial situations by collecting recyclable material like plastic, glass and metal that could be sold later.

Juan Carlos and Fatima are two children from two different families who were part of that number.

Almost every day Juan Carlos’ and Fatima’s mothers collected cans, copper and plastic bottles to sell at the end of each week. On a good week they’d get $5 to $10. The children went with them when there were no classes or activities at their child development center.

At the dump they were exposed to the hot Central American sun and an unsafe and unhealthy environment, punctuated with bad smells, flies, dirt and rotten food.

“I ask the Lord to take care of me because anything can happen at the dump. This year someone was killed in a fight for trash,” says Yolanda, Fatima’s mom.

“Trucks and vehicles that come in the dump move with no precaution, especially when it’s raining the ground gets slippery, and if someone is behind the truck, they can be killed,” says Maria, Juan Carlos’ mom.

Other dangers at the dump include exposure to violence, sexual abuse or getting burned with the trash.

A child burned her feet when she stood up on trash that was burning underneath. Also, if parents are not careful when trucks are unloading garbage, children can be buried in it.

Living by the river for some years so close to the dump and working at the dump led to health problems such as skin and respiratory illnesses, undernourishment, lice and allergies.

Through the medical checkups the children receive at their child development centers, the staff identified that these two children were undernourished. Both now receive complementary food three times a month, in addition to the food they regularly receive at the center.

They have also received treatment for their skin problems.

Maria explains that before going to the dump, she used to work doing domestic work. When asked why she wouldn’t look for a job like that instead of going to the dump, she says that she makes more money going to the dump for half of the day than doing domestic work for 12 hours.

This is a sad reality; however, the center has helped Juan and Fatima see life differently by motivating them to study.

“Children have a different vision. They have other dreams like to finish a professional or technical career. No one of them wishes to continue at the dump,” says Maria Elena, the center director.

Fatima would like to be a doctor and would like to clean the dirty water in the community.

Juan Carlos wants to be a lawyer and would like to clean the streets of the community so that no one will put garbage on the street or in the wells.

“Most of the people in this community did not go to school. Those who did go only went up to second or third grade because they were a big family and not all of them could go to school, had children at an early age, or parents put them to work instead of study,” says Maria Elena.

Now, this is starting to change.

Two months ago the old dump was closed and a new one was opened where children are not allowed to work.

Adults with an assigned identification are the only ones who can go in, so parents will have to find something else for their children to do, like sending them to school or the child development center.

Instead of holding a hook to dig in the trash, the children can hold a notebook and a pencil — tools that will help them grow to be someone better, someone different.

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You can also view the Comfort the Afflicted and Afflict the Comfortable video on YouTube.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates