Gerardo Hernandez, one of the art teachers here at CCBN, stepped in to give a mural tour to a visiting delegation. Groups of high-school and university students often come for a tour of the Center’s murals, which are famous for their beauty and stories they tell. Generally, a selected group of Scholarship students from the Center is available at 5pm before Sunday Mass to give tours to any visitors.
~Andrea
Our Lord,
Who is in us here on earth,
Holy is your name
in the hungry
who share their bread and their song.
Your kingdom come,
which is a generous land
that flows with milk and honey.
Let us do your will,
standing up when all are sitting down,
and raising our voice when all are silent.
You are giving us our daily bread
in the song of the bird and the miracle of the corn.
Forgive us
for keeping silent in the face of injustice,
and for burying our dreams
for not sharing bread and wine,
love and land
among us, now.
Don’t let us fall into the temptation
of shutting the door through fear;
or resigning ourselves to hunger and injustice;
of taking up the same arms as the enemy.
But deliver us from evil.
Give us the perseverance and the solidarity
to look for love,
even if the path has not yet been trodden,
even if we fall;
so we shall have known your Kingdom
which is being built for ever and ever.
~ Anonymous. Found in a prayer-resource binder in our volunteer house here in Managua. If you know who is the author, please let us know!
The bell tower of Iglesia La Merced, Granada, Nicaragua.
~ Andrea
A house here in Batahola Norte (not the typical house). This looks more like what is found in rural parts, but for people who a building with whatever they’ve got, this might be the outcome. Simple houses like this are common in poor barrios here in Managua and elsewhere in Nicaragua, but most houses in Batahola Norte are identical–built by the Sandinistas during the1980s.
~Andrea
Reflections from November (there’s not that much rain these days! However, the weather has been odd for the dry season, sprinkling occasionally…)
~Andrea
The old national cathedral:
(Regards to Wikipedia):
“The Old St James Cathedral was designed and shipped from Belgium in 1920 by Belgian architect residing in Managua Pablo Dambach who got the inspiration from St Sulspice in Paris.[30] Santiago became the first cathedral in the Western Hemisphere to be built entirely of concrete on a metal frame. Santiago survived the 1931 earthquake, but was extremely damaged during the 1972 Earthquake, which led to the construction of the new Cathedral of the Conception to the southeast. Fortunately, in recent years, the restoration of the old cathedral of Santiago has appeared to be possible and is currently awaiting renovation.”
We are still waiting for that renovation. It looks like it has started, but they still won’t let you enter it. A new cathedral has been built in a different location, and is completely different in design as well… 
~Andrea
A folkloric dance performance/rehearsal at the Centro Cultural Batahola Norte (from fall 2011).
~Andrea
