Rancho Ebenezer is amazing. We have breakfast at 7am every morning, tour the grounds, and then work from 10am-12pm around the ranch. We have about a 2 hour break and then start working from 2-5pm. Everything is pretty laid back. Some of the group is finishing off a cinder block wall by splattering cement on the wall to smooth out the surface and fill in the crevices. I worked on scraping and painting pigs pens, which we finished up today. Now, my group is working on painted the fence that surrounds the rabbit cages.
Rancho Ebenezer is such a unique place that is trying to help improve the lives of many poor farmers in the country. The ranch teaches farmers how to become independent and self sufficient. The farmers are taught how to farm more efficiently and productively, small animal husbandry, and even veterinary skills. Everything on the farm is used and not wasted. The hog mature is transformed in to biogas that is used in the kitchen. The droppings from goats and rabbits are composted to organically fertilize the fields. Many of the procedures in the food and plant production are labor intensive with the use of primitive tools. There is so much to tell about the ranch, but if you wanted to learn more and Rancho Ebenezer go to
www.ranchoebenezer.org.
Well the trip out to Nicaragua was very interesting. My little brother drove me to airport, which was about 3 hours away. For the first 2 hours, we could only see about 8 car lengths ahead. I was a bit worried that we weren’t going to make it to the airport on time. I had a little trouble connecting with my group at the airport in Omaha, NE. I couldn’t remember my flight information, and my group had my ticket. After calling some people and paging my group 2x, we found each other about an hour and half later. I had previously checked the weight of my baggage at home, but I was disappointed to see that my luggage was a few pounds over. I quickly shoved some books into another bag and got back in line to check my luggage. I made it threw security quickly and without any troubles, which was a blessing. As I was passing threw security, about a hundred people had just arrived at the security gate. It was a God-thing for sure! I finally met up with my group at the gate, which was a relief. We got onto the plane and were seated. The captain told us that our plane was unbalanced due to the weight of the plane. So there were asking people to take the next flight. Then the captain said that they were going to go ahead and go without anyone getting off the plane. It was a bit nerve racking.
Our flight was delayed due to the fog, which meant our 45 minute lay over in Houston was going to be even shorter. We arrived in Houston and deplaned about 5-10 minutes after we were supposed to board. We got on the plane and even found room for our carry ons in the overhead compartments! We arrived to Managua and excited to begin our journey. Only about 2/3 of our luggage made it there. Our luggage got left in Houston. I am missing both of my checked luggage, but I am supposed to go back into town tonight. We are hoping that our luggage will be there waiting for us. We are at Rancho Ebenezar. It’s beautiful. Today, we sanded and painted pig pen doors with the pigs still in them! It was a bit crazy. One bore just kept escaping out of his pen, and some of the pigs just kept chewing on the metal bars. So we just kept hitting the pigs on the snot to get them away from the wet paint! I have to go because we only have one computer to use. Thanks again for your prayers and support.
I've been home for a couple of days, and it's been quite relaxing in contrast to school. I can't believe that I'm going to be leaving in about a week. I have so much to do before I leave, but I am sure that it will get done sometime. I want to say good-bye to friends and family, apply for seminary for next year, and finish up some class work. While I am in Nicaragua, I hope to keep everyone updated about once a week. Thank you for your prayers and support.
