Shoebox Project update

CHINANDEGA, Nicaragua | Even before making their first delivery Sunday, the people traveling with Rotary Club members in Nicaragua received a warm demonstration of appreciation.

“You are in our prayers and in our hearts,” Maria Auxiliadora Moreno Rivas, 31, said through an interpreter. “Because of your efforts, we here are able to fulfill our dreams.”

Twenty-three people from the United States, including several from Iowa, are with the group. Those attached to the Waterloo Downtown Rotary Club, led by Steve and Liz Thorpe of Denver, left Wednesday for Central America.

Stops Sunday included Betania, a compound in Chinandega that includes a trade school for children, a mission hospital, resale store, music school, museum, auditorium and a school for blind children, Santa Lucia. The entire enterprise is supported by Rotary members.

Courier photographer Dennis Magee is traveling with our club's team in Nicaragua this week distributing shoeboxes and layettes - watch the Courier for more stories and photos.