Laura, who works here and blogs about her trip here sez:

If you’ve seen “Slumdog Millionaire”, you have seen a piece of what I’d like to share with you.  July 2008 took this Cape Story resident (and a few others from our small neighborhood) to one of the world’s poorest countries, Nicaragua , to see some sights I would never have imagined, and would probably have previously said I’d prefer to not EVER see.  But along this adventure and with peeks at extreme poverty, came some big surprises.

From an email:

Hi Friends and Family:

This is still hard for me.  I’ve had it on the top of my “to do” list for over a month.  But time is running out.

Today, I’m asking if any of you would consider sponsoring my 2nd trip to the orphanage in Nicaragua in early July.  This year, it’s almost certain that Ryan (my almost 15 yr old) is going too.  (Dad just wants the swine flu issue to not be a concern.) 

So, we need to raise $2,700 (half of which is a donation straight to the orphanage).  We already have about $240 from a garage sale I had plus a gracious friend’s donation (thank you, Jan!).  $2,460 to go, needed by June 15th.

First, Santiago … a boy who lives inside the city dump of Managua, La Chureca.Read more.

From Laura’s blog:
I’ve heard from many others, that some have difficulty understanding why we would travel all the way to Nicaragua, and not really DO anything?  What did you build?  What did you repair?  What did you DO when you were down there.
This was a relational trip.  There are several churches who come to Casa Bernabe orphanage and DO.  Our trip was not about doing, but about being.  Being a friend, a smile, a hug, a laugh to the children who live there 24/7.
Stories from the trip [in 2008]

Please consider donating online at Chip.com.

More ways to donate if you can:

Or, you may send a check (tax-deductible) payable to “SBCC”, and mail it to me: 2134 Bayberry Street, Virginia Beach, VA 23451.  Or, you may mail a check directly to ORPHANETwork, if you’d like to remain anonymous, at 1500 N. Great Neck Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23454 *BUT* in order for this to be credited to our trip (and not just be a donation to ORPHANetwork … which still would be great), you’ll need to write that in the memo section (something like “donation to L. Baity’s July mission trip”).

Thanks to all who can help Laura!
Tim