FUMC youth to re-create Nicaraguan village in fundraiser to benefit disabled native

Several youth-group members will construct a rural Nicaraguan neighborhood on the parking lot of First United Methodist Church of Dyersburg this weekend and camp in the rustic structures. The funds raised will be used to build a home for Darling Pacheco Miranda, a native of the Leon community the students visited on a mission trip. From left, Andrew Legan, Hunter Todd, Amanda Jones, Will Fowlkes, Logan Collier and Chris Wagner, seated.

The double amputee lives in Leon, Nicaragua, but her story has touched the hearts of the students who will construct a replica of the rural neighborhood Darling now lives in to raise funds and build a new home for her and her 4-year-old son, Carlos.

This weekend, as many West Tennesseans relax in front of a football game, rake leaves or complain about other household chores, a small group of teenagers will re-create the rustic structures of a rural Nicaraguan village and live in this example of extreme poverty.

These rustic structures are part of the rural Nicaraguan neighborhood members of First United Methodist Church ministered to on a recent mission trip to Leon, Nicaragua. The extreme poverty was a shock to several members of the FUMC youth group, but the story of a double amputee with Sirenomelia - or Mermaid Syndrome - who doesn't even own a home as primitive as this to shelter her 4-year-old son, was one they couldn't forget.

Members of the Dyersburg First United Methodist Church Youth Group have already begun constructing the small shacks and lean-to's similar to those Le--n natives call home on the parking lot of FUMC in Dyersburg.

This weekend, local residents will have the opportunity to wander through the village and talk to the teenagers who were so touched by their recent mission trip to Nicaragua that they began making plans to raise money and provide a better life for Darling before they were even back in the United States. The group hopes to raise approximately $7,000 to purchase the land in Leon and the supplies needed to construct a 225-square-foot concrete block building. Additional funds will then be raised by the youth group to provide transportation back to Nicaragua.

This structure is a home in a rural community in Leon, Nicaragua. The house was created from items like cardboard, tin, tarps and saplings scavenged from the riverbed where it is located. The power lines are created from barbed wire and tree limbs, with current hijacked from a nearby power source. [Click to enlarge]

"We were thinking of fundraising ideas," said DHS junior Andrew Legan. "These shacks are easy to construct. They are cardboard and plastic. We had a fundraising option to mimic the Doctors Without Borders and create a replica of a rural village."

"We spent the bus ride coming home talking about ways we could help her," said DHS junior Hunter Todd.

"I am so impressed and inspired by their determination and their desire to meet the need of this lady and her son," said FUMC Youth Director Robert Craig. "Before we even left Nicaragua in October, this is the thing that they dreamed up. They were thinking of it when we were still building the other house."

"We can't re-create the experience of going to Nicaragua here," said Todd.

"But we will try our best to bring it to them," said Legan. "We'll do the best we can, minus a few malnourished cows and a couple of chickens."

Since returning to the United States, the group has worked hard to introduce the community to Darling and her story. They hope residents in the community will be as touched by Darling's great determination and spirit as they were. A spirit that inspired this project and their own determination to return next spring and help Darling begin again with a new home and a new career.

"We made a video in our journalism class and used it in the church," said Todd. "We also spoke in church, youth service and to Sunday School classes."

Darling Pacheco Miranda does not have even the simplest structure to call home. The double amputee and her 4-year-old son, Carlos, live in Leon, Nicaragua, where she sells water to earn less than $1 per day to provide for her family. Her story has touched the hearts of local students, who will construct a replica of the rural neighborhood Darling now lives in to raise funds to build a new home. [Click to enlarge]

"We put flyers around the community," said Legan.

"There are ads up around town," said DHS junior Logan Collier. "And we put an ad in the newspaper."

The 22-year-old Darling Pacheco Miranda was born a triplet. One of her siblings died at birth and Darling was diagnosed with Sirenomelia - or Mermaid Syndrome - which fused her legs together from the knees down. At the age of 17, Darling came to the United States to the Shriner's Hospital in St. Louis, where she received a double amputation. She now uses two out-of-date prosthetics to walk. She also suffers from curvature of the spine.

Darling works hard each day to provide for her 4-year-old son, Carlos, in the muddy riverbed that is her neighborhood. In the past year, she has sold small bags of water or tomatoes, caught buses to sell pastries between cities and has driven a horse cart to make deliveries. All these tasks are completed with Carlos at her side. She earns less than $1 per day and does not own even the most primitive of structures to shelter her, Carlos, their companion Benito and her twin sister and her family.

Members of First United Methodist Church hope to purchase land, construct a building and establish a new business like selling beans and rice from her home. They also would love to get Darling new prosthetics.

The video created by the students shows images of the poverty in the rural Nicaraguan village where they constructed a home similar to the one they hope to build for Darling.

"It was indescribable," said Collier. "I knew the lesser-developed countries had poverty, but I never would have imagined what we saw."

"It was even worse than we could imagine," said Todd.

Craig said that the members of the congregation who participated in last year's mission trip served a more urban setting.

"The population is expanding or growing," said Craig. "(The people we served this year) are extremely poor, especially by our standards, and they are just establishing homes in a river bed."

"Their homes are built almost like a bird's nest," said Collier. "If you've ever seen a bird build its nest, it just takes pieces of anything and weaves them together."

"They are very creative," said Legan.

"Very resourceful," said Craig.

The students will prove to be just as resourceful as they attempt to construct their makeshift village on the church grounds.

Construction has already begun, but the homes will be assembled on the church parking lot on the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 13. The students hope to be ready for visitors around 9 a.m., on Saturday morning. They will spend the day, evening and night in the shacks and most likely break down the village after church members have a chance to visit on Sunday afternoon.

Donations will be accepted in any amount, but a goal of $7,000 has been set.

"Every little bit counts," said Legan.

"Donations in no way go toward the transportation needed to get there," said Collier.

Members of the group hope to raise the money needed to purchase the land and supplies for Darling's new home. They would love to return over spring break.

No strangers to mission work, all members of the group working on Darling's Project have served on mission trips locally, within the states and now abroad.

"It was an amazing trip," said Todd. "It changes your perspective."

"There are things to do here," said Legan. "I'm sure there are people who say, 'Why go to Nicaragua?'"

"But it takes you out of your comfort zone," said Todd.

"You don't speak the language, but you don't see any kind of resentment," said Legan.

"They were real nice," said DHS sophomore Chris Wagner. "We have everything and we complain. They have so little and they are so happy."

"I'm so proud of these guys," said Gay Carole Wagner, Chris Wagner's mother. "People talk about our teenagers these days - and then we see them so excited about helping someone. And that has spread greatly throughout the church. It's so amazing how they can help in some way to benefit someone so far away."

"I have no doubt that (this group will fulfill this dream)," said Craig. "It's an amazing thing. It makes me hopeful of the future."

Residents are encouraged to visit Collier, Will Fowlkes, Amanda Jones, Legan, Todd, Wagner and other youth-group members in the rural Nicaraguan village on the parking lot of First United Methodist Church this weekend. All donations will directly benefit Darling's Project.