mission - Linkenheimer LLP CPAs & Advisors

Linkenheimer Team’s Eye Care Service Project to Nicaragua in January of 2020

We departed the night of January 14, 2020 on a graveyard flight from SFO to Houston to Managua. The intrepid travelers included first timers – Dana Breaux, Ernie Ceja, Charla Balkin, Jan Coulter, Gino Scurini and Kelly McGlinchy. Experienced missionaries included Carli Ortiz, Kerri Berry, Nina Shaposhnikov, Joshua Warren, Andy Vedder and John Jones. Our objective was to provide eye care (exams and prescription eye glasses for free) to the people of Las Azucena. This is a small village south of San Carlos Nicaragua and upriver from our home base at the Sabalos Lodge.

Nicaragua is the 2^nd poorest country in the western hemisphere behind Haiti. The area of Sabalos and the Rio San Juan is the poorest of all Nicaragua. Average per capita income for the country is about $400 and likely in the Rio San Juan it is closer to $200 per year. Few paying jobs exist with most people surviving on subsistence farming. The people though are very content and gracious. There are no eye care teams (or brigades) that make it to this part of the country. The work we do through the firm, Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary and St Mark Lutheran Church is the total […]

Linkenheimer Team’s 2017 Eye Care Trip to Nicaragua a Success

January 1, 2017 found 11 Linkenheimer staff and partners on their way to Nicaragua for the firm’s third eye care mission into the remote villages of the Rio San Juan region. Travelers included Matt Melchiori, Anne Glanville, Judy Deniz, Kerri Berry, Andy Vedder, Nina Shaposhnikov, Rudy Malmanis, Kari Bruner, Carli Ortiz, Mike Musson and John Jones.

The morning of January 2^nd we boarded the 12 seat Cessna Caravan for San Carlos and our beloved dirt runway. Lunch and a two hour boat ride found us at the Sabalos Lodge www.sabaloslodge.com which became our home base. Mosquito repellent in hand, along with instructions on tucking in the mosquito netting under your mattress (while you are on the mattress) got us prepared for the next five nights.

Days 2 and 3 found us traveling to and from and working in the village of Las Maravillas. This is a very remote village and difficult to get to from Sabalos (or anywhere for that matter) and rarely receives medical services. The region had 30 days of straight rain prior to our arrival, so the roads were nothing but mud and slop with our 4WD convoy frequently stopping to assess the driving strategies and get […]