Hola, everyone! Or as we learned to say to the people we meet buenas (which means good day. My experiences in Nicaragua have been wonderful thus far but may be difficult for me to explain it as well as they were told to me. Nicaragua reminds me a lot of my own country, the Philippines. I see some resemblance of the houses, people’s hospitality, and the general atmosphere of the environment. On May 22, 2009 I started off my day by doing yoga with Jhon and other delegates at 5:30AM. I know so early! I normally don’t get up that early but doing yoga in the morning allows me to get ready for the day’s activities. After breakfast which is made ready for us at 7:00 AM two people offer to do dishes and everyone takes turns for every meal. Then we all meet in the circle and have a check-in and reflection. A check-in means that everyone can say how he or she are feeling at that moment without anyone commenting on what they said. Then someone has a reflection of some type prepared.
While still in our circle, Patty and Rachel our Witness for Peace gave us some information preparing us for our campo experience. Each of us will be paired up with another person and live with a family and ask them about what things they like to do, the earthquake that occurred, and anything else that we may be interested in learning from them. Likewise, they will be asking questions to us. I am excited to meet these people because all the people that I have met so far have been very welcoming and inspiring.
We then left for Los Quinchos, which is a rehabilitation project for street children. When we finally arrived in San Marcos we waited to speak to Carlos Vidal who was the director of the program. While we waited for his arrival, we spoke to other people who worked for the program. Many of the children they find in the streets are glue sniffers. And they do this because it allows them to not be as hungry. They have unstable families mostly no dads-just moms who end up trying to play both roles. They were explaining to us that it is hard to get the children to come because they are scared. Some children wanted to leave the program in the beginning to look for work so that they can make money to buy more glue.
Los Quinchos started off as a project for little boys, but after some time they learned about the domestic violence that young girls were facing. The project consists of a lot of different activities such as painting classes, computer classes, sewing classes, music and dancing classes. After talking with Carlos for a few minutes he said that we can split up into groups and some of us can stay and help to show the teachers/mentors of the children to do yoga with Jhon or plant plantain trees with the young boys. I was extremely excited at the thought of being able to plant something.
Some of us got to ride in the back of a pick up truck. In America, we would not be allowed to ride in the back of the truck because it would be deemed as being to dangerous. Nonetheless, it was a good experience and it felt like a safari ride. When we arrived at the young boys facility/learning center all the boys got up from their seat and began giving us hugs and kisses. It was such a great feeling to have these boys come up to me and be so caring. Many of the boys are parents of current or past glue sniffers and they were rescued and brought to Los Quinchos to have a better life where they can learn to be good citizens of their country and bring kindness into this world. We had to dig some holes in order to plant the plantain trees and then put dirt back on top of it. After that, Carlos gave us a tour of the facility. He even offered to give us some avocados and mangos what was a wonderful treat. We were also have to see how the boys made hammocks. Some of the older boys would teach the young boys how to make a hammock. I was even given the opportunity to try it myself. Carlos was explaining that this was therapeutic for the boys. It was hard to say goodbye to the boys because they were just so nice to us all.
We then went to lunch and some great tasting Italian pasta. While at the boy’s facility we met an Italian man, who teaches the boys Italian and music. After lunch we went to go visit the girls facility. We first met the teenage girls who were a bit shy at first but then warmed up to us after a few minutes. We asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up and some responses were doctor, lawyer, or teacher. A couple of minutes later, the young girls arrived they ranged from being in first grade to fourth grade. The came running in and giving us hugs and kisses just like the young boys. They were so adorable and excited to see us and play with us. After everyone introduced herself we began playing hand games and gallo gallo pinto, which is there version of duck duck goose. We also played some jump rope and a game of hot potato, which we taught the girls. In addition, the girl’s favorite thing to do was dance and so we did some dancing which was really fun for us all. All the girls here were abused in some way so Carlos is helping them to better there lives by allowing them to get an education and teaching them skills to be successful in life.
Leaving the girls was extremely tough because I got so attached to some of them with the little time I was able to spend with them. During that moment when I saw their face light up and smile I just wanted to stay longer to spend more time with them.
Carlos is a compassionate and selfless man who does everything he can within his capacity to help all the children in the streets. The people of Los Quinchos have the goal to make sure that no child is found in the streets. After he spoke to us about how the whole program began and how they went through many ups and down to get to where they are today I want to come back and volunteer. I do not know when I will get the chance to volunteer but it is definitely on my to do list of things I want to do in life. One of the things written on my list was to witness a miracle and I did not think I would be able to witness a miracle this soon. The children being given the opportunity for a better life is a miracle made possible by Carlos because a majority of people considered these kids as outcasts and said they would not amount to anything. But they come back with degrees wanted to give back to Los Quinchos by helping to gather more children.
I learn something from every experience and person I talk to in Nicaragua and I am eager to absorb MORE throughout the rest of the delegation!
Miracles are possible.
Lots of love, peace, smiles,
Martha Garcia
Sophomore
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