Nicaragua

David: Back in February Sarah and I led a Nicaragua study trip for the QERC semester students as a part of their Applied Cultural Integration course. At that time I wrote a blog entry that was never posted. We thought we shouldn't let already written material go to waste. So, if you were just absolutely dying to hear about our February trip to Nicaragua, today is your lucky day.

David(5 months ago): We recently were in Nicaragua; “beautiful and unfortunate Nicaragua” as so insightfully stated by national hero Benjamin Zeledon. It is the land of lakes of volcanoes. It is a country home to mouth watering tortillas and generous and happy people. It is a history of inspiring patriots and corrupt politicians. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and it is the perfect place to take a group of students if you want them to face history and reality that encourages a deeper look at several aspects of life.

Our group of 5 students, Sarah, and I spent a total of 11 days in Nicaragua digging into the richness of the culture, complexities of the history, and beauty of the people. After a 10 hour bus ride from the San Jose to Managua our group stayed 2 days in Managua to explore historical sites. Among these sites where the Revolutionary Plaza where the Sandinistas rolled victoriously into on their tanks when they over threw the Somoza dictatorship, the old national cathedral that is in ruins from the devastating earthquakes from the 1970’s, and the Popes’ Plaza where Pope John Paul III spoke several times during his life of service.

The highlight of these sites was Loma Tiscapa. Historically it is a military base notorious for holding political prisoners and the location of years of torture of political enemies. It is here that the U.S. Marines trained the National Guard of the Somoza regime and where Augusto Cesar Sandino had his last meal before being kidnapped and assassinated. In fact there is a very large silhouette statue of Sandino on the Loma Tiscapa hilltop that can be seen from almost every location in the capital of Managua. The students were able to engage in this history and rightfully so as it is hard to be at these locations and not be enthralled with it all as you can see how history has shaped the lives of Nicaraguans.

After our short time in Managua we headed to the rural area of Niquinohomo for a service experience and home stay at a farm called Rancho Ebenezer. Rancho Ebenezer is a Christian organic farm that is dedicated to educating rural families in subsistence farming. If a family has 1/10^th of an acre they can teach them to supply all their family's needs in a way that is ecologically friendly. There is a strong emphasis on humanity's role of creation stewardship and ecological principles. The project believes in truly investing in a family's long-term well-being and it shows by the multiple year training commitment that is given and the importance that is put on family values. This location actually is an ideal place for service teams from the U.S. and the project is looking for groups who can help out with manual labor. If you are interested in setting something like that up here is there website. (www.ranchoebenezer.org)

While working at Rancho Ebenezer our students had home stay experiences with local families who have a connection to the project. Their work day started early at 6:00 AM. The daily chores usually consisted of watering and feeding the goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, and rabbits all being raised as demonstration projects for a sustainable protein source, cleaning out the pig sties, shoveling poop from multiple animals sources to use for feeding the worms that would then create good fertilizer, fertilizing the crops, harvesting foliage from the crops to feed the animals, and many other things as well. It was very educational and great experience. In the evenings the students were on their own back with the families they stayed with.

And finally, to finish our time in Nicaragua with a little relaxation we spent two days in the colonial city of Granada. It's a charming city with good restaurants and a hostel with hammocks that hit the spot.

All in all Nicaragua proved to be a very meaningful and trans-formative experience for our five students. "It was awesome", I say with a big smile on my face. The students were faced with the reality of a 3rd world culture. They lived, ate, and bathed in it all to find out that there is something very special about Nicaragua. It was fantastic to see them mentally, emotionally, and physically challenged, all which pushed them to maybe grow a little bit. Plus, Sarah and I successfully led our 1st trip to Nicaragua and felt good about it. We're excited to do it again this February.