Blog Links for our 2013 Student Volunteers

NICARAGUA

http://avanicaragua.blogspot.com/

http://maxbnicaragua.blogspot.com/

http://nicaragua13.blogspot.com/   Nathaniel

http://morgannicaragua2013.blogspot.com/

http://ajdaviesnicaragua.blogspot.com/

http://harrynicaragua.blogspot.com

http://nicaragua-sammiehaase.blogspot.com/

http://tyranicaragua.blogspot.com

Genawachendorfer.blogspot.com

http://ansleynicaragua.blogspot.com/

nicolecga.blogspot.com

Yes, they can!

As I sit here, 30 hours after landing in Nicaragua, my mind swirling with new knowledge and experiences, I am literally speechless. I have spent 100s of hours on the preparatory work leading up to our departure, and this is it, we are here, our student volunteers have been hard at work, and the love beams from the hearts of those special individuals at Escuela Especial.

My role with Children's Global Alliance is active and requires ample critical thinking, the ability to multi-task, and yes, the beauty of motherhood, even with its challenges. We have such a beautiful group of student volunteers, all contributing their special talents, yet all exhibiting areas for growth, which excites me, because it's what I'm passionate about-empowering students rather than enabling them. Strange as it sounds, I love this age group, I love what they have to offer the world, even with the typical adolescent quirks, and to witness them in action is truly a blessing. Our 11 student volunteers are making an impact, they are thinking critically and analyzing the world around them, they are making connections, physically and emotionally, and who would've thought? (besides us) They ARE capable of changing the world, making a difference in others' lives, and I'm so impressed with how they've stepped up to the plate. They, too, are empowered, a little more each day, from organizing our "family" dinners to making home visits with a social worker, where their emotions are rattled beyond one's wildest imagination. It's my job to know when to hold their hand and when to let them go, and when I say "let go," I simply mean "let them go out into the world and live up to their potential."

Okay, so I'm not speechless, but this short & sweet post was from my heart. I encourage you, yes you the reader, to do something extraordinary today, and again tomorrow, and continue this trend forever and always. Strive to be a better person than you were the day before. It's possible.

Much love & gratitude,
Jen

Sensibility

On Wednesday I had the pleasure of observing Daisy and Marino's classroom for the deaf students at Escuela Especial. What a world of difference recently departing from Senora Jenny's classroom of intriguing verbal outbursts and the need to guard the door on a minute-by-minute basis. The moment I entered the room, a deafening silence (no pun intended) encompassed me, a sense of peace and serenity. Picture 6 students dressed in clean, pressed blue and white uniforms, hair neatly slicked back or pulled back into Rapunzel-length ponytails, extremely attentive and optimistically overwhelmed with a passion for learning. 


The lesson on the whiteboard, likewise the only whiteboard in the school, listed terms such as lavadora, computadora, luz, dinero and agua. After learning and practicing the sign for each, students were asked to hold up one or two fingers, corresponding to yes and no, upon using their rationale for the posed questions. With exquisite facial expressions and intense emphasis behind the hand movements, I listened intently as the students communicated back and forth with Daisy and Marino, intermittently releasing delightful squeals and monosyllabic vowel sounds. If a student signed too quickly, Daisy immediately corrected them, typically with a hush of both hands as if she were a choir director. This classroom leaves no room for sloppiness, which is both refreshing and encouraging, for it reminds me of my own classroom environment. 


This particular classroom housed a variety of personalities, and were spitting images of my shy, eager, confident and humorous students back home in Colorado. (love you all!) For the most part they were very well behaved, but I could feel inevitable restlessness setting in when boys started pinching each other. However, as soon as I found myself taking note of observable behaviors, I quickly missed content of the lesson. Considering myself a veteran multi-tasker, this classroom forced my attentiveness, both visually and kinesthetically, and I struggled to keep up with the pace. Nonetheless, this experience sparked a curiosity within me, giving me the drive to learn something new. With drive I can thrive. 


The last morsel of content I need to share comes with frustration and anxiety, not because it revolves around the solar system lesson presented yesterday, but in the fact that no real teaching transpired from the lesson. With an outdated poster as reference, students were instructed to copy the spelling of each planet onto the whiteboard, one at a time--such a waste of time in my opinion, but who am I to judge? I know these middle school students are capable of so much more, and the plethora of resources I have back home could foster wonders here in Nicaragua, so my future involvement with Escuela Especial Sor Maria Romero remains auspicious. Much room for growth combined with eager Escuela Especial teachers truly invigorates my soul. 

Emotions Running Wild

How are YOU feeling today? Where do I even begin? As I hold fourteen pages of notes in my hands, my brain continues to swirl with the possible starting points for this new post. Yesterday I experienced almost every emotion you see on this mood poster, and saying that I'm mentally exhausted is truly an understatement. For the most part, I am angry and frustrated for the children, for their living conditions, for their meal portions, for the lack of love in some of their homes. My current headache effectively represents the unfathomable craziness I witnessed today. So I ask myself again, how am I really feeling? Words, literally, cannot express my feelings, so I will strive to do my best.

Needless to say I am beyond maddened by what I've witnessed! Below you can see Marisol, the first child on our home visits with the Ministerio de Familia (similar to social services) and Magali, the supervisor. Marisol is 2 years old and is seriously malnourished, and in all reality, the cause of her current state is exactly that, a severe lack of nutrients in her diet as the mother could not afford to purchase food or milk. When Judith, her young, healthy mother, articulated that Marisol's 4 year old sister Selena was just fine, I was curious to know how this heartbreaking situation came to be. I then asked how much governmental funding they receive per month, and when I found out they receive 40-50 dollars, I was appalled and could feel a burning transpire from within, radiating anger from my soul. This family is receiving money BECAUSE OF Marisol and she is bedridden here shaking, terrified, skin and bones! The funds are supposed to be used on behalf of this beautiful human, yet she lies exposed, trembling like an overturned ladybug. I was sick. (and still am)

Pictured below is Deanna Valentina, the second child we encountered during our emotional afternoon.  Deanna is 15 months old, severely malnourished, and has a pulmonary disease yet to be identified. Walking up to the crib, any outsider would mistake Deanna for a healthy child with her dreamy blue eyes and jet black, curly locks. But as we drew near, it was impossible to look beyond the frail limbs and blue fingers, toes, lips and nose. After interviewing Teresa Mendoza, her young mother, we learned that the doctor has discouraged physical therapy, stating that Deanna would not benefit from it. (I respectfully disagree!) I couldn't help but resist the need to hold her, smother her with a hug and many meaningful kisses, so I did. And I held her...held her so tight that I could feel her rapid heartbeat pulsating against mine, gazing into her eyes whispering, "Baby, baby, baby."I felt so helpless in that moment, feelings of resentment transpiring, both against the doctor and the situation in general, and then I handed her back to her grandma, quickly turning my head to discretely hide my tears. 

That human beings can live in conditions like the ones we discovered on our third home visit is baffling to me. I couldn’t help but gawk at the swarms of rusty cables and wires decorating the ceiling, the seemingly endless piles of filthy laundry, the dust-covered wheelchair smothered with cobwebs, or the food processor lined with moldy flesh-colored paste. A new, shiny tricycle and a man in sparkling white pants superficially masked the deteriorative state of this home. When we told Marvin, the father-in-law, we were there to see Julissa, he proceeded to reveal one of the most horrifying circumstances I have ever seen. With a smile he replied, “Si, si!” Marvin then grabbed the door handle on his left, pushed it open, flipped on the light, and said, “Aqui.” At that moment in time I stopped breathing and succumbed to incredible anger and hate. (insert anxiety, awe, vomit, and tears here) Lying on the floor in the dark with a bright pink, shredded plastic bag was a human being, a 22-year-old girl named Julissa. Wearing only a sea foam tank and a pillowcase functioning as a diaper, here lay another beautiful girl, kept alive to bring in the money. She remains here, on the floor every day, having sporadic Gran Mal seizures like the one we observed today. I used every last bit of integrity and tolerance to hold myself back from strangling her mother, Gesenia, who arrived in minutes with the 10-year-old brother Darwin. Julissa was born with lesions on her brain and lived with her grandma up until 7 years ago; unfortunately, the grandma passed away. While conversing with the family, who by the way stood in front of Julissa’s doorway appearing embarrassed, Julissa proceeded to smile, yelp, and completely turn herself around, thus slamming her head into the concrete, all the while shredding a plastic bag. Gesenia continues to refuse physical therapy for her, and has for the past 7 years. What does she have to lose? God forbid her daughter's health improve and she might have to be more attentive? To think that they are keeping her alive, in a dark closet, just to secure forty dollars a month? For what? Sparkling clean clothes and dinners out on the town? Julissa’s family is living “the life” while minimally keeping her alive. Who determines when their funding should be cut? Are they really following the rules? I am angry, I am sickened, and I am distressed to say the least. 

God bless you, Julissa, Deanna and Marisol. You will forever hold a special place in my heart, and I pray I have the opportunity to see you again. xoxo

Getting Comfortable

With the images and emotions from Cambodia still fresh in my mind, the ability to compare and contrast Cambodia with Nicaragua comes naturally. Coming into this service trip open-minded and free of expectations, I was immediately baffled, but comforted, by the clean environment. Those of you who have visited Nicaragua before may respectfully disagree with me, yet I'm making my determination based on my experience in Cambodia. Intricately shaped trees line the streets, reminding me of the film "Edward Scissorhands," drawing the passersby in and claiming, "Look at me! Look at me!" During this service trip we have the pleasure of staying at Hostel Hamacas, a quaint home-away-from-home which is truly inviting and immerses one into the culture of the country with its vibrant color schemes, lush foliage and authentic decor. I am approaching this opportunity with zero expectations, and so I will just breathe, laugh, love and live like there's no tomorrow. 

Originating from Miami and also my new favorite ladies, Aleyda and Kristal will serve as our translators this week, assisting us both on site at Escuela Especial and during our afternoon home visits. Known to most as the bubbly individual always seeking to be a better person and foster better situations for those around her, Lisamarie discovered Aleyda and Kristal through a companion at a yoga class here in Nicaragua. My initial impression was that these females were street smart, savvy women with tough outer shells, women that would get a job done and get it right. And yes, after several conversations throughout the day, the assumption was confirmed; however, this kind-hearted mother-daughter duo shares the same passions as Lisamarie and me. Hardworking, firm and fearless, as a quadruplet we will do our best to accomplish the work we came to do, both for the students in Nicaragua and the students we have brought from our little bubble in Eagle County. 

Before initiating CLEANING 101, we were given the opportunity to meet most of the staff, which included some of the following: Carmen Margherita (physical therapy), Marta (preschool), and Marino (teacher for the deaf). Meeting Marino, a beautiful soul with a beaming smile, provided me my first experience with the Nicaraguan sign language. Marino, deaf himself, was very patient as we learned how to sign his name, because it did take multiple attempts. When we correctly signed back with "Buenos Dias," he lit up like a neon sign in the dark of night. I see a new friendship and mentor in my future. 

And so now, please permit me to take you on a short journey of the school: 11 metal-gated classrooms, blue-white-blue exterior paint to represent the flag, lush foliage, banana and papaya trees, a desperate lack of supplies, no whiteboards, handwritten posters, random activities obviously supplied by donors, broken manipulatives, no pencils, rooms lined with wheelchairs and rickety wooden chairs, stacks of unorganized papers, running water, cobweb-covered equipment, dirt and grime from 28 years of existence...I could keep going and going, but I think you get the point. To adequately prepare for our upcoming week with the students, we needed to show the teachers how invested we truly are, how much this opportunity means to us. Cleaning the school not only makes us feel good at the end of the day, but it fosters our commitment to greatness, our compassion for those who can do nothing for us in return.

Our mission for Day 1 at the school was to clean and organize every classroom, disinfect the cafeteria, and purify the grounds of waste. Paired up with Kristal, Maddie, Makena and I gained unforgettable information about spiders, as our intimate encounter with one served as a defining moment in our day. Did you know that a tarantula's defense mechanism is its hairs? Apparently when threatened, they release their hairs into the opponent's mouth, further encompassing the esophagus and lungs, eventually suffocating them. You may wonder why I added this tidbit of information into my blog? It's because I took this new knowledge and immediately compared it to my involvement with Children's Global Alliance-three words: Share. The. Love. Two years ago when I expressed (in a photo comment on Facebook) to Lisamarie that I wanted to be involved, she shared her personal objective and desire to bring students aboard. One agreement spiraled into the next, and the next, and look where the organization is now. Inclusive of my son Axel and my commitments at home, it is my world. I am not suffocating like the victim mentioned above, but am truly living and breathing the opportunities provided me by CGA and Lisamarie Howell. Thank you, LMH, for being my tarantula. I am surrounded by so much love, which in turn, radiates from my own love-swollen heart. 

At the current moment I am overwhelmed with curiosity and anxiety. How do the classes and teachers function with limited supplies? What will the student-to-teacher ratio look like in action? What challenges do they face that I haven’t already been exposed to? How will our limited knowledge of Nicaraguan sign language play out? Will we be accepted by the children? 

Once again, this opportunity forces me, whether I want to accept this reality or not, to be grateful for everyone and everything in my life. So I remember to breath, laugh, love and live. xoxo

Que dia mas bonito!

Hola. Soy una voluntaria de los Estados Unidos por Global Alianza de los Ninos.

Here. We. Go.

Tomorrow I embark on a journey with 5 students to the beautiful country of Nicaragua, where we will be volunteering at Escuela Especial Sor Maria Romero, a school for students with special needs. So severely disabled that travel is not an option, we will be making daily trips to volunteer in students’ homes.

I have a slightly elevated level of anxiety going into this trip, as it will be my first time in Nicaragua. As was last year with my first trip to Cambodia, my stomach is fluttering with butterflies, and fluttering may be an understatement-I have that euphoric feeling one gets before making a monumental step or decision in their life, accompanied with some nausea...no big deal.

As an educator and a mother, not only do I know that I can make a big impact in Rivas, Nicaragua, but the students and teachers will be even more impactful upon my character, fostering my personal growth and sense of global awareness.

I look forward to this challenge and opportunity. 

Thank you, Lisamarie, for making it happen! 

Buenas Noches. xoxo

Speechless...literally.

What a whirlwind of a summer it's been, and finding a peaceful moment to digest the reality I experienced in Cambodia has been very challenging. I find myself, at least ten times a day, processing the trip, our strengths, our areas for improvement, student growth, and personal growth.

What started as a series of interviews at CPO turned into a sea of new knowledge, one I am finding hard to express in words to friends and family. One has to, ideally, experience the reality firsthand to fully understand the depth of poverty we were exposed to, and to recognize the "happiness" that truly exists in such conditions.

I'd like to start with information divulged through initial interviews with Sohm Ahn, the "director" of the orphanage. A Cambodian's salary typcially averages anywhere from $30-$50 a month, equivalent to $360-$600 a year, depending on the type of work performed. Keeping this in mind, CPO pays $120 for their land rental and $30 for electric, both per month. With 33+ children, "staff" members, the director and her husband all needing to survive, you may wonder how they actually do? With rice pricing at $30/bag, and needing 8 bags per month to able to feed every mouth three times a day, their monthly bill is almost $400! Needless to say, they eat limited amounts of pork and eggs for protein, and morning glories are the common vegetable, or should I say weed? That's what it appeared to be, but the taste is delightful. As we pressed on with questions, we found that a Japanese group supplies 4 bags of rice per month and also assists with the land rental fee. Apparently this Japanese group visits CPO 1-2 times per month now, and the two have been associated with each other for quite some time, back to when CPO was a small shack of 4-5 kids, located in the slums. The help has been consistent, necessary, and truly a blessing!

Every child attends the government school, when age appropriate, with grades 1-6 attending 1/2 day sessions and the high school students attending full day sessions. With a well on site (yet desperately needing some H2O), the children bathe and wash their clothes regularly; Every child fends for himself. (the little guys needed some prompting to keep clean, and when we could convince them to come bathe, there's nothing sweeter than smiles, wide eyes, and tan behinds glistening in the Cambodian sun)

Needs, needs, needs...I commonly use this language with Axel-"you may want it, but you don't NEED it." Needs expressed consisted of the following: a small enclosed room to teach English, money for rice, snack money for the children when at school, a extension of the roof to prevent leaking onto the stage/sleeping quarters, and running water. To consistently provide money for food, several select students are very versed in traditional Khmer dancing, and they hold performances on their stage. The local village is invited, entrance fees support the orphanage, and every once in a while the group travels to perform at local weddings and celebrations. One step towards self-sustainability! Yes!

Lisamarie immediately decided to fund both the roof and the governmental running water:
Roof: $180
Water: $190
Smiles on their faces: priceless
                                                                   Beginning Stages

                                                                         Progressing

                                                                        3/4 completed

                                                               Mission Accomplished!

The roof materials were purchased that very same day, and construction began the next. Witnessing this event, a "taken-for-granted luxury back home," filled my heart with the utmost gratitude for my own life. Picture the Grinch, not saying that I'm the Grinch, but the moment in which his heart swells in his chest to ten times the normal size...that's what this moment felt like, and it's the best way for me to describe it.

So, I guess I've overcome the "speechless" situation I was in...

xoxo