Granada Midway Update
July 9, 2008
¡Saludos from beautiful Nicaragua! The first half of the summer has flown by for our stellar group of Volunteers, and Midterm is fast approaching! Overall, the group has been happy, healthy, and dedicated to their communities and projects. The Volunteers have spent their time so far enjoying the Nicaraguan culture. The food is delicious — tons of fresh fruit and yummy Nicaraguan beans and rice, called Gallo Pinto — and the juxtaposition of typical Nicaraguan folkloric music with modern day Reggaeton, a Latin American style of rap, has provided ample opportunities to dance and have fun.
Volunteers have been taking long walks to get to know their communities, swimming in Lake Nicaragua, observing the local wildlife (monkeys, sloths, and birds of paradise!), and taking time to form lasting bonds with their host families, local Youth Counterparts, and community contacts. The Volunteers have loved receiving mail from home! It looks like letters only take 7-10 days to arrive from the United States, and the Volunteers have been thrilled to hear from their loved ones at home!
By now, all Volunteers have begun their work in local primary schools, teaching topics such as health, hygiene, and environmental awareness to young Nicaraguan students. Some Volunteers even planned camp-style workshops to keep their classes going during one week of school vacation! The Volunteers have also all begun their work in the local Health Centers in their communities, supporting the local staff in administrative and health-related tasks such as weighing patients, giving educational talks to waiting patients, and making health related posters to decorate the Health Center.
On June 26, Volunteers and their Nicaraguan Youth Counterparts attended regional Youth Encuentros, teambuilding and project troubleshooting workshops. The Encuentros were held regionally, with one taking place in Casa de los Tres Mundos in Granada and the other taking place in the municipal gymnasium in Rivas. Granada Volunteers began their day with a round robin of teambuilding games, which they played with their Nicaraguan Counterparts to learn about each other's working styles and team roles. Tired after running around all morning, the Volunteers and their Nicaraguan friends enjoyed a huge lunch of pizza, soda, and tres leches cake.
In the afternoon, each community group presented a poster about their Community-Based Initiative and received valuable feedback from a local expert, a representative from the Ministry of Health. In Rivas, Volunteers also began the morning with fun, active teambuilding games and feasted on Nicaraguan naca-tamales for lunch. The afternoon held an adolescent health presentation from a local Nicaraguan youth group, community presentations of their CBI plans, and feedback from Rivas Ministry of Health representatives. Overall, the Volunteers had a blast and really enjoyed the opportunity to bond with their Youth Counterparts and troubleshoot about their CBI plans.
In the week following the Youth Encuentro, many Volunteers turned in their CBI solicitudes, detailed plans for their projects that are written with the help of community members. The projects are very exciting and creative! Projects include painting and improving local parks and schools, mini-libraries, community centers, and even buying musical instruments to form a Youth Band in the town! The Project Supervisors are busy buying materials for the communities so that the Volunteers and their Counterparts can begin to implement projects!
On Saturday, July 12, Volunteers will attend their regional Midterms. Again, the Granada Volunteers will meet at Casa de los Tres Mundos and the Rivas volunteers at the municipal gymnasium! The morning will begin with Nicaragun pastries for breakfast and Midterm Project Evaluations, where Volunteers can troubleshoot about problems they have encountered in their work thus far and share their "best practices." Then, the Volunteers will all present an activity or lesson plan that has been very successful in their local school—during lunch Project Staff will make booklets with all of these lesson plans so that volunteers return to their communities with tons of new ideas! The Volunteers will have the afternoon to explore Granada and Rivas, feast on pizza and burgers, use the Internet, and call home! The day will end with ice cream parties before the Volunteers return to their communities.
The summer has literally flown by, and the Volunteers and Project Staff have been enjoying themselves immensely. What a wonderful opportunity to get to know a new culture, improve our Spanish, and learn the value of international community service! We look forward to the rest of the summer and can't wait to see the Volunteers' amazing projects realized. ¡Adios y hasta pronto!
