EmbassVisit

Yesterday I had the pleasure of going to the embassy of the United States in Managua, Nicaragua. I had been strongly looking forward to this opportunity ever since the very beginning of out trip in Nicaragua. It was my chance to get an explanation from US officials of our interactions in their country.
Prior to going to the embassy, I along with the other members of my delegation brainstormed questions to ask regarding the issues we have covered throughout our trip so far. The topics included Immigration, the Contra/Sandinista revolution, US foreign AID, free trade zones/DR-CAFTA, and others. My questions to the foreign service agents focused on immigration in particular. Our group carefully sculpted questions so that they could not be confused by the foreign service agents, and included all of the things we were passionate about.
Upon arrival to the US embassy, I was blown away by the embassy building. It was by far one of the nicest looking buildings in Managua, and certainly the nicest building I have been inside while in Nicaragua. When we arrived, we gave all of our passport information to the guards and entered the facility.

After we were cleared to enter the facility, we were seated in a nice conference room. Representatives from Consular Services, Politics, Economics, and USAid eventually entered. They each gave a 10-15 minute presentation of what they do at the embassy and how they got to their position in Managua. After we were able to ask our questions to the appropriate agents. My questions on immigration focused on the US stance on visas, remittances, and undocumented persons residing in the US from Nicaragua. Unfortunately, the representatives did not fully answer each of my 2 questions and seemed to focus primarily on the good the US has done in Nicaragua instead of the policies and numbers I was asking about. And this seemed to be the trend for most of the meeting.
I think in the end, everyone was slightly disappointed about the amount of time we had to ask questions as well as the depth to the responses we received. Although this was unfortunate, I still got a new perspective on situations in NIcaragua from the US government perspective.

El campo

This morning we came back from el campo. We spent a whole weekend there with the community and learned about it’s history. This weekend was a very eye opening experience for me and put me completely out of my element. I was thrown into a situation with people I don’t know and in an unfamiliar environment. I was pretty scared.

It was challenging to see the situation that my family was living in. My host mom’s name was Dasi and she has two children. A 13 year old boy name Jorge and a 4 year old named Helen. The father in my family had to leave and go to Matagalpa to work and try to make money to support his family. However, he hardly sees his family. The mother Dasi is the teacher at the community school. However, she does not get paid very much. She only got paid 500 cordoba a month, which is only about 22 dollars a month.

It was very interesting having to live with varies animals like chickens, dogs, cats, goats and other farm animals. I felt bad that all these families have to live in this situation with no running water and little food to eat. Its hard to go there and then think of all the things that you have at home. It was definitely an interesting experience.

The Compo

I can not believe that this trip is already coming to an end. It seems like just yesterday I was packing up the car to head to Newark airport. I know I have not written too much since the beginning of the trip, but that is not to say that what I have been experiencing has not impacted me. On Monday we got back from the Compo (the country side) where we each stayed with different families. After experiencing a glimpse of what it is like to live in Ramon Garcia, an impoverished agricultural-based village, I have come to realize on a more personal level how macro-level policies and decisions have negatively impacted the lower-class of a society. On the other hand, I was exposed to the hard working and persistent mentality of the Ramon Garcia peoples who are determined to do better for themselves, but have limited resources to do so. Although Daniel Ortega seems to be making an effort to help and advocate for the poor, I can not help but be skeptical about the work he is doing. Overall, I left the community with mixed feelings of both anger and frustration. Mainly because of the fact that the children have to pay to go to secondary school and college is not even an option for most if not, all of them. To think it only takes $300 per year to send a child through college. In the back of my mind I feel I can not help but want to just pull that money out of my savings account to give those children a chance to get out, but at the same time, I feel it is more important to address the root causes of the problems.

Where is Honey!?

Tomorrow we are going to "el campo!" I am excited to see Ramon Garcia again and see my host family. This also means no internet for 3 days.. which means no blogging.. yayay! Just kidding.

Today we visited "Los Quinchos!" This is an organization that helps kids get off the streets or help them stop their addiction to sniffing glue. Los Quinchos has a big Finca or farm land that houses about 20 kids that have gone through mental or domestic abuse as well as kids that live on the streets all over Nicaragua. Some of these kids sniff glue because they are trying to calm their hunger.. these kids also come from broken homes and from families that basically abandon them because their mothers were to young and irresponsible. This organization helps these kids by keeping them in a camp like setting outside of Managua. All 20 kids live together and go through physiological counseling and other types of anger management classes. Its like a second chance program that help them change their ways to become a better person and citizen.

Last year when I went to Los Quinchos, Joey Sison and I met this little 8 year old boy named Honey. I am guessing because he had Honey eyes.. either way that was his name in Los Quinchos. We interacted with him and he showed us all the animals they have. He loved to take pictures of the animal too! It was great time with him. I was really excited to go see him again.. after a year I expected to see him a bit changed... more respectful.. I was ready to here out his experiences through out this past year. So we arrived in Los Quinchos and we meet all the little boys and I am looking for those honey eyes.. making sure I don't confuse him with anyone else... I keep looking and I don't find him.. I doubted my memory, I thought to myself how could I not remember him! He has to be here! So I ask one of the other kids and I say "Donde esta Honey?" He told me he was not there anymore.. I think to myself its a good thing right? that means he is a changed child.. he has moved on to do great things in the world. On the contrary.. the professor explained to me that he started acting up and he did not want to be in the program anymore, they said they made him talk to every teacher, mentor and psychologist and he was determined he wanted to leave the program. The professor also explained that this was a bad decision because his mother does not take care of him so the probability of him going back to the streets were really high. This killed me. I introduce to you my first tears on this Nicaragua trip. I feel sad because there was hope for him in this organization and I could not help but think negative and wonder what he was doing that very moment. I also thought to myself, I am never going to see Honey again.. it hit me hard. But I had to bounce back up and all these rush of emotions happened within 5 min. and its only because little Javier grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the rabbits and cows. He also wanted to show me mangos. He was determined! :) So I met Javier, great kid.. fun and fast I think i was running most of the time because all he did was pull me in different directions. I also allowed him to take pictures of the cows, rabbits and pigs with my camera.. great photographer i must say. He also showed me their swimming pool. Apparently they did not know how to swim so I gave Javier and 3 others a crash course on how to swim like a pro! Those kids are awesome and they are completely capable of sucking all the energy out of you! I loved every second of it.

I just reflected on what happened to Honey and I have faith that the time he was in Los Quinchos he learned values and moral. I want to stay positive and hope that he is not back on the streets and that he has found a home were he is loved and cared for. Even though everyone there thinks Honey is "DEFINITELY" doing bad.. I can only hope and pray that he is doing good where ever he is.
:)

Kathrine Avila

Nicaraguan Character

I know that I should probably be writing specifically about the different speakers and events that I went to, but it is not so much the facts that I learn or the places that I have been to that are contributing to my learning. What I am taking away from the people that I meet are their characteristics and convictions. Two days ago we met a woman who had no other options in her life but to live in the municipal dump, rummaging through trash to sell back to middle men and picking through intestines and rotting meat to feed her family, whom of which were still malnourished. My heart sunk learning about the daily lives of a hundred people who live in the dump, but after meeting Yamilette, a woman who has risen herself out of the municipal dump through her will to help others is inspiring to say the least. Her modesty, strength, courage, and positive outlook on life were some of her qualities that were the most impacting to me. Despite the harsh reality of her past and present life, she is still grateful and humble for what she has and what she has to give to her community. This mentality and strength of character is what I hope to bring back with me even if I could come back with an ounce of such admirable humility.

Experiences in Nicaragua

So far, I have been having a very interseting experience. I like how we are able to link the discussions that we have with real life experiences that we encounter in Nicaragua. I went to the dump with the rest of Bonner and was able to witness Nicaragua's form of poverty. These citizens migrated to the Dump because they could not find a means of food for their families. Considering that the unemployment rate is 75 %, this did not shock me. However, the type of food that they eat at the Dump did shock me. I also went to the women's rights nonprofit organization, where I was able to see women organizing themselves and protecting each other from the unjust treatment of women in Nicaragua. This experience enlightened me and the speaker was very passionate.

Moreover, last night's experience was an experience that I will never forget. After the concert (which was a lot of fun), I went to a local concert with a few of the Bonners. There, I came across Witness For Peace advocate Christine and her boyfriend. We were able to walk into a concert (for free) and see the pride and nationalism that the citizens of Nicaragua have for their country. It got a little awkward when a song came on about hating America, but every one was still very nice. After, a few Bonners went back but I stayed out with two other Bonners and Christine and her boyfriend. We went to a local bar/club and every single person there was incredibly nice to us. Instead of feeling anger towards us for being outside Americans, they introduced themselves and taught us a lot about their culture, such as oroper greetings and how to dance to salsa. Also, Chrstine's boyfriend was very kind and handled the taxi ride and music. I am starting to fall in love with the culture and the amount of nationalism this country holds.

A Bit of Peace- Karina Day 3 Post

Today I found a little bit of peace… in a place with a very uncertain future, filled with big hearts and hopeful spirits. Nicaragua. I came to visit you with no expectations, with no idea, but with the intention to become inspired and to let your history, your story, your beauty influence me… to allow you to bear motherhood over me for a few days… to feel your love, to feel your pain, even if it’s just for a little while. I came here with the idea that I could stop it all. Or at least do something to induce change. But after learning that you’ve become victim to unfair policies, unjust political figures, ignorance and corrupt authority, pesticides, homicide, false and unkept promises… that your children live in garbage dumpsters, that your children are being exploited by foreign companies, that your daughters carry on their backs the blame of all the misfortunes of their families, and your sons have lost themselves in their anger and disillusionment… I’ve become hopeless… soaked in guilt and despair. Yet somehow, magically, you have not. You still remain. You have been sucked dry of your milk by sons you did not bear, and still, you continue to produce nutrients for your children and a surplus. You have been covered by pollution and masked with the discards of the world, but you bloom, no matter the season, providing a corner of shade for any tired soul seeking relief from the sun above you. Your children have found a way to grow with their devastations, and not be consumed by them. They have learned how to move in a world that has no path for them. Chameleons of time and circumstance. You parade your scars of battle and revolution with grace and humility. You know the true definition of beauty. Blessed are you because you know what the true definition of honor is. You practice nobility, honesty, and you labor every single moment of the day in hopes to teach your children the joy in true and just work ethic. Most amazingly, you have forgiven all offenses made against you. You hold no grudge. You walk with love. There is so much the world can learn from you. There is so much I have learned from you. And today, as I was drowning in my guilt, exasperated by the sufferings I am witnessing, you sent one of your children to sing to my colleagues and I… and I heard your song of peace. You rescued me from my doubts, from my thoughts. You told me that you have not lost hope, nor have your children, and in turn, I cannot either.

“Yo no soy nada. Ni chicha, ni limonada, me la paso manosiandome. Carambasamba. Mi dignidad”.