Nicaragua Winter Term Begins

After sprinting through two airports and nearly missing two connecting flights, our group of 11 students and 5 chaperones made it to Nicaragua the night of Wednesday, January 6th. We traveled here for a Graceland University winter term to learn about a nonprofit organization called Outreach International, and how its community development process is implemented in the field by Alcance Nicaragua. 

The level of care we have received just in this short time is a testament to the hospitality of the staff here. What we have been absorbing so far is that we do not know anything about the work that goes into community building on the part of Alcance facilitators as well as community members. The complexities of the whole process – which can take years to see through – are unfathomable.

We have been here only two full days, and yet we are already so impressed by the dedication of the Alcance staff to the communities in which they are working. It was interesting for us to learn that three of the communities Alcance works in – La Prusia, Los Alvarez, and El Llanito – are the only ones here that have approached the Nicaraguan government about making changes for the better. In all other cases, if there were changes made, it was the result of the government coming to the community, not the other way around. In fact, Outreach International staff member Valentin Leal told us the Nicaraguan government was surprised by this phenomenon; a community taking initiative to solve its own problems was unheard of before. In this way, Alcance Nicaragua is blazing new trails here, taking an approach that has never been seen before.

In addition to learning about Alcance Nicaragua´s work here, we have done a bit of sightseeing around Masaya and Catarina. Masaya is the city where we are currently staying, and our first day here, we spent some time walking around the city. From a volcano to a Catholic church to the market, we have been privy to both the intense beauty of this city but also the painful truths of poverty. The church that some of us visited was a place of worship and it was beautiful and artistic, but it was also very real, as prayers were said while we were there and people were seeking that connection to the divine. This place is only a tourist destination if you let it be.

Posted By (Kia Condit and Paige Webberley) on Jan 11, 2010 12:00 AM CST
categories: Advocacy  Community  Current Affairs  Development  Education  Faith  Human Rights  Poverty  Relationships  Travel 

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