There and Back Again: Nicaragua 2016

Our travelers returned from Nicaragua on February 24th with lots of stories to tell! Students spent a week immersing themselves in Nicaraguan culture and learning from the people they met. Through Compas de Nicaragua, students spent time with Women in Action in Managua, learning how they support their families and community. Students also traveled to La Paz and worked on a variety of projects including: helping a family build an indoor shower, putting roofs on houses, creating a gray water system, and using manure to make methane gas cook stoves. Other highlights of the trip included:

• zip-lining in Managua
• spending a solo day with a Women In Action member and their family
• playing soccer in the streets with Nicaraguan kids
• visiting museums in Managua and La Paz
• eating fresh coconut and mango off trees in our host families' yards
• horse back riding on the beach in the Pacific Ocean

For many of our travelers, the host family experience was very powerful. One student said of his trip, "The trip helped me see how much I take for granted in my life. So many people we met down there had good relationships with friends and family, which made them happy, even though they didn't have material wealth."

If you'd like to see more photos from the trip, check out our album on Flickr:

Nicaragua Trip 2016