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As our time in Nicaragua comes to a close, we wanted to reflect on common themes throughout the various meetings and presentations we have attended. One thing that definitely stuck out to us was the positive conversation, both formally and informally, regarding domestic violence and the effort to keep Nicaraguan women safe. Nicaragua has a long history of a lack of rights for women, but it seems as though this could be changing soon. Mentioned several times in different presentations is Law 779, which was passed this previous year. Law 779 was written to better protect women in Nicaragua from domestic violence by instilling stricter law enforcement against domestic violence, and making the process for women claiming charges more comprehensive. Everyone appears to be pleased that this law was passed, but it is clear more work needs to be done. It is only May of this year, and already 30 women have been murdered since January. That’s more women killed than in several of the past years. We have realized as young women how privileged we are to live in the United States, where we have fair protection from violence and our rights are represented far better than in Nicaragua. This trip has definitely put a lot of issues we feel we have into perspective, and had made us appreciate the rights and privileges we have as Americans.

~ Audrey & Krista

On Wednesday, May 14th we visited a non-profit agency in Matagalpa called Casa Materna— an organization that serves and houses primarily rural women who are experiencing high risk pregnancies. Upon entering the agency we were quite impressed with the aesthetic appearance of the building that served as a home to these women. The common areas such as the living room, kitchen, and craft room were fairly large open spaces and were painted with bright attractive colors. The craft room had several different handmade crafts and coloring projects hanging on the wall and the room was also decorated with a beautiful mural that took up a whole large wall. While these physical and aesthetic details may seem somewhat insignificant in the grand scheme of things, it is actually quite impressive and comforting to us as visitors and one would imagine, most likely brings comfort and a sense of “hominess” to the women staying there. Having the place decorated nicely also cultivates a sense of dignity and respect for the residents and displaying their art work and teaching them how to craft gives them something to do and be proud of.

Another thing that stuck out to us, is how difficult it must be for these young girls and women to come to this maternity home while dealing with the stress and complications of having a high risk pregnancy. Not only are they likely frightened and anxious about the health of their babies and their own health, but they also have to leave their homes and family and friends behind for a number of months. While credit and respect is rightly given to the agency for running this organization and providing services to an in-need population, it is equally important to acknowledge the self-sacrifice and courage that it takes these women to make the decision to come to Casa Materna. However, it also makes one realize just how little opportunities and options that women with high risk pregnancies from rural communities have available to them. In many ways, for the sake of the women’s own health and the health of their unborn children, Casa Materna is the only choice available to them. It was also impactful to hear that sexual abuse is quite high in the country overall and also in the rural communities which is what leads to many very young girls having high risk pregnancies.
Overall, we were actually quite impressed with the way the organization runs and the holistic approach that they take by providing multidisciplinary services. It was amazing and inspiring to have heard that the organization was started by members of the community and is also self-sustained by members of the community. It is so impressive to see people come together for a cause and to address their own unique needs like those who work, volunteer, support, and live at Casa Materna.

Crsytal Romine

Stephanie Kiefer

One week into our trip, we visited the coffee plantation around the city of Matagalpa. While it was interesting to learn about how coffee is grown and produced, it was even more interesting to learn about the way the farmers and families worked together to make it all happen. Instead of each farmers working independently and competing against one another, the farmers have come together in cooperatives. This has allowed the families to become more self-sufficient. Moreover, by selling their coffee under a co-op, farmers are eliminating competition among each other thus allowing their coffee to be sold for a fair price. Since the cooperatives depend on each member to contribute to production, there is little space for gender discrimination. This allows the women in the community to have roles in their family but also influential positions within the administrative framework of the co-ops. Since farmers are now well organized, it allows for co-operations between different co-ops such as the selling of crafts for tourists. Since coffee co-ops represent a formal organization of farmers, many coffee planters have been able to gain access to credit to improve their land and farming techniques. This has been possible due to many co-ops coming together, gaining access to credit, and distributing the money among its members. In a country where poverty is prominent, it is encouraging to see small communities come together in order to better their communities through formal requests for help, as well as finding the ability to become self sufficient and not relying on government or charity aid. The coming together of these small rural communities provide hope for Nicaraguans as they show the power and great advantages of a community fighting together instead of competing against one another. At last, on a cultural scale, these co-ops show that breaking away from the idea of competing against neighbors for goods can benefit each member of the community.

Written by Francis Briere and Leigh Hedrick

The last two days of our trip were a beautiful end to an amazing trip. These days were a mix of relaxing, educational,and beautiful. On Friday morning, we visited the Masaya Volcano National Park. The volcano had a particular beauty, as it was an enormous crater filled with an abyss of white clouds. The height of the volcano allowed us to see the picturesque landscapes of Nicaragua.

In the evening, we had our last presentation with Father Fernando Cardenal, SJ. Father Cardenal heavily participated in the Nicaraguan Revolution during the 1980s, was offered to be the Ambassador to the United States for Nicaragua, and lead a nation wide literacy campaign. He was a walking, living, breathing piece of Nicaraguan history which is what made him unique from the other presentations. However, what made him especially rememberable is how well he was able to sum up the mission and purpose of social work. “One must always remember to love, self-sacrifice, and not destroy oneself through selfish actions,” was his final message to us before giving each and everyone of us a hug. He was truly inspirational.

On Saturday, we journeyed to the city of Granada. The colonial, colorful city was a stark contrast to the urban, industrial Managua. We spent our day on a boat ride on the lake, exploring and shopping in the city, and swimming in the lagoon. This relaxing day showed us the natural beauty Nicaragua has to offer that we did not get to see much of earlier in the trip. It was a perfect way to end this experience, and reminded us that every place, no matter its social problems, has a natural beauty to be enjoyed.

here we are in front of the CGE building, it was beautiful here!

Well the first week in Nicaragua has been interesting to say the least. We will be the first ones to admit that culture shock is in fact real and has happened to us. We think one of the things that has been the hardest to adjust to is cleanliness. In America we live in a society where appearance is everything. You are judge instantaneously based on what brand you have on, the way your hair is done, and how white your teeth are. But here where things like running water and money to pay for soap isn’t guaranteed the standards that we are accustomed to are thrown out the window. Walking around in 100 degree temperates with appropriate clothes was a battle for us. But we had the luxury of knowing that every evening we could take a nice long shower to get the sweat and dirt off of us. However we still found ourselves complaining about the quality of showers we received; whether the water pressure was too low or the temperature too hot/cold.it really made us think about how we have higher standards based on the environment we were raised in. Not only did the cleanliness of people and ourselves shock us but also the cleanliness of the environment. It reminded us of the streets on campus post game except here no body is coming to pick up the trash. We live in a place where littering is a crime and we have such a good sanitation system. But here the streets are used as trash cans. The people have more important things to worry about like what they are going to eat and how that are going to afford medicine; they don’t have time to worry about how they can clean up the streets. All in all I think that it is safe to say that Nicaragua has been a life changing experience for the both of us. This trip really makes us think about our priorities and reminds us of how blessed we are to live in such a stable country.

Krista Smart & Audrey Amann

Hola!

Our second week in Nicaragua began with a day at the beach.  We were all excited to take a break from our hectic schedule and enjoy the Pacific Ocean.  We even took a group ‘Happy Mother’s Day” picture with letters we crafted from previous souvenir purchases.  Our attempt to be as resourceful as the Nicaraguan people.  The next day we headed to the countryside to visit two farming corporations, a primary school, and a maternity home in Matagalpa.  We expected to see a farm with rows of coffee trees; instead we went on a hiking adventure.  The coffee trees were scattered throughout the steep, hilly, and rugged terrain that looked nothing like the Ohio’s rows of corn.  As we continued to hike our view of the mountains surrounding us became more breathtaking, or perhaps that was from all the hiking.  We felt accomplished learning we were the first group (since a road had been constructed) to make it to the top.  Seeing first had the amount of hard work it takes to produce the coffee has made me interested in beginning to purchase fair trade coffee.

After returning to Managua, and the 99 degree heat, we had the opportunity to tour two incredible organizations. Casa Alianza holistically supports homeless youth and the Center for Development of Central America’s is helping a resettlement community to develop and thrive.

Our last meeting of the trip we met Fernando Cardenal.  At 80 years young, Fernando spoke about his experiences living with and advocating for the poor, with more passion than you can imagine.  Before leaving his neighbors in poverty he vowed to spend his life fighting for those in poverty and for justice.  He has lived up to his vow in spite of damaging friendships, job opportunities, and putting himself and others in danger.  After the fall of Somosa, his biggest accomplishment was organizing 60,000 student volunteers in a literacy campaign across the country. He said, “Ignorance is slavery and education is liberation”.  His bravery to fight for justice in spite of such danger is unbelievable. I think of him as one of Nicaragua’s heroes.  He reassured us all, “Do something great and you will be profoundly happy”.  I am so happy we had a change to meet such an inspirational person to help us to realize all we have to be grateful for in the U.S.

The last day of our trip was spent swimming in an enormous volcanic lagoon.  We swam out as far as we could and had an incredible view of mountains surrounding the water.  I can’t imagine a better way to end our two weeks of learning about the struggles and successes of this beautiful country.  I hope we are all able to take with us the sense of community, resilience, happiness, and courage we have found here in Nicaragua.

Brooke & Claire

Today was an amazing last day. It was really cool to swim in a lake in the middle of a volcano. It was an experience that we will remember forever. We also had the chance to jump off the dock and swim to the wood platform. It was really scary at first but I’m glad I pushed myself to do it. We also got to talk to other college students about their experience so far in Nicaragua. It was interesting to learn about what they had learned about the culture and share what we learned as well. We even went on a boat ride in a lagoon. We could see the volcano and even the cathedral in the distance. Spending the beautiful day on the water was so relaxing. After we got back, our hotel provided an amazing last meal that was served with delicious chocolate cake afterwards. We had our last group reflection tonight and we able to share our thoughts on each of our experiences in Nicaragua. We went around the room and say what will will leave in Nicaragua and what we will be taking back. The overall feeling in the room was very inspiring and empowering. To hear everyone’s thoughts on what they thought Nicaragua would be like to what they actually were was a bonding moment for everyone. I feel as if we have all learned so much in so little time. We are all going to take away so much from this opportunity and have learned so much on the history and culture. My thoughts on poverty have changed so much since before I came. I had no idea what poverty was actually like and the conditions of the people living in it. It was so interesting to see how happy everyone around us were and how welcoming they were to us. Another thing I have learned is that Nicaragua is not this terrible place full of crime and violence. Although there may be a lot of that within this country, we have seen so many wonderful things that overtake that stereotype. It also was so interesting to learn how so many small efforts can make a back impact when people work together. This definitely left us hope for the future of this beautiful country that we have grown to like so much. In conclusion to our trip, we can say that we are happy we came to Nicaragua. We are leaving as more globally aware citizens and more thankful people. The sights we saw and the people we met will stay with us. We will think of Nicaragua in our thoughts and think positively that a change will come.

Emily Bango & Hannah Guttman

We arrived in the city of Managua on May 5th, 2014. I was at first taken aback by the new environment and culture. Here, even though it’s 90 degrees, Nicaraguans still wear pants and long skirts. I’ve even seen some people with jackets on. They must be well adapted to the temperature because I often don’t see them sweat while here I am, struggling to stay dry. I thought I was prepared with clinical strength deodorant. Clearly not.

Another striking difference is the lack of trash cans throughout the city. It is common to see trash on the sides of the streets everywhere and littering has no consequences like there are in the U.S. My OCD has really kicked in here and I keep imagining myself walking around with a garbage bag to clean the city up. Unfortunately this would be a waste of my time. I am happy to say though, I have not littered since being on this trip.

I can’t believe the number of stray dogs there are here in Nicaragua. Me being an animal lover, especially a dog lover, it is very hard to watch these underfed animals stroll the streets. Nicaraguans do not seem to mind at all though. Even our trip to the University of Central America’s (UCA), there were stray dogs roaming the campus. I pointed a dog out to my colleague and made a sad expression. A couple of students on the campus saw my reaction and only looked on in confusion.

We also took a visit to NicaHOPE which is an organization that works in La Chureca, the Managua city dump. The dump use to be a place where families, including children would go to collect recyclables. Some days they would not earn more than a dollar for their work. Children would not be earning an education because there was a need to help support the family. The dump has been closed now for a number of years and the government has built housing around the area for those previously working there. This seems like a great idea, closing the dump and providing housing instead, but now those who use to work there are faced with having to pay bills. For some, working in the dump was the only source of income, so now it is very hard to pay these bills. Families would continue to keep their children out of school so that they could work. NicaHOPE saw this problem and implemented a program where children could come to school and spend part of their day making jewelry to sell and earn money to help with the family. This new income actually exceeded the amount that would be made if a family were working in the dump. I found this compromise to be a genius idea and truly appreciated the resourcefulness of the community.

One of the topics we’ve discussed this week has been women’s rights. Although we may find gender inequalities in the U.S., here in Nicaragua those inequalities are more apparent. Domestic violence is a common trend in this country. It is not just a problem with the rich or poor, but a problem within the culture. The Centro de Mujeres Acahual (Acahuanlinca Women’s Center) (AWC) provides services that address this issue. They have workshops that help build women’s self-esteem as well as counseling services. Aside from working on these subjects, the AWC also provides services that focus on women’s health such as cervical cancer, STI education and family planning. The woman who gave us a lecture AWC was a victim of domestic violence herself. I commend her for taking a negative experience and using it to make a positive impact.

Needless to say, I was slightly depressed my first few days in Nicaragua. The trash everywhere, the stray dogs, children working in dumps and the cultural issues with domestic violence were enough for me. I wanted to fix everything. It was then that a colleague of mine on this trip pointed out that my desire to create what I saw as a better life, was my value and my opinion. If you truly look past what I considered depressing, the people here are actually happy. The kids play outside all day instead of being on an iPad. Family is important and the community is more likely to take care of each other than have individualistic ideals. Stray dogs are everywhere, but at the same time these animals are free to come and go as they please. Since this realization, I’ve been able to put my biases aside and appreciate what this culture has.

-Claire Sutter and Brooke P.

On our third day in Managua, we took a trip to a local public hospital called Lenin Fonseca Hospital. As we drove up to the gate of the hospital, there was a sign that said that all care and service offered at the hospital was free, and if someone is charged they should let them know. At first glance, this seemed like it had great potential, because free health care is far from the norm at home in the U.S. When we got out of the car, we could all see that this was a very different hospital than the ones we are used to at home. The building was all one story and simple. We entered a small classroom and the head nurse and teacher, Flor, welcomed us to the hospital. She explained that she has been at the hospital for many years, and this hospital mainly deals with trauma. It is funded by the government, but does not receive enough funding, so they cannot afford air conditioning for the whole hospital, and they struggle to offer drugs like pain killers and antibiotics. There are not many doctors at the hospital, mostly nurses, and Flor teaches nursing classes for them. The classroom we were in was very plain without science equipment or computers, so we were interested in what those classes would be like. We then took a tour of the hospital, and that was a very eye-opening experience for all of us. First of all, I think we were all taken aback that a big group of American strangers was allowed to wander the halls of a hospital. As soon as we walked in the building, we started sweating from the heat. As we walked through the different sections of the hospital, we passed rooms, each with a big window we could see into. Each room was a standard hospital room size in the U.S. that would normally have one or two beds, but here the room was filled with six or eight. Each bed held a patient, wearing as little clothing as possible to stay cool, and typically surrounded by loved ones. This made the rooms very crowded and most likely not very sanitary. We also went into the surgical hallway and the dialysis hallway, which were luckily both air conditioned. In the dialysis section, we could see the patients through the window, and they looked very sad and fragile. They come in two times a week for treatments, but also are responsible for daily care and a strict dietary regimen. We are talked already about how alcoholism is a problem for a lot of Nicaraguan people, and it made the statistics more real to see the effects right in front of us. Our entire trip to the hospital was very important to all of us. Our tour was almost somber, as we walked the halls silently looking on at the patients that we knew weren’t getting the care we knew they needed. If nothing else, the trip humbled all of us and definitely made as grateful that we have advanced health care accessible to us at home, and that we can afford it. We hope in the future the government And other organizations will step in to help local hospitals provide the level of care that nurses like Flor wish they could.
Emily Bango & Hannah Guttman