I am so sad to say that we had to leave our host families on Thursday and travel back to Managua. When we woke up our family left Lauren and I was left with a goodbye note which really touched our hearts.
Once back in Managua, we met with Julio Mena, the director of ANiCP+ViDA. This organization works on the prevention and education of HIV and AIDS. Julio told us about his life story. He was affected with HIV during the Contra War because he was wounded and another soldier gave him some of his own blood to help him survive. He didn’t know he had HIV so he ended up infecting his daughter, who eventually passed away at 6 years old and also his girlfriend. He experienced years and years of guilt, shame, isolation, discrimination, etc. because of this. Even though it was not his fault that he was infected and did not know he was infected until a year later, Julio was still shamed and stigmatized. Because of what he experienced, he decided to work in the outreach and education field in regards to HIV and AIDS.
On Friday we had the pleasure of meeting a former Sandinista guerrilla from the Contra War (The war Ronald Reagan waged on Nicaragua), Maria Teresa Blandón. Not only did she speak of her time being a part of the revolution at the age of only 17 years old, but she also spoke of feminism. She compared and differed it in the US and Nicaragua. She also touched on marriage and why she doesn’t believe in it. She touched on some really good points, such as religion, which is necessary in society, but there need to be limits to it. Religion calls for absolute power, and if we give that then we are all doomed. When she talked about the Contra War and the revolution she was involved in, she mentioned that the cost they paid was too high. Too many young people lost their lives in the war, and in the end it was for nothing. It made me sad and mad all at the same time. Hearing her story and listening to her words, certainly inspired me to be apart of such huge change when I return to the states.
On Friday we also went to Casa Alianza which is residential center for young people who are victims of human trafficking, rape, sexual abuse, abuse in general, domestic violence, etc., and also for teen mothers. With human trafficking being my background and the career area I want to go into in regards to social work, I was so excited once we arrived. I had so many questions for the employees once they were finished telling us about the organization. One thing that caught my attention is that she said even if they help the people prosecute legally got the crime against their perpetrator, it doesn’t always mean they will be held accountable, as the government does not want their numbers to increase so it is certainly a challenge to try to prosecute the criminals. This visit was truly my favorite one!
-Amanda