¡Hola bienvenidos!

People always asked me why I chose a 3rd world country to study abroad in over a place like Australia or England. Right when I stepped out of the airport this past Sunday I was reassured that I made the right choice, even more excited to drown myself in a new culture.

Throughout our first week here we have gone to several places and met with an array of people. The first day, we did a tour of Managua, Nicaragua — the first city we stayed in. Below is the Old Cathedral here in Managua that was destroyed by an earthquake back in the 1970s. Though it may seem destroyed, it was still a gorgeous site to see.

When you are here in Managua you will constantly see these trees, Trees of Life, when driving down the roads and an assortment of them at the lake.

Vice President Rosario Murillo (who, mind you, is also the president’s wife YOU GO GIRL) is the one who transformed the capital to have these trees that symbolize a new vision. But, after doing some research, I found out that some of the general public isn’t fond of these trees and how much they cost to put them up and keep them running.

So far this week we have learned about Nicaraguan history and the current political and economic situation, talked with ANICP + VIDA about HIV and AIDS here, and had a wonderful conversation about feminism with María Teresa Blandón. With our talks, we also visited an organization named NicaHOPE, pictured below.

NicaHOPE is a program that works with children living and/or working in the trash dump — it is also a preventative program to try and keep them out of ever having to work at the trash dump. It aims to keep these children in school and do so by providing after school programs and teaching them about making and selling jewelry. (If you’re interested in some jewelry, which I highly recommend, visit NicaHOPE.org). At the end of the week, we stayed with host families in León which I can’t wait to share more about in my next post!

¡Adiós!

Cheyenne  Lenhart

It has been 5 days since we arrived here in Nicaragua, and so much has already happened! Walking out of the airport into Managua, Nicaragua I immediately realized what would be the worst part of the trip. THE HEAT!! But so it goes.. the day of our arrival was just setting into the hotel and a quick tour of the neighborhood. The first thing you realize is how the homes here are short, and mostly made of brick and stone, without any drywall or insulation. Some might assume that it’s because of the people being poor, but an idea was given to me that it could also be because of how hot it is here, that those houses are the most viable for the heat.

The second day, we spoke with Joseph of Center for Global Education. He gave us a run down of the history here. The few key points that I found most interesting and aggravating was that most of the last 100 years the government has been keeping the country from progressing due to arguments between Liberals and Conservatives and then afterwards, corruption keeping the money up top with the president. And then, more angering was that the US made things worse by having a secret war here, which set back the government here a lot. His presentation did a great job at summarizing the history of Nicaragua.

Finally, we did some sightseeing here in Managua and got to see the old and new cathedrals. They were both pretty breathtaking, but personally I liked the old one better. The interesting thing about the new one was that there were political posters hanging from the front. Right now, my mind is a bit in a mess thinking about how bad the government has been to the people, but right now it’s the best they’ve had to they sort of settle.. what else can they do??

Ricky Galvan

Hola from Managua,

When we arrived at the airport on May 21st the nerves began to set in. I was leaving the country for the very first time, in a different time zone than my family and friends. To make matters worse I thought I was super prepared and then an unexpected baggage fee and the removal of my sunscreen, body wash, hair products, and extra bug spray took place. The entire flight I was super anxious but the moment we landed in Nicaragua I felt at ease. It was busy (traffic laws here are very suggestive) yet peaceful as a light rain fell on the way to the hotel. That evening we did some exploring of Managua and went to bed around 7:00pm (flying is so exhausting!). The next day we met with Joseph at the Center for Global Education in Nicaragua where he gave us a thorough background of Nicaragua. Joseph gave a detailed timeline of Sandino, who did everything in his power to destroy the dictatorship taking place in Nicaragua up until now with President Daniel Ortega who is a part of the FSLN and an original Sandinista (Sandinos army). Seeing the full circle from destruction and corruption to a bit of peace for the Nicaraguan people put a lot of things into perspective. This information session was very helpful and little did I know that everything he said would relate to pieces of what every other speaker said along the way. That afternoon we went to NicaHOPE, a program for children living and working near Managua’s trash dump. The goal of NicaHOPE is to get children and their families out of these trying situations by engaging them in after school programs and also teaching them how to make and sell jewelry they make using recycled goods (picture attached of jewelry I bought). The next day we left for León and due to the word limit I’ll add more about our homestay there to my next post!   

Managua street art

Welcome to the blog for the Education Abroad program, Human Rights and Social Issues in Nicaragua!  We travel to Managua on Sunday, May 21.  Throughout our travels, we will be learning about social issues in Nicaragua and how they are addressed by the government and other institutions.  We will also be learning about and experiencing the culture of this Latin American country in the middle of Central America.

Hasta pronto! (see you soon)

Dr. Theresa Early