Nicaragua
By Allison Peuse, Spring Arbor University

LASP students traveled to Nicaragua October 2-13. The first few days were full of conferences and experiential learning activities in Managua. One afternoon we had lunch at the food court in a mall in Managua; for many of the students, it felt like we were in the United States. After lunch, we proceeded to drive through the city, and we came upon a landfill (or city dump). There were men, women, children, young, and old. We drove through the landfill with the windows rolled up because the fumes of the air were unhealthy for us to breathe in. Directly outside our bus windows people were working, playing, sitting, and living in their homes among the waste. How is it that we drove through for fifteen minutes and had to roll up the windows while there are people who have to live among the trash every day in order to survive? Some were scrounging through the piles of garbage just to find something to eat while others were digging through to collect plastic and receive a miniscule amount of money in order to provide for their families any way they could.

The next part of the trip to Nicaragua, the students lived with a Nicaraguan family for a week. We divided into small groups to live in communities and experience Nicaraguan life in both rural and urban settings. Daily living with a family gave the opportunity to understand what Nicaraguan life is all about. We grew to understand what issues are pertinent in the lives. We had the opportunity to see a glimpse of what living in poverty is like. And we learned to appreciate “being,” not always “doing” like we are used to back in the United States. But most importantly, we learned about a love and a care for other people first hand. Although our families may not have had a lot of material things or luxuries, they gave everything they could—and then some.

Visiting Nicaragua for two weeks was an irreplaceable learning experience. Back in Costa Rica, Nicaragua is still on our minds. What are our Nicaragua families doing? What are our roles in current issues of the world? How are we helping? How are we hurting the lives of other people by the ways we are living? These are only a few of the many questions running in our minds as we have returned from Nicaragua. But Nicaragua was not just two weeks in our lives; Nicaragua has changed us.s