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Sunday, January 14th, 2018

Last Day in Nicaragua

Today was our tourism day! We commenced the day with a later start, eating breakfast at 7:45 instead of 7:15. Breakfast consisted of rice and beans (like always), eggs, and bread. Our first stop was the Masaya volcano (live volcano park). It was an amazing experience, as we were able to get relatively close to the crater of the volcano and see lava. The group took many photos before heading to the volcano’s museum to learn more about the history behind the volcano. We then drove to San Juan de Oriente, where we arrived at the home of Pedro Guerrero. […]

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Friday, January 12th, 2018

Last Day of Work

After eating a hearty breakfast consisting of rice, beans, mild sauce (cut tomato, onion, and cilantro), bread, and plantain chips, we sat down to hear from Cirilo Otero. Cirilo is a Nicaraguan economist who enlightened us on a number of key issues. Firstly, Nicaragua’s current economic model is based on two things: agriculture and livestock (primarily beef). Moreover, this situation developed 500 years ago when the Spanish came to Nicaragua. Nicaragua exports 33 items to the international market, but only 6 are important (these make up the most labour, and sell the most): coffee, sugar, minerals, bananas, tourism, and meat. […]

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Friday, January 12th, 2018

Thursday Adventures

This morning we awoke to a bountiful breakfast of eggs and fresh fruit. We began our day with an experiment. We were tasked with a shopping challenge in which we were given 200 cordobas ( roughly $7 ) to purchase enough food for a normal Nicaraguan family ( 4 – 6 individuals ) to last a week — Immediately it became clear that we would be unable to accomplish the task without some impressive bartering skills. Taking into account Nicaragua’s Diabetic populations, some groups prioritized the families health at the cost of substantial quantity; other groups sought food that was […]

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Friday, January 12th, 2018

El Porvenir!

This morning we left right away for our long journey to El Porvenir, a community of 51 families that live on top of a mountain and work for a coffee cooperation. After about a 3 hour drive almost all of us piled into a tractor trailer for an hour ride up the mountain. We passed a few small homes and many beautiful views on the way up. Cassie, the doctor working with JHC, traveled up with us to visit the families who receive medical treatment when doctors travel up the mountain. It was incredibly interesting to learn about how the […]

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Tuesday, January 9th, 2018

Second Day of Work!

Today was our second day of work, and while it was a productive day where our progress was evident, some of the glaring issues that you might anticipate when volunteering internationally started to emerge today. One of the major issues of today was that there were more volunteers/workers than there were jobs. While that may not be as bad as having too little workers for available jobs, it does allude to one of the central questions, one must consider when going elsewhere, namely internationally, to do service: Why are we here? Stemming from that major question follows: Are we useful/helpful? […]

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Tuesday, January 9th, 2018

Update

Hello everyone! We are currently in the middle of our second work day. There has been a lot of progress and many of us have actually learned different construction skills along the way. We have also had the opportunity to shadow doctors, meet locals, and continue building the third clinic building. Currently we are at JHC eating a mouthwatering lunch consisting of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, chips and salsa, as well as a delicacy called arroz con leche (rice with milk). This dish is super sweet and delicious so it was a great way to end the meal. Tomorrow we […]

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Tuesday, January 9th, 2018

First Day Of Work!

Hi everyone! This morning we all woke up excited for our first day of work at Nueva Vida health clinic. We ate breakfast and learned about the history of the Jubilee House Community, specifically, their involvement in sustainable agriculture, economic development, and health care. We had a short orientation at the health clinic, where we explored the facility and observed the specific services that are available to the community. In the morning, Christine and Cara worked on sifting gravel to prepare the cement to be used for constructing the third building for the clinic. For lunch, we went to the […]

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Monday, January 8th, 2018

Sunday Adventures

After an extended trip from Dulles to El Salvador, I feel like we’ve all come together in our distress. We left the Crowne Plaza, which was a lovely hotel we stayed in early this morning and we’ve arrived in Nicaragua! It’s already showing itself to be a beautiful country. We were warmly welcomed by the JHC which brought smiles to everyone’s faces. Our bags arrived safely and made it successfully through customs. We started out our tour in a grand plaza where we marveled at a rundown church and the National Palace/old congressional meeting place. We walked around and stood […]

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Monday, January 8th, 2018

We have arrived!

We have arrived in Nicaragua! We got here safely yesterday at 11:00 am and were ready to explore. We had the great opportunity to meet some locals and visited some amazing historical sites. First stop on our trip was the National Palace where we learned about the Sandinista Revolution and about various influential historical figures. Next we went to a house owned by JHC where we had the opportunity to see amazing art splattered onto the wall. After we went to the  grocery store to pick up some snacks and any other necessities. The last stop was Gerardo’s House, a […]

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Sunday, January 7th, 2018

Quick Update: Almost there!

We are writing to you from the airport in El Salvador as we await our flight to Managua, Nicaragua. We departed Bucknell University yesterday morning and drove 3 hours to the airport in DC. We were in for a surprise because our flight was delayed 4 hours in DC. You read it right—4 hours! There was nearly a riot on the plane. Of course, we are kidding but we were definitely not expecting such a long delay. Nonetheless everyone was extremely flexible and patient as they waited for the plane to refuel and prepare for departure. Once the plane was […]

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