#3

Currently I am sitting in the most beautiful house tucked in lush trees, surrounded by the ocean, in a little town outside of Rivas, Nicaragua. But no matter how beautiful my surroundings, the one of kind souls from Escuela Especial are on my mind. 

            Today was our last day with the kids. It started off with Tyra and I hoping in the van with Giermo, Ana (social worker), and Krystal, to go pick up families from our home visits. One by one each person filled up the van, they all dressed in their nicest clothes. Once we returned to Escuela Especial the party was about to begin. Douglas, a deaf boy who previously attended the school, and I went around blowing up balloons and painting the faces of children willing to let us. Each grew a smile and we exchanged hugs. As I looked around everyone seemed to be happy, there was no fear of being judged for a disability, no labels or stereotypes. We became one big family.

            Once the food was ready we served it to each person, that being around 100 people. In the chaos of it all we danced and shared memories before our last goodbye. One girl who I grew very close to, Dianna, began to cry. As tears streamed down her face, I could feel my heart ache. Every morning Dianna would wait outside her classroom for us to each give her a hug, and they weren't limp armed. In Dianna's arms you felt - loved - theres no other way to describe it. I embraced Dianna in my arms and said, “Te Amo,” she then lifted her head and kissed my cheek and replied, “Te Amo” and then we joined the rest of the party.

            After the giant pink piñata was cracked open and everyone was fed, it was time to leave. Winder, another little boy who I grew close to, grabbed my leg from behind and began to sob. Then Christhian, Douglas, and several more students surrounded us in a massive group hug. That’s when I realized how impactful the actions we (CGA) make on these trips are. Noy only do we create bonds that last a lifetime but we are all forever changed by one another. Each hug, each lesson, each smile and hello and goodbye were pieces of a puzzle that in the end created something beautiful. And once all the kids were loaded into the vans I could already feel a piece of my heart leaving with them. I will return to Colorado with more love and experience than I had before.

Thank you to everyone who has ever supported me on my trips with Children's Global Alliance, your generous donations and words of encouragement mean the world. In this short week I have made so many beautiful bonds that I will remember for a life time. 

#2

            Before I left for Nicaragua, Ava, someone who has been on all the CGA trips and a good friend of mine, gave me a piece of advice. It was, “don’t let fear hold you back,” and I told myself I’d keep her advice with me the whole trip. Yesterday I had the privilege of working in the Deaf classroom. At first I could feel the panic rising in my chest when I realized not only was Allan, the teacher deaf as well as the students; Juan Juis, Rosa, and Christhian, but none of them spoke any English. So, I would have to translate what I wanted to say from English, to Spanish, to sign language. But I remembered the advice Ava had given me and decided to sign, “Good morning, my name in Nikko” as soon as I walked into the room, Allan was trilled. I explained that I knew very little Spanish and sign language but I was eager to learn more.  After their English lesson Allan let me teach one of my lessons; negative numbers. Not being able to use words and only my limited amount of sign language made it extremely challenging but eventually I was able to explain it well enough using tallies that Juan Luis understood. He then explained to Christhian and Rosa. I was overjoyed that I was able to help them comprehend something new, even if they’d never use it after their schooling was over. After the lesson Christhian gave me a nickname in sign language then made the motion for amiga or friend.  By the end of the day Allan, Juan Luis, Christhian, and Rosa had taught be over 30 new words/phrases in sign language. I felt so honored to be able to communicate without words and still create a special bond with each of the students in the deaf classroom. Around 10 am, Darwin, a 22 year old with Cerebral Palsy came into our classroom, for those of you reading this who don’t know Cerebral Palsy makes it nearly impossible to move and control your limbs/muscles due to spasms and extreme tenseness in muscles. Throughout the day I drew random images so he could color inside the lines, I hoped that this would help him control his hand movements. Later in the afternoon we moved on to numbers; I would write three numbers at the top of the page and he would trace them until the end of the paper. I cannot put the emotions of pure joy I felt into words when by the end of the paper Darwin’s numbers were identical to mine. It was a huge amount of progress. If I had let fear consume me that morning, I would have never made five new friends and never felt so much joy.

            Today I was assigned to work in Rosa’s classroom, when I walked into the room each of the children were doing something different; some were laying on the floor, while some were running around the room, but I noticed one little boy who looked much younger than the rest. Rosa explained that his brain was under developed so he couldn’t talk or process what he wanted to say/feel. I picked him up and said, “Hola! Me llamo Nikko!” then his blank stare turned into a smile and he wrapped his tiny arms around my neck, and I was reminded as to why I value the selfless values and service on these trips. Love isn’t always expressed through words, and from what I experienced the unconditional love I have felt has been expressed through actions and emotions. In that small moment I felt, unconditionally loved. Throughout the rest of the day I helped Rosa with anything she needed, it consisted of homework, English lessons, and making sure each of the kids remained calm. Something I was taught personally was; never play cards (gamble) for money with a seven year old, because you will lose, every time. But a greater lesson was to have more patience because teaching in a hot classroom, with eight children, each with a disability, can be frustrating. But having that patience and taking a moment to breath when frustrated made me realize the potential in not only myself but in each of the kids in Rosa’s class. They all have the desire to be loved and learn as much as they can. I feel so unbelievably blessed to be a part of that. Even though this week has been flying by I will continue to; embrace every moment and give all that I can in moments of courage and fear throughout the rest of my stay in Nicaragua. 

            I have found that in the absence of deep-rooted thought, I lose sight of my goals, and the flight from Houston, Texas to Managua, Nicaragua gave me time to think about what some of those might be for this service trip. I want to mean more, and be more than some “gringo” student from the United States who helps for a week then leaves. Finding my purpose and influencing those around me in a drastic way is one of my biggest goals while being in Nicaragua.

            On Sunday we drove to Escuela Especial Sor Maria to clean the school. Katie, Isabel, and I were assigned to the Physical Therapy room. At first I was startled to see in each corner of the classroom there were small piles of rat feces and insects. In the US, especially in Vail we become so blind to what a majority of the world copes with on a daily basis in order to receive education. We piled foam Alphabet mats and brought them to the center of the school where we used tubs of water and soap to scrub off the dirt built up since last year’s “cleaning day.” After each of the rooms were cleaned, we started a trash clean up. After a day like that you start to become more and more thankful for everything you have back home.

            Today was the groups first official day at Escuela Especial. Everyone was assigned a room where they would work with the students and help the teachers while Will and I went with Krissy, Crystal, and our translator on home visits. The first home we stopped at belonged to a little girl named Josline. Josline has Down Syndrome. In the Nicaraguan society having a disability is not viewed the same way as in the US. It is rare to find parents of children with disabilities that value the life of their child with a disability as much as one who doesn’t. It is common that neighbors or friends/family believe the family has done something wrong, resulting in a child with a disability, which is not true. But Josilines parents treated her like any other child and found a huge amount of pride in her. As we asked her parents through our translator Ana about their lives, Josiline ran around with a smile, not something common among children with Down Syndrome. Her mother explained that once she was of age they planned to place her in Escuela Special sor Maria, the only school in the area that provides education for children with disabilities, because they didn’t want her to be judged in a normal school.

            The next home we visited was the home of Juan Fransisco a little boy with a heart condition and cleft palate. His mother explained that the arteries and veins in his heart are constrictive and knotted, preventing proper blood flow and oxygen to certain parts of his body, resulting in a blue color around his fingers, toes, and eye lids. Even though Juan was energetic he became tired quickly. After asking his mother questions we learned she isn’t satisfied with the help she has been receiving and wants to find help in other locations, but her biggest problem is money. Each bottle of medicine costs the family around 30$ a month, which is a huge sum of money. It was especially hard for me to hear that his arteries in his heart could burst at anytime, killing Juan. His mother, similar to Josline’s, felt so much pride and love towards Juan, despite his heart condition and cleft palate, which was nothing less than inspiring to whiteness. The home visits show the struggles that the families deal with on a daily basis and we see and experience them first hand making the lessons we take home so much for impactful.

            The last home we went to was the home of Earling Anthony, who was born without his femur bone. One of his legs continues to grow normally while the other is around 16 cm shorter, making it nearly impossible for him to walk. We learned that the only source of income for their family was through his father who sold CD’s on the street. This made me wonder how they afford doctors visits. His mother and Crystal explained that once Earling was old enough he would be fitted for a shoe with a bigger sole, lifting his leg enough to even out his leg lengths but Earling would have to learn how to walk again. I had never seen someone, let alone a child, with this type of disability before, so while talking to his family it was shocking being exposed to that.

            So far, I have been reminded of everything I have to be thankful for in Vail, and why I should never take the education I have for granted, along with the resources we have to help children with disabilities. It is truly a luxury. Finding a way to mean more to the children and teachers at Escuela Especial and to be able to leave knowing I truly influenced their lives in a positive way would have to be my biggest goal. So in the presence of deep-rooted thought I want to find a way to make that happen.