Power went out today (it did come back on) but wifi is slow here. I will try to post pictures in the morning of today's activities but check out our PhotoCircle for the complete group set.
Scott's Reflection of today:
After volunteering for another day in Granada it was nice to go see a completed learning center in another town not far from where we are building. Being able to watch as the primary school aged kids were actually learning in a center just like the one we are building now made me realize how much of a difference we are truly making. All of the children at the learning center we visited even recognized the Amped for Education shirts we were all wearing and wanted to hug us all endlessly. This was another example of realizing how much of a difference we as a group are making by working with Amped for Education. Over all the trip is going great and I can't wait to get back out there tomorrow!
Lexi's reflections of today:
Today was the second day volunteering, the learning center is opening in three weeks and there is a lot to be done, I focused with a small group on making concrete, it got easier as it went along, as most things do but the blisters were worth it once we went to the learning center, we saw the effects of building these schools some were so excited to see and the learning center was amazing, so many children were bright eyed and excited to learn. This is what shoveling rocks and taking an axe to walls brings us, a safe place where children have access to an education, a future and the skills to solve problems. Sure we're not curing cancer or changing the entire world but our impact on these students will last their entire lives and providing them an opportunity to learn and grow allows them to have the ability to solve problems such as having cleaner water or less stray animals so maybe our idea of how to provide change should stem here, solving problems for people will not give the tools to maintain the solution.
Hannah K
Today can be described as rewarding. We started the day off with tough work on the new learning center and pretty much everyone seems to have new blisters from mixing cement. However our work seemed worth it when we got to visit a learning center that is up and running. Being able to see little kids learning and enjoying themselves in a building that very much resembles the one we are now constructing gave our work a stronger purpose. We will know what the finished product of this learning center will be, even if we are not here to see it completed. We can go home with the knowledge that we made an impact, even if it's just a small number of children. After today's work and visiting the learning center we took a tour of lake Nicaragua. The largest lakes in South America and the 19th largest lake in the world, it's 3,191 sq miles. We toured around several islands and learned about some of the geographical history of Nicaragua. The hardest and sickest part about this tour however, was seeing local Nicaraguan people in their tiny homes on these islands, neck deep in water trying to catch fish to make a living when just an island away were multi million dollar mansions not owned by Nicaraguan people. The contrast was startling. As we progressed on the tour we stopped at a slightly larger island and many of us were able to enjoy coconut water from a fresh coconut. We then took left over coconut and fed it to monkeys on a neighboring island. Having a monkey gently take a piece of coconut out of your extended hand was a crazy experience. We capped the tour with a few of us (myself included) taking a quick dip in the lake. The water was warm, refreshing, and rewarding after a long day at work.
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