The theme for today was Aid and Development. After an early morning wake up call from our neighborhood rooster who we named Gallo Pinto, (after the traditional Nicaraguan dish of rice and beans) we walked to our comedor where we had a delicious breakfast of Gallo Pinto (not the rooster). 🙂

Next, Sarah and I gave a seminar about Aid and Development. The question of the day was, “How does one evaluate the effectiveness of aid? When, if ever does aid begin to generate negative effects?” The students read articles and discussed different view points of this complex issue. I continue to be impressed by the thoughtful, mature and articulate discussions generated by the students. Keeping with this theme, our Program Coordinators Valeska and Jennifer lead a seminar on phase one of our CAP (community action project). We met Chrissy and Ramon who work with the Peace Project at Laguna de Apoyo, a local community about an hour from Granada on the shores of a crater lake. The Peace Project works to bring educational enrichment opportunities to the local children as well as vocational training and workshops for the adult community members. We were inspired by the work of this organization and are excited to be partnering with Chrissy and Ramon for our CAP project. In phase one of the CAP project, students implement the 3 D’s: Discover, Design and Deliver.

Tomorrow we will travel to Laguna de Apoyo to learn more about the community and work with the local children. This afternoon, we prepared some games and activities that we will share with the children. We had fun sharing their ideas and practicing the games  they will be teaching tomorrow.  The students presented their games in both English and Spanish and continue to immerse themselves in both the language and culture of this beautiful country.

Tomorrow we will escape the hustle and bustle of the city and experience the natural beauty of Laguna de Apoyo. Keep following the blog and we hope to hear more comments from you all.

Besos and Abrazos from all!

Suzanne

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