Hello families and friends,

Today, as first Liders Del Dia (LDDs), we were able to experience living like a local.

The day started off with an early wake up call, at 5:30am.

Then we traveled as a group to our normal breakfast place: La Favorita. Except that this day, and this breakfast, was different. As part of our “Reality Challenge” we had a simple breakfast of just Gallo Pinto (rice and beans) and water. In addition, we went without electricity as we got ready in the morning, and took our showers with a bucket of water. As leaders, we saw that this way of getting ready for the day was hard for some Glimpsers, but, once we continued with our daily activities, they began to understand the reasoning behind these changes.

These daily activities included a 20 minute bus ride to a community called La Plusia. This bus ride showed the stark contrast between the colorful and colonial style buildings in Granada with the small tin houses in La Plusia. This experience emotionally affected the Glimpsers in many different ways.

For me, Lily, this experience was something I will never forget. The bus ride to the community was very eye opening. Along the bumpy road, small makeshift shacks were lined up. This prepared me for my experience at La Plusia. Once I arrived at La Plusia I met with my family. They welcomed me with warm arms. Despite the condition that the family was living in they were still joyful. Soon the children of the family ran up to us and we began playing soccer, jumping rope, and hide and seek. Despite the language barrier we we still able to have fun and enjoy this experience. Overall this was a great learning experience that has taught me so many valuable lessons.

For me, Scarlett, the bus ride was a powerful indicator of the harsh reality that many people in Nica experience, with a staggering percentage of people and their families surviving for less than $2 per day. From my window, I saw small houses, most of which were the size of a common 8′ by 12′ room in the United States. I saw children sitting and talking on their dirt floors, or participating in household chores. Finally, I saw many animals–cows, horses, goats, chickens, dogs, and rabbits– emaciated and roaming freely on the road and in between the houses. Finally, the bus stopped in front of my Nica family’s house. Maria Espinoza and her daughters, sons, and grandchildren, welcomed me into their home, and greeted me with warm hugs and kisses on the cheek. I helped the younger children with cleaning the dishes in an outside sink and sweeping the dirt floors outside. Then, I was able to play with the children–they have many games they play using their surroundings and small items around the house. After playing, I talked to Maria, the children, their neighbors who were good friends of the family, and the President of La Plusia. From my conversations with these wonderful and beautiful people, I learned that they are extremely happy and  with what they have despite having few material possessions, they value education and see it as a way to keep hope and foster better lives for their children, they have strong spirits and family connections which help them get through tough times,  and they live with many struggles including having temporary access to water, and no access to safe and filtered water,  unstable infrastructure, and motivating mothers to send their children to the nearby school instead of keeping them at home. The President of La Plusia, Don Rigoburto, shared the struggles he faces, with getting funding for many needed projects in the community, such as with the bureaucratic processes of the Nicaraguan government and NGOs, as well as with raising money from the locals living in La Plusia or outside donors in order to begin these projects and receive aid.

After visiting the families, we said our tearful goodbyes, and boarded the bus headed for home.

Overall, living like a local was a hard yet necessary learning day which none of us will ever forget.

We dutifully passed the torch to the next LDDs, awaiting another fruitful day of learning and experiences.