Tuesday the the 20th (day 3) was a heavy day for M2A both emotionally and in our schedule. After breakfast we visited Las Hormiguitas in Susuma neighborhood, Matagalpa. Global Glimpse has partnered with them before to help with several projects. The center has programs to help children stay motivated and confident in their education. Children work in the Guanuca Street Market (selling fruit, cleaning shoes, etc.) and at the city’s dump (collecting recyclables for very few cordobas) to financially support their families, leaving little time for their education. To combat this, Las Hormiguitas takes a ‘mobile school’ to those locations, along with educators to work with the kids. We traveled to the dump to help teach them, as well as give them food, water, and a pinata.

It is safe to say that visiting the dump was a very eye opening experience for us. Dirt and trash we don’t even want to touch embodies the lifestyle and playground for these people living in extreme poverty. What is remarkable is that many Glimpsers took note that the families living there seemed happy.

 

The children playing with the pinata.

 

In our debriefing we discussed how wealthy and materialistic our lifestyles are compared to this, and how we tend to be more pessimistic as a result. This experience has shown us how much we take for granted, seeing as people who aren’t able to fulfill their basic human needs are the optimistic and happier ones. Examples of this is how enthusiastic the children were when playing with the pinata and how eager they were to learn.

 

Glimpsers teaching the kids using the educational games on the mobile school.

Two girls walking together at the dump. They looked through trash for toys.

 

Later in the day we visited the organization that we are partnering with for our CAP project: Infancia Sin Fronteras. They are an NGO based in Spain in countries including Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras, Haiti, and the D.R. They run programs to foster community growth in areas like nutrition and education, especially focusing on children and mothers.

 

Touring the classrooms at Infancia Sin Fronteras. They explained some of the problems we will be addressing with our CAP project.

 

18 centers are located in Matagalpa, offering food, health, and education programs to local children.

 

The children eating donuts we brought for them.

Glimpsers United with those children making Piñatas for their community center.