Hey! My name is Kristi and I go to James Logan High School in Union City, California. I am an upcoming senior and I participate in Logan’s prestigious Color Guard team, where we are known for our amazing performances and as of now we hold the championship title in the circuit that we compete in. Through this activity, I learned about another amazing program called Global Glimpse through my former Color Guard captain, Kyna Hernando, who went to Nicaragua with Global Glimpse last year.

Today I am the Leader for what is known as Poverty Day. Today we started our day like all others. Groggy, bleary-eyed and with morning breath capable of knocking out whoever is in the closest proximity to our morning greeting of “Buenos Dias!!” Luckily, we all managed to remember to pack the valuable commodity that is a toothbrush. To give us sustenance and energy for the amazing day ahead, our hostel’s chef prepared us a lovely breakfast of toast, butter, and pineapple jam. We then had a brief discussion on the meaning of poverty and the impact the world has on those who endure its burdens. After such a solemn discussion, we traveled by bus in silence, all of us reflecting on such a powerful issue present in our world that we often choose to ignore. However, we did get to further experience the beauty that is Estelí with its abundant amount of colorful butterflies and its amazing view of the luscious green mountains surrounding her.

Since today is Sunday, the lady that we were scheduled to talk to, Dona Francisca, was unable to meet with us as the local evangelical priest was visiting comunidad Las Cruces (the community that makes their earnings off recyclables found in the dump) and whom was graciously handing out much needed food packages. Our wonderful and ever-so prepared leader, Henrietta, led us to the city dump where we were able to walk through the dump and observe some of the individuals from the nearby community hard at work. Upon arriving we were stunned at the extent of the waste present in the dump, along with the shocking realization these people must make their livelihood off of metal, plastic and glass that they must forage from the heaping piles of garbage brought in from the city. As we walked through the dump we encountered a worker who had just recently moved from the surrounding farmland into Las Cruces. He then told us the dreary tale of how he had to move in order to support his family as there was no work in the farmlands at this time of the year. Despite this news, we also learned from him that among the dump there is a true sense of community, which is demonstrated through the respect that is given to the veteran workers by purposefully leaving any recyclables that the veterans are known for collecting.

Upon arriving at the hostel we proceeded with a seminar lead by our amazing GG leaders Beverly and Henrietta. During this seminar we discussed how we personally react to the examples of poverty that we found back home with the general topic of how and why we choose to be ignorant towards the homeless we see on the streets and near local stores. I know you readers must be feeling a little gloomy about such topics and thinking that we spent the whole day emotional and crying over the tragedies of the world. You will be happy to know that we then went on to watch a documentary about breakdancing and then even got to experience and amazing lesson taught by three local break-dancers or “b-boys”/”b-girls”. At the end of the lesson we all came together and then we all were all able to show what we learned. It was truly amazing to see each and every glimpser “get down”!

To end our Poverty Day, we gathered for a heartfelt and emotional reflection of the day, our new thoughts on poverty, and tips to further improve our group discussion. Through this day I learned more about myself as a leader and as a person. I am truly in love with this program and its effect on me and I sincerely hope that this trip will continue to inspire myself, the other glimpsers, and all of you who continue to stay updated on this amazing experience.