We did so much today! To start off the day, we visited our CAP partner Blanca Rosa Cruz at Educación especial, which is a school for special needs children living in Nicaragua. We learned about how the school runs, and were even able to meet some of the kids! It was so amazing to put faces to some of the people that we will be helping with our project, and to also meet some of their unique personalities! Our contact, Blanca Rosa started working with the school 14 years ago, and she shared her passion an love for the kids and the school. Then, later in the day we visited the municipal waste management facility, where we spoke to people that had been working in the dump since they were five years old, with some people having had worked there for twenty years. Here, workers work between 7 and 10 hour days separating trash, and collecting recyclable materials to sell for profit, typically earning only between 3 and 7 dollars per day. These workers also work in exhausting heat, and are surrounded by smoke from burning garbage around them, and other toxic chemicals. Among these activities, we also had small and large groups about poverty, and its manifestations in our own lives and communities as well as in Nicaragua, primarily focusing on what poverty is and how it came to be, as well as similarities and differences between the United States and Nicaragua. Later at night, we had our first session of english tutoring! We split in to our smaller groups and got to know each other! Everyone loved their students and bonded really well! The students are so excited to learn, which makes the process even easier. Overall, today opened our eyes to many situations that we’ve never seen before, and ones that we now have the ability to spread awareness about back in our own communities!
Great day, Lauren! Thank you for the description! Cool pics! ?
Thank you for your energy and focus on topics that can be hard to witness and even harder to understand as part of your life here in the United States. So important! You are changing the world!
Elias, it is SO GOOD to see you!! We miss you!!
Hi Yuri,
We miss you so much! Can’t wait to have you back and hear all the stories!
Ps. Love seeing the update every day! Thank you for the great description of the days!
With much love,
Your older sister
So many great experiences, and more to come. Enjoy every minute! We miss you Kendall!
Hey Isabelle (Jia),
I’ve been reading your post-its and the blog every day. It looks like you’re having a great time, and I can’t wait for you to come back and tell me all about it. Love you lots!
Hello GG TEAM!
Once again, it looks like another eye opening day! It is nice to see the smiles on your faces. We can only hope that you come home with life lessons that you will use going forward each and every day. We are all people and should be treated with respect. People work hard each day, it doesn’t matter if your a CEO or a trash separator. The job needs to get done.
Brittany, we love you and miss you!
xoxoxoxoxo Mom.
Hello GG TEAM!
Once again it looks like an eye opening experience. Everyone deserves respect for getting up each morning and going to work. It dose not matter if your a trash separator or a CEO, every person’s job is important and if we did not do our respective jobs, the world would not function. I can only imagine the feeling you are all having during this time. Keep up the good work, enjoy the food (hopefully it is good) and try to write in your journals each night so we can re-live each day when you get home.
We love you Brittany!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxo…Mom, Nick, Emily, Chris, Chief, Natasha and Maria.
Hey Brit, you guys are really busy and doing such great things. I love seeing your beautiful smile in these photos. Keep up the good work everyone. Denice
Hi Jasmine, hope all you guys are enjoying the trip but more importantly learning of other cultures, be safe love you, go to loudes
Hey sweetheart, love you . Jas missing you
This truly sounds like a trip of a lifetime and I am so happy for all of you that are getting to embark on this amazing journey. The blog update is truly something we all look forward to nightly. I can’t wait to hear more about the CAP too! Thank you all for the great updates!
Lauren I love and miss you tons!
xoxo,
Mom
We are enjoying the daily blogs. It all sounds very exciting. Love seeing all the happy faces. Lauren we are so proud of you. Miss and love you.
Papa & Grandma
Brittany,
I had your mom over for dinner tonight (I owe you dinner!) and she gave me this blog. I love being able to read what you guys are doing! I pray each day will burn a unique memory that you can carry with you always. So proud of you!
XO
Lauren it sounds like an absolutely amazing experience that you are having. We are all so proud of what you are doing and learning. I’m sure you will come home with wonderful stories to share with us. I’m sure your going to spread that awesome Lauren Cresta spirit to all of the people you meet there. They will remember you forever.
Love you sweetheart. Keep posting for us please.
Thank you Lauren for the detailed report. And for Isabelle we missed you so much. Can’t wait for you to share all you experienced with us upon your return. Love, Dad and Mom