Nicaraguan Dump

Nicaraguan Dump

Feeding workers

Feeding workers from the dump

Global Glimpse teaching English Class

Global Glimpsers teaching English Class to Spanish speakers.

   

My name is Karla Rios and I am proud to say that I was “El leader del dia” (Leader of the day) for this topic. What my peers and I learned today that not everybody has the same benefits as the United States.

Going to the dump was a life changing experience. We opened our eyes to a new world where children are taught to work at an early age, parents struggling to survive off of doing work we would not want to do such as, collecting scraps, copper, plastic, anything that seemed valuable to them. We realized that we should always appreciate what we have. To us we see trash, to them they see hope. What hit me to most was the fact that parents would really do anything for their children to survive. It was family over everything and that made me feel that people do not really need money to survive. It is all about love and caring for others.

Like Confucius once said “In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of”. – What does this really mean? It means that we get used to the fact that United States is well governed that we end up wanting more.

What I am most proud of the group was…The fact that we were willing to help those who really need it. Some fellow students end up giving some clothes away to people at the dump. They were much appreciated and I could see the sparkle in their eyes wanting to say “thank you”. I am also proud of the group by getting assigned to teach English to Spanish speakers and actually willing to do everything they can to help them learn. They now know the struggle the teacher go through everyday, confiscating cellphones, having courage to speak, and controlling a class. We had to be affable with the students and the people at the dump in order to fully understand the Nicaraguan life style.

The most inspiring person that I met was little “Hector”. He was a child we meet at the dump. At first, we asked him questions. He was too shy to reply. When I spoke to him in my language which is Spanish, he was still a little nervous and shy but he was able to speak. I asked him “Do you play any sports?”-he replied, I like playing baseball.

Being leader of the day was definitely a struggle. Waking people up and having them meet at a certain time would sound easy but it really is not. To be candid, even though there was a lot of activities in the agenda we had to go through,I actually liked being leader of the day. Having the power to control people and having someone to look up too actually makes people stronger mentally and socially. It makes a mark that people will always remember.

What I learned about myself was that I was able to maintain myself. For example: Today was actually a day I was able to call myself a leader. I usually am a quiet person but this trip helped me progress my mistakes from a last years experience when I was leader one day and ended up getting everyone in my group lost. We also ended up teaching an English class here in Nicaragua where not only did I taught but also progressed my Spanish a little bit.  It was a fun and hilarious day that hopefully it will continue!