Hola from Esteli. My name is Michael and I’m from Analy High School in Sebastopol, California. So far it has been a very eye opening and inspiring trip for all of us. Our view of what is most important has changed greatly, and parents should expect to welcome back changed kids, hopefully for the better.
Today I had the opportunity to be El Lider del Día for our visit to the dump. We started off the day with delicious nacatamales which are similar to tamales except that they are wrapped in bananas leaves. After that hardy breakfast, we walked back to the Hostel for a seminar on poverty. We learned about the huge presence of poverty in Nicaragua, and how it is the second most impoverished country in Central America. The discussion was lead by our fantastic leaders, Bree and Mindy, and we went over the fives P’s of poverty: past, people, politics, place, peace. On our bus ride to La Cruz, we sat in complete silence to think about the five P’s and how they factor into poverty. Once at La Cruz, we took a short hike up to the community, which sits besides the Esteli dump. Since the community was close to the dump, trash was littered everywhere, and flies swarmed around every part. We met Doña Francisca Sr. who has lived in the community for around 50 years. She is 76 years old, and her six children live nearby in the community. From talking to her we found out that throughout her life she has had 25 children and of those only the six had survived. All 18 had died before 1 year due to malnutrition and lack of hygene. This story hit many of us very hard, and it was a story that we kept coming back to throughout the day.
We headed up to the actual dump of La Cruz and it was not the most pleasing sight. The already huge amount of flies suddenly doubled, and mountains of trash covered the landscape. Doña Francisca Jr., daughter of Doña Francisca Sr., gave us a tour of the dump and walked us through her daily process. As a dump truck rolled up and dropped tons of trash bags, a group of workers headed over to the pile of trash to sort through and gather plastic bottles and aluminium cans. Every pound of plastic bottles recovered is turned over to be only 1 cordoba or about $.025. On the bus ride back to Estelí, all of the student sat in silence to reflect on the situation of the people in the community. We later discussed about whether the impoverished have the opportunity to escape the chains of poverty or if it is even a goal for them.
On a lighter note, we had our second English Tutoring session for locals of all ages int the community. It seemed as though all of the students were much happier about how it turned out. As a whole, we prepared more activities that would engage the students. I was surprised to find out how invested a group of adults become when involving candy as prizes for participation.
I definitely picked one of the more emotionally heavy days, and at times it was hard to stay energetic and positive throughout our time at the dump. It was one of those days that may not be necessarily fun, but you get a lot out of it. I hope that we keep this experience to better understand the hardships of poverty and maybe someday we can inspire change.
Well written Michael! Poverty is sad but is an eye opening and we appreciate more what we have here in the United States. We can’t wait and see the change of view from the kids after the trip which make an impact in your life.
Brittany, we can’t believe one more week you’ll be home. Can’t wait what you have in store. Be safe and have fun. Love you from Mom, Dad and Chelle.
Michael, I have missed the blog for several days because my computer is not working. I am at the library this morning catching up. What interesting things you all are doing, and how well all of you write about it. It is great to know what you are doing. You will have so much to tell us when you get home. I hope you are taking lots of pictures, even of the dump.
Michael you did a nice job on this entry. I think it is difficult to write for several people about complicated experiences to several people. There is an understandable inclination to write like a peppy travel log to make everyone super happy, but these kind of exposure tours are not quite like that and it is difficult to do them justice. Anyway – I think it is super important for people from the US to see the consequence of imperial power. The reason there is great wealth in some places is BECAUSE there is great poverty in others.
Anyway -thanks. I am also glad that you guys are from such a cross-section of high schools in the bay area. Great affection to all and a special burst of love for Miranda,
fer
Hi brave and adventuresome and thoughtful kids.
Hope you are having a great time. best noelle
Very touchy story Michael. We are very lucky here in the states. Hello to all and keep up the good work! Hi Kevin and sorry for missing your call and I got your message that you are doing ok. Miss you!
Hi Michael,
Reporting on the local dump may not be glamorous journalism, but it needs to be included in the discussion to help keep an informed perspective. I bet our local Sonoma County “landfill” site would appear orderly and sanitary in comparison to what your group just visited. Here, we tend to just look away from the very things your group is focusing on. Anyway, thanks for the reality check reporting. Meanwhile, all is well here. Cujo has been pestering me a lot with Mom and Kelly on vacation.
Dad
Michael! Very inspiring and moving report. But we digress.
Love, Alya and Ashton
Hola Michael,
Kelly and I just got back from the Rogue yesterday so I just got to read your blog about visiting the dump. That must have been a very emotionally moving experience for you! Even though it is very painful to witness that kind of poverty up close, it is important to see. Living in Sebastopol it is so easy to forget about the extreme poverty that so many people in the world are faced with. You are so lucky to be able to meet someone like Doña Francisca and see first hand how the human spirit can endure through such incredible hardships. I can’t wait to see you and hear all about your experiences. ¡Te quiero y extraño mucho!
mom