Farewell Nicaragua

This will be our last post since we are leaving for the airport at 5 AM. Today was bittersweet  since we were able to celebrate the completion of the homes with the community but sad since we had to say goodbye to the many friends we made during the week. Prior to the ceremony of the dedication of the homes, Shannon shared her senior project with the community which involved discussing infectious diseases common to Nicaragua and strategies to prevent these diseases. She handed out various anti-bacterial  supplies, soups, and shampoos to the families who attended. Lindsey also presented her senior project which was a cultural music exchange. The community truly appreciated both of their presentations. After the presentations, we handed out Infinity "Knitty" bears to the children in the community, and then had a soccer game with the older children. The beneficiary families were extremely gracious to all of the volunteers, providing a home dedication celebration that we will remember for a lifetime. This included various games, dances, performances, and of course another pinata.

We are so excited to share with all of you our wonderful experiences here in Nindiri. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank all of you for the support you have provided in order to make this trip possible.

In the morning, we continued on the prep work for the roofing and flooring of the two homes. After lunch we visited the Mustard Seed Communities which is an orphanage for severely disabled children ages 6 months to 18. We enjoyed the afternoon playing with the 31 orphans. We distributed the Infinity Knitty Bears that so many in our Aquidneck Island community knitted for our trip as well as the baby quilts made by the PHS textiles class, and the soccer balls collected from the Portsmouth Pirates.

 After the distribution, Miranda presented her hand sewn clothing to the director of the orphanage. This is her Senior Project…which is to sew clothing for the needy children of Nicaragua. It was a fabulous day which ended in a nightly circle which was truly heartwarming. The nightly circle gives the students and opportunity to share what we have seen, what we are feeling, and what we have learned. Parents, you would be so proud of what your humanitarians are sharing…

All for now. Thanks so much for your support!

Painting the Roof ing

Hard at Work

Getting John to Dance on the job site

Getting support from the Beneficiary families

Just roofing and flooring left! Horray........

Our Visit to the Mustard Seed Community orphanage for children with disabilities

More Progress on the Homes and Cultural Exchange

We finally finished all four walls of our houses, and even though one group was behind the other, everyone rallied together at the end of the day in order to get the job done, really showing our Infinity spirit. After another exhausting day which ended at 6PM we all returned to our home base where we cooled off and cleaned up in our beloved bucket showers. Our evening consisted of a Cultural Exchange with the community filled with dancing, singing, and a piñata. After traditional dances were shown to us we returned the favor with our rendition of The Cotton Eyed Joe as well as The Party Rock Anthem dance. We even sang happy birthday in both English and Spanish to a community member who was kind enough to share her cake with our team.

What we do when we are not constructing!

When the Infinity Volunteers are not constructing, we are still having a blast. We spend hours singing and dancing with the children at the school and making new friends with the children and the kids who we met up with from New Rochelle. Last night, the families whose homes we are building came to the school to complete an activity with us. We were given a list of products that are typically used by a family in Nicaragua. We were told their daily income, how many children they had, and any other seemingly important information. Then, we had to make a list of products that a family would need in one day. The families helped us decide what would be necessary and helped to tell us what they needed in a day based on the size of their family. This activity helped us to discover the reality of a family living in this community in Nindiri. All of our volunteers were extremely engaged in the activity, communicating with the beneficiary families very well. They helped the chaperones with their Spanish so the families knew exactly what was being discussed. The Bridges to Community leaders also helped with translations. It was a very interesting activity and everyone learned a lot.

Also, when we are not working, we are getting to know one another. It is fun to really get close with everyone on this trip. We are all getting along seamlessly; it is as if we have known each other for years. At all hours, you can hear laughter and see smiles at the school where we are staying. We laugh about the amount of rice and beans we are eating and we tell jokes and dance around to the Spanish music on the radio with one another and with the children who spend time at the school with us. It is nice to be able to communicate with these children even though there is a language barrier. Smiles are something spoken in every language!

Just chilling out on the job site!

Taking a Break

Waiting to use the restrooms

Smiles everywhere!

More Beans and Rice

7AM sharp every morning at the school we are staying at!

More Fun! :)

Nicaraguan Transportation

Do you really expect me to go use this bathroom!!!

Circle Time

Learning!

Playing with the school kids after we have lunch!

So sick of rice and beans!

Rushing back to the work site!

Trying to blog with the slowest of internet connections!

Watching us work!

Teaching Seth how to dance!

Ring Around the Rosie During Our Lunch Break!