Palmer Trinity School

Bird's Eye View |Global Awareness| Nicaragua It all came to me at the end of the trip when I had to translate what the families had to say; that is when I realized that going on the mission trip to Nicaragua was the best decision I had ever made. Since ninth-grade I had wanted to take part in this trip offered by my school; however, my parents were hesitant about letting me go to a third world country. Last year I was able to convince them to let me go, and the experience was even better than I expected. Our mission was to build two houses, and to do that we spent a week mixing cement, carrying heavy bricks and buckets, painting roofs, and performing many other tasks. The best part about my experience was seeing the joy in the eyes of the families for whom we built the houses. To my astonishment, there were also people looking for food. To picture it, one would have to imagine one of the "adopt-a-child" ads with an orphan shown walking barefoot in terrible conditions, and then visualize it as infinitely worse. Only the week before, I had been complaining about not finding socks to take with me to Nicaragua, and right there in front of me were people who didn't even have a closet, or anything to put inside one. Growing up in Venezuela, I had witnessed poverty all my life, but the sight at the dump caused my heart to sink. Cristina Hernandez, Patrick Kalbac and neighborhood kids Top Left: Brad Showalter, Dave Cutler, Patrick Kalbac, Hosts: Chris and Christa Farrington, Back left: Martha Renteria, Jessica De Cecchi, Kirsten Marbert, Leo Llinas, (seated front row from left) Cristina Hernandez, Christina Santilli, Briana Henry, Matyas Bartha (holding Mason Farrington), Cecilia Leal, Adrianna Truby (holding Aleah Farrington) We worked Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Although I was exhausted during our hour-long lunch breaks, I could not resist playing with all the kids who gathered to watch us work. I guess they seldom see houses being built. Since there was not much for the children to play with, I came up with all kinds of races to entertain them. We also played tag, hide-and-seek, and a few other games. I was surprised and touched that the children never complained about anything. They were so nice that after we played together, they always stood by while we worked to see if we needed help. I remember having to say repeatedly to one boy, who was trying to help carry the buckets, that he didn't have to do any more work. These children made my experience in Nicaragua so memorable, and I am glad I was able to put smiles on their faces for at least that week. Even now, it is impossible for me not to miss them because of how thankful, helpful, and sweet they were. During our trip we also went to a dump called La Churreca. A repugnant smell of burning trash and smoke permeated the area. 4 It is because of the mission trip to Nicaragua that I try to do more to help the world today. I could have written about diversity, racism, or political problems in my country. However, as important as those issues are to me, this trip has had the biggest impact on my life. I have been fortunate to visit many places in the world, yet the trip to Nicaragua changed my life the most. When we finished building the houses, we gathered to say our last words to the families. I was listening carefully to what they had to say because I was going to translate for our group, and as I watched the families tear up with joy, I felt very good about what I had done to help them. I had never felt better about working so hard. My role in Nicaragua showed me the effect I can have on other people's lives. It was an extraordinary trip, and I can't wait to go there again during my senior year. It helped me realize my desire to work on ameliorating the global problem of poverty. By Jessica De Cecci, Class of 2009 Martha Renteria with Nicaraguan family (Reigna, Eric and Cynthia)

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