Everyone going on a service trip this year to Nicaragua has a blog on blogspot. Make sure that you follow them!
Ava: avanicaragua.blogspot.com
Max: maxbnicaragua.blogspot.com
Nathaniel: nicarauga13.blogspot.com
Morgan: morgannicaragua.blogspot.com
AJ: ajdaviesnicaragua.blogspot.com
Harry: harrynicaragua.blogspot.com
Sammie: nicaragua-sammiehaase.blogspot.com
Tyra: tryranicaragua.blogspot.com
Gena: genawachendorfer.blogspot.com
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Monday, February 4, 2013
Nicaragua!
A year ago today, I had never been outside of this country. I had never been to a completely different continent, building relationships with phenomenal children, trying to communicate when I had never even heard the national language before! Over seven months ago, as you all know, I went to an orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and that all changed. As of now, I can say that I've never been to a Spanish-speaking country and I've never worked with children with disabilities. However, in just over two months, I will have done both of those things, too! In April, I will be going on another service trip with Children's Global Alliance, this time to Rivas, Nicaragua. We will be working at Escuela Especial Sor Maria Romero, which is a school for children with special needs. There are eighty-seven children who attend this school, as well as twenty kids who are too disabled to attend school, whom we will be making home visits to. Not only will we be assisting in classrooms and working with the kids using lesson plans that we each came up with, but we will be cleaning the school and repairing some facilities.
Things have been moving quickly since I was first accepted to go on this trip in December. Our team has already had several meetings, and we each wrote reports on a handful of disabilities (including autism and Asperger's Syndrome, cerebral palsy, Down's Syndrome, and deafness). There have already been fundraisers, and Ansley Burnett, Gena Wachendorfer, and I are planning one for February 28th at Old Forge Pizza in Edwards. (When we figure out all of the information, I will post more about it.) Also, I have reached my fundraising goal. There was a great number of people who donated, and I would like to thank each and every one of them! It means so much to me that there are people who are willing to support me and this trip by making a monetary donation or donating clothing. Thank you!
Even though we have come so far already, we still have a ways to go until we are fully prepared to start working at Escuela Especial. I have yet to log community service hours, which I'm hoping will be at June Creek Elementary School or Edwards Elementary School, working with the children there who have special needs. I think this will be a really good opportunity for us to gain some experience working with these kids and understanding how to adapt to their learning and communication challenges. Also, we are trying to learn a bit of Nicaraguan Sign Language. We are starting with the alphabet (we can already sign our names), and I think that we're going to learn some basic phrases to help us talk to the kids. We are studying basic Spanish phrases, too, so that we can have an easier time teaching the kids and giving them positive reinforcement.
It's hard to believe that I only have two months to go! Again, thank you to everyone who donated towards my trip, and look out for an announcement about our upcoming fundraiser!
Things have been moving quickly since I was first accepted to go on this trip in December. Our team has already had several meetings, and we each wrote reports on a handful of disabilities (including autism and Asperger's Syndrome, cerebral palsy, Down's Syndrome, and deafness). There have already been fundraisers, and Ansley Burnett, Gena Wachendorfer, and I are planning one for February 28th at Old Forge Pizza in Edwards. (When we figure out all of the information, I will post more about it.) Also, I have reached my fundraising goal. There was a great number of people who donated, and I would like to thank each and every one of them! It means so much to me that there are people who are willing to support me and this trip by making a monetary donation or donating clothing. Thank you!
Even though we have come so far already, we still have a ways to go until we are fully prepared to start working at Escuela Especial. I have yet to log community service hours, which I'm hoping will be at June Creek Elementary School or Edwards Elementary School, working with the children there who have special needs. I think this will be a really good opportunity for us to gain some experience working with these kids and understanding how to adapt to their learning and communication challenges. Also, we are trying to learn a bit of Nicaraguan Sign Language. We are starting with the alphabet (we can already sign our names), and I think that we're going to learn some basic phrases to help us talk to the kids. We are studying basic Spanish phrases, too, so that we can have an easier time teaching the kids and giving them positive reinforcement.
It's hard to believe that I only have two months to go! Again, thank you to everyone who donated towards my trip, and look out for an announcement about our upcoming fundraiser!
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