During my first trip to Nicaragua two years ago, visiting La Chureca, the city dump, really gave me a sense of how desperate the need is here. I know others felt the same way. The impact of witnessing it in person cannot be easily or accurately explained when describing it to others. Therefore, I wanted to take this group to La Chureca to see some families in even harder situations than VISEDAL children.
We drove through yesterday morning. Thankfully it’s not the rainy season so the dirt roads were not impassible. Brad took us through the residential side of La Chureca on the way to the school. He explained how missionaries from the US support the school, allowing 350 kids to get an education and get a break from the misery of living in trash.
He also talked about some of the bigger social issues present in the dump. Glue-sniffing is popular because it takes away the hunger for a while and child prostitution is fairly common. Not everyone who lives there does so out of absolute necessity. I always assumed people lived in the dump because they had nowhere else to go. But some live there because of its lawlessness.
On our way out we drove towards the part of La Chureca where the trash is actually dumped. People climbed mountains of garbage sifting through their contents. From a distance it looked like ants on an anthill.
After the dump we had about an hour to get ready for our Christmas party. We packed the van with stockings and Christmas sacks for all 20 kids, a guitar and a Santa suit. Brad dropped us off at the restaurant, Maria Bonita’s, and went to go pick up the kids.
On my first Spring Break trip we took the orphanage kids to Maria Bonita’s, so we knew it would be a great place for our party. There are two large rooms and we set up shop in the one attached to a central outdoor courtyard. It’s much nicer than the fried chicken place, Pollo Campero, and I think a few of the mothers were hesitant, or perhaps felt uneasy, about coming in.
The kids, however, ran right in. They greeted us with hugs and smiles. Everyone sat down and ate while some raggaeton/salsa music played in the background. We had the pleasure of meeting four of the mothers of the kids we signed up this trip. There was some minor drama, which is not uncommon with some of the mothers from our first group of children, but eventually everybody got situated and dug into their chicken (grilled!), fried plantains, rice and beans.
We then, of course, had a dance party in the courtyard. At one point about 15 of us held hands and danced in a circle while other kids formed smaller circles inside of our larger one. My dad then played guitar while the group sang some Christmas carols. Ben did a wonderful job of leading the singing in Spanish.
The next part of the party was my favorite moment of the day. My mom had the idea of having a graduation ceremony for the children and Emily made some certificates congratulating them on their successful completion of a year in school. Brad told them all how proud we are of them and then called them one-by-one to receive their certificates and a gold medal. The kids were more excited to receive their certificates and medals than the Christmas presents we gave them later. Even some of the tougher, less emotional children were proudly smiling as Brad called their names and they came up to get their awards while their peers clapped. Later in the day, Noel made the point that many graduations on the US are considered long and boring exercises but that this one was far from that.
Little did the children know, but while we were having our graduation ceremony my dad became Santa Claus. When we were finished Santa miraculously appeared and the kids almost knocked him over as they all tried to hug him at once. Everyone took turns sitting on Santa’s lap while my mom took a Polaroid picture. Some of the kids even held their certificates while their picture was being taken. Then everyone took turns posing for Polaroids with various team members. And each other. And their families. If everyone took Polaroids like we do, they wouldn’t have stopped making the film.
Finally we gave each child and mother a gift bag with all of the donated clothes, stuffed animals, toys and school supplies we gathered over the last few months. We tried to encourage them to wait until they got home to open them and, impressively, most of them resisted the urge to tear into their bags. Then, it was time to go. We flagged some taxis and said our goodbyes. Our farewell wasn’t overly emotional, as it has been in the past. We think the kids now realize that we are, in fact, coming back twice a year.
We went back to the hotel, took showers and walked to dinner. Following dinner, we celebrated our trip the only way one really should celebrate in Nicaragua; by attending a concert/street party sponsored by the Sandinistas. We joined over 2,000 people packed into a section of the main street downtown and watched some musicians perform. I enjoyed people watching even more. We were all tired so we left by 10. It was only a short walk back to our hotel so we could still hear the music quite clearly. The concert ended about an hour later accompanied, of course, by a firework display. It was loud.
We woke up early this morning and headed to the airport. Overall it was a great trip. I’m so thankful for the selfless dedication of our team. Everyone pitched in and made the trip run smoothly. I know the kids felt loved. I’ll write a more substantive general overview to send out to our supporters, and to post here, within the next week. Until then, thanks for reading and for your interest in VISEDAL. I’m grateful for your support.
-Dylan
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