Our first Mannamily retreat.

This Sunday is our 3-month mark, three months of progress, three months of challenges, and three months of working together. A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to talk about the accomplishments and challenges of the last couple of months at our very first PD retreat. With the amount of programs we lead we are generally all going 100 miles a minute and not usually in the same direction. So our first retreat gave us the chance to meet in a way that we hadn’t been able to since our July orientation in Miami. 

One Thursday, we all piled into the micro and departed to one of the most beautiful places in Nicaragua, Laguna de Apoyo. Laguna de Apoyo is a crater lake in between the cities of Masaya and Granada. When we arrived we were all shocked to see the georgous lake and home we would be sharing for the next two days. We quickly unpacked and sat down for our first meeting. Over the course of two days we were able to plan, evaluate, share ideas, and even have a little fun!

With all 13 of us together and the experiences we have had so far, we were able to set long-term and short-term goals for the remainder of our time here in Nicaragua. We had the opportunity to split into our program groups and evaluate what is and isn’t working and plan ahead based on the new knowledge we’d gained. We were able to do team building activities to get to know each other even better than before.

Since returning from our retreat we have implemented strategies to help us reach our goals. We are now having Spanish Thursdays, during which we are allowed to speak in Spanish and Spanish only. We have had the chance to implement new program ideas and new roles within each program. We have seen programs grow, shift, and evolve from the ideas we came up with in just two short days.

With our next retreat just two months away we are excited to see the programs continue to grow. We are hoping to see our Spanish vastly improve and are working hard to reach that goal. There will be different obstacles we face along the way, but again we will have to opportunity to evolve as time goes on. We know that with each new day there is an opportunity for us all to do great things together. Challenge accepted.

JAMmin' for Camp!

By: Kate Squires

Before the new Program Directors flew into Managua, there was a desire to create a fun and challenging learning experience for kids. A place where kids could use pastels, dance to music, or enter into a magical world created by Dr. Seuss. This was the purpose behind creating Camp JAM. The first month and a half of Camp J.A.M. has proved to be both a success as well as a growing experience for the kids of Cedro Galan. The J.A.M. in our name is not only letters but represents our weekly rotation J: juegos or games, A: arte, and M: musica.

Growing up in the United States it is so easy to think that kids all over the world shared similar experiences to mine whether it be coloring, eating dirt cups with gummy worms, or simply making musical instruments. This was a preconceived notion that quickly changed the day we told the kids we were going to eat dirt and mud. After learning the English words for worm, dirt, and mud the activity turned into an amazing time that enabled the kids to think outside the box and complete a lesson that challenged their creativity.  

Being in Nicaragua for almost two months has changed my perspective on what matters in life. I often think that we take for granted the accessibility of paper, books, or simply a friendly face. For the kids of the Cedro Galan community, Camp JAM is an escape where they be told a story, make tambourines, or simply laugh with their peers. It is a learning environment that allows these children to channel their energy and challenge them to think in ways they have never had to before.

Last week we learned about complimentary colors, shapes, pattern and animals. We did an art project that tied all three parts of the lesson together. That day we had a surprising but familiar face at camp. This new camper had previously given our English classes a hard time by throwing rocks into the classroom.  We explained to him that if he wanted to participate, he would have to listen to the lesson and not be a distraction to the other kids. He agreed and what followed surprised all of us. After placing pastels in his hand we soon saw that he was a fantastic artist and began creating amazing drawings. We all realized that Camp JAM was more than just a once a week time for the kids to play, but a way to change the lives of the Cedro Galan community members. It took a sometimes-problematic kid and gave him something to work on and be challenged by. To give them something to look forward to the next week and tell their families about: how they ate mud and worms today, or learned how to create musical instruments. Not all the kids at camp are like him, however, it shows the impact that we have on these kids. To give them resources they never would've been exposed to and a safe place to be themselves.

All of the PDs involved are excited to grow Camp JAM even further to include more kids and the possibility of having camp twice a week.  We are so pleased with the progress we have had over the last two months and cannot wait to see what the next year has in store!

Go Bravos!

One of the things I was most excited for when deciding to come down to Nicaragua for this coming year was the thought of helping to grow our Baseball program. While I was no little league all-star, I’ve always enjoyed watching the game and I still appreciate the beauty of well-played baseball; a cleanly fielded grounder, a seeing-eye single – it’s all an integral part of “America’s Pastime”. So needless to say, I was excited to come down to Managua and do my best to help teach some of the boys (ages 13-15) some of the fundamentals of baseball. Essentially, I wanted to help make baseball “Managua’s Pastime”.

Well, there was one thing I hadn’t realized. Nicaragua may be home to some incredible “football” players, but baseball around here is no joke; in fact, it’s the national sport. This was shown to us not through words, but through our second league game. With one out in the last inning of our 2^nd league game, The Cedro Galan Bravos (that’s us!) were down 9-4. As a team, we put our rally caps on and scored 6 runs in the final inning to walk-off with a win! All twenty of us (plus our Manna cheering section!) stormed the field in celebration, and relished in our first league win. That tail end of our first official doubleheader brought us to 1-1 in league play, and put us in second place in the Managua league.

Since we’ve begun here, we’ve gone from practice once a week to practicing twice a week and we’ve been able to start league games in the Managua Youth Baseball League. So far, your Cedro Galan Bravos are only 1-3 in league play, but are slowly getting better! We’ve grown from 9 to 21 boys in a span of only a few weeks and are playing double-headers every Saturday. Most importantly, we’ve been working on in-game communication, batting practice, recognizing and hitting the cutoff man, and catching runners in pickles! Despite our less-than-perfect league record, it’s easy to see that the Bravos of Cedro Galan are making incredible strides this season…we’ll keep you updated as the weeks go on!

One Month at Home

This past week marked one month. One month that we were able to call Nicaragua our new home. One month of working alongside one another as a new Mannamily. One month of adventures. One month of successes with a few bumps along the way. But most importantly, one month of being able to serve and know the communities in which we work.

Over the last month we have been able to learn everything we possibly could about Manna and our new programs. We have begun to teach our new programs. We have begun to drive, and get pulled over, in Managua. However, our month started with one of most important tools, language. We spent our first week in Nicaragua in language school. We conversed, read, wrote, and laughed our way through the progressing of our Spanish. We were given the opportunity to travel on afternoon trips to some very memorable places, we climbed the Masaya Volcano, walked the streets of Granada, shopped in the markets of Masaya, hiked the trails of Chocoyero, and saw the amazing views from the mountaintops in La Concha.

After our first week, we were really able to dive in to all of what Manna has to offer. We shadowed programs led by last years group of wonderful PD’s then jumped right into planning, teaching, and creating. Some program highlights in our first month include: having our first Milk Day in Child Sponsorship, making huge strides in our Cedro Health initiative, creating and starting a new program, Camp J.A.M., and having our first official league game for baseball!

This week, as the last few PD’s depart and our new team is finally all accounted for, we will begin our second month. A new month that will bring with it more energy, teamwork, and ideas than the last. A new month that we will continue to grow not just as individuals, but as a team. We could not be more excited about the coming months and all the experiences they have to offer! 

Final Retreat and a Few Despedidas

While the new PDs were at language school in Managua this week, we took one last chance to go on a retreat as a house. After programs on Thursday morning we loaded up the micro for a trip to Las Isletas in Lake Nicaragua. We took a boat ferry from Granada to a small island off shore from Mount Mombacho to spend a couple days preparing for our site transition.

This retreat we were able to focus on outlining the best plan for transitioning our programs over to the new PDs in the coming weeks, as well as transitioning all of Manna's on-site organizational tasks. We are looking forward to the coming month of chaos, because we know that in the end another group of PDs will be bringing their knowledge, passion, and skill sets into these communities and into our existing programs here in Nicaragua.

This retreat also marked the end of Jamison's year in Nicaragua. We drove straight from the island to the airport at 4am today, so that he could head back to Texas for law school. He has served here in Nicaragua this year by leading Level 1 English, Boys' Health, Baseball, Comedor, and Business Development. Thank you for a great year here in Nica, Jamison! Best of luck returning to your old stomping grounds at SMU for law school!

Later this week, JJ will also be returning to the States to prepare for a return to school. On Thursday, he'll fly home to Chicago before beginning medical school this fall. As you can imagine, JJ has served in several health programs this year like Boys' Health, Child Sponsorship, and the local health initiative in Cedro Galan. He's also lead our Level 2 English, Comedor, and Baseball programs. Thank you for all the energy and enthusiasm this year, JJ! You certainly kept us all moving at a faster pace and that's probably why we got so much done! Good luck at med school!