Home

I am home now and have had time to think about my trip. I would just like to thank everyone who supported me so that I was able to go on this life changing trip. I learned three very valuable things on this trip. I learned how lucky I am and how much I should value the caring Vail Valley that I live in. I learned to value how much opportunity we have in this country. People in Nicaragua have the same potential as you and me, but they do not have the  opportunity we have. And most importantly I learned what kind of person I want to be in life.

I wouldn't have had the amazing life changing experience that I did on this trip and I wouldn't have been able to help or even meet the amazing students at Escuela Especial without your help and support. These kids have changed my life. I hope that I changed theirs too. Thank you all so much!

Thank you:
Drex and Debbie Douglas
Don and Marci McCarthy
Eddie and Janis Pluss
Keith and Cathy Thompson
Chuck Salem
Mary Alexander
Megan Alexander
Sharon Nichols
Bill and Joyce MCcarthy (Oma & Opa)
Chris and Herb Nichols (Aiya & Papa)
Minnette van Tonder
Nancy McDonald
And anyone who purchased Share The Love Ski Bracelets and came to our dance.

And also the biggest THANK YOU Lisa Marie Howell, Jen Gutmann and Jenna Hagen for making this trip happen for me. I can't thank you enough for this experience. I hope I didn't let you down.

Thursday and Friday

Thursday: Unfortunately the only bus Escuela Especial has (that carries majority of the kids) broke down. Therefore the few kids that walked to school were the only ones that were able to go to school.
There are only a few students that walk to Escuela Especial, so there were only three students in Senora Yahoska's class. One of those kids was Ramon, who desperately needed the one on one he got Thursday. I was so relieved when I saw him get that one on one teaching he desperately needed. He progressed in his studies so much in one day it was phenomenal. I keep thinking how much more he could progress in his school work if he got that one on one on a regular basis.

Friday: Friday was our last day at Escuela Especial. Since it was our last day there we had a fun little party. Even some parents and family members came.

First, we had lunch and dessert. Then, it was time for candy and pinatas! After the pinatas were absolutely destroyed, the staff members had a little surprise for us. The principal gave a speech saying how much we have done and what we meant to the students and staff members of Escuela Especial. She mostly talked about how much the students are going to miss us. Once she was done with the speech, a group of students gave each of us going away presents. These kids do not have a lot, so for them to get all of us presents is really something special! This just showed how much they cared about us and how thankful they were for us. After the speech and some tears, these amazing students had to leave. As I watched them drive away, I started to cry a little bit. I was so sad when I realized I might not be able to see these kids again for a long time.

I am really going to miss these kids, they will all have a spot in my heart forever.

Everybody has to love their Grandma.

On Wednesday at Escuela Especial I was assigned to set up the two LG computers. At first I started to panic because I have never set up a computer in my life. I also know how frustrating computers can be sometimes, but I still gave it a try. I am so thankful I tried because I learned a valuable lesson. I learned that if don't know how to do something give it a try. Eventually things will workout. Unfortunately I spent the whole school day setting up the computers so I did not have time to work with the kids.

Once the school day was over I got to go on some home visits where I met two year old Rosa who has Infantile Cerebral Palsy. Rosa was an unplanned surprise to her 15 year old mother(who is currently 16). Sadly Rosa's mother did not care for her so after Rosa was born she was taken home where she was malnourished and ignored. Imelda(Rosa's Grandmother) saw that Rosa was being ignored and neglected and wasn't getting the help she needed, so Imelda told Rosa's mother that if she was not going to care for Rosa then she would take Rosa off her hands. Which is exactly what Imelda did. Rosa is healthier than ever and is currently living with her Grandmother. She is also taking her medication and getting the physical therapy she needs.

Anger

Tuesday July, 31st was the most hectic day at Escuela Especial! Jenna and I were assigned to work at Senora Yahoska's class again. Everything was normal except Senora Yahoska wasn't there! Senora Yahoska was at a doctors appointment with her kids. Therefore, Jenna and I were the temporary teachers for the day. With absolutely no warning whatsoever Jenna and I had to create a lesson plan for the school day on the spot. There was so much going on we were missing Conchita for 20 minutes and didn't even know it! Turns out she was walking around making friends with everyone as always. At one point in this hectic day it was really quiet. Although this quiet silence only lasted about five minutes. In this five minutes I got to do some one on one with Ramon. As it turns out he is one of the smartest in the class! At first I thought he was very clueless and didn't really know what was going on in class, but I found out it is because he has such bad vision he can't see what is going on in the front of the class. The bad part is the only way he can progress in school is if he has some one on one which is not offered at Escuela Especial because they don't have the staff members or the money.

That is not the reason why anger is flowing through my veins right now. It's because today I got to go on some home visits. There was a point where I could honestly not believe my eyes. What I was witnessing right there in person felt like I was watching  a documentary on children in third world countries. At the last house I saw the most heart crushing thing in my life. Julissa is a 22 year old woman  with Cerebral Palsy, (CP). When we walked into the house the size of a normal size American bedroom it had 10 foot tall piles of trash all around it. Once we got a good look at the house we asked if we could see Julissa. The father in law in spotless white pants and nice shirt agreed to unlocked the dark closet where Julissa was laying playing with a plastic bag that her father in law gave her! Yes you read this right. The father in law wearing spotless white pants and nice shirt, locks his daughter in law(who has CP) in a dark closet with nothing to do except play with a plastic bag! Then when I thought things couldn't get any worse, she has a seizure right in front of us! While she is having this seizure her father in law totally ignores it! He acts like it is a totally normal thing. Then Julissa's mother and brother got home also wearing spotless nice clothes and stood right in front of the closet door where Julissa was laying. It seems the mother was trying to say to us,"Don't look at Julissa, look at us." Also, the whole family is healthy except for Julissa who rarely gets fed and is suffering from malnutrition. In my perspective it seems as if they think everyone in the family is a priority and she is a problem which is not even the slightest bit ok. These parents are doing the complete minimum of keeping Julissa alive. The father in law even had a nice taxi out front that looked like it hadn't been used in a long time.

Hopefully Wednesday won't be as heartbreaking.

First Day

Words cannot describe how anxious I was when we were on our way to go to Esquela Especial and meet the students for the first time! It felt like my first day at Stone Creek all over again. Jenna and I were assigned to Senora Yahoska's class. I fell in love with that classroom the second I walked in. It's because the second I walked into that classroom, I was greeted with hugs from everyone and even some kisses from students whom I hadn't even met yet.

It has only been one day and I already have my secret favorites. Conchita, and Ramon, are very quiet and gentle. They love giving you hugs, and they are both very smart. Marling and I are tight. After a few hours of helping Marling she told me to stick my hand out. I did it because I thought she was going to shake my hand. Instead she gave me knuckles! I was the happiest person in the world at that point. At one point Marling had me in a full on headlock because she did not want me to help anyone else. And there is no possible way I could forget about Yoysi. Yoysi is quite the character. She is hyperactive, she is very loud, physical, and it may not look like it, but she is so caring.

At recess/lunch I was playing soccer with some of the deaf students. I am still a little unsure of their names but they are killer soccer players. I was astounded by how good they are. There was a boy who was 14 years old who was much better than me. Now as most of you know I am not the greatest soccer player in the Eagle Valley but still this kid had some talent.

I am so thankful to be here and I can't wait to have another amazing day tomorrow!

Lesson Learned

Sunday morning did not start out very well. It started with Douglas and I sleeping through both of our alarms and scrambling to get ready just to be on time for breakfast. Since we over-slept I did not have time to finish and post my blog. Since my post on my blog was late I had to pick up trash at the beach for two hours, and when I got back I was allowed to eat breakfast.

Sadly since it was a Sunday Esquela Especial was closed. Instead we organized all the donation bags and went to the market to buy more supplies for the gift bags we are going to give to the kids. Once we had all the supplies at the hotel we put together 90 gift bags! In each gift bag there were cookies, hand soap, beans, rice, detergent, and body soap. It may not sound like a lot to you but it is a ton to them.   I can't wait to give these gift bags to the kids tomorrow.

Curiosity

After two flights and about 4 hours of sleep I woke up on Saturday the 28th with a lot of curious thoughts. I don’t think I have ever been more hyper after four hours of sleep while we were on the way to Esquela Especial.  Once we arrived and got to meet most of the teachers and got to look around the school, all of my questions about the school were answered. I came to this conclusion about the school: Esquela Especial is a lot bigger than I expected, it has multiple rooms with banana trees growing all over the place. The teachers are amazing, they are so nice and grateful that we were there to help. Even though we just met them all we were greeted with smiles and laughter. They also have a great sense of humor. 

Due to the fact that it was a Saturday, we were not able to see the kids. Instead we cleaned, cleaned, and cleaned. I don’t think I have cleaned so much in my life, and thank God we did. Esquela Especial needed a good cleaning. While we were cleaning, I was getting the strangest looks from people outside the school. There was a moment when we were working and these people started staring at us right outside the windows, talking about us. So I asked Lisa Marie why these people were giving us such weird looks. She said, “They are confused. They don’t know why you are cleaning and helping when we are not getting paid. Unlike the United States, there are rarely volunteers working here.”

I am already so thankful to be here and I haven’t even met the kids! Since the 29th is a Sunday, the school will be closed all day so we will be getting all the donations ready for the kids.


P.S HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY MALLORY SKIDMORE!

Anxious

As the days get closer and closer I get more and more anxious for my trip to Nicaragua. Everyday I wonder, what will the kids look like? Will I connect with them? Will they connect with me? But what I am mainly anxious about is to see what kind of lives these kids have. I have seen children in vail that have disabilities but they get love from their parents, medical attention, special ed classes, etc., etc., These kids have the same disabilities but not the medical support, or education that the kids in the vail valley have.

Hey Everybody

Hey everyone! I set up this blog because I was selected by Children's Global Alliance to go on a service trip to Nicaragua! And I will be using this blog to update you about everything that is going on with my trip.

-K