July 13, 2009
Last week was my final week in Nicaragua. It was a week of mixed emotions. I was sad to part with my Nicaraguan family but excited at the thought of seeing all my family and friends in the US. In addition, I had so much to get done for work and plenty of things I wanted to do in the community before leaving.
First I want to explain the end results of my work for Grupo Fenix. My focus the last week was to finish some changes I was making to the website. There were two major sections that I was revamping, the volunteering page and the project page. I changed the volunteering page to make it clearer. The goal was to make it easy for volunteers to understand the steps that they needed to take to volunteer with Grupo Fenix. For the project page, I worked with local staff to add recent projects and update old information. I was able to complete both pages and they are currently in the process of being posted. I did some final aesthetic improvements to the website before leaving, too. I made a new sidebar (the other one was dark and dreary), a new index header, and formatted some text. One other cool business thing that I did my last week was I made a contract for consignment sales between The Centro Solar and a nearby shop. I wrote up a contract to explain the terms of the agreement and the obligations of both parties. It was nice to get some practical use out of my business law class!
Ok, now for the emotional stuff. After being in Nicaragua for 2 ½ months I really got close to numerous people at work and in the town. I cannot even explain how much I have learned from them all and how they have helped me grow as a person. So, having to say goodbye was incredible difficult as you can imagine. Throughout the week, I said my goodbyes as I slowly realized that I wouldn’t see certain people again before I left. The night of July 8th, the other volunteers and I went out for one final dinner in town. It was Dan, Maria, Erin, Maria (from Greece), Anna, Lauren, Durell, David, Cody, and me (yeah there were a lot of us). Talking with them that night made me think how close we all got. Originally only our common language brought us together but I realized now we all had become good friends. Saying bye to all of them was sad but many I will see again (I hope). The hardest day was Friday, the day I left Sabana Grande to head into Managua. All week seemed to be building up to this day when I would inevitable leave. Each day my host family would mention how sad they were that I was going to go but I kept saying we had more time. Well on Friday, there was no more time. And by some cruel twist of fate my host family’s grandpa had died the night prior. I can honestly say that Friday was one of the most difficult days in my life. My host family was sad for the loss of their grandfather and I was leaving the same day. I felt like I was deserting them at a time when the last thing they needed was for something else to be upset about. I said my goodbyes to each of my Nicaraguan family members and the tears came. I left for Managua on the 9am bus. On the bus I just sat and reflected. I could not have envisioned a more perfect home to be a part of in Nicaragua. They not only opened their home to me but also their hearts. I prayed that I would able to stay in contact with them and some day see them all again.
Before flying back to the US, I had one day to wait in the capital city, Managua. That day Dan, Anna, Tim, Jim (other Dayton volunteers), and I went to the Masaya Volcano to hike. It was nice to have that day to help calm my emotions, do some physical activity, and mentally prepare for my trip home. We spent the night at the house of Dona Claudia, a sweet lady whose house doubles as a pastry shop (So we landed some delicious food). Sunday July 12th, my flight for the US left at 7am from Managua. I landed in Houston around 11am (I was on American soil for the first time in 10 weeks!). I went through immigration (they let me in!) and next flew into Milwaukee. As I walked towards the baggage claim my heart began to race. I was home and I was going to see my family. Jessica, my sister, sprinted up from behind me and gave me a huge hug (but first did a double take to make sure it was really me) and my mom followed. It was great!!
At home I got to see the rest of my family and pass out some sweet gifts from Nicaragua. And I forgot to mention. I brought home a solar box cooker in my suitcase (it was heavy but it was worth it)! So I taught my family all about solar energy and how to cook using the sun (we made some solar cookies that today).
So that brings you up to speed and concludes my Nicaraguan experience. To sum Nicaragua up it was a life changing opportunity. I learned, I grew, I helped, and I was helped. From this experience a desire to explore and learn has been ignited within me. Which I hope to never lose (please keep me honest). I am excited to be in the US but a piece of me will always stay in Nicaragua with my Nicaraguan family and friends. I hope to see them sometime in the future. My heart tells me that I will.
Nat-tan
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Hi Nathan;
Wow your trip sounds incredible. I myself have been planning to volunteer with Grupo Fenix. Because I have a marketing background in energy efficiency, the thought was to help the women’s co-op market the products they produce. This is okay, however, I’m trying to expand my experience from marketing. I’m hoping to come away with not only additional professional experience to assist in acquiring a job I really want but also gain cultural understanding.
If you have time to comment on your work experience with Grupo Fenix I would be very interested on your thoughts.
Thanks much!
Michele