Tati and Me

Colored buildings and shanty roof tops decorate the streets of Managua and Granada. And while the streets are covered in trash, and poverty seems to drip from leaking pipes, one can still see some lingering happiness and joy on the faces of the towns’ people.

I went the Nicaragua this past February with 15 other students from my school. We were participating in a program called Knight School where students have the opportunity to take a week off from the normal class schedule and pursue a particular interest either locally or globally. We visited the country for a total of ten days through Me to We, a corporation that is affiliated with the non-profit organization Free the Children. Two years ago, I had the privilege of working with Free the Children in leading a group of girls to raise over $5,000 for a clean water project in Equator. These two organizations offer students from Canada and the United states educational and service learning trips to rural and developing parts of the world.

The goal of the trip was to start building a preschool for children in a community near Granada. Currently students age three to fifteen study in the same classroom with one teacher. At the end of this project they will get a separate learning space with multiple teachers. In addition to working on the build site, we got a chance to play games and get to know the children that attended the school. While, unfortunately, I don’t speak Spanish, I was still able to make a connection with one particular child. Her name was Tati and her hair was always so sweetly styled in pig tails and braids as well as adorned with an array of colorful hairbands. She was, in my opinion, one of the most adorable kids in the school group. One day we played Duck Duck Goose and Quack Dily Oso all morning. I tried to wave goodbye to her from afar but she wasn’t looking at me. All of a sudden though, she turned around and waved back. I was so overjoyed by this little gesture of communication. My goal coming into this trip had been to make a connection with someone or meet a memorable person, and that is exactly what I was lucky enough to experience. While our short stay allowed our group only a chance to dig dirt for the foundation, we still had a great sense of satisfaction that we had contributed to a worthy and sustainable cause.

Looking back, this was a rewarding trip in more ways than one. Not only were we able to help people we didn’t know but also we got a chance to strength the bonds with people from our own community. Even if I don’t make it back to Nicaragua, I plan on following the progress of this community and especially Tati.