A few weeks ago, I was presented with the opportunity to spend the last week of winter break on a community service trip to Nicaragua. This trip was far and away the most moving, exciting and inspirational way I could have spent this week and an experience I will never cease to value.
As we drove four hours from the airport in Managua to El Coco Loco, the eco-resort in the small community El Mazano Uno in Chinadega that we were staying at that is home to the foundation (Waves of Hope) that we worked with on our trip, I had the chance to see a large stretch of the country.
I had never been to Central America before and my knowledge of Nicaragua stemmed from what I learned in Spanish class my senior year of high school. On this drive, I saw a cathedral that was destroyed in an earthquake, political propaganda posters for a president that has been “elected” a few too many times, houses made of cardboard and plastic bags, animals roaming in the streets, and people selling fruit, jewelry and clothing at stoplights.
In the midst of all of this, there was a happiness to be seen in these ordinary acts of life that is rarely seen in the United States. People were engaging with each other—they were connected as they sold each other things, walked with their laundry and their children and simply sat in a chair outside of their homes.
As we drove, I could not believe how beautiful this country was, how volcanoes lined the edges of the streets and how the sea stretched on endlessly. Within this, however, you could see pieces of a country that is struggling—one where they throw their trash in the street and burn it later, one where finding clean water can be a nearly impossible task.
I saw all of these things, but was still lost in my own privilege as I took photos on my new phone through a window of protection. I often struggle with the idea of happiness as I am too absorbed in my version of it to notice that happiness means something different to each individual.
I never understood how people could be happy without constantly moving on to the next thing or striving to be more successful every moment of the day. This experience taught me differently.
Waves of Hope is an organization that aims to serve the community of El Manzano Uno by empowering the community through education, health and infrastructure. Our main project for the week was working at the local high school, painting classrooms and helping build two more rooms for the ever-growing number of students. In the afternoons, we helped to teach English lessons, cleaned up the beach and participated in the new after school arts program.
The children we worked with were on summer vacation, but everyday they showed up to help paint their school, to better their education and to clean up their community. The way they encouraged each other to grow and invest in their education was one of the most inspiring things I have ever had the privilege to witness.
In El Manzano Uno, there is no internet and very little cell phone reception. As a result, you are essentially completely disconnected from the outside world. This is vastly different from the very connected, always up-to-date world we find ourselves immersed in in the District.
This disconnection allowed us to talk and interact with one another in a more genuine way than we would have at school. Prior to this trip, I knew almost no one I travelled to Nicaragua with but after leaving, I feel as though I have met some of the most genuinely kind, encouraging and giving souls I will ever meet.
This trip opened my eyes to the true greatness that can be found in ordinary things. It gave me an appreciation for genuine friendship, for the pursuit of dreams and showed me the profound worth that can be found in the smallest of acts.
We often get lost in the “go, go, go” mentality of our society, but, we must not forget how lucky we are and the value of these experiences at home and abroad.
Do not forget to search for the greatness in your everyday life, as Dr. King once said, “Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
