Last Day...

    When I woke up this morning I realized there was a lot to be done. We were all giving out bags of soap, toothpaste, rice, beans, oil and many more necessities for the fathers and mothers of the children. We had around 130 bags for the families, plus a blue horse pinata for the party. We started packing the van up with all of the bags and food as fast as we could so that we could get to the school as early as possible. We got to Escuela Especial as soon as all the other kids did, so we had to hide of all the bags and party supplies as soon as possible.  It was a regular school day up until ten, then it was party time! When the party was about to start we put up all the decorations, started making food, and hung up the pinata. My friends, Max and Alex, went and picked up all the people who we visited at there homes this week, and luckily they all showed up! I only thought that a few families would show but they all did which was really exciting. Loads of people came rushing out of the van for the party we had planned. When it began, we started giving out Fanta and chicken to all the people, they seemed\like they hadn't had soda in forever, because that's all they drank. After a while we started letting the kids hit the pinata, after a lot of tries a deaf child named Yohana knocked it down really hard, and all the kids came screaming just to get some candy. After that we all started giving the families clothes and there baggies, they were all really happy about that! Then it was time to say our goodbyes, which was really emotional for all of us since we may never see these kids again. All of us were taking off our sunglasses and all the tears just came running down our faces. Now I'm really proud of myself for not giving up and helping those children in so many ways. I already miss them but I enjoyed every single moment like it was going to be my last. This trip has been a great one for me and I would be very honored to come back next year and help out like I did this trip.

     When I woke up this morning I was really excited to go to school since it was our last real day at school today. When we got to the school I saw Conchita, and she gave me a huge hug. The first classroom I went to was Yahoska's, while I was in there I played with Zulema. It was really funny because I saw a bag of pipe cleaners and I took some out and started twirling them up and making bracelets with Zulema. Now almost all the kids in Yahoska's class have pipe cleaners on there wrists. After lunch was over I went into the preschool room where I helped Francisco. I also helped a blind child named Jesus. He doesn't have electricity at his house and we wanted to do something really special for him, so we brought an electric piano out for him since he loves music so much. The smile on his face was one of the biggest smiles I've seen this whole trip, it almost brought tears of joy to my eyes by just seeing the expression on his face. After school I went to the party store with Lisamarie, Aj, and Gena to buy a pinata for the party at Escuela Especial tomorrow. We got the biggest, coolest looking pinata there was and of course it had to be a huge blue horse.  After that, I went to the Market to buy food for the party tomorrow. I'm super exited for tomorrow it's going to be great!

     Today was a great day for me! First I started out by cleaning the kitchen with Auxilladoray's class, (6 other girls). After I cleaned the kitchen I went down to the preschool room and played with the children in there. Francisco was crying again, and this time I couldn't figure out why, so I started building blocks with him and he got much better. After that I went to Yahoska's classroom, where I played with Zulema, I made her a bracelet and she made me a ball of clay. The bell rang while I was in there and that meant lunch time. After lunch I went to woodshop, which was exciting because I was the first student volunteer to go to woodshop this trip. There were three 14-17 year old kids in there and when I was there they just sat and ate the whole time. I wanted to go do something more exciting so I went into the deaf classroom and they asked Tyra, Aj, and me alot of questions, like where we were from and what we like about Nicaragua. The bell rang at 12:00 and that meant the end of school. I went to the home visits after school today and that was way different then what I thought they were going to be. I went with Morgan, Ms. Gutmann, Zack, and Aleyda. The first house we went to was very dark and creepy, we all saw that the parent dragged Julissa (23 year old girl) out of the closet. We told the mother that she should send Julissa to Escuela Especial and she was debating about it. I felt really bad for Julissa because the mother said she has 4 to 5 seizures a day and they don't do anything about it, plus Julissa barely eats or sleeps at all. At the last house we walked up and there were five skinny pigs just laying on the ground. We walked up and knocked on the door but nobody was home. We stayed there for a while and asked the neighbor where she was, she said the mother does this every day, she just turns the radio on and lets the daughter cry all day. I think we're going to that house again tomorrow...

      Today was a very interesting day, in the start of they day I was in the deaf class, (Edgar's class). They were all preparing for an upcoming test that's going on tomorrow, so all I did was observe and take notes on what was going on. It was somewhat monotonous and interesting at the same time, it was interesting because it was so silent and usually it's very crazy in the classrooms. I really didn't know what was going on because I'm not good at signing, but I have much to learn. After the deaf class I went to lunch, which is one of the best parts of the day since we get to interact with all the kids at once, not just focusing on one kid. After lunch I worked with one specific child named Antonio that was 6 years old, that was nice because I haven't worked with a child in a wheel chair yet. I took Antonio on three walks, massaged his back, and played pass with the ball with him. I had struggles making him talk but that's because he doesn't talk to anyone really. I also helped a 6 year old girl named Tatiana who loved screaming. She had Down syndrome and she was super crazy, and loved building Lego's. She was throwing building blocks at other children, then I told her not to and she completely stopped. I'm hoping tomorrow will be as good as today was!

School Time!

      Today Team Nica finally got to meet the kids! We all got to the school around 7:30, and started giving out our lesson plans. I had a translater to tell the kids what I was saying and he told the 5 disabled kids that I was going to say a animal, and one of the kids had to pick the animal out of the cards, it turns out that they were way too smart for the animals I had planned. I tried to do the same lesson plans just with harder animals that I borrowed from Tyra, and that went much better than the easier animals. I think I'll try it with the younger kids another day. I met two very interesting kids in the classroom I was in, one of them was Maura, she was big and loved to be picked up off the ground while being huged. The other one was Darwin who had cerebral palsy, he sat in a wheel chair most of the time and was very intelligent. Lunch starts aroud 10:00 at school every day, so when it was about that time, Team Nica just hung out until they were done eating. Towards the end of school I went into the preschool room where I met a super cute kid named Fransico, and he wouldn't stop crying! I was trying to cheer him up, but he woudn't stop crying. He kept pointing at liquids, so I gave him something that loked like he could drink just to see what he wanted to do with it, and he started trying to drink it! I tod Mrs. Gutmann and she sent Axel to get him some water, when he drank two cups I saw that big smile on his face. I hope tomorrow will be as good as today was!

Welcome to the Jungle

       Last night Team Nica landed in Managua, Nicaragua around 10:30pm, and got to our hotel around 12:30am. This morning we woke up at 6:30am, we had breakfast, and left within the hour for Escuela Especial. We all got introduced to the translaters and staff at the school, they all had really great personalities! We didn't get to meet any teachers or kids though, but we will tomorrow! At the school there is a garden where the kids and the teachers grow the majority of there lunch, it's nothing like Colorado at all! The school had many different class rooms that we have to clean, which is hard work but it's nice to help them as many ways as we can! There are also many different colored plants in Nicaragua than there are in Colorado. I felt very proud that I didn't give up today, it was dirty, hot, and gross at some points, but I knew it would pay off for these children. I'm nervous and excited for tomorrow, because I heard the teacher can sometimes be strict, and sometimes be fun, let's hope she's fun tomorrow!

Getting Close...

We found out today that our flights are booked! We are leaving at 2:00 p.m from Denver. Super exited! All is well in the fundraising department, Im about 2/3 of the way there. Thanks again to every one who is helping out, its an important cause!
-H.O.K.