March 3

Today was a sightseeing day.

 

Mombacho volcano
Mombacho volcano

 

Ms. Howard at lunch
Tour of Lake Nicaragua
Tour of Lake Nicaragua
Tour of Lake Nicaragua
Tour of Lake Nicaragua
Tour of Lake Nicaragua
Tour of Lake Nicaragua
Tour of Lake Nicaragua
Tour of Lake Nicaragua
Tour of Lake Nicaragua
Tour of Lake Nicaragua
Tour of Lake Nicaragua

 

March 2

Today was a very emotional day to say the least. But the one thing that I will forever remember and be grateful for is the dancing at the final assembly. We practiced 3 dances all day today with the school’s dance team, as well as taught our buddies our 2 dances. It could not have been more fun. While all these girls were swaying across the dance floor (incredibly gracefully might I add) here we all are looking like football players trying to salsa. We laughed, screamed and overall created bonds I will never forget. Then, the time came when we presented our dances at the final assembly. We got to wear the traditional nicaraguan costumes, which are so beautiful and colourful. I wore this lovely white and light blue striped skirt and matching shirt. I’ve never loved an outfit more than I did this one. Our performance was amazing, not because we were these professional dancers, but because we were with each other and were having the most amazing time.

Jamie Shore

 

Today was our last day at the Diria Institute. In the morning, I was partnered with Ms. Liogas showing their technology teacher all of the donations that we had brought them. When we were opening up the robotics kits, the technology teacher went out and got three students so that I could demonstrate to them how to do it. As soon as I opened up the box, their eyes lit up and I could see how excited they were. I put the instruction book in front of them and let them start building and it was amazing seeing these girls building and problem solving together. At one point they had put one of the components on backwards and after one of them noticed, they worked as a team to fix it. Seeing these girls building a robot together and living an experience that Study girls also experience was just another demonstration of how similar we are. Our schools maybe be hundreds of miles apart and there are innumerable linguistic and cultural differences but at heart all kids are similar; curious and eager to learn and discover the most that they can.

Marcella Maria Da Silva

 

I haven’t met many people who cry as much as me. If you don’t know me, I am the ugliest crier in the world. Today, I was prepared to be laughed at by my buddy, for the obscene facial expressions I would make, as we left the school. As soon as the goodbyes started, Emelina burst into tears, her perfectly done dance makeup running down her face. I was shocked that she could be feeling so many emotions even though we had barely been able to speak to each other. We spent most of the week doing finger guns, “I’m watching you” fingers, fake ninja fighting and laughing at how bad I was at most of the activities. We developed this inexplicable bond. As soon as I received the card saying “friends are forever in the heart”, that’s when the waterworks started. It made me realize that no matter where or when, or how different our lives are, we will always be connected. As we got on the bus, she was sobbing in the arms of her friend. In that moment, I felt the friendship and the pure love between us. She went up to the window of the bus and we put our hands against the glass and just cried. It sounds cheesy, but it was a representation of how much we had left to do together. We got one final hug on the bus, probably the most emotional and best hugs I have ever received. It was raw emotion. Emelina and I were barely able to speak to each other but the bond we have is one for the ages.

Emily Sofin

 

Today was the last day at the Diria institute. When we were saying goodbye, a boy, who had met my sister two years ago on this trip, handed me a painting with the most beautiful rose I had ever seen. He also handed me a bracelet with my sisters’ name inscribed on it and asked me to give it to her. He had made her this painting and bracelet because even though Alex’s trip had only been a week, this boy felt such a strong connection to my sister that he still wanted to show her how appreciative he was of her friendship. It didn’t matter that they didn’t speak the same language or that they didn’t live in the same country, they were still able to build such a deep connection that two years later he still thought of her. In that moment I realized that the friendships we made here are forever and that I will be truly grateful for them.

Caroline Kouri

 

At The Study, we teach our students that taking risks, trying something new and playing is THE way to learn. Today, my colleague Sarah Howard and I imparted that lesson to our Diria Institute science colleagues. This morning, we had the privilege to meet with 4 science teachers  for a second science pedagogical session. It was supposed to be 30 minutes and lasted 2 and a half hours. What a fabulous gift of time!  At first, like any student I’ve ever met, they were timid and would not even answer our questions. After they started to trust the process, they understood that in order to find answers, they needed to explore and try new things. In order for them to be able to take a risk trying, to feel vulnerable, trust needed to be established. They felt uncomfortable at first but eventually tried the experiments and learnt. The same could be said for our Study girls on the trip. Many members of our delegation broke down at various moments. Some wanted to hide their emotions from others and most importantly from themselves. It is easier to ignore uncomfortable feelings than to face them. No one likes to feel vulnerable. Yet, that is when most learning happens.  It is only when we allow our raw emotions to come out that we begin to connect and process what we are learning. I challenge not only the students on the trip but also our readers to look at those feelings, question them and ask yourself what you could or even should do to change them. Change only occurs when we are uncomfortable with the status quo. After this visit to Nicaragua, I am confident that a new learning path has begun for us Canadians and many Diria Institute science students.

Beatrice Bousser

Bernarda telling us all about her new job.
Playing basketball
Playing basketball
Playing basketball
Fitting more children with eye glasses.
Ms. Howard and Mme Bousser doing PD with teachers from 3 different schools in the area.
Making new friends
Students putting together a robot.
Students putting together a robot.
Having our scholarship winners open up the donation from SparkFun
Having our scholarship winners open up the donation from SparkFun
Making new friends
At the Perez home.
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
The inauguration of the Entrepreneurial center.
Our new Entrepreneurial center
Our new Entrepreneurial center
Our new Entrepreneurial center
The entrepreneurial center
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly
Dancing at the final assembly

Serving ice cream at school.
Children enjoying ice cream.
Having our scholarship winners open up the donation from SparkFun
Fun with a pinata
Ms. Rosenbaum with some of our scholarship recipients.
Saying goodbye to our friends
Saying goodbye to our friends
Saying goodbye to our friends
Saying goodbye to our friends
Saying goodbye to our friends
Saying goodbye to our friends
Saying goodbye to our friends
Saying goodbye to our friends
Saying goodbye to our friends

March 1

Pour la sixième journée de notre voyage, nous avons eu le plaisir d’aller voir un volcan actif! Nous sommes allées en fin de journée, donc nous avons vu le couché de soleil. Honnêtement, c’était le plus beau couché que j’ai vue de ma vie : les rayons du soleil reflétaient sur la fumée qui sortait du volcan. Les nuages de boucanes était tout rouges, oranges et roses. Voir un volcan actif était vraiment une expérience plaisante et inoubliable, puisque ce n’est pas quelque chose qu’on peut voir n’importe où et n’importe quand. La lave du volcan était orange fluo et c’était vraiment épeurant pour moi parce que j’avais l’impression de frôler la mort, même si on était quand même loin du cratère. Je suis excitée pour la journée de demain, même si c’est la dernière journée que nous allons passer à l’école.

Élodie Petrecca

 

Today was the day that we brought in the 20 pairs of self-adjustable glasses to school. It was tough because when I walked into the room, sitting in front of me were some of our newly made friends. It never even crossed my mind that these smiley, happy new friends of ours could be part of the group that needed our help the most. We sat down and adjusted their glasses one by one, and suddenly one of the kids began to cry. When I asked her why, she said that her eyes weren’t used to it. I told her that her eyes would adjust, and she just looked up at me and said thank you. Sitting with these kids, laughing about how I too could not see when I took off my glasses left me with this feeling of wanting to do more. There is so much left to do to help and I am looking forward trying to find new ways to help our friends from the Diria Institute.

Vivian Maas

 

Today was so much fun! Every single day that we are here, we are learning so much. This morning we walked part of the path that Estefania takes every day to get to school. It was out in the country and there were so many animals that had protruding ribs and hip bones. The path was dirty and rundown. Our buddies accompanied us and we were able to really bond with them. Looking at where Estefania lives and finding out she only sleeps 3 hours a night shocked me. It saddened me but it inspired me for she is so strong and perseverant. I hope she goes on to change many lives. We then returned to the school and taught a class. This class ran the smoothest since one of the students was able to understand our broken Spanish. As much as we have been teaching them, they have been teaching us. The kids here are just like us! We have been bonding during breaks with all the students. Today was the day that the students received their self-adjustable glasses. I was privileged to see the look of complete joy and gratitude on their faces when the words that were blurry went clear. Today left me with a feeling that we have done so much and yet so little. There is so much more we all can do. I hope that this project continues for many years to come and changes so many more lives.

Carolanne Carr

 

After two non-teaching days, I was finally able to get back into the classroom to share my love of science with students.  The only difference was that today, the students were four science teachers from schools in the area – one from the Anne Frank School, one from a different school and two from the Diria Institute.  My goal was to show the teachers that it is possible to have content-based experiments that make use of readily available, inexpensive materials.  Never one to give answers, I had my “students” carry out the experiments and then we discussed ways to alter the experiments based on grade level.  We finished up the session working on circuits.  As in any classroom, some of the students jumped right in and worked out how to set the circuits up, while other students were more timid and had to be encouraged to just “play”.  By the time we finished the session up, the teachers felt more confident with their circuit building abilities and they didn’t want the science sharing session to end.  I have promised to go over DNA extraction from bananas and different reaction rate experiments with the two Diria Institute teachers tomorrow morning before classes start.  Our time here has flown by and while we have accomplished a lot there is still so much I want to share with my Nicaraguan colleagues.   I guess it will have to wait until the next trip in 2020!

Sarah Howard

 

Ms, Howard giving PD.
Sandra with a new friend.
A new pair of glasses.
Vivian fitting self adjusting glasses to students in need.
Vivian fitting self adjusting glasses to students in need.
Chloe giving CPR PD to the teachers.
The group with Estefania.
Ms. Howard with Estefania’s family.
Estefania, giving a heartfelt speech.
Estefania’s little sister,
The walk up to Estefania’s house.
The walk up to Estefania’s house.
At the Masaya volcano
At the Masaya volcano
At the Masaya volcano
At the Masaya volcano
At the Masaya volcano
At the Masaya volcano

February 28

Today we had our work experience afternoon. Almost all of the kids who go to the Diria Institute go to school for half the day and then work for the other half. After lunch, we went around the village and visited some of the homes to see the what they did and what their living conditions were. The family made clothes for the people in the village, uniforms for the kids at the school, and traditional dresses for the folkloric dancing. Walking around and seeing a day in the lives of these kids was incredibly enlightening. When we are at school with the students, we get to see their carefree side, but going into these workshops, I really noticed that even though they were in their homes, it also meant they were at work and were therefor treated like adults and expected to produce. This reality was grounding because I really got to see the juxtaposition between our lives as kids in Canada and the lives of these kids here.

Marcella Maria Da Silva

 

Today we visited more of our scholarship winners, and honestly today really hit home. I am sponsoring a student named Valeria (she’s studying medicine), and today was the day where we finally got to go visit her. I never thought it would be as hard as it was to go in to her house, and stand there trying to keep myself composed. We couldn’t even all stand in her house. She started to thank all of us from the bottom of her heart and then began to thank me. She said how grateful she is that I am supporting her and finding space in my heart to put her through university (as she could not have gone without the scholarship). This was when I realized that I cannot even find the words to express how complex all this feels. Valeria works incredibly hard and I cannot wait for the day we can call her “Doctor”. She deserves it and so much more. I am so grateful that I am connected to Valeria and have been able to have such a big impact in her life, as she has had on mine.

Jamie Shore

 

Aujourd’hui, pour la sixième journée du voyage, on a passé tout le matin avec les étudiants de l’école. On s’est reveillée une demi-heure plus tard que d’habitude, et on a quitté l’hôtel vers 8h30. Autour de 9h00, on est arrivé à l’école et on a joué des jeux avec nos « buddies » et quelques-uns des garçons de l’école. Avec l’aide des filles de l’école, nous avons mis les robes typiques du Nicaragua. La mienne était blanche avec des lignes roses au bas, elle était tellement belle, j’en voulais une pour pouvoir la rapporter à la maison. La professeure de danse de l’école était en charge de nous montrer la danse et on a fait trois danses différentes. De ces trois danses, nous allons choisir notre préférée, et là présenter en avant de l’école vendredi. On a aussi pratiqué notre danse québecoise avec nos « buddies ». C’était une journée très amusante et je ne vais jamais oublier cette expérience.

Justine Henrichon-Goulet

Playing sports.
Playing sports
Playing sports
Playing sports
A math class that was using the calculators that we purchased.
A math class that was using the calculators that we purchased.
A math class that was using the calculators that we purchased.
Teaching Spanish grammar with iPads, a projector, a rachel and kahoot.
Teaching Spanish grammar with iPads, a projector, a rachel and kahoot.
Getting the right answer on Kahoot.
Getting the wrong answer.
A t-shirt, pen and pencil was given out to each student of the Diria Institute.
A t-shirt, pen and pencil was given out to each student of the Diria Institute
A t-shirt, pen and pencil was given out to each student of the Diria Institute

Trying on a brand new pair of shoes. 85 shoes were bought that day.
Getting a brand new pair of shoes.
Getting a brand new pair of shoes.
Getting a brand new pair of shoes.
Practicing traditional dances.

PD with the teachers.
Measuring the foot of a grade 1 student who could not go to school because she did not have a pair of shoes.
Visiting the homes of the students who must work and go to school.
Visiting the homes of the students who must work and go to school.
Visiting the homes of the students who must work and go to school.
Visiting the homes of the students who must work and go to school.
Visiting the home of our 2017 scholarship winner, Belkis.
Visiting the home of our 2017 scholarship winner, Valeria.