Our 2024 Blog

Mombacho

This morning, the disappointment of leaving Diria was still remnant and the week’s exhaustion had officially caught up to us (well, me at least – Ms. Howard likes to remind me every day that I’m very obviously not a morning person). After getting onto the bus and to the base of the Mombacho volcano however, a little bit of excitment crept back to us. The truck ride up and down were bumpy and a little bit terrifying but not as terrifying as seeing absolutely nothing at the top because of a cloud forest. As we started walking the trails with our guides, the day started to clear up and the views became more and more visible and beautiful. Although the amount of wooden steps we had to go up was tiring, the experience was worth it. Our group got to look out over Granada and admire the great sights ahead of us. What is more, I volunteered myself first to stick my hand in a hole in the ground that ended up simply being a steam hole. Needless to say, I regretted calling myself the brave one in the group for a few seconds. All in all, our morning hike was a perfect way to start the day.

Victoria

 

Lac Nicaragua

Le tour en bateau fut magnifique. Le ciel, la lumière orangée, le volcan au loin déformant l’horizon… La coque de bois, enfoncée dans l’eau marron, nous transporta autour des îles, crées par une des éruptions du Mombacho. La faune et la flore nous ont beaucoup impressionnées. Les grands arbres aux troncs déformés, les singes et les milliers d’oiseaux qui volaient autour de nous, nous faisaient tournés la tête dans tous les sens. Le conducteur du bateau nous donna du pain pour attirer les sardines. L’eau claquait aux deux bords. Il y avait aussi des petits bateaux de pêche et des personnes qui nageaient dans le Lac.

Joséphine

 

Last Day At The Diria Institute

 

Reflections

Last morning

Our eyes were low as we slowly got on the bus at 7:45 am. We all knew it was the last time we would be driving to the school. Head pressed against the window, I waited to pull up to the school. Walking in for the last time was difficult. Everything looked the same, but it somehow did not feel the same. It felt like we were finally home, yet we only had one day to be there. I am going to tell you about my friend, Pedro. Pedro is an ex-graduate from the Diria Institute, and he paints the murals for the school. He is an extremely talented person. We all took some time to admire his skills at one point or another over the course for this week. This morning, he was painting a Study/Diria Institute companionship mural in one of the classrooms. After teaching one of my classes, a young girl approached me and said, “Alexandra?” I nodded my head, and she took my hand and led me to a classroom. Pedro was there, along with a few other painters. He smiled at me, and extended his hands out to me. In his hand was a rolled up piece of canvas, with another piece of paper rolled up inside. “Tienes,” he said as he gave me the painting. I thanked him (to the best of my abilities) in Spanish, and hurried off to my next class. I unrolled the canvas, and my jaw dropped. In my hands was a small painting of a butterfly, the most beautiful I had ever seen. The colours jumped off the canvas, layers of green orange and black. I then unrolled the second paper. A single rose, shaded to perfection. He signed the corner, and put the date. What impacted me most about this was the fact that he took the time out of his day to make these for me. We had barely spoken at all this week; we exchanged a few smiles here and there. Despite this, he went out of his way to paint and draw these incredible creations for me. Seeing something so beautiful took my breath away. I have a bracelet to give him later, and I hope this shows him my gratitude. Update: After lots of tears, I gave Pedro the bracelet. It made him really happy and that made me really happy. I will think of him every time I see the painting and I wish that he’d think of me every time he looked at the bracelet.

Alex

 

 

The sounds of tears fill the bus as I write these words. We’re driving away from Diria, away from the Institute, and away from our friends. The bonds of friendship we’ve made over the past five days surpass words, because most of us couldn’t even use language to make them.

After our final lunch in the oasis that is the Perez home, we drove to The Diria Institute for the last time. We all rushed into our beautiful traditional dresses and prepared for the final assembly. We sat in the seats of honour on the stage, and the students surrounded us in the agora. The director of the Institute made a speech, and Ms. Zannis announced we would be making several further contributions to the school with the funds we had left, including renovations to the holes in the ground they call “student bathrooms”. The students from Diria presented a traditional dance, and we presented the dances they had taught us. I happened to volunteer to be in the partner dance, and it was so much fun! My dance partner was so kind – he smiled at me the whole time, and made sure to guide me in the right direction.

During the assembly, I also had the privilege of singing in front of the whole school. I sang “Over The Rainbow” from the classic film “The Wizard of Oz”. I was so nervous, and my hand shook as I read the Spanish translation of the introduction I had written for the song (courtesy of Mrs Bousser – thank you). The song went very well, and I’m so glad the teachers on the trip decided to give me this honour.

Then, the Study girls performed our dance: the Whip/Nae Nae, with the students from the Institute who had learned it from us. The applause resounded through the entire agora…

We finished the assembly off by handing out ice cream to the entire school. Their smiles were as big as the watermelons they gave us yesterday as gifts.

It felt like we were taking pictures and signing autographs for hours. People grabbed my arms and smiled; saying, “Photo?” I wrote my name on so many notebooks. When I get home to my Study laptop, I know I will have many Facebook friend requests, and I plan on accepting them.

Now I’ll close this reflection the way I began it: with tears. Today we each exchanged gifts with our Nicaraguan buddies. At the beginning of the week it was difficult for me to communicate with my buddy, Conchita, but today we understood each other perfectly. We held on to each other until she was crying on my shoulder, and I was biting back my tears. I pointed at her and said, in broken Spanish: “Please, apply for the scholarship. You are so smart. You deserve it. Keep studying.” I’d never seen her so overwhelmed: as if she couldn’t believe someone really believed in her.

I’m so thankful to the teachers and Dr. Perez’s family for giving me the opportunity to come on this trip.

Samantha

Sports. Students had the opportunity to play a variety of sports with their buddies.

 

We met our buddies in the agora. They were all wearing their “Girls for the Cure” t-shirts that The Study donated to all the Diria Institute students, whereas we were decked out in “sports clothes” and were preparing to sweat. A lot. We quickly but excitedly greeted our buddies, before forming a circle to receive instructions from Arturo, the physical education and music teacher at the institute and the organizer of the buddy program. We started out by warming up: jumping jacks, stretching, and a light jog. Arturo then split us into four different teams, two from The Study and two from the Institute, and each team lined up behind a different cone. As soon as he held up a baton we realized what our first activity was… A relay race! The Study was determined to make up for our struggles in matching our buddies’ skills during volleyball yesterday. We succeeded by winning first and second places in the first relay race, but were beaten by one of the Diria teams in the second relay.

After the exhilarating but draining relay races, we moved on to our next activity. We headed to the multipurpose sports court for a game of soccer. As a soccer player, I was extremely enthusiastic and volunteered as one of the five players for my team. I was joined on the field by Layla, both Emmas, Julia, and the five buddies who were playing against us. After an amusing game, (with an incredible goal by Emma D.) the sports activities were sadly over.

I think I can speak for all the girls when I say that we enjoyed this fun way to kick off our sixth day in Nicaragua. More importantly though, we spent quality time with our buddies and experienced an activity that occurred without a need for languages, and therefore without a language barrier.

Abby

 

Shoe Distribution. 79 students from the Diria Institute were given brand new shoes.

 

On jouait aux sports quand Ms. Liogas nous a dit d’aller voir la distribution de chaussures dans une des salles de classe. J’avais tellement hâte de voir leurs réactions. On les voyait enlever leurs chaussures usées et essayer des paires toutes neuves et à leur taille. Il y avait un petit garçon qui, les autres journées, était très timide, et quand je lui est donné un grand sourire, il en a retourné un plus chaleureux. L’école a choisi 79 enfants, parmi les plus pauvres, pour recevoir une paire de chaussures qui coutaient 13.50$ chaque et allaient durer des années. Ce qui m’a frappé le plus c’était que certains de nos amis de l’Institut (et même ma « buddy ») faisaient partis des élèves choisis. Même si les étudiants ne nous ont pas verbalement remercié, ils l’ont fait avec leurs yeux et leurs sourires.

Morgane

 

Today was a great picture day. Photography has been a passion for me because of its ability to capturing the beauty of one’s personal point of view, and its way of manifesting an emotion, and telling a story without saying a word. I decided to bring my Polaroid camera on this trip because I thought that these 10 days would make for a great story worth telling, a story worth giving. While playing a ball game with our buddies, I could see the young juniors roll into a room that had 79 brand new pairs of leather shoes waiting to be fitted to a fresh-faced child’s feet. We were given a break from our relay game with our buddies so I grabbed my camera and entered the room anxiously, wondering what I was walking in to. I saw seventh graders who I’d taught only days ago; they were laughing, some teary eyed, they were so happy. “Thanks you’s” filled the room, and their smiles were so full of genuine joy. I’m trying my best to describe the feeling of being a part of this particular moment, but I’m lacking words that are worthy to express the emotion in that room today. When words fail, a photo holds a thousand words. This photo is a candid I took of Candeleria, a scholarship winner’s brother standing proudly in his pair of brand new shoes. It is the best picture I have ever taken. I saw a lot of pure happiness in that room and in that boy, and that is what made for a great picture day.

Gabby

 

Mentos Science Experiment with Ms. Howard

 

Work Experience. Students have the opportunity to see how students at the Diria Institute make a living.

 

Thursday was a day that most of us had been looking forward to. In the morning we played a friendly game of soccer against our buddies, and in the afternoon we were given the incredible opportunity to experience the work that some of the students at the Institute must do every morning in order to provide for their families. After having gone to visit the pottery workshop (at which we recognized a few students from the Institute) and the bakery, we made our way to the rosquilla bakery which – in Ms. Liogas’ words– was like a the St. Viateur in Montreal but with no ventilation. Not only were we graciously welcomed into the bakery, we were also shown the ingredients used to make this delicious snack and shown how it was given its beautiful shape. However, there was one moment from this visit that really stuck with me. An old man with a proud smile on his face was enjoying our visit – he had just been given a polaroid picture and said he would keep it preciously. This man’s name was Julios and he was 88 years old. Despite his old age, he still managed to give us some advice, asking us whether or not we knew the native language, at which he added that knowledge of the language would help us better appreciate the culture. At this moment I understood that one of the most important aspects of this trip is to meet new people and listen to their stories, because only then can we understand how much we have in common with these people, and unveil some of the most precious secrets of Nicaragua, which lie with their people.

Layla

 

L’atelier de poterie

Leurs doigts habiles transforment la terre et lui donne un sens. La glaise glisse sous leur savoir et leurs yeux attentifs. Poissons, fleurs, oiseaux… Une nature colorée fleurie entre les quatre murs sombres et déteints. Nous quittons cet endroit magique, rempli de poésie et de créativité, éblouies par le sourire des artisans et artisanes fiers d’avoir partager leurs connaissances avec nous.

Les boulangeries

Une odeur de pain chaud nous attire devant la porte de la petite maison. Les mains des hommes, dans la première boulangerie, sont vives et rapides du à la répétition de la tâche et semblent mener la danse. La pâte étirée, pétrie, mise en boule, lie les esprits et les gestes dans le labeur. Les femmes de la deuxième boulangerie roulent la pâte épaisse au sucre et au mais en forme d’escargot. La chaleur du feu rend l’atmosphère agréable et chaleureuse comme un feu de cheminée. Certains des « artisans » sont des parentés de nos amis de l’Institut. Face à leur réalité, nous restons bouche bée par les nombres, les conditions et la sueur. Tout ce travail pour si peu de revenu… Nous avons acheté dix pains au beurre pour le conducteur du bus et le professeur de sport et de musique qui nous ont accompagné tous deux durant la plupart des étapes de notre magnifique voyage.

Joséphine

 

 

 

Anne Frank. We paid a quick visit to the Anne Frank School where we distributed much needed supplies.

 

Eye Glass Distribution. 20 Students were chosen to receive a pair of self adjusting eye glasses.

 

« I didn’t know that reading wasn’t supposed to hurt. »

This is what a boy told me as he adjusted his new glasses after 16 years of painful squinting. This afternoon I had the chance to help distribute glasses to 20 students at the Diriá Institute. As I was explaining how to adjust the Adlens glasses, many of the students in the room, who had been identified as students with impaired vision, were reluctant to even try on them on. They kept repeating that they could see just fine, and that they were constantly rubbing their eyes because they probably had some dust in their eyes. It was clear that that wasn’t the case because every single one of the students’ facial expressions changed drastically when they put the glasses on. They were surprised and excited instead of frustrated and squinting.

The feeling of improving 20 people’s ability to see is a good one.

Chloe

 

The first of the many things we noticed upon our arrival at the Diria Institute were the murals all over the walls. Most of them symbolize our friendship and relationship with the school. Some are of the Canadian flag, some are of our school crest, some are of the school flower the trillium, and some are of the flora and fauna in Nicaragua. Of course, one would have to wonder, who paints all of these gorgeous paintings? Well, during the week, we discovered a boy named Pedro. You wouldn’t notice him at first since he’s one of the quieter students, but he’s definitely no less important. We found him alone one day in a classroom painting a picture of a famous poet. Now this was no beginner painter’s work. It looked absolutely professional with perfect shading and clean lines everywhere. When we asked him what else he was going to paint, he showed us the beginning of a sketch he did, which included the school crest, our country’s flag and the Nicaraguan flag. As the week went on we got to see the remarkable progression of his work. His skill originated from his father whom we learned was a painter, but the talent was all Pedro’s.

Elisabeth

 

Speaking with two Peace Corps volunteers.

 

And of course, more dancing.

Taking the mattress to the base of the mountain.

Bernarda’s father and brother carrying the mattress to their home.

 

Starting the walk to Bernarda’s home

 

Talking with Bernarda at her home

 

Bernarda showing us her Bachelor’s degree.

 

The mattress in Bernarda’s mother’s room.

 

Photos of the group with Bernarda and her family.

 

Going down the mountain.

 

The students practicing traditional Nicaragua dances.

 

The baseball team showing off their new equipment.

 

Ms. Howard’s science class.

 

The students with scholarship winner Geysel.

 

Maria Jose showing us the 97% she got on a recent report.

The students with scholarship winner Maria Jose.

 

Reflections

Wednesday morning we walked up the mountain with our buddies to Bernarda’s house, in order to give her ailing mother a mattress. She used to sleep on a piece of wood, and we thought this needed to change because her diabetes is worsening; she’s losing her sight and also lost a few toes. Before walking up with the buddies, I was scared that the communication barrier would thwart the development of our relationship, but as we walked up the mountain, we seemed to be getting closer and closer. I was scared certain jokes are amusing only in certain cultures, or conversation topics vary from country to country, but soon I learned that they laugh, talk and cry about the same things as me. As we took more and more steps up the hill, some risky, some stable, I began to know myself better, and I also could appreciate their culture with a more aware perspective. For them, silence isn’t something they would term as “awkward.” They smile with a carefree look, laugh despite all the hardships they must brave everyday, and their smile speaks with vibrant colors. In fact, I soon realized that having dirty floors, or fruit left out in the open, represents one of the many difficulties they need to face, but for them, its something they are used to waking up to, or going to sleep to. When we finally arrived a Bernarda’s house, sweaty and tired, we were welcomed as always, with a warm sunny smile. “Our home is your home,” they always tell us. We were then given a tour of the house, and that’s when I realized how glad I was that Ms. Liogas bought the mattress. Bernarda’s mom’s old bed, a hard piece of wood in a room with very little walking space available, was in no way adequate to satisfy her growing and increasingly urgent medical needs. Before we resumed our long trek down the hill, Bernarda spoke a few words to give us advice. The main gist of her message was to focus on our studies, because this is what is most important in our life right now, and it does not make us boring.

Emma D

 

Today was a very eventful day for me as there was certainly one event that stood out the most. The walk to Bernarda’s house with our buddies is definitely a memory I will forever keep in my heart, as it was an amazing bonding experience with my buddy and to visit Bernarda herself. Ivette, my buddy, shared with me a story of her father who, fourteen years ago, lost both of his kidneys and was very close to death. Thanks to her uncle, he was able to receive one kidney that saved his life. I was truly touched by her story because without the generosity of her uncle, Ivette’s father wouldn’t be with us on this earth today. It made me think hard as how sacrifices to some may be life saving to others and many people in first world countries do not realize this like the people in Nicaragua do. Despite hearing this heart-wrenching story, I got to know the caring side of Ivette as each time when I would slip she would immediately grip my arm and tell me to be careful. When I would be too close to an edge she would bring me to the farther side and put herself in my place. We have developed such a unique bond despite our language barrier and it has made me realize that actions are more important than words. When there is nothing to say I point to an object and ask how to say it in Spanish as she gladly replies and I teach her the word in English. Not only is this educational but it is helping us connect and form such a wonderful bond. It will be a very bittersweet moment when Ivette and I will have to part ways as I know it will most likely be my last time seeing her. Yet I know I have left an imprint on her life and she definitely has left one on mine.

Misha

 

After lunch at Dr. Perez’s home we returned to the Diria Institute. We were told that we were going to teach before arriving at the school, but unfortunately for us non- dancers, a surprise was awaiting us. Once we finally settled in, we were told to wear the traditional Nicaraguan dancing skirts. We then began to start learning dances at quite a rapid pace. I think I can speak for all of us and say that it was far too difficult for our skill level. Not only were we nervous to begin the dancing, most of the school started to crowd around the agora making our anxiety skyrocket! Despite having over 50 people watching us dance (not so gracefully might I add), we all had an amazing time learning traditional Nicaraguan and African based dances and trying to move our hips in ways they’ve never moved before. After what seemed like forever, we finally got a chance to show them our dance. They really enjoyed learning the Whip/Nae-Nae because it seemed like they had already heard of the song before. The students seemed happy to learn a little bit of our culture and we certainly enjoyed getting to know a little bit of theirs.

Isabella

 

Lisa, Alex, Samantha, Elizabeth, one of our buddies and I volunteered to try a traditional Nicaraguan folk dance, with six of the boys from the Diria Institute. Thinking that everyone was going to try it, we were all quite excited. However, we then later found out that the six of us were the only ones trying it, and were going to perform the dance in front of the entire school on Friday. Let’s just say that we were all about to faint. The five of us were completely scared and felt kind of vulnerable because all eyes would be on us – not to mention, messing up the traditional dance would be even more embarrassing. Some of us are not really used to having all eyes on us, as well as we had boys who knew what they were doing trying to help. Unfortunately, that made most of us feel extremely vulnerable. Once we finished attempting to learn the dance, we were so sweaty. It was pretty disgusting, but nonetheless, it was a new experience and not an entirely bad one at that.

Kaela

The girls playing volleyball with their buddies.

 

Ms. Howard with teachers from neighboring schools who came by to audit her class today.

 

Science Class

 

Making new friends.

 

At Candalaria’s house.

 

At Valeria’s house.

 

Reflections

After yesterday’s experience, my group was not very confident about how well we would be able to control our classes and make sure that everyone was having a good time. With a completely new lesson plan and 3 classes lined up for the day, we arrived to the school and were greeted by our class of grade 7 students. Saying that we were nervous would be a complete understatement. Last night we brainstormed to try to find a way to make our lessons more interactive and slightly less boring; and it definitely worked. We left every single one of our classes this morning with smiles on our faces and our confidence tripled. We found out that the key to being able to teach while having fun was to realize that the people in the class were kids just like us, and cannot wait to teach the rest of our classes.

Chloe

 

 

Visiting the scholarship winners homes yesterday was not only a humbling experience, but also an overwhelming one. We’ve had a chance to speak to scholarship winners, which was an experience in itself, but realizing the conditions in which very intelligent people need to study and succeed is impressive. The homes were small, often with only one room and not enough beds, but so full of love and acceptance. Jocelyn, one of our winners, said to us many times that she hopes we like her home and that her home was ours. Her words made many of us very emotional but glad to be doing what we’re doing. Edith and her mother repeated to us many times how grateful they were for the way we’re changing their lives. It’s visiting the homes and seeing the impact we’re having on people that has put our efforts into perspective.

Victoria

 

 

Walking into Dr. Perez’s home yesterday was nice, but seeing her backyard was a whole different, beautiful story. Walking through that last doorframe and entering the back of the house was incredible. Everything was green you could barely see the sky. It was almost like we were in this dome and if you looked up you could see the sun shining above you; it was a magical garden. The amount of joy surrounding each person was indescribable and we were all excited to be sitting around one table surrounded by nature’s beauty. It was literally an extract from a paradise movie. The food was delicious and everyone working at Dr. Perez’s home, including Dr. Perez, were so warm and welcoming, not to mention the two hammocks that were tied together by bamboo trees, which everyone was dying to try. The excitement to get on the hammocks increased and the food on the plates quickly diminished. I’m trying to put this in words, but the truth is that no amount of words will ever be able to explain what my eyes took in, how my stomach felt and how everyone was living in the moment.

Julia

 

 

Teaching in Nicaragua

Tuesday afternoon was my first teaching day at the Diria Institute. I had two Grade 11 groups – one a group of 29 and the other a group of 33 of non-English speaking students. I have to admit I was a bit nervous waiting for the students to enter the science room. Thankfully, I had Mme. Bousser with me to translate. I had brought the materials with me so that we could examine series and parallel circuits but before we started the actual building of circuits, we “played” around with an energy stick. It was very interesting to watch the students come to the realization that the human body is a conductor of electricity. After providing a brief explanation of circuits to the students, we moved on to building a series circuit with two light bulbs in it. The students seemed hesitant at first to try to build the circuit but they soon caught on and the complexity of the circuits I asked them to build increased and included series and parallel circuits with light bulbs, switches and buzzers. To say the classroom got quite noisy is probably an understatement! But the learning was evident. All too soon the first class was over and the second group came in to explore electrical circuits. The students didn’t want to leave at the end of the day and we actually had to tell them it was time to leave.

What stood out for me during my first day of teaching in Nicaragua? Realizing that a student is a student no matter where they live. We might have different life experiences but the desire to learn is in all of us. That watching students figure out a problem by trial and error is amazing. That seeing the smiles that lit up their faces when the circuits worked was so rewarding. That it is possible to reach students despite a language barrier. It was an incredible afternoon.

This morning two teachers from nearby schools joined my first teaching class. Prior to class I was talking to them and one of them mentioned that their son had come home yesterday and told them all about the great science class they had where they built circuits. I felt the classes had gone well but it was really nice to hear that a student had enjoyed it so much that they talked about it at home.

Ms. Howard

 

 

Candelaria’s House

Tuesday afternoon, our group went to visit one of this year’s scholarship winners, Candelaria. She was so welcoming as she invited us to her home; a plot of land belonging to her grandparents that had been split up among her family members. Canderlaria’s own home was not much more than four sticks, a tin roof and some cardboard walls, and yet the joy on her and her mother’s faces was so heartwarming as they expressed their gratefulness for the support they had received. The atmosphere at Canderlaria’s was all the more inviting and warm. Small children, mostly her cousins, ran about the dusty yard, kicking soccer balls and posing for our cameras. Chickens, roosters, and other birds roamed the yard freely, and we also spotted a few dogs, cats, and pigs. There was a small clay pot bubbling over a fire, and clothing hanging on the clothes line. Her family members, all full of the same joie de vivre, were all living in harmony, but even that could not distract us from the miserable poverty they all lived in.

We were lucky enough to ask Canderlaria some questions. She talked to us about her ambitions and university plans, where she is studying business and finances, hoping to later pursue accounting. We were shocked to learn that, in order to be at university on time, she had to wake up at four in the morning to catch her five am bus, not to mention all the studying and out of school responsibilities that she had to take on. Candelaria has four siblings, and she and her five family members share two beds in a small room adjacent to their main kitchen. She has a simple wooden bench set aside just for her, which she uses to study under the light of one bare light bulb.

While Canderlaria and her family thank us for the opportunities that Canderlaria has received, it was definitely her extremely hard work and unwavering dedication that allowed her to achieve her goal. Candelaria’s story is an incredible one, as are the other scholarship winners, because they teach us that nothing is impossible. As cliché as this sounds, Candelaria and the other scholarship winners are the living proof that it is absolutely true.

Emma H.