Home for the Holidays

Dearest friends, family, and followers,

The last couple months in Nicaragua were incredible, albeit busy. We were able to train our new group of Program Directors, and I was able to stay behind an extra month to help them with their transition. I am very proud of them and know that they are doing a great job, what a wonderful group!

New and Old Manna Program Directors in El Farito, our after-school class hub

The last month of my time in Nicaragua was filled with joys and sorrows. Joys sprang up as I was always, always visiting families in our communities, getting to know them better and better. I was involved in so many parties and celebrations that the world seemed to spin like the hundreds of piñatas I helped to break open, scattering its candies to eager hands. In this midst of all the mirth, I found the sorrow of having to say goodbye to my friends and to families that had become like my own family.

My "second family", sisters Olga and Dayana and their mother Lorena

I returned to my hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a few months to see my family, visit my home church, and watch seasons pass as I have not done for years. Though it is a much different world than Managua, I find it has its own hidden treasures: the red leaves in my front yard, the way my dog smells of autumn when he trots into the house, waking up to the comfort of the room I occupied since I was 3-years-old, and the list goes on. I'm excited for the Christmas season to start with all its lights and decorations.

My next step will be to go down to Guatemala, where I will be volunteering for yet another year, this time as a Project Coordinator and English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher for an orphanage called Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (Our Little Brothers). I am very hopeful of what this new year shall bring, and can't wait to get back down to Central America!