Day 9 - Swimming, Baseball, and Real World Problems

 I am writing this blog entry as a beautiful sunset happens in the front of me and a palm tree, above me, sways in the gentle wind. Today was our last full day in Ometepe, Nicaragua, and it was one of my most favorite experiences this whole trip. However, today was also a day where I had the opportunity to reflect more about Nicaragua and think about poverty, and other issues, in a greater context.

Our whole day was pretty much occupied with beach activities with the kids at the Ometepe Bilingual school. We were at the Santo Domingo beaches from 10:00 to 4:00 starting with group activities, followed by swimming, and even baseball. Through these activities, I feel like we encountered a similar feeling and idea that we encountered with the previous year’s trip, which was that through the games and activities we participated in, we were able to transcend the language barrier between us.

I feel as though the games really brought us together, or as close as we could get considering our different backgrounds and lives. There is something about joy, excitement, happiness, and suspense (emotions experienced in games) that seems universal. And I think that its proven by the fact that emotions are felt by whoever you are because we are all human. We are human. However obvious that may seem, I think it is often overlooked that whether you are American, German, Italian or Nicaraguan, we are humans.

The truth in the matter is the fact that little to no one knows, and/or cares, for other humans around the world. Poverty is a big issue, affecting a lot of people, around the world, as is access to medicine, technology, and other issues. However, no matter how many people are affected by a problem, it always seems like little to nothing is being done to drive it away (which invokes another question of can it be driven away, but that’s another discussion). This is, by no means a commentary solely in Nicaragua and this situation specifically, but more so a commentary on how little is being done by everyone to help each other in need.

             Even in the United States, specifically my hometown of Houston, there is a large disparity between classes, there are multiple poor communities, and many homeless people, which provides an analogous situation to what is happening throughout Nicaragua. It is amazing that it takes students, myself included, a 1354 mile trip, to realize that these issues exist. However, I think that’s the beauty of the trip. It teaches us so much about our very own lives and communities that we interact with every day.

             As we start to wrap up this trip, and conclude our interactions with people and communities around Nicaragua, I have a few challenges for all of the Houston families reading this right now.

I challenge all of you to be more aware.

I challenge all of you to think about how lucky you are to have technology and internet.

I challenge all of you to think about how lucky your child is to be receiving their current education.

I challenge all of you to think about how lucky you are that you do not live on $1.50 a day.

I challenge all of you to think about the communities that we come back home and talk to you about tomorrow.

And now that you have thought about it, what are you going to do about it?

Because these communities, they do not solely exist in Nicaragua. These poverty, disease, lack of technology stricken communities exist all over the world.

Through all these experiences, both last year and this year, I have developed a desire to ask more questions about our life and communities, and I encourage all of you to do the same.

Thanks for reading.

Nathan