Nica 06/08

In June I had the wonderful opportunity to accompany another one of our sponsors on a trip to visit her sponsored children. All four of the sponsored children are from Nicaragua and we planned a four day trip to meet them all. It was an incredible experience for our AOH sponsor and for all of the children as well. We were able to visit each child in their orphanage as well as attend the second Day of Celebration event in Nicaragua where two of the children were present. It was truly a special day for everyone.

This Day of Celebration event was incredible. It was bright, loud, energetic, competitive, cultural, athletic, delicious, and entertaining. I took a break and faced off against a group of the teens in some 5 on 5 basketball. My team won, but it cost me a lot of blood, sweat and tears (literally, a cut on my foot, sweat, and tears from a smaller child that was accidentally knocked over in the heat of the game).

It was truly a Day of Celebration. I particularly liked observing the orphanage staff members at the event. It is a day of entertainment and pride for them as well.

While visiting the children at their homes we had the opportunity to go to the island of Ometepe. We had to take a ferry ride across the lake to the island to meet the home administrator who drove us the rest of the way to the orphanage. It was a beautiful, tropical island covered with lush vegetation. The island itself is comprised of two large volcanos. The home was prepared for our visit and presented us with a dance show and some hand-crafted gifts. Our AOH sponsor even ventured for a quick horseback ride with one of the children before we continued on our way.