Beauty, Colour and Warmth

Managua, Nicaragua. A place of beauty, colour, and warmth. We have finally arrived in the country that has taken months of preparation, and are now adjusting to a very different yet beautiful place. This morning, we woke up to animal sounds outside and a warm breeze coming through our windows. We were tired, but after eating fresh fruits such as papaya and toast with guava jam, we were prepared for the first event on our schedule, which was to visit Centro De Fe for our first time.

Our welcome sign.

 

As the team walked into the school, we were blessed with warm welcomes and hugs from the staff and students. They then lead us in worship, and showcased their talents such as dance and roller-skating on the stage at the front of the room. It was wonderful to see them display these things with so much enthusiasm and spirit. After this, our team ate a lunch of plantains, chicken, rice and veggies with the grade 11 class, which was a challenge, but also a privilege as we had to push past the language barrier and be bold about having conversations with the students. It was actually a lot of fun to struggle through Spanish and show pictures of our family back at home to our new friends.





After lunch, we took a bus to an historical part of Managua, and then walked down to Lake Managua for a boat tour. It was at this point that the 36 degree weather was really noticeable, as we were all trying to embrace our stickiness. We boarded the boat with the grade elevens and breathed a sigh of relief as we walked in a room that was air conditioned.





The Centro de Fe and Abbotsford students.



Courtney and Katrina



Sandra, the principal, and her husband, the art teacher, Rapheal.



The rest of the tour was spent taking pictures of the team with the Centro De Fe students and relaxing. The day ended early at four thirty and we drove back to the Nehemiah Centre exhausted, yet filled with hope for the memories to come.

 

(written by Rebecca Brands)



Some of the adults, escaping the heat under the umbrella as we waited for the ferry.



Kit was learning how to do some electronica hip hop dance from Stiven during some down time today.