At the time of this photography, I was a 20 year old American college student studying Accounting at the University of Northern Iowa. With graduation, the CPA exam, and a real world job creeping up on me, I felt a strong urge to travel abroad while I still had ample opportunity.
After looking through the short-term study abroad programs my University offered and speaking with a friend who went on this particular trip the year before, I settled on the Social Work in Nicaragua program.
On May 17, 2011, eighteen of us students and our faculty advisor, Carol, took off for Managua, Nicaragua. Over the next two weeks, we spent time at a variety of facilities including: House of Hope, a faith-based non-governmental organization for women (some as young as nine) rescued from or choosing to come out of prostitution; Tesoros de Dios, a ministry that serves over eighty children with a variety of developmental disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Hydrocephaly, Autism, Brain Damage, and others; the Jubilee House Community and Center for Development in Central America, a non-profit organization seeking to address human needs created by poverty in Nicaragua by helping communities become self-sufficient, sustainable, democratic entities by working with Nicaraguan communities to help them realize their own goals, rather than by bringing in ready-made solutions; and the Rotarian Projects in Chinandega, including a school for children living in a garbage dump and a self-sustaining village where a community of Nicaraguans live and support each other.
The following photos highlight some of my thoughts and impressions of the things I saw during my two weeks in Nicaragua. Though the captions are abbreviated, the organization and arrangement of photos was a conscious effort. These photos are also available as part of my Nicaragua photo book.
“Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?”
