Nicaragua Mission Trip

Nicaraguan locals and high school students on the trip

This summer, I went to Nicaragua on a mission trip with the diocese of Dallas. It was a life-changing and eye-opening experience! I loved it so much and learned a lot of valuable life lessons that I will never forget.

I went with my school and four other Catholic schools in Dallas. It was fun to meet the people from the other schools and make new friends. The chaperones on the trip were also really cool and I became close to some of them. There were about 50 students going, but we got split up into two groups at two different cities: Muelles and Rama. They were about an hour bus ride away from each other, so I didn't get to see or meet most of the people at the other site. I stayed in Rama. There were only about 20 students at my campsite, so we all became really good friends. We stayed at a campsite with FLUSHING toilets, and running water. The other site wasn't so lucky.

Out of the people at Rama, we were further split into two groups for our worksites, where we would do work every day. Although most of my friends were at the other worksite, we still got to see each other in the mornings and the evenings. Here is an example of a typical day:
6:10-wake up
6:30-go to mass
7:15-eat breakfast
8:00-go to our worksites
8:30-12:00-work
12:00-2:00-eat lunch and play soccer
2-4-continue working
4:30-return to the campsite
6:00-dinner
8:00-circle time
10:00-lights out

My group helped to expand a church by digging a trench and filling it up with cement. We lifted rocks, pulled out weeds, shoveled and carried dirt, and made cement. It was a lot of manual labor, but we didn't mind. Because it is technically winter in Nicaragua, it rained almost every day. And when it rained, it poured. We got soaking wet while we were working.

There were also a lot of little kids coming to our worksite from the school across the street. We loved playing with them and making them friendship bracelets. The kids were so sweet and welcoming to us, and looked up to us. They were so full of joy even though they had so little. It was really eye-opening to see that.

During our lunch break, we went to a local family's house and ate lunch. Afterwards, we played soccer on a field across the street with the little kids and workers that had come to help us. It was really fun, and I felt like we really bonded with them there. We were playing a universal sport, and even though a lot of us didn't speak Spanish, it didn't matter. We were still communicating using "the language of love."

After we would work, we would go back to the campsite and reunite with the people from the other worksite from Rama. We showed each other pictures and talked about our day. Then we took showers, ate dinner, and had some free time. This normally consisted of playing cards games, such as cash and B.S. And we got really into it. There is also a blog from the trip that anyone could contribute to. Check it out at dallasyouthmissiontrip.blogspot.com.

Overall, I am so thankful to have had this amazing experience. I will never forget the relationships I made with the people there and from other schools, or the lessons I learned. I learned that you don't have to have material things to be happy, and to live each day to the fullest. I also learned to be grateful for what you have. This was truly a life-changing experience that I will hold in my heart forever.