Treasures of Our Communities

In the weeks prior to our to departure to Nicaragua, as a group we came up with a number of workshops under the themes of storytelling; the story of self, the story of my community, and the story of us. I think we were all very proud of and excited about what we had come up with, but also nervous in the sense that we really had no idea what to expect. The workshops were everything we had hoped they would be and so much more. True connections across border were established.

The two images above are from one of my favorite activities which was called, Treasures of Our Community: Making your community known. The high school students brought us on a treasure hunt to show us things that they consider to be important to them and their community. Mariela, Gabriella, Yosseling, Felicita and Jasmin showed Emily, Sophia and I the tree and the ocean as elements of their community and had chosen the two pictures to share with the entire group. 
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This was an opportunity for us to see and learn about the surrounding community and where the learners came from. These pictures reflect the true beauty of the El Manzano Uno community. Along with experiencing the beauty of their community through this activity and over the course of the week, we were also able to see their strong values of trust, respect, and family. 

~ Kristen Lawler