Day Six: Our own "Laguna de Apoyo"

By Shanice, Kaiana, Alisha and Hannah

It’s our fifth day here in Nicaragua. We woke up around 6:30am. Once ready, we ate our breakfast at 7:00am. Tr.Kate told us to eat the right amount of food for the day because we would be starting our service project. When our bellies were full, Don Pablo arrived to pick us up. We were on our way to Chacocente.

When we arrived at Chacocente we took a tour around the community. Our guide, David, explained a lot about the cost of the houses, the history of the houses, and the water. For example, the well the community uses cost 50,000 dollars. The inside of the houses were very dark, with cement floors and rooms separated by sewed-together rice sacks. It amazed us how a person could live in such a place and we tried to imagine ourselves living in that house. 

Also, before the community built their own well, people needed to walk ⅔ of a mile to get water from a neighbor.  At one house, we saw a dying chick being neglected by the mother hen. We were so upset at leaving the poor thing.  Also, we saw fruits that some of us have never seen before, like cashew fruit.

Once the tour was over, it was time to get to work on our service project, which was helping to build a basketball court for the Chacocente school. David took us back to the school to show us how to mix cement. First, we needed to shovel six wheelbarrows of crushed rock and sand in a pile. 

Then, we needed to add cement and mix it all together. After mixing, we put it in two separate piles, mixed them together, then made a huge center for water (our own "Laguna de Apoyo").

Once the water was put in place, we mixed that up really well and filled the wheelbarrows with the newly made cement. Then we poured the cement into a wooden frame to make the surface of the new basketball court. It 

was very difficult and a lot of hard work. We didn’t expect to do that much work at first, but working together made the job go faster and easier. It’s amazing that in America we use electronics to make cement, but in Nicaragua, they make it from scratch. It really showed us that the Nicaraguans that we met on this trip are hard workers.

Finally it was lunch time. The lunch was made  by the women from the community. For lunch we had chicken, rice, soda, avocado, beans, salad, watermelon,  and cantaloupe. Some of us were so tired, we couldn’t get up to reach the table where lunch was being served. Either way, it was very delicious.

After lunch, we had a quick fifteen minute break to explore the handmade products that the women from Chacocente had to offer. Their tables included lots of handicrafts, such as braided bracelets, hammocks, necklaces, and much more. 

Time surely passed quickly when our  break was over and we had to return to our exhausting labor of creating cement for the basketball court. When we arrived at our working destination, Tr. Kate and Tr. Steve decided to create a bet, which was to guess the amount of time we would need to finish our last batch of cement for the court.

Many of us said numbers like, 25 minutes, 50 minutes, 45 minutes, and even an hour. In case you’re wondering what the prize featured, it was an additional ice cream treat for dessert. After this bet, we all were in it to win it. Our body parts were dripping with sweat from our head to our toes as the clock ticked. Some of us started developing blisters on our hands and feet from constantly digging with the shovels and staying on our feet for long periods (thank goodness for breaks and especially water). We digged and digged until we felt like we were at our wits end. Then, some people gave their shovel to another student to rest, but some students dug to the end.

Finally we finished our duties and we revealed who the winner was for the bet. It was NICKY! Now it was official, we were finally saying goodbye to Chacocente. Just playing, it wasn’t quite over yet. The Magnificent Don Pablo (our driver) gave us tickets for a raffle to win a surprise that was a hammock made with the finest material. He gave us raffle tickets that either said, “Thank you for coming to Nicaragua”, or “You won!” Our winner was KADEN! 

Now it was really our time to say goodbye to Chacocente. We had a hour long ride to the hotel, which was kind of cool, because we were sweaty spaghettis after working so hard for straight hours. All the Take Flight travelers immediately went directly to the pool for some fun time as soon as we arrived at the hotel.

One hour later, we ate dinner at Pollo Tip Top, which is a Nicaraguan restaurant, but it isn’t your average Nicaraguan dinner/lunch place. The food specialized in American food, like fried chicken, fries, etc. We ordered two huge pieces of chicken, one biscuit, fries, and a drink for each person. The food was so delicious, and no worries if anybody didn’t enjoy it. After dinner, we ate dessert at a gas station, which served great ice cream treats.

Lastly, we went to reflect about our day at the hotel, which was a surprisingly good conversation. We discussed how the families at Project Chacocente had to work for five years to get their houses, and how in order for people to improve their situation, they needed education and training, not just a new house. There were lots of different opinions, but that’s what makes a conversation great, right? Alright see you tomorrow! Until then, Take Flight is always soaring to new heights.

See the Day Six slideshow here!