Back at Home

I wish I could have blogged more while in Nicaragua but we had limited internet.

There are so many things and experiences I want to share but it is impossible to convey everything via a blog post. I come back to this country after seeing all of the theories and models taught in campus classrooms with airconditioning and smart boards put into practice. Professors who worked at the world bank lecture about the greatness of free trade agreements, market control, and marvel at the wonders of neoliberalism. But citizens living with these practices live without sovereignty and with poverty and inequality. The same bandaid cannot be used for every country; yet over and over again it's slapped on despite overwhelming evidence that it is not providing higher standards of living for these people.

Every person we spoke with said you are our microphone, and when we asked what we could do for them they all said share my story with your family and friends in america. We can do so much more that we think we can to help these people. I don't think Americans understand the power they have to create positive change. The people we met use their limited resources and limited access to power to fight for a better Nicaragua. They all continue to fight for their communities and their people. They want a better Nicaragua for their children.

Since I've been home, people have asked were people nice to you and it makes me think of how welcome we were everywhere we went. The warmth and strength of these people was astounding. People brought us to their homes, introduced us to their family and their history. When we went to see the nemagon workers, this woman who can sometimes barely get out of bed saw Narolyn scratching a mosquito bite. She went to and brought back medicine for her and then wanted Narolyn to take it with her. That would never happen in the US.

I never expected to love this country so much and to love its people. I never imagined the effect it would have on me. This was not a textbook or a DVD; these were real people who shared stories, homes, hugs, tons of emotions, and hope. I thank Witness for Peace for their existence in this and in other countries. I wish I could bring more people through this program and watch them learn.

I cannot wait to begin taking my experience and sharing it, taking everything I saw and bringing it back to TCNJ and fighting to create change.


Since it came on while i was writing this, i thought i'd share this song
Wavin Flag-K'naan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlV6t1k3y00&feature=related