ICS blog

Después de haber esperado tanto tiempo muy emocionados. Llega el día esperado por nosotros los jóvenes voluntarios de la comunidad de El Bramadero, Condega, departamento de Estelí.

El domingo 4 de octubre todos empacamos nuestro equipaje para partir a Estelimar muy alegres por la oportunidad que nos está brindando Progressio ICS.

El lunes llegamos muy felices por conocer a nuestros nuevos amigos extranjeros con los cuales estaremos compartiendo buenos momentos y experiencias. 

Thursday 15 October; a date for your diary. We commemorated International Rural Women’s Day with a talk to female members of El Bramadero. The meeting was set for 2pm, however the ‘Nicaraguan hour’ meant the start time was at three. We were initially worried when at two-thirty no one was present. We were premature in our angst and received a good attendance. 

Team Zeneko!!

Time and punctuality in Malawi is not a respected concept, but my first week overseas has definitely flown by!

Here, the veil between us and nature is thin. The insects are plenty and the rain is scarcer than it ought to be. Until today, there had not been a drop in five days in Parcila, a small community nestled in the mountains below the Honduran border. In the tail end of the wet season, this should not be normal, but the region is in the midst of a drought that has been loitering for a small few years now.

I have decided that there are two types of people in this world: those that can learn a language at the click of a finger, and those that stumble, struggle, and mispronounce their way to something that slightly resembles a coherent sentence. I very much fall into the latter category and despite some noticeable advances in my Spanish speaking abilities (thanks mostly to our intense and enlightening daily lessons and some of my Spanish speaking and oh so patient fellow volunteers) I'm still a long way off where I would like to be.

‘Unforgettable’ and ‘life changing’ have become ubiquitous expressions when describing an overseas experience and seem to be synonymous with the “on my gap yah...” cliché, as seen on YouTube. However, describing my Progressio ICS experience in Nicaragua as ‘unforgettable’ and ‘life changing’ would, if anything, be a huge understatement. While associating my time as a few months of drinking, partying and holidaying couldn’t be further wide of the mark.

One of the many advantages that a Progressio volunteer position affords us is the opportunity to learn a language. Working in Latin America and Africa at first seems a daunting prospect; the food, the climate (so unlike that of permanently cold Britain) and, most of all, the language. The worry was evident on the faces of the volunteers at the training weekend: How were they going to learn the language? Luckily for me, I had a significant advantage already, as I am a Spanish secondary school teacher.

Heading back to the UK and it’s the time to write a final blog about the time in Santa Marta. It’s pretty incredible to think that ten weeks ago I was packing for a journey where I had no idea what to expect. At the end, I didn’t want to pack again because I didn’t want to leave. My Progressio ICS experience has been an interesting one. Being the oldest UK volunteer amongst a young team has brought about its own challenges but through facing these, I’ve learn more about myself than ever before.  

I’ve fallen in love with a small community called San Felipe located on the other side of the mountain to Santa Marta. There is an air of tranquillity that comes over you when you arrive. San Felipe has a certain overlooked charm where for example the community have chosen to stop deforestation so to reduce pollution. 

For five months of winter in Nicaragua the rain hasn't arrived and climate change shows its impact with drought. Although the water hasn't wet the ground, the tears of a sad family who say goodbye to both Nicas and Brits on their last day in the community does.