Sunday, July 21, 2013

Final Retreat and a Few Despedidas


While the new PDs were at language school in Managua this week, we took one last chance to go on a retreat as a house. After programs on Thursday morning we loaded up the micro for a trip to Las Isletas in Lake Nicaragua. We took a boat ferry from Granada to a small island off shore from Mount Mombacho to spend a couple days preparing for our site transition.

This retreat we were able to focus on outlining the best plan for transitioning our programs over to the new PDs in the coming weeks, as well as transitioning all of Manna's on-site organizational tasks. We are looking forward to the coming month of chaos, because we know that in the end another group of PDs will be bringing their knowledge, passion, and skill sets into these communities and into our existing programs here in Nicaragua.






This retreat also marked the end of Jamison's year in Nicaragua. We drove straight from the island to the airport at 4am today, so that he could head back to Texas for law school. He has served here in Nicaragua this year by leading Level 1 English, Boys' Health, Baseball, Comedor, and Business Development. Thank you for a great year here in Nica, Jamison! Best of luck returning to your old stomping grounds at SMU for law school!





Later this week, JJ will also be returning to the States to prepare for a return to school. On Thursday, he'll fly home to Chicago before beginning medical school this fall. As you can imagine, JJ has served in several health programs this year like Boys' Health, Child Sponsorship, and the local health initiative in Cedro Galan. He's also lead our Level 2 English, Comedor, and Baseball programs. Thank you for all the energy and enthusiasm this year, JJ! You certainly kept us all moving at a faster pace and that's probably why we got so much done! Good luck at med school!





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