Monday, August 19, 2013

One Month at Home

This past week marked one month. One month that we were able to call Nicaragua our new home. One month of working alongside one another as a new Mannamily. One month of adventures. One month of successes with a few bumps along the way. But most importantly, one month of being able to serve and know the communities in which we work.




Over the last month we have been able to learn everything we possibly could about Manna and our new programs. We have begun to teach our new programs. We have begun to drive, and get pulled over, in Managua. However, our month started with one of most important tools, language. We spent our first week in Nicaragua in language school. We conversed, read, wrote, and laughed our way through the progressing of our Spanish. We were given the opportunity to travel on afternoon trips to some very memorable places, we climbed the Masaya Volcano, walked the streets of Granada, shopped in the markets of Masaya, hiked the trails of Chocoyero, and saw the amazing views from the mountaintops in La Concha.



After our first week, we were really able to dive in to all of what Manna has to offer. We shadowed programs led by last years group of wonderful PD’s then jumped right into planning, teaching, and creating. Some program highlights in our first month include: having our first Milk Day in Child Sponsorship, making huge strides in our Cedro Health initiative, creating and starting a new program, Camp J.A.M., and having our first official league game for baseball!



This week, as the last few PD’s depart and our new team is finally all accounted for, we will begin our second month. A new month that will bring with it more energy, teamwork, and ideas than the last. A new month that we will continue to grow not just as individuals, but as a team. We could not be more excited about the coming months and all the experiences they have to offer!