After a 12-hour bus ride, we finally made it to Nicaragua. Our whole squad met up in Managua for a few days to get a little relaxation time in. After abut 2 ½ days, our teams split up again to go off to our next ministry site. Our team partnered with another team as we headed out; all we knew is that we were going to be on some sort of island.
When we got in site of the island, we almost lost our breath because of how beautiful it was. The 1st thing we could see was the gigantic volcano that reached the clouds. We learned that the island is called Ometepe. On the island is an orphanage and we would be working there for the month.
We hopped onto the ferry while the sun was setting and made our way over to the island. After a 20 minute taxi ride, we finally pulled into the orphanage. Our contact’s name is Helen and she is an amazing woman who came to Nicaragua to translate for a few weeks and never left. She has been here running the orphanage for 23 years now. As she showed us to our rooms, that had connected bathrooms with showers and bunk beds, she told us a little about herself and the orphanage.
The next morning we were given a tour of the property and got to see everything from the school for the kids, to the gigantic garden, to the amazing rancho pavilion with hammocks and a beautiful lake to swim in. A little fun fact is that you can see Costa Rica from the lake. Our teams felt like they had gone to heaven.
We got to work right away. Some of us started working in the garden, the school, the kitchen, and as well as deep cleaning. I love the kids, I love the people I’m working with, and I love the place I am in. It’s 3 days in and I can already tell this is going to be a great month of hard word, as well as fun.
