A day in the life of our volunteers

Arriving into a new country is always daunting when you have no idea what it will be like. This was no different for Roser and Miriam, who are both in Nicaragua for the first time. Roser who is from Zaragoza, Catalonia stayed with us for 6 weeks as a break after completing her masters in Law whilst Miriam from York, England is here for 4 months as part of her year abroad in her English and Spanish degree.
What is your typical day at work like?

Miriam: Normally I wake up about 6.30 and go to the centre at 7.30 to teach my group of 6-8 children english. I have the younger children so I try to teach english in a fun way whilst focusing on how they speak, instead of just vocab lists. I come back at about 11.30, eat lunch and then in the afternoon I usually go to choir or orchestra in Casa de Los Tres Mundos. In the evening I usually do some sort of dancing or I go to the language exchange at ABC school.

Roser: I wake up very early (6am) because the sun is so bright through my window. The sun is so shiny in the morning! Then I have breakfast, and depending on the day sometimes I eat in the house or sometimes I go out for a typical Nica breakfast. Afterwards I prepare the classes and then go to work at Sabaneta. I teach maths to the kids. Basically I have the little ones (ages 5-7) so I try to teach them about numbers and shapes so they can recognise them. It’s hard with the kids who are 7 but don’t know about numbers. It’s crazy they go to school like that, I was shocked! Then I come back and I take a shower because the walk is very hot so you need a shower. If is Monday I go to salsa and on Wednesdays we do zumba. Other days maybe I stay in the house or I go out.

Roser with the children
What do you do in your free time?

Roser: I am going to free salsa classes at Hotel Con Corazon and I go to zumba in Juniors Gym- its so fun! I travel a lot in the weekends and I have visited a lot of things around Granada too, like The Merced Tower. It’s a thing you definitely need to see, it is so beautiful! And I also recommend Casa de Los Tres Mundos because there are lots of activities and expositions there and most of them are free.

Miriam: I play in a brass group and also sing in a choir in Casa Del Los Tres Mundos. I also play in an orchestra in Managua on Sunday afternoons. I go to salsa on Monday and I also go to the ABC english school to do a english-spanish language exchange with my friend.  I also do zumba classes twice a week and take spanish lessons once a week.
What is it like to live in Granada?

Roser: I think I would like to live here in the future. It’s a city but it’s small so you get to know the people so they say hello to you on the streets, you can go to quickstop or a restaurant and people will talk to you. Granada also offers a lot to do and it is well situated- you can easily take a bus to Managua or San Juan Del Sur. The only downside is that those buses are crazy!
Whats your favourite element of the experience?
Miriam: I do really really like the kids, they’re really nice and are rewarding to teach as for the most part they are receptive and able. I also really like living in the house with the other volunteers that’s really nice. Oh, and the country!

Roser: I think the two things I will take from the experience are the kids and the people I met here.

Miriam (pictured left) teaching English
And your least favourite?
Roser: The mosquitos
Miriam: Either the heat, the mosquitos or the way the men treat you. But probably being away from friends and my boyfriend at university is the most difficult part.
And lastly, what advice would you give new volunteers to La Esperanza Granada?
Miriam: Probabaly just go out as much as you can. Get involved in stuff…that way you get to know Nica people, the culture and you can fill all your free time here.

.........................................................................

Llegar en un país nuevo siempre es desalentador cuando no sabe nada sobre la realidad de la vida allí. Y esto no fue diferente por Roser y Miriam, quiénes llegaron por primera vez a Nicaragua con La Esperanza Granada. Roser es de Zaragoza en Cataluña y estuvo aquí por 6 semanas como parte de su descanso después de acabar con su máster de Derecho, mientras Miriam de York en Inglaterra está aquí por 4 meses como parte de su año al extranjero por su carrera en inglés y español.
¿Cómo es un día típico en tu trabajo?

Miriam: Generalmente me despierto a las seis y media y voy al centro a las siete y media para enseñar a mi grupo de 6 a 8 niños. Tengo los niños más jóvenes así que trato de enseñar en una manera divertida, por ejemplo, enfocado en hablar en vez de una lista de vocabulario. Vuelvo a las once y media, almuerzo y después en las tardes normalmente voy al coro o la orquestra en La Casa de Los Tres Mundos. En las noches generalmente hago algún tipo de baile como salsa o voy al intercambio de lengua en la escuela de ABC (academia de inglés).

Roser: Me despierto muy temprano (6am) debido de que el sol es tan brillante a través mi ventana. ¡El sol es tan luminoso en las mañanas! Luego desayuno, y dependiendo del día a veces como en la casa, o algunas veces voy por un desayuno típico nica. Luego preparo las clases y después voy a trabajar en Sabaneta. Enseño matemáticas a los niños. Básicamente tengo los pequeños (5 a 7) así yo trato a enseñarles sobre los números y formas así los niños pueden reconocerlos. Es difícil cuando los niños que tienen 7 años no saben sobre los números, es loco que van al colegio así ¡me quede impactada! Luego vuelvo a la casa y me ducho ya que caminar da mucho calor ¡así que necesitas ducharte! Si es un lunes voy a salsa y en los miércoles hacemos zumba. Otros días quizás me quedo en casa o salgo a otro lugar.

Roser con los niños
¿Qué haces en tu tiempo libre?

Roser: Estoy tomando clases gratis de salsa en Hotel con Corazón y voy a zumba en Juniors Gym- ¡es tan divertido! Viajo mucho en los fines de semana y he visitado muchas cosas en torno a Granada como la torre de Merced. ¡Es una cosa que necesitas ver, es tan hermosa! También recomiendo La Casa de Los Tres Mundos puesto que allí hay muchas actividades y exposiciones y la mayoría son gratis.
Miriam: Pues, yo toco en una banda y canto en un coro también en Casa De Los Tres Mundos. Además, toco en una orquesta en Managua los domingos por la tarde. Voy a salsa en los lunes y también voy a la escuela de ABC para hacer un intercambio de idioma con mi amigo. Y hago clases de zumba dos veces cada semana y además tomo clases de español una vez cada semana.
¿Te gusta vivir en Granada?

Roser: Creo que me gustaría vivir aquí en el futuro. Es una ciudad, pero es pequeña, así que conoces a la gente y te saludan en las calles, puedes ir a quickstop o un restaurante y la gente te hablará. Granada también ofrece mucho que hacer y está bien situado, puedes tomar un autobús fácilmente a Managua o San Juan del Sur. ¡El único inconveniente es que esos autobuses están locos!
¿Cuál es tu elemento favorito de la experiencia?
Miriam: En realidad me gustan los niños muchísimo. Son muy simpáticos y provechosos para enseñar puesto que por la mayoría están muy receptivos y avilés. También me encanta vivir en la casa con todos los otros voluntarios, ¡es muy bien!, ¡y el país también!
Roser: Pienso que las dos cosas que tomaré por esta experiencia son los niños y toda la gente que he conocido aquí.

Miriam (a la izquierda) enseñando a los niños
¿Cuál fue tu peor experiencia?
Roser: ¡Claro los mosquitos!
Miriam: Quizás el calor, los mosquitos o la manera de que los hombres traten a las mujeres. Pero probablemente estar lejos de mis amigos y mi novio en la universidad es la parte más difícil.
¿Y finalmente, qué consejo daría a nuevos voluntarios de La Esperanza Granada?
Miriam: Probablemente solo sal tanto como puedas. Involúcrate en cosas ... de esa manera conoces a la gente Nica, la cultura y puedes ocupar todo tu tiempo libre aquí.



Location: Granada, Nicaragua

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

House building project Families for Families

Image
Since 2011, La Esperanza Granada is building homes for families in the neighborhood of Nueva Esperanza. This project is called ‘Families for Families’ and is part of a school attendance incentive program. We reward the families whose children have good school attendance. We want to thank them for caring about their children’s education. So far 37 homes have been built and we are planning on building 2 more very soon. We renovate or rebuild houses for families who live in bad conditions. The houses only have plastic sheeting or corrugated iron for walls. Many of the homes don’t have a toilet or a shower. There usually is one in the neighborhood for many people to use, but it doesn’t give them much privacy. We visited three families in the neighborhood of Nueva Esperanza. One of them recently had their home rebuild. The two other families are next in line, and they are excited! A member of the family who recently had their home renovated says it made their li...
Read more

A Big Day Out

The end of year tour might be second nature to primary school children in Europe and North America. But, here in Nicaragua, such treats were unheard of around Granada until La Esperanza Granada began to bring the children from half a dozen schools on annual excursions three years ago. CIARAN TIERNEY joined the second graders from the Angela Morales and Juan Diego schools for the first of this year's excursions, which will take place on 12 separate days. My God . . . what excitement! As the big, old American styled bus pulled up outside the gates of the Angela Morales school, on the road between Granada and Rivas, the sense of anticipation in the air was palpable. As the 11 youngsters piled on board, even their teacher seemed to be excited by the prospect of a day out and a break from the schoolbooks. Joining us were a group of young volunteers, from Peru, Germany, England, France, and the United States, reflecting the variety of nationalities who come to work with La Esperanza a...
Read more

Why we left the classrooms: by Pauline

Image
One of the hazards of being here and involved in all that is happening is the tendency to forget that not everybody knows, and how important it is to effectively communicate what is going on to our supporters.  I guess there have been bits and pieces in the newsletter, but not a full explanation, and especially not sufficient for someone like yourself who is out there gathering more supporters for La Esperanza Granada.  So I will try and explain in a concise fashion, and hopefully this will help both update your 'spiel' and offer answers to any questions that anyone may have. Our move to the learning centers from the primary schools was planned, however it progressed more rapidly than we had expected as we had groups who came and built our third and fourth centers.  The first small center in fact we were running for a couple of years, and had taken it over from another group called Amped who were unable to continue.  We later, through Amped, received the fun...
Read more