2 Months to Go!

Well, the countdown is on! Amongst the mayhem all teachers find in the last two months of the school year, Karen, Christa and I are busy with travel arrangements and putting the final details on our trip. 


We thought that we would give you a little update about the progress we have made in various aspects of the trip as well as some of the to-do items we have left before we go. 




Fundraising

As many of you know, we have been very busy with fundraising! We have approximately $1,500 dollars left to fundraise thanks to the generosity of our friends, family and community. So far, we have 3 hot dog sales left:


May 28th, Yorkton Superstore 

June 4th, Yorkton Superstore 

June 25th, Melville City Wide Garage Sale, City Works


So, mark your calendars and come have lunch and support a great cause! With these three sales, we are still projected to have around $400 left to fundraise. So, we are currently planning something for July. Also, if you haven't donated on our GoFundMepage, but want to, we would love to have your support! 




Itinerary 

We have started to get some more detailed information about where exactly we will be working while we are there! The actual area (barrio) where we will be building the house is called Nueva Esperanza, which is on the south west side of Pantanal, on the south west side of Granada. Nueva Esperanza is an area that has had lots of outreach in the past years. We have been in contact with a volunteer who has built there twice before and is going back this summer while we are there and she wrote: "The area has made a lot of progress in the past few years." So we are excited to see it, meet the locals and do what we can to leave a small impact on that community.

In the afternoons, we will be spending our time working at the learning centre in Jose de la Cruz Mena. It is about a 10 minute walk from the community where we will be building. Kids attend this learning centre on a voluntary basis to learn in fun engaging ways. We are very excited to meet these kiddos and learn with them!

Trip Prep

The three of us have done a lot of research on travel to Nicaragua. Not only in regards to the volunteer experience, but also just things we need to know when travelling there. We are going to a place in the world that is very different than what we are accustomed to and what we are familiar with. Not only do we want to have some knowledge about this country, but we also want to be prepared for when we get there. 




Packing 

All the travel guides and blogs I have browsed recommend travelling with a hiking pack. I have never owned such a thing. I must have read 100s of reviews and browsed tons of websites learning all about them! Luckily, after much research we found packs that worked for us!

We also need to be careful on the volume of what we are packing! We can not take too much, but we also don't want to risk not bringing enough. We have also been trying to decide what we need to get before we go there versus things that we can purchase there, like shampoo and dish soap. 


Medical

We were not shocked to find out that we would need to go for a trip to the doctors to find out about what vaccinations and medications we would need before heading to Nicaragua. 

Luckily, the list was quite short. Turns out all we need are our Hep A+B! We will also be speaking to a travel nurse next week about malaria risks and if we need to take medication for that. Our health is very important to us and we want to be prepared!

Language

Learning a language is so difficult! The three of us have more or less been practicing our Spanish using Duolingo. The program is pretty good and user friendly. I know that my vocabulary has greatly expanded but putting phrases and sentences together is very difficult still. I think that at the end of the day, we are going to have to rely on a lot on non-verbal communication while we are there. Also, when we are there, I am sure we will learn a thing or two in spanish! 

There is still so much that we need to do! A lot of that prep will occur in July when we can finally breath a bit and get together without worrying about year end trips or report cards! If any you have any trip advice, we would love to hear it! We hope you keep reading and following us on our journey!




What's Next for Yorkton Teachers Give Back?




In the midst of all this trip planning, we are also in preparation for some of our local initiatives we will be working on this coming school year. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for your opportunity to help out with some of those local causes!