Program: Students will spend two weeks in Granada, Nicaragua, the oldest Spanish colonial city in Central America and among the loveliest and safest major cities in the hemisphere.  Students will be guests in the homes of Nicaraguans living in the historic center of the city, within easy walking distance of our classroom building and the central plaza.  The families that host students have been successfully hosting American students from other universities.

Students will begin their mornings with “survival Spanish” classes, which emphasize local customs, news, and knowledge of Granada, Nicaragua.  After returning to their host families for lunch, on most days, students will return to work in community field sites at one of the following local organizations:

Carita Feliz was founded in March 2001 by a Danish citizen who, shortly after moving to Granada, found many children hungry and begging for food. One day, he bought food from a street vendor for 70 children. The next day 130 children were waiting expectantly for him, as he walked through the park.  As he realized this was an expensive and unsustainable way to feed children, he asked a woman sitting on a bench nearby if she could cook the next day and they went together to buy a pot, rice and beans. Children came with bowls and lined up a dirt road by the site where the food was being prepared. Within a week, news had spread to 150 children, who lined up with large and small cups. This continued until the beginning of the rainy season when the mud and puddles made it impossible to feed the children; a center would be built. The result is the current Carita Feliz, a center that has since grown to include education, work, health and many other programs.  Everything is completely free for all and the center has no religious or political affiliation.  It now serves nearly 1,000 kids and adults in various programs such as: pre-school, school tutoring, dance, music, cooking, computer skills, health, and nutrition.  TCNJ students will assist with tutoring kids in the pre-school, computer skills, teaching English, participating in the dancing classes, and other activities as needed by the organization.

Centro de Obras Sor María Romero built on the enthusiasm after the beatification of Sister Maria Romero Meneses, on April 14^th, 2002.  Several Nicaraguan groups from around the country, respectful of the important social work she did in her lifetime, held meetings to promote and give continuity to the untiring work that Sor Maria Romero did with so much love, primarily for the benefit of poor children.  The site that now houses the Centro de Obras Sor María Romero – Villa Sultana, in the city of Granada, is surrounded by the highly impoverished population of the districts of Villa Sultana and Barrio Pancasán, and serves of great benefit to the poor children living in these neighborhoods. This center opened in 2010, is currently tutoring around 45 kids from ages 4-12 who attend their regular schools during the mornings, and come to this center in the afternoons to receive help with their homework assignments, sports classes (soccer, basketball and karate), reading, math, English, music, dance, religion, health and nutrition.  TCNJ students will assist with tutoring kids with their homework, teaching English, participating in the sports classes, and other activities as need by the organization.

Hogar de Ancianos “La Providencia” is a  senior home located in the city of Granada, operated by a small group of Catholic nuns, who struggle month to month to keep the center open for senior citizens who have been abandoned by their families and are extremely poor.  The center is based in the building of an old high-school, and although is a very large building, it does not offer the facilities required to serve to the disabled and senior citizens.  Financial resources are mostly used to keep up with the most basic services.  Medical visits and medications depend completely on donations.  Nursing services are provided by one nun and the help of the cleaning staff assistants.  It houses around 65 seniors, mostly needing about everything: physical therapy, special care, medications, special food, new blankets, new towels, new beds, better toilets, and the like.  TCNJ students will assist in feeding, cleaning, entertaining, walking/some physical therapy, reading, offering care and company, as well other needs of the organization.

In addition, students will complete a micro-project with Los Quinchos, an organization in the nearby city of San Marcos, that helps rehabilitate and educate children who were living on the streets of Managua.  Students will travel as a group by bus to Los Quinchos on specified days, but may also elect to return to do additional work with Los Quinchos during free weekend days.

Program Cost:Roughly $4,000,  including airfare, room, board, tuition, all required activities and ground transportation in Nicaragua.  Costs included trips to destinations within Nicaragua that are part of the program, such as the alpine crater lake, Laguna de Apoyo, a visit to island communities in Lake Nicaragua, and a weekend trip to the Pacific beach.  NOT INCLUDED:  Optional excursions, transportation to and from US airport, $10 tourist card (each student must pay at airport on arrival in Nicaragua), and money for optional purchases (such as eating in restaurants by choice, buying souvenirs, etc.).  The final cost is not yet available because we are still negotiating with airline and administrative costs at TCNJ.  There will be a $693.46 cost differential for out-of-state students.