feeling at home—common ground blog #3
The team is beginning to feel more at home in the Vision Nicaragua complex, as we have begun to pour some of our own labor into it. We’ve been painting and performing other small tasks, including the construction of a multi-level scaffolding reaching 12-14 feet in the air. I, for one, was glad to see that project completed as I spent a large portion of one day painting ceiling beams on the scaffolding’s predecessor, a shaky structure that shifted back and forth with each small movement.
The Vision Nicaragua complex was also the scene of of fun and joyous celebration, as children from four small villages gathered for a day of “footbol” and fellowship. As the majority of the village populations travel by foot, bike, or bus, the gathering was facilitated through truck transportation provided by Ronaldo “El Jefe” Read and Mario Chang, who manages the facility. Our group offered the children a chance to develop and demonstrate their soccer skills in the areas of dribbling, heading, and goalkeeping.
We also led the children in a round of some of the team-building activities that we practiced before departing to begin to bond as a team. However, the highlight of the day was the opportunity for each team to test their skills in games against the other villages. While the villages of Bethel and Piesco remained tied in the final game (despite multiple shootouts), each group of kids represented their communities well, achieving high levels of sportsmanship and spirit. At the end of the day, all the kids clearly enjoyed the opportunity to come together at the complex and simply play around with each other for a few hours, while our team loved the chance to revel in their energy and to begin to form some relationships with them.
Ryan Elmore