While the activities vary each year according to needs, the supporting of the rising generation is always a constant focus.

Color My World is proud to sponsor schools and community centres in Jiquilillo, Nicaragua and their English programs. Each year we have volunteers work in local community centres and schools to help increase the opportunity for learning in these rural communities.

In a recent article The World Bank highlighted that 80% of all 25 to 39 year old Nicaraguans have a primary school education or less, with that percentage growing in rural areas.

Over recent years Nicaragua has received attention from the travel and tourism industry from its untouched natural habitat, and continued reductions in crime. This attention will require a workforce capable of speaking a variety of different languages, with English being one of them.

This fact hit home last year in our 2015 humanitarian trip when one of our Nicaraguan friends that we had been working with for several years became a tour guide for the hotel where we stay.

So what is it that our volunteers can expect to do while in Nicaragua? The answer is simple,
reach out and share what you know.

We do not expect our volunteers to have teaching qualifications, or to take away from the skilled teachers that they already have in Nicaragua, but instead to help and support in the rural areas that are in need.

With every volunteer comes a more authentic way to learn a language, instead of reading from a book, the locals have the opportunity to practice their skills through conversations, and learn the intricacies of the language.

When it comes to charity work though, every volunteer soon realises that they receive more than they can ever give. We see this happen every day in Nicaragua, and the classroom is no exception. As soon as volunteers arrive they practice their Spanish with the locals, learning from the very people that they came to serve.

Color My World has noticed how important this is, and has hired one of the local mothers to teach Spanish to the volunteers each week, focusing on just one of the many things that the volunteers learn from the people of Nicaragua.

What is the result of the Color My World Education Program? For everyone to be changed as a result, the volunteer and the local by learning from each other.

“The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives”Robert M. Hutchings

Donate to help keep our education programs operating in Nicaragua!

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From the very first day of volunteering with Color My World, you will build relationships and bonds with the locals that you will work alongside. Often in broken conversations of part Spanish, part English, and a whole lot of gestures, you will learn of their lives. Without exception, every volunteer returns home from their trip committed to apply what they have learned from their friends in Nicaragua, to appreciate family more, to be grateful for everything they have, and to remember that happiness is not based upon possessions.

Kelli Ferre, a volunteer from our Nicaragua 2015 program shared her #Nicatakeaway on how spending a week with the people of Nicaragua changed her life, she said;

“Nicaragua is my favorite place in the world, and I am so grateful I got to serve there for a week last summer. It was so humbling for me to experience poverty first hand. What impressed me the most was how happy they were. They have almost nothing, but they were always smiling and so cheerful. This serves as a good reminder to me that I can be happy in any circumstance, and that we don’t need much to find joy. I love the people of Nicaragua, and I really hope to go back one day.”

We love every single one of our volunteers, because we get to be a part of their life changing experience. To see a volunteer arrive in Nicaragua at the beginning of the week, unaware of the what to expect, and return home with a piece of their heart left in Nicaragua is a humbling, special experience.

To return to the question of who gains most? It really is no question. We may supply the money and manpower to build a house, or to feed a community in poverty, but the people of Nicaragua, our friends, have the power to change who we are, and the direction that our lives are heading.

When volunteering, give your all, don’t hold anything back. Become a part of the community. By so doing, your life will be changed in ways that you never thought were possible.

The post Give of Yourself appeared first on Color My World.

Bedford Bulletin
August 6, 2015 at 10:59am

Color My World volunteers from Bedford and Goffstown recently returned from volunteering in Jiquilillo, Nicaragua.

The program in Nicaragua was started in 2013 by the Hughes family of Bedford, who founded the nonprofit organization, Color My World, over a decade ago. The project has been increasing in popularity and growing in demand, said Angela Hughes, founder and program director.

During the trip from July 6 to 20, 20 residents joined a group of over 50 people from across the country who built houses for flooded residents, fed the impoverished in the garbage dump community of El Limonal, and taught English and art to the locals of a remote fishing village.

“Bringing more volunteers to Nicaragua is helping us to develop sustainable projects that are really having an impact on the community,” said Hughes. “We are not just going into the villages and passing out donations and leaving. We are funding, creating and meeting the demands of these poverty-stricken communities.”

One of the largest projects the group is working on over the next three years is a housing development for which Color My World donated the funds through the program to build several homes, said Hughes.

Jiquilillo residents are flooded by water rising from the ocean and need to be relocated. Color My World is working as a partner with other non-governmental organizations to fund a housing development for 175 homes.

“Residents worked side-by- side with our volunteers to complete their homes,” Hughes said.

Most participants say the highlight of the trip is feeding the mothers and the children who live near the community. Residents were displaced to the dump after a hurricane hit nearly 15 years ago.

Color My World volunteers go into the garbage dump, prepare a meal, and children and moms will come running with their buckets to get a scoop of the rice, chicken liver and veggie stew.

“It can be a little bit overwhelming”, said Noah Hughes, 14. “This week, we had fights over the dental and hygiene kits donated by Eagle Scout projects we were handing out with the lunch.”

Mattie Soghikigan, 17, of Bedford has been volunteering with the program since its inception. Teaching English to the residents is her favorite part of the program.

“I am not a fluent Spanish speaker so it was difficult at times, but helping the locals to learn English and expose them to more opportunities was an awesome experience”, Soghikigan said. “People always think that we have an impact on the community when in actuality they have a bigger impact on us. My perspective on life is forever changed due to this trip.”

Most participants would agree that working in a raw, remote area is not easy. The participants often have to battle 90-degree weather with 100-percent humidity, plus bats, crabs, spiders and scorpions that live on the sandy beach where the huts are located.

“It never gets easier” said Ambrie Scribner, 17, a second-year volunteer from Bedford High School.

Service is not new to the Hughes family. Each of their four children volunteers every summer in Nicaragua, and they also traveled to Costa Rica in July to help the community of La Carpio. Brian and Angela Hughes served a two-year, full-time mission to Japan for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1990-92 that inspired their love for service.

“Giving back to the community is something we want to implement in our family environment and this area is abundant in opportunity,” said Brian. “By inviting others to go, we are only spreading the love of this great work.”

Hughes’ son, Chase, 18, agreed.

“Our hope is that we can keep this program going for the next decade and continue to build long-term relationships that are meaningful in the community,” said Chase. “The relationships are really what make the biggest difference and make me want to keep coming back.”

For more information, visit www.colormyworldkids.org.

Ambrie Schribner of Bedford and Sophie Hines of Goffstown move a cinder block during a house-building project in Nicaragua. Color My World of Bedford is donating the funds for several homes to be built in the community of Jiquillio.Angela Hughes Photo-Ambrie Schribner of Bedford and Sophie Hines of Goffstown move a cinder block during a house-building project in Nicaragua. Color My World of Bedford is donating the funds for several homes to be built in the community of Jiquillio.

Susan Barnard and her daughter, Kendi, of Bedford help serve lunch, hosted by Color My World, to mothers and children in the community of El Limonal, Chinandega, Nicaragua.Angela Hughes Photo-Susan Barnard and her daughter, Kendi, of Bedford help serve lunch, hosted by Color My World, to mothers and children in the community of El Limonal, Chinandega, Nicaragua.

Elizabeth Hughes, of Color My World, gets her hands dirty building homes in the community of Jiquillio.Angela Hughes Photo-Elizabeth Hughes, of Color My World, gets her hands dirty building homes in the community of Jiquillio.

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