From March 12 to March 22, a Saugeen Shores family played host to 17 St. Mary’s High School students at their family hotel, Brisas del Mar in Jiquilillo, Nicaragua.

This is one of their stories.

Since the first few weeks of school back in September, a small group of us St. Mary’s students spent every Wednesday huddled together in the school’s family studies room discussing our fast approaching mission trip to Nicaragua; planning different fundraisers such as Football game buyouts and pancake breakfasts. As March Break neared closer and closer, we found ourselves mentally preparing for what we were about to experience and wondering what exactly was in store for those ten days. As we boarded that plane at Pearson Airport in Toronto on March 12, we all had different, yet amazing ideas as to how the trip would go. I don’t think any of us were anywhere close to imagining it like it was.

As we walked out of the airport in Managua to get on the buses that would bring us to Jiquilillo, we were greeted with a warm gust of wind scented with the colourful tropical flowers that lay all around us. The drive to the small village was one laced with both excitement and exhaustion, yet our heavy eyelids didn’t stop us from absorbing every sight. Buildings painted vibrant shades of red and yellow stood only streets away, houses resembling shacks with barred windows. Rules of the road regarding stop signs were ignored as vehicles sped up to be the first through, very different from what we were taught back in Canada.

We would soon learn that road etiquette would not be the only - nor the largest - contrast we would witness in Nicaragua.

During our stay we took part in a number of different projects to help the communities we encountered. One such project involved helping build houses in the small village in which we were staying. This project consisted of lugging heavy loads of rocks from a large pile into the house using ripped sand bags. We worked for three hours in our shorts and tank tops, taking constant water and sunscreen breaks, sweating and panting under the hot sun. When our three hours had passed and we looked around to see the rest of our classmates covered in a thick layer of dirt, the locals had barely broken a sweat and had only taken half of the breaks we had. We stood there watching people work tirelessly and realized that - unlike what we were used to - this was an everyday activity for them.

We also had the opportunity to go to a dump community to feed them lunch. Here we witnessed children rummaging through a burning wasteland. Kids running barefoot through mounds of used medical waste. We all stood there amongst the garbage, tears pooling in our eyes as we watched kids tossing stones into the thick green water far below. The children hung off of our arms and legs, showering us in hugs and cuddles and screaming in delight as we played with them before lunch was served. I remember this group of three young girls, the youngest being about 3 and the eldest 9, wearing wide smiles despite the conditions they lived in, trying their best to communicate with me despite the language barrier. Near the end of our visit with their community, a long line had formed, ready to receive their soup. I’ll never forget how purely happy those people were or the look of the sea of smiles I saw when I raised my head from serving. The feeling I had while feeding those families was reminiscent of the feeling when we had the opportunity to help teach English at the local English school in Jiquilillo. I can honestly say that nothing has ever made me feel as fulfilled as I did doing these jobs, nor have I ever felt as thankful for what we have and are given in Canada.

Mission work isn’t the only thing we did during our stay. We were lucky enough to be staying at a beautiful place called Brisas Del Mar, the English translation of which is sea breeze, and that couldn’t be more accurate. The ocean lay only metres away, the sound of crashing waves and the scent of salt always present in the air. Everyday after lunch we would throw on our swimsuits and go for a swim in the waves, which at times felt like they were the size of small buildings. We would come back up coughing salt water and laughing at the fact that we were swimming in the ocean and not a lake.

Most evenings were spent learning different dances from the locals. Spanish music would play from the speakers as our group of students shuffled around trying to imitate the others.

On one particular day, we woke up at the early hour of 4 a.m. to separate into three vehicles and drive to the base of CosÏguina Volcano, where we got to hike to the top. We kept our voices low as we marched up the trail, hoping to see some form of wildlife. A variety of colourful birds were spotted in the hanging vines and massive leaves overhead. The unfamiliar trees created a canopy far above our heads, providing us with a break from the morning sun. As we took our step on the top of the volcano, our guide told us to look around. What we saw left us in a state of bliss. The inside of the volcano stretched out two kilometres before us, a crater of hot turquoise water lay far below. Beyond the other side the outline of El Salvador and Honduras lay on the horizon, the shimmering water melting into the sky. All too soon we had to start our descent, which turned out to be just as entertaining as the climb, as trying not to tumble proved to be more difficult than we had thought.

During the trip we were also able to release baby sea turtles and watched as the water took them far out to sea. We were even lucky enough to watch a sea turtle lay her eggs on the beach after dark.

We found joy in the small moments, learning to catch sand crabs on the beach late at night, looking up at the stars which seemed to be double in quantity and four times as bright as the ones back home; walking down the road and speaking to the locals, sitting all together and building bonds that we knew would last long after our arrival back home.

Our last night was filled with tearful goodbyes, upset at the fact that we were leaving such a wonderful place, yet thankful for everything we had experienced. We helped communities, adventured in estuaries and up volcanos, swam in oceans and made close friends with locals. But the best part was that we landed in Nicaragua as a group of friends - and in some cases strangers - but we left a family.

I think that I can speak for all of us when I say that the mission trip to Nicaragua changed us in the most positive of ways and now that it’s over we won’t ever look at life the same.

Joelle Murphy