Trip to Nicaragua Combines Service and Exploration

In June, nine Hawken Upper School students traveled to Nicaragua to participate in a service project that would change their lives as well as the lives of others. The group, led by Middle School science teacher Bob Wiemer and Lower School Spanish teacher Rosalinda Bolanos, worked to build the walls of an addition for a school in the rural town of Las Delicias. In the process, they challenged their comfort zones, experienced a different culture, and helped improve the lives of students in one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. The trip was coordinated through Seeds of Learning, a nonprofit organization committed to improving education in rural Latin America. Todd Evans, a 1950 Hawken graduate, began the nonprofit after visiting Latin America on a Habitat for Humanity building trip in 1988. Since the organization`s founding in 1990, over 890 groups have traveled to Latin America to participate in the work group program. While in Nicaragua, the Hawken group stayed in a dormitory at the SOL learning resource center in Ciudad Dario and shopped in an open-air market and prepared most of their own meals. In addition to the labor-intensive task of building a room onto an existing school, the Hawken students bonded with the community through sharing music and dance and playing pick-up soccer games. They also explored the area by traveling to a cloud forest, visiting volcanoes and touring a coffee bean plantation. Hawken`s relationship with Latin America began four years ago, when Head of School Jim Berkman and Bob Wiemer conducted a SOL research visit. Mr. Wiemer, coordinator of the trip, has been dreaming of returning to Nicaragua since then. "Their needs are so profound," he says of the Nicaraguan people, "yet they have an indomitable spirit." A strong advocate for service oriented education, Mr. Wiemer noted that the students who participated in the trip are already asking if next year`s trip is planned. He notes, "This is something for which Hawken was meant." For more information about Seeds of Learning, visit their website www.seedsoflearning.org.