MPI Vanderbilt Nicaragua Trip

Last week, our first group of spring break volunteers arrived from Vanderbilt University to work with Nicayuda painting a pre-school and to help out in all Manna’s programs. On Saturday, after a long day of traveling from Nashville, Tennessee, the 11 Vanderbilt girls were ready to take on Nicaragua. Group leaders Amanda and Zac met up with them at the airport and brought them back to the Manna house to settle in.

To truly understand the girls’ experience in Nicaragua from their own perspective, we asked them to write a reflection on the week.  The following is a guest blog from spring break volunteers Lexi Kaminer, Alyssa Cohen and Liza Warshaver, with pictures by Leslie Dawson.

When we first showed up, we weren’t sure what to expect from Nicaragua and the Manna community. After hearing our schedule we were so excited to see we would have the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the culture and help the local people. The first day we went to the pre-school in the Altagracia area. We were interested to learn that the government does not provide very much help for Nicaraguan pre-schools and for that reason we were glad to help repaint the entire school. After two days of hard work we were excited to have completed our painting, and it was such a rewarding experience to see the children’s reaction to their brand new school.

Vandy girls hard at work.



Some of the finished product.



Pre-school students in their freshly-painted school.

Another moving experience was our trip to La Chureca where we were able to walk around with the mothers in Manna’s Child Sponsorship program. During this visit we saw a different way of life and the power of strong bonds within a community.  We also saw the clinic that Manna sponsors and we were moved by how much it positively aids the children and their families.

Throughout the week we also had the chance to attend English classes, exercise classes, baseball practice, drumming, and the Feeding Program, all led by the talented and dedicated Manna Program Directors. We were so happy to see how much Manna does for the communities and how much the children appreciate their involvement.

To conclude our trip we had an amazing weekend excursion. During this trip we got to relax by Laguna de Apoyo, canopy through the trees near the Mombacho Volcano, and experience Granada, the oldest city in North America.

We in the Manna house thank the Vanderbilt team for their hard work, and we know Nicayuda and the pre-school in Altagracia share our gratitude.  Today, we'll be saying goodbye to the Vanderbilt girls and hello to a group from Worchester State University.  Look for an update about their work next week.  What a busy time of year!

Breaking Ground

Hello family, friends and followers!

Today is our second day in Guatemala! The day started off abruptly with Drew being woken up by a giant German shepherd licking his face, and it was all uphill from there.  The owners of the hostel served us a delicious breakfast of giant pancakes and some of the freshest fruit we have tasted in months. A few of the boys went to the community early with Hudson to meet the mayor and learn how to mix cement, and the rest of the group got a little more time to relax in the morning. On our way to the community, we were caught in a giant Carnival parade full of adorable little kids in costumes  (Pictures to come). There were a few scary masks, but most of the kids looked pretty cute. After making it to the community in a VERY full microbus (so full that a little man wearing a cowboy hat had to practically sit on John’s lap the entire way), we headed to the school to start our service for the day.

Our plan was to start installing trashcans all along a newly paved road that runs through the city in order to encourage throwing away trash rather than littering. The bottles will then be used in a new project the community is starting which will use them and the trash as building materials.  Before getting to the project, we played with the kids at the school during their recess. The kids were very excited to see us, and decided to show this by throwing glitter, confetti and eggshells at us in the spirit of the Carnival holiday. Things got a little awkward when a little girl poured glitter down Allie’s shirt and a boy brought out scissors to cut Amanda’s hair off, but a quick game of basketball and soccer smoothed things out.

 As the day went on, we made incredible progress installing the trashcans, and created a great stencil to decorate them tomorrow. As the boys were finishing up with some of the trashcans, the girls headed back to Sololá to run some errands, including getting all the fresh ingredients to make Guacamole from the market. We tried some delicious soy ice cream, and totally demolished the Guacamole once we made it back at the hostel. We are definitely not going hungry on this trip. The boys played a few games of soccer (which they want you all to know that they won) against the boys in the village, and then headed back to finish the Guac and take a nap. The hostel is cooking dinner for us—hope it's good! We are headed there now. Miss you all!

(PS. anything that may have concerned you in the last blog was a joke, we promise! Tyler thought it was funny. No gunshots or anything!)

Hasta luegooooooo,

The group!

Breaking the Ice

Hello Guatemala!

What a long journey, filled with windy roads, chicken buses, false taxes, many averted crises, and ice breaking banter. Almost missing our flight because of breakfast, hard-to-kidnap elderly ladies, misplaced seats in Houston, wrong baggage claim/missing luggage, and shotguns at gas station. Well, we finally arrived in Sololá around 5:30, settled into our hostel, and then made ourselves at home at the 3 story Manna house. Delicious homemade pasta and garlic butter hamburger buns. We are about to have a "safety talk" led by our fearless leaders Kat and Hud. Textbook Waites refusing to do the blog, and then jumping at the opportunity to help the ladies with paperwork. Can't wait for tomorrow early morning.

We'll update tomorrow evening with our first days adventures (and planned emergencies).

Buenas noches,

Tyler & the Vandy A-team

Almost Here - Vandy Team

Hey y'all!

I am the first to update our trip blog, and obviously we don't leave until Sunday. So, I figured I'd ramble a little on what preparations we've done, and how freaking exciting we are to get down and get dirty. This past weekend, we helped out a local non-profit, called the Nashville Mobile Market, which offers healthy alternatives in Nashville's food deserts. As a group, we went to Kroger and recorded all their price, so that NBB can compare and publish its prices versus Kroger's. Then, we ate lunch at an authentic Guatemalan restaurant called La Antigua. At first glance, actually even at last glance, it was not ideal --  not in the best neighborhood, barred windows, and empty tables. However, although it was slow, we loved every minute of it. The owners were so gracious, and the food was delicious. It just aggravated our excitement for our trip.

As Hudson mentioned, we are going to be installing trash cans on the main highway, as the aldea has none. We are also bringing down lots of toothpaste and coloring books, and science experiments borrowed from VSVS (Vanderbilt Students Volunteering for Science). As much as we are excited for our environmental awareness program, we are even more ecstatic about building relationships in the school and community. Basically, for the kids.

We are meeting this weekend to go over final details, then its off to the airport at the butt crack of dawn on Sunday. Did I mention how pumped we are? Pray for safe travels.

Abrazos fuertes,

Tyler

Pre-Arrival Prep In Guatemala

Hey ya'll, welcome to the Vandy Spring Break blog.  My name's Hudson, and Kat and I will be leading the trip while the group is in Guatemala.  Kat and I got here this past July and work in the aldea of Chaquijya, a rural Maya community of roughly 4,000 residents.  We, along with our four co-workers, teach English classes, run health programs, encourage small business development, and lead a recycling program - a little bit of everything.

The idea is holistic development, and we only work in areas where there are community organizations already tackling the issue, groups that we can work alongside.  We're thrilled the Vandy group has decided to come work alongside us for the week, residents are eagerly awaiting the trash cans that they'll install along the main road in town.  This road was just paved in November and is already littered with chip wrappers and plastic bottles.  After the project is finished, they'll have a place to put their trash, and a nearby elementary school will empty them each week.  Then, instead of burning the trash, we'll stuff it into plastic bottles, creating eco-blocks that we'll use next year to build an addition to the school.

Another bottle school in Guatemala.

Our hope is to create a culture that's more environmentally friendly on the community side.  For our volunteers, we hope to create the experience of a lifetime - one where they can give back in a measurable way while learning more about life outside the United States.  We invite you to stay tuned throughout the week as we update you on our progress.

Truly,

  Hudson and Kat

MPI Vanderbilt Hosts Its 7th Annual MannaFit

MPIV's Vice President of Fundraising & Development, Alaina Shulman, reports on MannaFit, an exciting tradition in its seventh year:

 

Thanks to all of our donors, sponsors, and volunteers, Mannafit 2011 was a great success! With food donations from more than 30 restaurants in the Nashville area, Silent Auction donations from local and national family, friends, and businesses, and attendance of more than 800 people, we are pleased to announce an estimated total of donations raised from the event alone of almost $10,000!

The event was beautiful. The ambiance, food, music, and support of all the attendees and volunteers made the evening memorable.

This year has also been a landmark for our letter-writing campaign, with a pre-event total of nearly $25,000, and the donations are still coming in.  The campaign was re-designed this year to focus on supporting the service projects of each of 11 spring break trips scheduled for this March.  We are so proud of the increased involvement of our spring break participants in the fundraising and development projects this year.

We hope that the awareness provided by Mannafit 2011 will aid in the continued growth of our local and global initiatives, and allow us to reach out to even more communities.  We so greatly appreciate the support of all of our family, friends, and community members that was behind the success of this event and the funds raised to help communities around the world.

MPI UGA Raises Awareness with Manna Week!

One of the most important things that our campus chapters do is to raise awareness of MPI's work.  By getting us more exposure with the student bodies at their various universities, our chapters are ultimately able to allow more young people the opportunity to serve internationally and locally with MPI.


With this goal in mind, our chapter at the University of Georgia just wrapped up its second annual Manna Week celebration. The week kicked off on January 31st and ended February 4th, with percentage nights every night of the week at local restaurants and bars. The turnout was great, which helped UGA Manna raise over $200 towards its two spring break fundraising commitments for 2011! 


A big thank you goes out to the participating bars and restaurants:

• Barberito's
• Sweet Pepper's Deli
• Yoguri
• YourPie
• Sideways Bar
• Sandbar

The events went so well that the UGA chapter's Executive Board is considering creating a similar event to kick off next year to be held this coming August. Keep an eye out for it!