Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Day 1. Managua: Fabretto & Nica HOPE

Our journey started on Monday, May 18th, 2015 when we all met at the airport at 6 a.m. (was there any earlier flight Dr. Sama could have booked? I doubt that :)

We haven’t been in Managua for full 24 hours, but I feel like we already got accustomed to the country and its culture. And food, of course. Manfred, Dr. Sama’s old friend and owner of the Hotel La Pyramide, picked us up from the airport. Manfred is very nice and lovely person. He was even wearing GLOBE t-shirt!

We arrived at the hotel that is truly shaped like a pyramid. It is small but very cozy. Manfred was nice enough to prepare quick food for us, so we could fill up our stomachs and head to the first site, Fabretto. I have to say that the food here is delicious, so it is very hard to stop eating.

Dr. Sama and our driver at La Pyramid.

The first organization we visited is called Fabretto Children’s Foundation. It empowers underserved children and their families to allow them to reach their full potential, and take economic opportunity through education and nutrition. Fabretto offers many programs that benefit children and teach them life skills. During out visit we met Jennifer who showed us around. Jennifer is originally from San Francisco but she moved to Nicaragua to make a difference in the world and help alleviate poverty by empowering children and providing them with opportunities. Jennifer is a very inspirational person who devoted many years of her life to help the poor and marginalized. She chose to fly by herself to a country without much money and without a long-term plan. Now, Jennifer has been in Nicaragua for couple of years, and she hopes to stay in Managua in a long-tem. Jennifer showed us their small office, and some of the products the organization sells, such as baskets, jewelry boxes, coffee, earrings and bracelets. We all bought a souvenir from the organization to support its great cause, and to bring back home some gorgeous hand-made decorations.
Documentary about children growing in Nicaragua and difficulties they encounter. Children from Fabretto are part of the documentary.

More hand-made baskets and jewelry.

I was so happy to buy fair trade coffee from Fabretto.
We drove with Jennifer to Nica HOPE. It is a local organization that offers handmade jewelry to help the community of La Chureca, the dump. In brief, over 175 families live in the trash dump and they daily go through the piles of trash to find plastic and metal to sell, in addition to collecting food and other life necessities. Nica HOPE‘s employees create beautiful jewelry, often made form plastic and metal, like earrings, rings, and bracelets. Tatiana, a girl in a red t-shirt, is working for Nica HOPE. In fact, she is one of the first women who were hired by the organization. Tatiana oversees operations and basically does her best to manage it. She showed us Nica HOPE”s office where we purchased even more jewelry and souvenirs. Dr. Sama loved one of the necklaces, so we, GOBE Fellows, decided to purchase one for her. Dr. Sama seems very happy which indicated that she really likes the necklace.
It was getting late in the day so we headed back to the hotel. We finally got to shower and relax a little. In the evening we drove to the very popular area in Managua with approximately 20 restaurants located on the boardwalk. We decided to eat seafood, which was so delicious. The food is so great in Nicaragua. We all love it. Walking in the evening around Managua was a nice and refreshing experience.
"Nicaragua- the happiness of living in peace".

More pictures of the day we spend driving around Managua.

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