To: Joe Reed
From: Billy Logan
Dear Joe,
I have had a week back in Canada to gather my thoughts and
reflect back on the previous two-month’s experience working
for the YMCA in various locations in Nicaragua. The
experience certainly has been a life changing one and has
surpassed the expectations of what this young Canadian
thought he would see, learn and feel only two months
earlier.
A New Perspective
Two months in another country can feel like a lifetime and
at times it felt as though home was another world away. I
learned to appreciate that in many ways Canada and Nicaragua
are worlds apart especially when you look at how the
population is made up, their cultures and customs and how
they deal with the climate. However, the more I got into the
Nicaraguan mindset and tried to see things objectively or at
least from another perspective, I saw how beautiful and
magnificent this country and its people really are.
For any and to all who wish and have always wished (like I
had) to see and experience another country on a deeper level
than a two-week vacation would allow, a life changing
experience could be waiting for you just around the corner.
Working with an organization like Sheaf-Espiga allowed me to
overcome the tourist mindset while still being able to
partake in all sorts of touristy cultural activities. Giving
my time to the YMCA allowed me to give back to the people
who were so intent on sharing their culture and their
country with me.
It is the people of Nicaragua who made my trip and work
there so special to me. I can’t imagine having had the same
experience without the dozens of individuals who offered to
travel with me, help practice Spanish and teach me about
their country. Most of the people I met there couldn’t wait
to tell me their life story and how they’ve experienced the
history of Nicaragua. Being welcomed into so many people’s
houses and neighborhoods has made for a valuable look into
the lives that operate well below the surface of North
American consciousness of the third world. The willingness
to share and exchange of mine and on the part of the
Nicaraguans has created many lasting friendships and unique
memories.
Teaching as a Volunteer
Teaching English and French at the Youth Centers in Managua
and Boaco was very rewarding. I have never seen such
initiative to learn and the ability to make use of every
resource available to them as the Nicaraguan youth. Our work
with ESL took us to an English school called Cornerstone
which has been set up for those who are unable to afford the
pricey American language schools. The Cornerstone experience
reached far beyond ESL work as most of the students there
were already fluent, so we used it as an opportunity to
learn about each other’s country, culture and personal life.
For hours at a time we would pick questions at random from a
classroom full of hands that were constantly raised. There
is something very rewarding about giving a hope filled
student the perfect answer to a question they’ve always
wanted to know about life in North America. For instance
seeing all the women’s faces in the room brighten-up when we
explained our stance against chauvinism and when we told
them how relationships in Canada value equality and have a
sharing of power. We also discussed everything from the
future of sports to the significance of the lyrics in our
national anthems.
A Final Thought
On behalf of myself and my compadre David, I would give my
most sincere thanks to Joe Reed and the Sheaf-Espiga
organization for setting up all of our contacts and work in
Nicaragua and making this experience possible. I would also
like to thank the amazing individuals at the YMCA-ACJ
Nicaragua who let us work with them.
The thought of helping out in a developing country is a
romantic idea shared by many of us living in the developed
world. A last word of advice to any planning on visiting and
helping out somewhere in the future would be to not let the
scale of the poverty and problems that these countries face
get you down. Instead on focusing on the immensity of these
problems on the society at large, remember the individuals
that make it up. It may impossible to fix things for
everyone instantly, but it is really easy to help a couple
of individuals at a time by giving them the tools,
perspectives and most importantly love and compassion they
need to pass it on themselves. It was the few lives there
that really touched me and I did everything I could to touch
them that makes an exchange like this last in my heart, and
hopefully theirs, forever.
Feel free to email me any comments or questions concerning
my trip, I’d be more than happy to get back to you.
William Logan
5wl2@qlink.queensu.ca
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