We wake up in our hammocks. Half a
dozen palm trees ripe with coconuts sway in the wind overhead.
Between the trees I can see patches of blue sky and hear the birds
chirping away. Sometimes, the sound of the birds and a few
neighborhood dogs are the only things that wake us up. On a few
occasions however, a full marching band will start to play on the
other side of our wall at about 7am. They also set off fireworks
quite close to our sleeping heads and the buses that go to Managua
(Nicaragua's capital) wail on their horns as they speed down our
street. These are the sounds of our mornings. Bags and I have gotten
into the habit of telling each other our dreams as soon as we wake
up. Everyday I feel more and more gratitude to be experiencing this
project with him.
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| Hula Hula Casa! |
We have been in San Marcos for almost 4
weeks. We only have a few more days with the kids at Los Quinchos
until their final show and then we're off to Granada for a week.
After that Bags and I will be traveling by land to Mexico to teach
workshops. That's right, 5 buses over about 4 days from Nicaragua to
Guadalajara! 1,621 miles! Should be quite the adventure.
I can't believe how fast we are
approaching the end of the project. Los Quinchos is an amazing
organization in which Zelinda, an Italian woman started about 20
years ago. She came to Nicaragua as a tourist and was greatly
effected by the state of children on the streets. Over time, the few
kids she took in to feed has grown to 60+! There is a filter house in
Managua in which some of the original street kids that Zelinda took
in, now work at. They go to the street to find kids and tell them
about Los Quinchos. If the kids stay at the filter house every day
for a certain period of time, they get taken into the organization.
They have to quit sniffing glue and any other drugs. Once they've
stayed there and are cleaned up completely, they get taken to where
we are now in San Marcos. Here there is a farm “la finca” that
the boys live on and the girls home is called “la yahouskas”
(princesses). When the boys grow to a certain age, they are moved to
Casa Largo which is a lake house in Granada. All of them are put into
the local schools and taught career-based skills like hammock or
bread making. To think that Zelinda is a mother of sorts to so many
children blows my mind. She is absolutely amazing. She dresses in
beautiful, brightly colored embroidered Nicaragua garb and always has
a smile for us PWB volunteers. The change she has instigated here in
Nicaragua, where children living on the street is a real issue,
cannot be put into words. She is a massive inspiration!
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| Teaching a kid from the Filter House |
The kids here at Los Quinchos have
impressed PWB with their enthusiasm, focus and skills in circus! I
can't imagine them going through some of the experiences that they
might have faced: addiction, abandonment, prostitution, starvation,
abuse, rape...the list goes on. Each one of these kids is special,
beautiful, bright and full of life. They no doubt have blossomed
in the care of this organization; they are clean, clothed, fed,
active, healthy, happy – like every child should be. No one
deserves to go through what some of them have. It makes me feel a
range of emotions to think about how or why the world is this way –
anger, hopelessness, confusion?
Then there's this concept of fate that
I have been contemplating lately. It first hit me while walking
through the barrios of Leon. Whole families live in shacks with dirt
floors made from scraps of metal and plastic coverings (for the roof
or windows). Who decides who ends up in which life? How is it fair?
To think you are just born and there you are, in whatever situation
it is you ended up in. Most of the time you can't really change it
drastically until adulthood and even then it's not an easy task. I
understand that most people don't necessarily want to change their
situation, because they're happy just the way it is. But I still
can't comprehend it.
The realization of my life's truth,
full of pure privilege and opportunity has me dumbfounded. Not only
have I been born into a loving and caring family in Southern
California, I am blessed to be in the alternative
circus-dancing-expressing-art making-performing-festival
going-hooping-Burning Man community. I can make my life look however
I want it to. I don't have to have a 9-5, I don't have to have a
husband, family, house or desk job to be fulfilled. I have learned
about the other side of life – the one of traveling, performing,
teaching, hooping, dancing, making art, dreaming and fulfilling my
biggest aspirations. How can I share this with these kids who's
mindset fits into the box that having kids well before the age of 20
is normal?
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| Cartwheeling Quinchos Girls |
When the little Nicaraguan girls find
out that I am 28 and I don't have kids, they are shocked! “Why
don't you have kids?” they ask, “Don't you want them?” And I
do. I do want to have a family and a house and a husband one day, but
why rush it? The traveling-gypsy-nomad lifestyle can only feel
glamorous for so long, and once the glimmer has faded, I would love
nothing more then to share my life with a family. But there is more
to my life then just that. I have other purposes, and one of them,
apparently was to come here to Nicaragua to teach, inspire, play and
share with these wonderful bright souls.
Now I am sitting on the second story
porch of our house watching thirteen year old Belen fire hoop while a
small group of her peers and the PWB team are making music for her
while she spins. They are executing the body percussion that Justin
taught them for their show in a couple days. Belen is one of the
older girls in Los Quinchos who has displayed a high aptitude for
circus skills. Since PWB visited Los Quinchos last year, the kids
have created their own circus show that they perform in various
places all around Nicaragua! We got to see it one day when they
performed in a “lost village” of sorts. It was 10 kilometers down
an unpaved dirt road, flanked by a beautiful jungle-forest and the
occasional farm animal grazing. The PWB team piled into the back of a
truck that kicked up mountains of dust as it drove down the bumpy
track. When we arrived at the school, it was completely deserted. We
all had a good laugh about that, so Nicaragua! (Where almost nothing
happens on time). Eventually a whole event showed up: snacks, chairs,
a sound system, an audience; all of it! Los Quinchos performed their
circus show involving lots of colorful circusy costumes, stilt
walking, clowning, juggling, unicycling and acrobatics. Jake and
Emily from our team also joined in the show with hooping and
slack-rope walking. Belen performs an acrobatic duet in the show with
Miguel, both who have now learned how to spin fire this week! They
have learned fire poi, hooping, staff and club juggling. All of the
tools have been made here in Nicaragua by PWB! Except for the hoops –
the tubing for which was graciously donated by Hoopologie and the
wicks from Bendy Wicks. I have also been making dozens of hoops to be
left here for the kids with the tubing and shiny tape donated by
Hoopologie.
Watching Daniyuska fire hoop to one of
her favorite techno pop songs was incredibly powerful. She was
getting down! DANCING as that fire hoop spun around her waist, having
FUN, grinning from ear to ear, exuding empowerment, confidence,
sexiness – all the things I feel when I hoop. It really struck home
that we have imparted an invaluable gift with them. Their potential
is endless and we have lifted them up to higher heights of infinite
possibility!
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| Daniyuska getting ready to fire hoop |
During this project in San Marcos I
have had the pleasure of being a Curriculum Co-Coordinator with
Aileen Lawlor from the Bay Area. We have been deciding the classes
that will be taught each day, where and by whom. It is a really
important part of the project, which was a little intimidating at
first (and still continues to be – we'll see how our final show
turns out!) But I am proud of our work. Neither one of us have ever
done this kind of thing before, but luckily we have some excellent
team members who have! The amount of experience I feel like I've
gained from this project is beyond explanation.
After we first showed up here to do our
show for the kids (about a month ago), there was a free-play session
with all of our circus toys and bumpin' music. It was immediately
obvious that these kids have skill! I remember seeing 10-year Rafa
getting down with hoops, Elliot juggling 4 balls, Daniyuska asking me
to teach her hoop tricks and nailing every new one within seconds. I
was blown away. Now after working with them for a month their skills
have soared through the roof! I have witnessed solid foot hooping,
multi-hooping, juggling (with clubs, balls and passing), diabolo
tricks, wand flow, badass dancing, contact staff suaveness and
stellar acrobatic achievements. Some of them literally have talent
seeping out of every pore. I believe we have facilitated the
realization of some of this natural talent; provided a boost in
confidence, a connection between them and a healthy active hobby to
be passionate about.
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| Most of the stripy team |
On the Friday before our project
finished, we did a joint show with the PWB team and the kids. We were
performing for a brigade of other volunteers from the states. It was
like a dry run for the BIG show on Sunday to conclude our project. If
that was a dry run, I can't even imagine how amazing the final show
will be! I helped facilitate the large group dance battle between the
boys and the girls, the younger boys' routine, an amazing acrobatic
duet between two of the older girls (Maria & Diana), a veil belly
dance piece with 6 girls which concluded in group veil origami AND a
hoop piece with Belen, Daniyuska, Maria and me! I am so proud of
them! Their hard work has really paid off and I can see how pleased
they are with themselves. Another act that stands out from Friday was
a group acrobatic number including about half a dozen of the older
boys. They created a lot of their own moves and pulled off some
seriously challenging group acro-balance shapes. I was taken aback by
their strength, confidence, trust in each other and fearlessness.
We did the big group show last night!
There were about 20 acts showcasing all of the skills learned over
the last month. Many of the kids really came into their own power on
that stage. It was quite emotional. Lots of us (both the Quinchos and
PWB team members) were in tears as we said “Adios” over and over
again. I tried to explain to seach kid how wonderful they did in the
show. It was difficult in my broken Spanish to get the point across
but I hope they know just how proud of them I am!
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| Whoooooaaoooooaaaa |
I am so grateful to have had the
opportunity to work with PWB in Nicaragua this year. It hasn't been
perfect 100% of the time but nothing is. The ups, the downs – all
of it is part of the process. Going into this I knew that it would be
hard at times. But I have always been up for a challenge. I love to
learn. I want to take those life lesson moments and grow from them.
Doing this project gave me plenty to work with! On levels of
self-improvement, language and circus skills, team building, teaching
and performing skills, cultural differences; I can say I have put in
hard work, gained insight, experience, satisfaction and pride. I
highly recommend this type of experience to anyone who is considering
it.
Thank you Bags, Emily, Jake, Aileen and
Justin. Thank you PWB.
I am still fundraising the cost it has taken for me to do this important work. It will make my transition back home much easier if I can raise the rest of the funds. HERE is my fundraising campaign.
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