Members
For me this trip was really about joining an on-going history that I have little access to as a North American: a history deeply interwoven with the values and experiences of revolution and social justice. All of these aspects of culture that seem to have been buried in the United States since the 1970s are above-ground and thriving in Nicaragua. Eating huge meals outdoors under the canopy of trees, working and building with residents and families, walking through nature with my friends and colleagues – all of these experiences were refreshing and reinvigorating for me as an artist and activist doing my work in the East-Coast post-industrial city of Baltimore.
It was also very meaningful to see the solidarity among our group of young people; their open-mindedness and willingness to go out on limbs (sometimes quite literally) was inspirational for me. I thought, “wow here are these young people who have never really been out of their surroundings before taking all these risks and letting themselves go so that they can learn a new culture and make connections with people they’ve never met.” Their enthusiasm towards learning was very encouraging and I was actually quite honored to be a part of it.
