Forever in our Hearts (Saying Farewell to Managua)

As we awoke today, all of us were filled with bittersweet emotions. It would be our last day in Managua. We ate our breakfast and headed to the house we had built. This morning we dedicated the house and officially gave it to the family. We carried the furniture into the house and placed the two beds and various rocking chairs inside. When the family saw the finished product, their smiles warmed every single member of the Nica Crew's hearts. Mr. Buzbee led us in a prayer and we all put our hands on the family. A lot of hard work and dedication had paid off. All of us kept smiling during the whole dedication because this house was something that we had built. By no means was it easy but it was worth it. After the dedication, we enjoyed some lunch at Pizza Hut. It felt good to eat at a place that reminded us of home so much. Once we had consumed our food, we headed to the dump to deliver shoes and school supplies. While driving up to the dump, we were all taken aback by the improvement. What had once been a trash filled area was now cleaned up. Hundreds of houses had been erected and the families who used to live in trash were now in safe abodes. It was truly incredible to see the remarkable improvements from last year. We pulled up to the school and started to unload bags stuffed with school supplies and shoes. Also, we were able to purchase eight tables for the school. After sorting all the shoes by size, we started calling kids into a room so that we could give them brand new shoes. With each new kid, the response was the same, they were all extremely grateful for their new gifts. The kids left the room with smiles that brightened our day considerably. As I took off old shoes and placed new ones on their feet, my heart broke a little. The condition most of their feet were in was horrendous. Their feet were absolutely filthy and most of them had cuts. It felt satisfying to put sturdy new shoes on their feet. While some of us were giving out shoes, Danny and Manny began to pass out shirts to the kids. Though the shirts were a tad big, the kids absolutely adored them. Right outside the facilities, Alex Machado and Becca played with the kids in the playground. All the kids were heartbroken when Alex and Becca had to leave them. They were all grateful for the time that the two girls had invested in them.  Tonight, we are taking out the family we built the house for this year as well as the family we built the house for last year to dinner. I expect a great dinner experience with the Nica Crew and the two families we have helped this year and last year. It is truly the utmost feeling of gratification to see hard work pay off.

This last week has left every single member of the Nica Crew different. All of us have grown spiritually and learned many valuable lessons. From appreciating what we have to learning how to dig deep for courage and strength. From making a little kid's day to changing a family's life. From witnessing extreme poverty to witnessing corrupt government. From appreciating an entire culture to developing a never ending love for a country. This week changed us and morphed us. The experiences we have shared in Nicaragua will never be forgotten. Tomorrow, we leave Managua on a plane. However, a part of our hearts will always be in Managua and Managua will forever reside in our hearts. There are seven billion people on this planet. Most people don't know where to start to make an impact on such an enormous figure. We stared with a city. We started with a family. We started by mixing the first batch of concrete. We started by laying the first brick. More importantly, we started with a goal: to leave Managua a little bit better off by changing lives. I can happily say that we reached that goal.

Thank you to everyone who kept up with the blog and for all the prayers. Your support means a lot to every person in this group and we greatly appreciate it.

~Michael Alexander Martinez