Leaving home to travel to a foreign country with beautiful weather and breathtaking sights sounds amazing. It wasn’t until I realized I would be working hard all week, I would be missing a week of school, I only knew one person traveling, and I was the youngest person attending this trip, that I felt uneasy. Before going to Nicaragua for Habitat for Humanity, I knew that my group and I would be working for over 32 hours in the hot sun placing blocks and mixing mortar and concrete. We had no break from school, so I knew I had the possibility of getting very behind. I was also only traveling with my dad and others who I did not know very well before arriving. Plus, everyone else was at least a decade older than me, if not more! These fears had me worrying for weeks prior.

I finished packing only a few hours before leaving for our 4 a.m. flight and managed to only get a couple hours of sleep. Waking up that morning, I still felt apprehensive, but there was no way I could back out now. The day of travel quickly passed, and soon, I was in a country I had never been in before with a group of people I barely knew. My nerves skyrocketed before our first work day, as I thought that there was no way I would be any help to our team.

We arrived to a site that was truly breathtaking. Not in the usual jaw-dropping beauty, but the gasp when seeing how different life around the world is. In Estelí, Nicaragua, we built a house for a woman and her two sons. She was not able to hold a job because of an injury, and her one son that had a job was making less than $100 a month. My first reaction to this information was shock. I am able to make more than that in two weeks at my two part time jobs when this 20 year old, who works a full time job, is not even able to make that much for his entire family. The family we built the home for lived in a single-room house most likely the size of the smallest bedroom in your home, and even then, maybe smaller. They had a dirt floor and three beds in their house. However, not the usual beds we think of, this bed had a bed frame with no mattress, and only blankets. My heart was crushed. Instantly, I knew that having to work 32 hours that week and having to make up all the school work would be a piece of cake because of the difference I would be making for this family.

Now, onto my other fears. I thought that I would not be comfortable because I barely knew these people I was traveling with, and I was the youngest one, so more than likely I would be treated like a baby. However, this all changed once I met “mis niños,” or “my kids” in English. During the work day, we would get a few breaks, one of them being a morning break. The first morning break led to me playing soccer with Julie, which led to playing soccer with Lester, which led to throwing the frisbee with Kennedy. I will admit, although I still feel guilt I did not work the full 32 hours on the house, I would have rather spent it with mis niños. After eating lunch, we returned to our site and found even more kids. We started making bracelets, coloring, and playing with the soccer ball and frisbees. As the days went on, I no longer felt as if I didn’t belong with my group because I had found my new group. I fit right in with my Spanish-speaking kids, and they accepted me quicker than I could’ve ever imagined. I was no longer the youngest in my group, but the oldest. I was their “teacher,” even though they taught me more than I could have ever imagined. Mis niños would make bracelet after bracelet and then would give them to me. Without a doubt, I have more things than these kids could ever dream of, yet they were the ones giving me gifts. My kids were the most amazing kids part of my mission trip, and I wish I could have brought them all home.

After the week was over, all of my fears had disappeared. Nothing could have ever prepared me for what was the best week of my entire life. I am so glad that I took a chance, branched out on my own, and made a difference in the lives of the Nicaraguan people. I challenge us all to always take chances on things outside of our comfort zones. There is a lesson to learn in all of these situations, we just have to be willing to step outside of ourselves and look for new challenges to face

Janessa Klein

Opinion Writer