Our Trip

This is our tentative itinerary! With any trip, we must be flexible with whatever pops up while in country but we should be able to do everything listed here. So excited! It will be the most jam-packed 10 days of my life!

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

Thursday, June 9^th

11:55 Arrivals

1:00 Lunch at CGE

1:45 Introductions, health and safety, program overview

4:00 Brief tour of Managua (Visit historical center, plaza de la Revolución, Tiscapa hill) and change money.

6:30 Dinner at CGE

Friday, June 10^th

7:30 am Breakfast at CGE

8:30 History and update on Nicaragua- Mark Lester. CGE Regional Co-Director.

10:30 Depart for Huembes market

11:00 Carry out market survey at Huembes market

1:00 Lunch at CGE

2:15 Depart for NicaHope

2:30 Meeting with Maryeling Murillo and youth at NicaHOPE, a project of Fabretto Children’s Foundation. They offer different educational programs for communities who work in and around La Chureca, the Managua city dump. We learned about a program that trains teen workers on jewelry making and business skills. This specific program has motivated these teens to remain in school as the earnings from the sale of their own pieces exceed the income they would earn working in the dump. Students and Nicaraguan young people will work together to make jewelry. Web: http://nicahope.org/main/

6:00 Reflection and debrief market survey

7:00 Dinner at CGE

Saturday, June 11th

7:30 Breakfast at CGE

8:15 Depart for Masaya

9:00 Visit Monimbó indigenous Movement. Talk to Sergio Luna (President) and Milagros Ortiz (vice-president). They will guide us through San Carlos neighborhood to learn about the work of members of hammock coop.

12:30 Lunch in Masaya

Visit arts and crafts market

2:30 Depart for Managua

4:00 Learn about history of Batahola community, cultural center, meet families and stay at their homes.

6:30 Dinner with families

Sunday, June 12^th

7:30 Breakfast with families

8:30 Depart for San Juan de Oriente

9:30 Meet with Valentín López, learn about pre-columbian pottery. Make pottery at his workshop.

11:00 Meet Carolina Medina from Nitlapán Research Center and talk about their methodology with micro-credit, business incubation and business development, including El Gueguense Project, whose objective is to facilitate the incorporation of artisan products at the international market in order to help improve their income and wellbeing. They have sold to several university bookstores in the U.S (Seattle, Utah and Fairfield). Visit artisans that they have supported in the area

Web: http://www.nitlapan.org.ni/index.en.php

12:30 Lunch in San Juan de Oriente

1:30 Depart for Masaya

2:00 Visit the home of Carlos Centeno, experience a traditional folk dance lesson and have a Nicaraguan brindis (snack) at his home. Walk to Elena Ortíz School and learn about the construction of a typical Monimbó house at the school.

4:00 Depart for Batahola

6:00 Optional Mass at Batahola with families

Dinner with families

Monday, June 13^th

8:00 Breakfast with families and pack for countryside

9:00 Depart for Free Trade Zone

9:30 Visit the National Free Trade Zone Corporation. Emilio Noguera. Talked about the role of free trade zones and foreign investment in the development of Nicaragua. Visited Formosa factory that made clothing for VF corporation.

Web: http://www.czf.com.ni/index.php?lang=en

12:00 Lunch at CGE

1:40 Depart for U.S Embassy

2:00 Briefing at U.S Embassy with Edward Findlay (Consular office) and Christopher Nyce (economic section) to discuss their perspective on the Ortega government, U.S-Nicaraguan relations and CAFTA. Web: http://nicaragua.usembassy.gov/

6:00 Dinner and Reflection

Tuesday, June 14^th

7:00 am Breakfast

8:00 Depart fo Esteli

Arrive in Esteli and go to UCA Miraflor offices and pick up local guide that will accompany us to Sontule community (1 or 1.5 h from Estelí).

12:30pm Arrive in community and eat lunch.

Welcome and introduction from New Dawn Women’s Cooperative in El Sontule community. Talk about the history of the community and the organizational process of the cooperative.

Eat Lunch as a group in House of family

6:00pm Dinner with host families

Wednesday, June 15th

a.m. Breakfast with families

8:00 Visit community school and vist coffee fields and wet milling process.

Spend time doing service work: community gardens, making organic fertilizer.

12:30 Lunch at with families

2:00 participate in Coffee Cupping process at Coffee Lab.

5:00 Hike to look out point for sunset.

7:00 Dinner in Estelí

Thursday, June 16^th

7:00 Breakfast with families

8:00 Depart for Esteli and then onto Managua

1:00 Lunch at CGE

Down time

4:00 Talk with Carlos Pacheco (Nicaraguan economist and activist) about the critiques to CAFTA.

6:30 Dinner at CGE

Friday, June 17^th

7:30 Breakfast at CGE

8:30 Depart for CDCA

9:00 Visit the Center for Development of Central America (CDCA) and talked with Becca Mulholly-Renk about their work in Ciudad Sandino and Nueva Vida (Hurricane Mitch resettlement community). Learned about their employment and economic development initiatives linked to fair trade market in US. They work with worker owned industrial cooperatives, sustainable agriculture and appropriate technology, etc.

Web: http://www.jhc-cdca.org/cdca.html

Talk with members of Genesis cooperative who constructed and will be operating an organic cotton spinning plant. Also talk to Zulema Mena of MASILI fair trade zone which exports organic garments. Visited community health clinic.

Web: http://www.nuevavidafairtradezone.org/

12:30 Lunch at CGE

Walk for ice cream, rest

4:00 Talk with Father Fernando Cardenal. Jesuit Priest, former Minister of Education during the Sandinista Revolution, Coordinator of the National Literacy Campaign and currently he is the Director of Fe y Alegría, a Jesuit project supporting schools in the poorest neighborhoods of Nicaragua. Talked about his life experience and work with youth.

6:30 Dinner at CGE

Saturday, June 18^th

8:00 Breakfast at CGE

9:00 Final reflection

10:30 Depart for Masaya Volcano

Visit Masaya Volcano

12:30 Lunch, swimming and relaxing at Laguna de Apoyo (Crater’s Edge)

5:30 Depart for Managua

7:00 Evaluations

Dinner at CGE

Sunday, June 19^th

8:00 Breakfast at CGE