Mater Dei Prep Students Build Homes for Nicaraguan Families

Recently three Mater Dei Prep students decided to forego the comforts of home to provide those same comforts to some of the poorest people in the world.  The three girls, Maria Carroll, a junior, and Emily Enright and Katie Viscardi, both sophomores, traveled to Nindiri, Nicaragua with Bridges to Community and spent a week building two homes for families in need.

Katie’s uncle, a teacher at Bronxville High School in Bronxville, NY, has been chaperoning school groups to Nicaragua with the organization for the past seven years.  This year Katie, Maria and Emily were part of a group of 23 students and four adults.  Maria and Emily learned about the trip when they heard Katie talking about it at soccer practice; all three girls play on the Mater Dei Prep soccer team.  Emily and Maria said they would love to join Katie; however, she was convinced they’d never “last without electricity.”

According to their website, Bridges to Community is a non-profit community development organization, working to create a world where basic needs are treated as human rights: shelter, nutrition, education, healthcare, and employment. They bring groups of volunteers to live in materially poor communities where they work on ongoing community development projects.  Bridges to Community began its work in Nicaragua in 1992 and since then has hosted hundreds of trips with thousands of volunteers.

The girls fundraised to cover the $2,200 cost of the trip.  Mater Dei Prep principal Steve Sciarappa agreed to hold a “Casual Dress” day for the school, which netted the girls $300 each.  However, additional fundraising was difficult this year, coming on the heels of Superstorm Sandy, so their families generously made up the difference.  

The girls flew on three different planes over almost 24 hours to get to Nindiri.  A typical day included four hours of work in the morning, a lunch break and another three hours of work in the afternoon.  During the lunch break the girls’ soccer talents came in handy as they enjoyed playing with the kids from the community.  They worked on two houses during the time they were there.  Both houses were almost complete when they left, needing just roofs and some tile work which will be completed by the Bridges to Community staff.

The trip included more than just work, though.  The girls learned about the history of the country through tours of a park, museum and former prison.  They stayed in the school while building the houses, sleeping on cots and learning the importance of mosquito nets and anti-malarial pills.  All three girls are Spanish students at MDP and were anxious to put their language abilities to the test.  They learned a lot of Spanish while working on the houses, asking questions of the masons who were Nicaraguan and spoke no English.  As much as the girls were interested in learning Spanish, the people in the community were just as interested in learning English from them.  “It was a trade off,” Maria said, laughing.

The girls also brought donations for the community – items such as games, clothes and soccer balls.  And all three were deeply affected by their involvement with the people of the community and the trip overall.  “You get to experience what it’s like to actually live like them.  It’s hard to imagine how they do that every day,” said Emily.  “By the end of the week, you didn’t want to leave, you didn’t want to go back to reality,” added Katie. “The first day was the hardest day ever,” said Maria.  “I wanted to leave.” But now, she quickly added, “I can’t wait to go back.”  The trip awakened an interest in all three girls to learn more about Spanish, about teaching and about helping others.   All were quick to voice their desire to return next year, hopefully with a full contingent of MDP students joining them.