Coming Home to Nicaragua

After a two-year hiatus I finally come home to Nicaragua.

What a wild two years it has been. The last time I was in Nicaragua was February 2018 with the Middlebury College Men’s and Women’s lacrosse teams. It was the start of the school year and we spent the week painting the classrooms to get the school looking pretty. The future was bright. 

Then in April a political uprising led to violence and uncertainty. Schools were closed for two+ months. We brought all our US volunteers home and cancelled all service trips for safety concerns.

Since then we’ve opened programs in two new countries and my job has been all about ensuring LtN’s future. My focus was not on day-to-day programs in Nicaragua. That job I left to Norman, our Country Director, and the coaching staff. They needed to step up. They needed to work with limited resources. They needed to succeed without volunteers. 

In my first visit back since the political uprising, I’m happy to say that they did. Our programs are stronger. Attendance at study hall is higher.  Average grades are higher. Our coaching staff run engaging practices that are teaching and developing some incredible young people.

Here are my biggest take aways from my first week back in Nica since 2018.

We play the long game.

Sometimes it’s hard to see the impact because we get bogged down by the day to day grind. Coming back to Nica after two years really showed me how far we’ve come. In the past two years our team of local coaches have taken ownership of the programs and the community has responded. Parents come to watch practice, some even strap on a helmet and mix it up with the kids. That was not seen two years ago. 

This is a result of 11 years of working with the community and building local leaders over time. It reminded me that our work is paying dividends. However, those dividends don’t come after one week or one semester. Our work is long-term and the more we strive to get better every day, the bigger the impact will be in the long-run.

Volunteers are critical to our work.

Our kids love having volunteers at practice. Not just because they have different accents and let them get away with a little more than our coaches do, but because they get to learn new things while making new friends and understanding another culture.

Our coaches love having our volunteers too. They want to improve as coaches so they can challenge our kids on the field as much as they do off the field. Without a consistent flow of US lacrosse players and coaches, our coaches were limited to YouTube and Instagram videos. While those are helpful, having experienced lacrosse players and coaches is the best way to improve. 

To our volunteers - our coaches and kiddos miss you and we hope to start bringing groups back to Nicaragua soon!

With success and growth comes new challenges and opportunities.

Yes, we’ve grown. Our coaching staff is stronger. Parents are more engaged. The schools we work with are committed. The kids have bought in. The challenges I faced as a volunteer in 2012 are not the same that our coaches face today. That is a good thing. 

The challenges we face are a result of the work we’ve put in to achieve our mission. These new challenges will only make our programs stronger once we overcome them. I’m excited to look back on this post in two years to see what new challenges are in front of us and how we were able to overcome the ones we have today.

Find a Common Love and Amazing Things Happen

Our programs strive to be inclusive platforms for kids of various ages, backgrounds and abilities to allow them grow together. By unifying communities through the love of lacrosse, our practices allow youth to learn from each other and work towards common goals.

In Bocas del Toro, gender, age, skin color and even language are not hindrances for our players! This past Fall, with the addition of Camil and Vadim, our afternoon practice on Isla Colon reflected the epitome of inclusivity and variety by adding French into the language mix. 

(Left to right) Camil, Vadim, Adolfo, Brillan, and Denis post-practice.

Camil, age 9, and his younger brother Vadim, age 5, were biking by our practice one sunny afternoon in September with their parents. Never having seen lacrosse before, the family immediately stopped their leisure ride and watched us play. They were on a two-month holiday away from their home in France and they were fascinated by this strange sport.

Since our programs are open to all children willing and wanting to play, I naturally invited them over and asked if they would like to join in (luckily I studied French in college and previously worked in Paris) Although Camil stayed silent by his mother’s side and Vadim hid behind his father, both parents expressed that they were eager to stay and watch. I laid a few sticks at their feet in case they wanted to try it out, and then returned to running practice.

Camil diving head into 1v1’s vs teammate, Silas.

Soon enough, Camil and Vadim were passing back and forth on the side of the court with their parents. For the next two months, Camil and Vadim became consistent players at our practices.

Camil, who was taking Spanish classes while in Bocas, communicated with the other players to the best of his ability. Little Vadim - arguably the youngest player on the field - communicated with his teammates via his brother and endless smiles. Adding to this awesomeness was Bocas veteran players, Silas and Xia, trilingual French speakers who helped explain all of the drills and rules to Camil and Vadim. 

Before my eyes, our practices now involved three different languages - Spanish, English and French - and all of our players became exposed to a new environment. The best part? Lacrosse made this possible.

Camil and Vadim helping paint in Bocas Middle School.

As time went by and Camil and Vadim became “regulars,” they even joined in with our local Bocas players to help paint classrooms at the community’s middle school. We had an absolute blast learning from each other and trying to understand one another without having our brains implode from a swirl of languages.

By the end of their vacation, the French family had become part of our Bocas family. As an act of camaraderie and gratitude, Camil gifted his bike to his teammate Brillan before he left. He knew that Brillan didn’t have one of his own and that it would enable him to get around the island much more easily. Today, you can still catch Brillan speeding around town on Camil’s bike wearing a huge smile. 

Thank you Camil and Vadim for being brave and joining our program. We hope you come back to visit Bocas again! 

Camil, Brillan, and Brillan’s brother, Denis post-practice (ft. Camil’s bike)

Exposure to Adversity Brings...

Our lacrosse programs in Bocas del Toro, Panama, bring together youth of all different demographics. In a single practice, we have players that were born across the street and players that were born across the ocean. We have boys and girls, older kids and younger kids, players that have been coming to practice for almost two years and players that just learned the ropes two days ago. We have Spanish-speakers, English-speakers, and several bilingual players. However, not all of our players are bilingual. 

Since communication is crucial to working as a team, this last element can sometimes create a challenge for our team. Being only Spanish-speaking, little Carla from our afternoon practice experienced this language struggle first-hand. But, instead of letting it hinder her performance, she’s used mental fortitude to grow from it.

When two new English-only players arrived to practice, I quickly explained to them how to catch, throw, and play lacrosse in the language we both shared. Then, during the following drills, I expressed my encouragement and advice also in English. Soon, Carla tapped me on the shoulder. She had something to tell me. 

Visibly frustrated, Carla told me that she didn’t like it when I spoke in English because she couldn’t understand what I was saying. That annoyed her. We moved to the side and I explained to her that I completely understood how she was feeling - when I arrived in Bocas 5 months ago, I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying because I didn’t know any Spanish. I reminded her how hard that was for me, and I justified her frustration. 

I also reminded her that I had used a lot of patience, put in a lot of effort, and used different ways to communicate with the team when language wasn’t a possibility. She could focus on using these helpful tactics during practice as well. She agreed that she would.

The next practice, I told myself to focus on using more Spanish to ensure that all of our players felt like they were receiving the same recognition. Before explaining the first drill, I informed our Spanish-speaking players that I would first say the rules in English and then in Spanish. I explained it in English and was all ready to go in Spanish when Carla surprised me. Instead of waiting for me to start explaining, she simply waved her hand and loftily said to me in Spanish, “Maria, I know English, too. I understand the drill, don’t worry!” 

Seeing the change in her attitude from one practice to the next made me so proud of her. She was able to adjust her perspective on an element of practice that challenged her, focus on her capabilities rather than her shortcomings, and emit confidence.

Growth, little by little, is all we ask of our players… Great job, Carla!  

— Maria, Panama Program Director