My name is Jovani Lara and I am a 22 year old undergraduate student from the University of California Davis. I am double majoring in International Relations and African and African American Studies and I plan to graduate in Spring 2020. I am from San Jose, California, and have lived in Mexico and Columbia. I can speak English, Spanish, Italian, and some Arabic and plan to learn more! I’m excited to work with WCRF so I can put in practice all the knowledge and skills learned in college as well as learning new skills from the community at hand in a reciprocal sharing of knowledge and skills.
Jovani on left 
Jovani on right
Following his Time in Nicaragua, this is what Jovani had to say about his internship
This internship has been very good in my opinion; it had its ups and its downs, but ultimately, I enjoyed it and learned many things here in Nicaragua. Often I got asked: “why Nicaragua? Isn’t it dangerous over there? What can you even do over there?” to which I responded in a positive light, but I was still a little wary of being here when I first came. However, after a few days of experiencing the countryside, the cities, and the people, I learned that there is nothing to fear other than getting a stomachache from eating too much food. I came here the 1st of July and the first couple weeks were the most challenging for me because I had to acclimate to the weather, to the way of living in a small village in Nicaragua, and lack of some resources that are easily obtainable back in the United States such as reliable Internet connections. Nonetheless, after a month I was used to the conditions here and didn’t mind it anymore.
At first, I was mostly focusing on the English classes, the construction of a new Community Council, and the planning of a playground and a volleyball court. Some of these tasks required more energy, time, and commitment than others but as time passed by, I created a rhythm of work and got used to the tasks I was handling. Later on I picked up more workshops and things to do regarding the Community Center in La Calle Real, and at the end of my internship (as stated in the quarterly WCRF meeting) I was in charge of English classes, aiding the Community Council, the Youth Community Council, designing the volleyball court and the playground, supervising the micro-loans given to the two current participants, and running a haircutting course with Maya Graham, the other intern who is currently here in La Calle Real.
I wasn’t expecting the best results for the projects I was handling because of the conditional temporary care the locals have when there is a foreigner. For example, when the news are spread that there will be interns in the community there is a big crowd of people attending whatever workshop is being held because they come with the intention of seeing what can they get for themselves from the foreigners, be it gifts, clothes, food, or even money. Sadly, I didn’t come with many things that I could give away other than my time and effort, which isn’t something people can immediately benefit from. I could only offer my skills and knowledge to them which was something many didn’t want. However, there were still a number of people that understood that what the interns had to offer was not just free stuff but workshops and knowledge and skills that could be passed on to them so they can be even more self-reliable.
For example, for the Community Council it became a habit that for every meeting the Community Center would provide meals to everyone, council member or not. When I was given the authority to make changes to the council’s constitution and become an advisor for the future meetings and events I stated that the Community Center would no longer provide meals to the people who came because we would end up feeding the whole family of a member instead of just that member. This resulted in many people getting angry and for the next meeting a significantly smaller number of people attended the council meeting. I understand that it could have been that the meals provided were a reliable source of food for them, but, we as an organization offer many programs that can aid those in need; people would simply come to the meetings to see what they can get out of the Community Center with no interest whatsoever of the council meetings or the like.
The same thing happened with my English classes. In the first week I had a high number of students come to the classes, but that number dropped after that week because the students realized it was an actual English class where they would need to come every day and study to eventually learn the language. I am not upset about this, on the contrary, I am glad that the people who did want to learn English as a foreign language didn’t leave and stayed for the majority of my time here as an English teacher. Besides the technicality of teaching a foreign language to high school aged students, I am happy I got to be their English teacher through WCRF. I was able to experience what it was like to be a student and a teacher in a community like La Calle Real and what are the issues and struggles the people here face regarding receiving an education. I have lived some years in other countries where the conditions were similar to these and I felt like I could see myself in my students. Being here helped me realize that education is not as easy as it is in the United States and that despite these hardships people still want to learn and better themselves.
Being an intern here for ten weeks helped me learn a vast number of things that I wouldn’t learn somewhere else. Being in a place where resources are limited showed me how to work with what you have and getting the best outcome. I learned that life is unfair if you think it is; the people here do not complain everyday of what they don’t have, they simply live their reality and aim for the best. Working in La Calle Real made me feel like I belonged here because of the hospitality of the people and how inclusive they are. I came as a foreigner and I’m leaving as a local Nicaraguan. I would definitely recommend becoming an intern and working with the people of La Calle Real, and also just coming to Nicaragua. It’s a beautiful place to be.