the dordt 7

They are Matt, Sarah, Leah, Ben, Melissa, Abi, and Sonya--and they have become a huge part of my life over the last several weeks. These 7 Dordt students are here in Nicaragua for the semester studying Nica history, politics, culture, development, and Spanish, among other things, through a partnership between the Nehemiah Center and Dordt. Several other Nehemiah Center staff are serving as faculty for the program, and I am involved as a teaching assistant for one class and weekly instructor for another (with the watchful oversight of my PhD holding boss!).

Every Monday these students come to Managua for 6 hours of class, and every Friday I go to Leon (where they live with host families) to meet with them to discuss such things as cultural values, poetry, music, adjusting to new customs, US-Nica relations, and much more. In between they take Spanish classes at a school in Leon and participate in service-learning activities.

They are a very adventurous and inquisitive group and I am really enjoying getting to know them and helping facilitate their learning experience here in this country I love so much!