Central America Program
(El Salvador and Nicaragua)

Program Duration

This is an eight-month program, running from September through April.

Preparation

Four weeks will be spent in the Toronto area during which significant time will be given to community building among the group members, articulating personal and group goals, prayer and faith sharing, cross-cultural living, introduction to ongoing projects with the urban poor, and learning about the history, politics and economics of Central America. There will also be workshops on communication skills, consensus decision making, conflict resolution and going cross-cultural.

In Central America

The group will fly to Nicaragua for a week of orientation at Casa Canadiense, a Canadian based centre supporting local community projects. After that the group will begin a month of intensive language and cultural learning with a cooperative language school in Estili, Nicaragua, while living with local families. The next two months will be in El Salvador where the group will have the opportunity to live and work with people involved in ongoing rural cooperative projects. The group will then return to Nicaragua for the final three months in which the group will live and work in barrios of Managua helping with the Ollas Communiales, women’s cooperative food projects for children.

Follow-up

After a week at home reuniting with family and friends the group will spend four weeks in the Toronto area reflecting on what has been learned and experienced and evaluating the achievement of personal and group goals. Presentations and workshops will be prepared to share insights and perspectives gained with school, college, church and community groups. This is how the program helps develop a growing community in Canada committed to more just and constructive relationships with the developing world.