May 20th, 4:30 AM. It was my first time traveling abroad to a new country with only my twin sister. From America to Nicaragua, a journey no one in my family was familiar with, gripped not only me, but my parents, as well, with fears of “what if’s”.  Not to mention I was just recovering from an intense fever and severe allergies. The weekly emails I received from the Nicaraguan Embassy warning us of riots and protests around the country only increased my fears. I walked into the airport with low hopes for this trip and didn’t know what to expect. Now I can only say Alhamdulillah for one of the most inspirational and eye-opening trips of my life.

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I went to Nicaragua with the organization Global Health Brigades. Our intentions were to help build bathrooms, showers, and a septic tank for two families in the span of a week in order to improve their way of life and hygiene. We began our trip by praying fajr at JFK, which was one of my favorite moments of the trip. It was my first time meeting the other members of the trip, praying together set a good mark for the rest of the trip. The three-hour bus ride to the compound was filled with one of the most gorgeous sceneries I have ever seen: a wide range of mountains and hills and the most greenery I have seen in years.

 

The best part about the trip was the wonderful families and children in Nicaragua. Nicaragua, as beautiful as it was, was also noticeably poor and lacked a lot of basic necessities that I always took for granted. Before we built the bathrooms, the villagers substituted toilets with holes in the ground behind their house. Moreover, they had no electricity and lacked a clean source of water. Despite these problems, the kids and villagers never failed to stop smiling. I could also see in their eyes and their words how much it meant to them that we were helping them build these hygiene stations. One day in the middle of leveling the bricks, rain began to pour down and due to safety reasons, we were forced to stop working. However, the men of the household continued to work even in the heavy rain because they were desperate to have the bathrooms built as soon as possible. It was their passion, determination and constant laughs and smiles that left me in awe. To this day and for the rest of my life I will always remember the sincerity and perseverance of those people, to smile everyday through the constant difficulty and treat us as their own.