The Perfect Smiles

“A smile costs nothing, but gives much-

It takes but a moment, but the memory of it usually lasts forever.

None are so rich that can get along without it- 

And none are so poor but that can be made rich by it.

It enriches those who receive, without making poor those who give-
It creates sunshine in the home,
Fosters good will in business,
And is the best antidote for trouble-
And yet it cannot be begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is of no value
Unless it is given away.” - Anonymous

This past Saturday, November 10 UAM’s DO! in collaboration with OrphaNetwork visited Brazos de Amor in Jinotepe, Nicaragua for the first time.  Before we even got to meet the kids, we were nicely offered a tour around the property. Walking around, it was a pleasant surprise to see how my expectations of a dusty and sad place were replaced by the reality of a vibrant, heartwarming, and welcoming environment. The air was cool and refreshing unlike the one in Managua, a beautiful view could be witnessed from one of the buildings, and the most enchanting thing we got to see was the smile of the children and their sparkling and curious eyes as we walked pass by them. 

Once we toured around the property, we finally gathered the kids into our first activity: an interactive game to help us get to know them, and encourage them to trust us. As the activities progressed, we noticed them losing their reservations and approaching us more confidently. We got to know a lot about them: their favorite colors, what they liked to do, what animals they liked, if they were team Barcelona or Madrid. They got to know us as well. Once we finished introducing each other, we got divided into several subgroups depending on the activity the kids wanted to play. On one side, the boys formed teams and played soccer, while on the other hand, the girls and a few boys played volleyball, tag, and even talked about the TV series Vampire Diaries, which, we found out, is a house favorite. We were pleasantly surprised to encounter such happy and lively kids we could easily get along with and even more surprised to see them warm up to us on our very first visit. Once we left the Orphanage we really felt we were leaving some friends behind.  

The experience was, without shadow of a doubt, one of the most rewarding and fulfilling we have had. It was an afternoon spent between fun and games and getting to know the children a little better; by the end of the visit, we had learned most of their names and them ours. It is an understatement to say time passed us by; when we realized we had to go, it was well after the time we had intended to. With some final words from each of DO!’s members and some of the less shy kids, we parted with the promise to return and the eagerness to do so.

We can happily say that this Saturday proved to be a milestone to our ultimate goal, which is to introduce Bibloko as a tool for learning and fomenting thought development. Getting to know these wonderful children, in a sense, will help us achieve our goal of contributing to their education which is the only real patrimony any person could hope to leave to another. Not only that, we are also certain that we will be learning a lot from them as well, including experiences about life such as being grateful and genuinely happy with what we have.

Last but not least, we would like to give a special shout out and thanks to Alvaro Rivas for allowing us to visit Brazos de Amor, for guiding us the entire way and to the staff in this wonderful place, for motivating us to interact with the children and encourage us to be a positive role model in their lives. 

- Zenelia Boza and Adriana de los Angeles Diaz Rizo