Student works in Nicaragua on humanitarian service project

IC photo by Christine Young

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Luke Mirabelli (second from right) enjoys meeting the people of Nicaragua and helping the children. He completed a humanitarian community health project from June to August. He also taught health-related topics in a school. The experience of this proj

SALT LAKE CITY — “Going to Nicaragua was such a great opportunity I could not pass it up,” said Luke Mirabelli.

Mirabelli a senior at Highland High School, spent the summer in Nicaragua on a humanitarian project.

“I traveled with the national organization Amigos De Las Americas from June 10 to Aug. 15,” said Mirabelli. “I have some family friends who encouraged me to give it a try.

“I listened to some students who had gone in 2008, and they said it was an experience of a life time,” said Mirabelli. “It was just hearing their reaction and their experiences that convinced me to go.

“I was in a community of 400 people working in a health clinic doing different administrative duties,” said Mirabelli. “I gave vaccinations, checked people into the clinic, weighed them, and did a little bit of work in the pharmacy they had in the clinic.”

Mirabelli said the clinic was very basic, without a computer, and they used dated equipment. Nicaragua has socialized health care, so the building was new, but the equipment was not. He said it got the job done. Some of the health conditions included hypertension, undernourishment, lack of vitamins, and other chronic illnesses for which people had to be sent to major cities for extended care.

“Our clinic was used for surrounding communities,” said Mirabelli. “It was interesting to hear them say things like they had been walking since 4 a.m. about 20 miles away to get there. Throughout the day we would see about an average of 50 people.”

Mirabelli also worked in a school eight hours a week teaching 6- to 12-year olds different health-related topics. He taught them about malaria and dengue prevention, both diseases carried by the mosquito. He also talked about water purification, recycling, hygiene and overall health and different topics regarding the environment.

“My particular project in Nicaragua was about community health,” said Mirabelli. “So for Amigos De Las Americas we each had to complete a community-based initiative or service project.

“For our service project, we decided to fix up an old run-down, two-room school house in the community. We painted it inside and out, wired it for electricity, put locks on the doors, and made one side so it could be used as a pre-school, and the other for a more formal community meeting room.

“We did fundraising, and Amigos helped pay for part of that. It was hard to figure out what to do, because no one really has that much money in Nicaragua,” said Mirabelli. “We held a movie night and charged everybody three cordobas, which is the equivalent of 15 cents to come and watch the movie on a little television set. We found a few DVDs and a DVD player. We held three movie nights and that was how we raised about $80, which goes far in Nicaragua.

“We were able to get supplies at a much cheaper rate than in America,” said Mirabelli. “It was amazing how inexpensive it was for paint and other supplies.”

Amigos participants live with host families and work in groups of two to three Amigos volunteers per community, providing a unique opportunities to experience Latin America in a very personal way.

“They speak Spanish, and I do not speak Spanish that well although I took Spanish my freshman and sophomore year,” said Mirabelli. “I learned really quick, and by the time I left, I was able to hold a conversation.

“Throughout the country there are Amigos chapters in various cities. In Salt Lake City, there were 18 volunteers this summer,” said Mirabelli. “But I was the only one who went to the Granada, Nicaragua project. Then in each project, there are roughly 60 or 70 kids. So I was with kids from throughout the nation. Then the organization pairs you up with one or two other people and you live in the community together during the eight weeks.

“When I signed up, I was happy to be able to go to the project I picked, which was community health,” said Mirabelli. “I really want to go to medical school. That is my big endeavor in life. This project was perfect for me and really gave me a hands-on experience in the clinic setting. It made me love the medical field more. It was a perfect fit for me and was a great experience. My family and I would like to visit my host family.”