Over the summer, Senior Mike Nunziante traveled to Valle Los Cruzes, Nicaragua as a part of the Stamford High buildOn program. The Round Table was able to sit down with Mike and talk about a trip that he described as “life-changing.”

The Round Table: What made you want to join the organization buildOn?

Mike: Initially, I was encouraged by one of my friends who had already been a part of buildOn. I had a general idea of what the organization was and that it was based on community service. I went to my first service sophomore year and was hooked. I knew community service was becoming more and more of a requirement for college, so I continued doing it. I also really liked connecting with the people and coordinators and getting to meet new people.

TRT: What did you expect going to a third world country?

M: I expected the community to be very primitive and to really not have anything at all. I was a little anxious going to a country that spoke a different language. There were definitely some nerves right before the trip because I was about to participate in an experience that was completely new to me. Every time I had been out of the country, I had been in a hotel, at a resort, or touring. We did do a little bit of touring at the beginning of the trip, in a city that we stayed in before going to the village, but other than that, it was definitely not a vacation.

TRT: How long was the trek?

M: We were in Nicaragua for 12 days. We were in the capital city, Managua, for a day. Then we went to Esteli, where we stayed and toured around for one day and one night, and the next morning we headed for the community.

TRT: What did you actually do there?

M: We participated in the construction of the school, working alongside the villagers in the community. The school they had was hardly even a school – it was a small church house that they converted to a classroom during the week for the younger kids. The three-year-olds and the thirteen-year-olds went to class together; there’s no way that an environment like that is conducive to learning. We were there building the school so that there would be a better opportunity for the kids to learn and be with kids their own age.

TRT: What was the best part of your experience?

M: The best part for me was bonding with people I had never imagined I would create bonds with. I was able to connect with people in such a way that I had never experienced before, and I think a lot of that had to do with the language barrier. I’m not fluent in Spanish, and they knew very little English, yet somehow we were still able to connect – almost immediately, in fact. Right when we arrived I felt welcomed into the community and that was something that I had never experienced back home. The fact that we didn’t speak the same language made our connections that much more profound. I was also able to connect very deeply with my trek teammates.

TRT: Did you meet any memorable people?

M: Absolutely. I had three host-brothers. There was a little guy, 18-months-old, named was Luís, a nine-year-old named Alex, and an 11-year-old boy named Jhorwidnth. My mom’s name was Juana and my dad’s name was Noel. I’ll never forget my family. They affected me in such a way that I’m certain I’ll never be the same person again. There was one kid in the community, 18 or 19 years-old, named Eliezer, who would come over to our house frequently. He lived in a different community and came over on his motorbike to my family’s every night because he knew that I was American and that I spoke English. He was studying English three hours away at a nearby university (what we here would call the community college level). This kid would ride his bike three hours every weekend just to learn English for an hour in a community college setting. And he came over every night just to talk to me, just to converse, because all he wanted to do was learn English. He knew I was learning Spanish, so we helped each other. I asked him one night, “Eliezer, what do you want to do? What’s your dream?” He said, “My dream is to go to United States.” I asked him, “Why can’t you go?” He responded, “I don’t have the money. I come from a family of farmers. They can’t afford to send me there. I don’t have family there and I can’t afford a visa. I just cant.” And I thought to myself, that shouldn’t happen. This guy’s dream is to go to the United States. It’s not to be a professional baseball player, or to be an athlete, or to own a fortune 500 company. He simply wants to go to the place that I live in, and the only thing that is preventing him from doing that is he and his family’s lack of education, and therefore, his lack of money. And I thought to myself, “this shouldn’t be.” That is a dream that has to be fulfilled. My connection with Eliezer was so powerful because his dream is something that can be easily achieved, but… the money is the hindrance. That’s not right. I was able to connect with Eliezer not only because I spoke English, but also because I really connected with his dream. He’s a very passionate, intelligent, charming individual who would be very successful if he were to have the level of education that I have.

TRT: What will you take with you?

M: I have a completely new perspective on what it means to learn, on my education, on the opportunities that I have. A lot of people that live here and go to our school don’t necessarily take advantage of our opportunities, which is a shame, because I know that if anyone from the community (my host-brothers, for example) went to school here, they would be taking advantage of every single opportunity that they could. Their will and passion for learning was so profound. I have an entirely new perspective on what it means to truly live a fulfilling life. I appreciate the simple things, like how easy it is to wash your hands. It was a chore in the community. People saying “hi” randomly on the street is an anomaly [back home]. It never really happens, whereas in the community, everyone was a family, a huge family – quite literally and figuratively. Everybody said “hi” to each other, everybody knew each other, and if they didn’t know you, they would wave to you and want to get to know you, whereas here it’s a little bit different. People are busier and have things they need to focus on for themselves, which is okay; it’s just different. I took back with me the need to connect with other people, to initiate conversation, to make an effort to get to know people and be more patient and appreciative of living in the moment. The community was all about living in the moment, and that’s a philosophy that a lot of people overlook here in the United States because things are always so busy and so fast-moving. People lose sight of what’s important.

TRT: Would you ever go back?

M: I would go back tomorrow if I could.