Comunidad Connect is section 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization with a vision of unity, communication, cooperation, and support between local Nicaraguan residents and foreigners living in or visiting Nicaragua. By bringing together these two communities Comunidad Connect capitalizes on their individual strengths and addresses their individual needs in a way that is mutually beneficial.
Comunidad Connect focuses on community development projects around the San Juan del Sur area in the southwest of Nicaragua. These projects include recycling, financial literacy programs, sports, and VolunTourism.
Our latest VolunTourism trip with the University of Colorado Alternative Breaks group resulted in the construction of two shower stalls, a clothes washing basin, and a gutter, to improve a community well in Sontule, Nicaragua. After the service project in the Miraflor Reserve, the group traveled to Ometepe Island, Granada, and Masaya. Click on the photo below to see more pictures.
University of Colorado’s Volunteer Resource Center and Comunidad Connect will partner on next summer’s Alternative Break. Students will spend 12 days in Nicaragua doing community service and enjoying one of Central America’s hidden jewels.
Comunidad Connect has been working with a rural community called Sontule in the Miraflor Nature Reserve in the department of Estelí in the Northern Highlands of Nicaragua. In collaboration with Sustainable Horizon Comunidad Connect has brought four volunteer groups to this community to work on projects such as the construction of bus stops, trash cans, and fences, as well as the construction of a pathway through a flood-prone area. The VolunTourists, as we call them, stay with host families in the community and this video gives unique insight into a rural VolunTourist homestay. Comunidad Connect also offers VolunTourism trips to an organic coffee farm in Jinotega and around San Juan del Sur on the pacific coast.
I recently was in SJDS to teach photography, but while there I had my own time to explore some of the gorgeous views the area has to offer. I was lucky enough to have one of my students, Germán, show me around on his motorbike. Because of his willingness to show me around I was able to see much more and capture views I otherwise would not have seen. We went up to the statue on the hill twice and he took me up to the tower, which provided an entirely different view of the city.
During one of my Spanish lessons with Dinoraha, from Spanish Ya, we went up to Pelican Eyes and saw the sunset from their upper pool. This view had to have been my favorite because I wasn’t very high, but I could still see the entire bay with an unobstructed view.
On Friday, September 4th, Julien and Serena finish the wall at the landfill that has the slogan: “Yo Amo San Juan del Sur, Yo Reciclo”. The slogan is also found on the recycling bins, bumper stickers, local newspapers, banners, and in every presentation given in local schools and businesses. 500 bottles and 3 days later, a public message is born! Thanks to Scott, Dariel, Austin, Julien and Serena for all your hard work!
