Who, What, When, and Where - and Why?

In the beginning ...
Our trip to Nicaragua actually began last November, when Alannah Johnston of Igloolik made the most persuasive presentation to the class about where we should go on this year's trip. Since then, the students have raised money by giving cultural performances in Ottawa and elsewhere, and by soliciting donations from dozens of organizations, businesses and hamlets across the north.

Our group ... (click on all photos to enlarge)
(Front row: L-R) Samantha Tutanuak, Chelsea Tatty, Nuqinga Korgak, Andrea Flaherty, Jolene Otokiak; (Middle Row L-R) Jerry Komaksiutiksak (instructor), Clara Akulukjuk, Charmaine Okatsiak, Saimataq Sanguya, Pamela Arualak, Amanda Mukpa*, Lucy Aqpik, Becky Mearns (assistant); (Back Row: L-R) Bert Rose (Board rep), Robby Qammaniq (assistant), Noelle Ehaloak, Elena Kataluk, Ooleesie Tikivik, Alannah Johnston, Randy Kataluk, Murray Angus (Coordinator) *not travelling

Where's Nicaragua?

When are we travelling?
We leave Ottawa early in the morning on Tuesday, April 27th, and return at midnight at 12:01 on May 12th.

Why Nicaragua?
In Nicaragua, we will have the chance to share the story of Nunavut and the Nunavut Land Claims agreement with indigenous people such as the Miskito and the Mayagna. There will also be lots of opportunities to engage in cultural exchanges in many communities.

DAY 1: En Route to Managua!

We left the school at an early hour on Tuesday morning - so early that several students slept at the office (or more accurately, stayed at the school overnight - sleep can't be confirmed). The two-hour bus ride to Montreal did provide a clue to who didn't get any sleep however. Can you guess to students? The airport process went smoothly in Montreal.Next stop: Miami!Finally, we arrived in Managua after a trouble-free day of travel.

DAY 2: Making Our Presence Felt!

A quick start.
It was our first day of getting up and out on time for an early event, and everyone did great! Because of the heat, many of us were up before 6:00 am on our own anyway). But today's leaders, Charmaine and Lucy, did a good job of getting us out the door on time. On National TV!
Our first event was to two different TV stations for 8:00 am, where students were interviewed and did live performances on camera before the nation: one station, Channel 2, is the most popular channel in Nicaragua, and it's morning show is like our Canada AM. The students did great!
Learning about Nicaragua's people and history
We came back to Quaker House and were given a detailed lecture on Nicaragua's history by Judy Butler, an American journalist who has lived in Nicaragua for the last 25 years. She told us about the fact that Nicaragua is actually like two different countries - the "Spanish" side on the Pacific coast, and the eastern, or Caribbean side which had been influenced more by the English and then the Moravians. Each side has a different ethnic make-up, with most of Nicaragua's indigenous peoples living on the eastern side (where we'll be going next week). She also told us about the years of US occupation in the early part of the 20th century, the decades when the country was under dictatorial rule, and the story of the Sandinista revolution in 1979 and its aftermath.With Judy afterwards.Visiting Canada’s Embassy
The final event of the day was a big one: a visit to the Canadian Embassy. We met first with two officials, Jean-Luc Labelle (left) and Claude Beausejour, who briefed us on Nicaragua and Canada’s presence in it. Then we went outside into their courtyard for a social event that they had organized in our honour. Jean-Luc introduced the group when they performed, and acted as translator.Charmaine did an awesome job as MC for the group.Samantha and Nuqinqa drummed one song together.Elena (left) and Andrea were among several students who demonstrated throat singing.The guests really appreciated the performances.When the performance was over, the guests had a chance to mingle with students and find out more about Inuit culture and the north. Nuqinga answered questions about the Nunavut territory.Saimataq (right) explained Inuit-owned lands to a guest who worked in the mining industry.Lucy presented embassy official, Jean-Luc Labelle, with a gift bag containing information about Nunavut before we left.

DAY 3: Sharing Cultures, Sharing Histories

Ben Linder House
The day began with a visit to the Ben Linder House, a volunteer-run education centre named after a well-loved American engineer who had been murdered by US-backed Contras in the 1980s. There were guests from different organizations and even from different countries, including some university students from the US, and some political refugees from neighbouring Honduras. The NS students gave a lengthy presentation about the history of Inuit and about the Nunavut land claims agreement. Then they wowed the audience with a cultural performance.

Here, Lillian Hall, one of our hosts, explains the many murals on the walls of the centre.The Sandino Museum
At mid-day, we were given a tour of the Sandino Museum, which commemorates the memory of Nicaragua's most famous patriot who had fought to rid Nicaragua of its US occupiers in the early part of the 20th century. In 1934, he negotiated a peace treaty with the ruling government in Managua, but was murdered by the same regime immediately afterwards. This marked the beginning of the Samoza family's decades-long dictatorship. The Sandinistas, the revolutionaries who finally were able to overcome the US-backed dictatorship in 1979, took their name, and their inspiration, from Sandino.Rain - something to enjoy!
The hardest part of the trip so far has been adjusting to the heat - most days are in the 30s, with high humidity. so today when it rained, we couldn't resist going out getting both wet - and cool!.Eskimo Specials!
One of the stops we looked forward to the most was to the factory where they make "Eskimo Ice Cream" products, Nicaragua's most popular brand. Their restaurant is also known for having the coolest air conditioning in town, so it was doubly enjoyable.
A Raggae Evening
Our day ended with a visit from Nicaragua's most famous raggae singer, Phillip Montalban. He sang songs and spoke at length about his views that "all people are one in the spirit."
The evening turned into a real cultural exchange when the students sang Inuit songs and did throat singing. Randy did some of the drumming.

DAY 4: Learn, Play, Meet, and Share

Learning
Our first event of the day was a meeting with Milka Espinosa, a Miskito woman who is the assistant to the Vice Minister of Indigenous and Afro descendant Affairs in the Sandinista government. She described the various things that were being done to strengthen the self-governing capacity of the Miskito, Mayagna, and Rama peoples on the Caribbean side of Nicaragua. She and her colleague also asked many questions about Nunavut.Students couldn't resist giving an impromptu performance of Inuit drumming and singing for the guests.Elena (left) and Andrea demonstrated throat singing for them too.Playing!
In the afternoon, we went to a crater lagoon near Managua and got to cool off, big time! Two hours at the beach was just what we needed, to relax and have a lot of fun. We came back totally refreshed.Nuqinga won the prize for hard-core smoker!Meeting and Sharing
Our last event of the day was one of the best so far: we spent the evening at the Centro Cultural Batahola Norte, having a cultural exchange with young Nicaraguan students. We showed them our songs and sports, and they showed us their songs and dances. Then we got together and learned each others!
STUDENT REFLECTIONS
First of all, it was amazing!

We had the chance to watch some of Nicaraguan traditional folk dancing and singing. It was so beautiful and colorful! These kids were very gifted with their dances and singing. The organization set it all up with the kids they help from the community. They are very lucky kids because they have this program where they teach them may different arts and give scholarships to students. There are about 1100 people that go to this organization.

After they performed we had the chance to show them a bit of our Inuit culture and just looking at the crowd you could see how happy they were to hear and watch us (especially the song anguti and the throat singing). We had about a half hour on stage, sweating under our amoutis and atigis. After the show we mingled with the kids and showed them how to play Inuit games and they showed us to folk dance! They were so kind and cheerful and awesome and it was absolutely great!!!

Finally after a great day, we came back to the Quaker House and everyone is talking about how great the night was and how they want to continue being in this country because there is an endless amount of opportunities. Let the good times rolll! — Alannah