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 historyWe 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 EmbassyThe 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.
WOW!! National T.V.! good work you guys, and way to be in representing the people of Nunavut, be proud of what you are dong for us here in Nunavut
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