Being the biggest country in Central America, Nicaragua attracts millions of tourists annually to enjoy its unique culture and environment. While many spend their time sunbathing on the beach or exploring through the jungle, there are some people who dedicate their time helping the less fortunate parts of the country. Junior Kaylin Kolb took a life changing trip over the summer of 2017 to Nicaragua with her friend, junior Alexa Espana, for three weeks with the Global Leadership Adventures organization to make her mark by helping others.

“We stayed in cabins with people that we’ve never met in the middle of the forest,” Kolb said. “We were helping the community out and met so many people.”

In many countries, people struggle with having a solid food and water supply along with lack of technology. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Latin America, right behind Haiti. Many of the residents live in run down, rural areas.

“We can’t help a lot of these places because it takes a lot of money, but we can help by doing little things such as helping out the community and having great experiences with these people,” Kolb said.

Limited access to schooling makes it hard for children to get an education and gain a strong basis of knowledge. Many children turn their attention to work instead of school because of the lack of mass education. During her trip, Kolb was able to help educate a family she was staying with and help the children learn English.

“This trip changed me as a person because it made me realize that we have so many things in Carlsbad such as food, water and technology,” Kolb said. “In Nicaragua, they don’t have much of those things and it made me realize that we should appreciate the things we have in life and to not take anything for granted.”

There are many organizations and charities that focus on helping the people and communities of Nicaragua. Some of these organizations are the NNN, Care and the Manna Project International.

“The most emotional part of the trip was leaving the family and children because we grew very attached to them,” Espana said.

Not only was the trip full of building and working in the community, but Kolb was able to have many other one in a lifetime experiences such as snorkeling, hiking, zip lining through the jungle and much more.

“My favorite part of the trip was snorkeling because I love ocean animals, and it made me feel like when I’m older, I want to become a marine biologist and help the marine animals,” Kolb said.