Preface and Acknowledgements

From April 19th, 2017 to July 19th, 2017, I had the privilege and pleasure of joining a team of
dedicated leaders and students from Simon Fraser University’s International Relations
department to Nicaragua. The goal of this internship was to formulate a youth education
program that targeted vulnerable young people. Under the direction of Dr. Changla Vettan,
Director of International Relations, myself and a team of 8 other students worked within the
city of Leon and surrounding areas.

The three months we spent in Nicaragua were immensely eye-opening in terms of exposure
to real crises that the vast majority of Nicaraguans face daily. Many experience yearly
encounters with flooding, hurricanes, or drought. In addition, many youth are under-educated
and at risk of being enticed into gangs or extreme political groups. It was our mission to set
up day camps for the purpose of educating students on how to proactively support and
engage with their communities in positive ways and become leaders of tomorrow. This
experience was equally enriching for myself and the other students of the International
Relations cohort as I hope it was for the students with whom we interacted.

I specifically would like to acknowledge and extend my sincere thanks for Dr. Vettan and the
other supervisors who participated in this internship; I am profoundly changed and motivated
to further my studies and career in the hopes that I might one day dedicate my efforts in a
long-term capacity to help individuals such as those we engaged with in Nicaragua.

Table of Contents
1. Preface and Acknowledgements……………………………………...…………………….…..1

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2. Narrative of Internship: Nicaragua…….……………………………………………...…….…..3

3. Self-Judgment……………………………………………………………………...……….…..5-7

4. Judgment of Supervisory Bodies………………………………………………...……………...8

a. SFU DIR Supervisors…………………………………………………………….………....8

b. Change the Subject……………………………………………………………….………...8

5. Conclusion……………………………………………….………………………………………....9

Narrative of Internship: Nicaragua

Prior to departure to Nicaragua on April 19th, 2017, those of us who were accepted to do
this internship were connected, by Dr. Vettan, with a local humanitarian organization called

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Change the Subject. In partnership with Change the Subject, the university internship team
aimed to spearhead and execute weekly educational programs for youth at risk in the vicinity
of Leon. At this time, many under-educated or impoverished youth are being enticed into
violent actions against government, and in more rare cases some youth are being enticed
into pro-government demonstrations. It is clear that there is a long-standing history in
Nicaragua of faction fighting and political instability; this complex situation is obviously
beyond the scope of one internship. However, under exceptional supervision, the cohort
articulated a clear objective prior to departure that we believed to be manageable.

Within the cohort that traveled to Nicaragua, each member took on a specific role. In my
role, and under the direction of Dr. Vettan, I constructed curriculum of a compressed format
that would be used for each week of our program in attempting to draw at-risk youth out of
their potential endangering environments and into more constructive, pro-community action.
The curriculum I developed was further supervised by Change the Subject coordinators who
had unique tips on implementation for the demographic we would encounter. Many youth
with whom we would interact do not have a high level of education— many youth in
Nicaragua between the ages of 12 and 17 only have up to a grade 3 level. After the age of
about 8, many children are needed by parents for basic care of the younger children, and the
home, in order to free up parents to work, usually for meagre pay. Thus, many youth are left
tending to younger siblings, and are often engaged by older teenagers or young adults who
promise empowerment in various forms. Many of these factions advocate violence against
the government, alternate gangs, or anarchism generally.

Once we landed in Managua, and travelled to Leon, we met and worked closely with Change
the Subject. For one week, I worked in an office setting in order to clarify and refine the
curriculum to be used during community programs; each member also attempted to gather
local knowledge of the political and social environment during the first week of the internship.
Each of us agreed that this week was pivotal in enabling us in our ability as outsiders to
interact meaningfully with the youth we came into contact with in the weeks following. I
would estimate, however, that it would be many months or years of immersion before a
student such as myself would feel confident in articulating the many perspectives and
political opinions present in Nicaragua at this time.

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Self-Judgment
The opportunity to perform in an internship of this magnitude, internationally, was initially
quite daunting. I had never travelled outside of Canada prior to this trip, though I’ve always
hoped to work overseas in some humanitarian capacity. I was thrilled and nervous to step
onto the tarmac in Managua, and be greeted by the very friendly staff from Change the
Subject.

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From the start of the internship I knew my individual objective: to develop a weekly
curriculum that would take participating youth, who were susceptible to hostile political
groups and gangs, to a place of confidence in their abilities to proactively change their family
and community life positively. I was not responsible for the execution of the material, but
supervised and adjusted the curriculum accordingly once the programming commenced.
Thus, I set out to formulate a 4-day program, each day addressing a particular issue the
students face on a daily basis, and proposing concrete actions they can take to improve their
chances of a hopeful future.

One obvious barrier I faced right away was the language and cultural barrier. While this was
not a surprising difficulty, I nevertheless felt burdened to break through those barriers with
my curriculum. Not being a Spanish speaker, my curriculum was also at the mercy of
translation, which was beyond my capabilities to judge. Thankfully, on our team was a
language supervisor, Dr. Smith, who was proficient in English and Spanish, and who aided
my efforts through affirmation and careful guidance of those in charge of translation.

The first day of the program I titled “Talks”. The initial exercise the first day aimed at
opening up and teaching constructive forms of dialogue between students. We circulated
amongst small groups of youth to oversee and prompt them in developing positive open-
ended sentences and lines of questioning. The goal of this day was to instill a sense of
confidence within the individual, but also a sense of respect for others in the conversation.
Opinions and beliefs regarding common topics were diverse, and the desired hope with this
session was to demonstrate the very useful tool of healthy, respectful conversation about
various topics: social, cultural, and political. The end of this day I designed an exit
questionnaire for feedback, and to prompt self-reflection of the individual’s role in a
structured (and hopefully constructive) dialogue situation.

Day two of the program I titled “Happy, Healthy, Home”. The day was separated into the
three categories indicated by the title. The first category “Happy” centered around a more
holistic approach to defining happiness as a group. Those leading the session quickly
determined prompts as necessary. That is, they decided to encourage particular lines of
thinking that centered not around “me” thinking, but around “we” thinking. Community in
Nicaragua is, in theory, quite strong, and our goal was to reassert positive connections and a
sense of dedication between the youth and their broader communities.

The second category followed: “Healthy.” As poverty is prevalent in Nicaragua, youth are
often subjected to poor diets. Our educational goal was to set them up with a simple but

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clear understanding of how they could integrate healthy dietary choices in their lives; also,
the program encouraged discussion on healthy living as it relates to a larger community.
Ideas circulated and were developed to promote healthy lifestyles. These included multi-
generational gatherings; organized sports events to bring families together and promote
celebration; templates for how to create weekly eating schedules and simple (and
inexpensive) cooking ideas.

The final category was “Home.” This session was two-fold: it aimed to generate positive
thinking about creating safe havens via the home — a place apart from social pressure to
join outside groups— and to teach youth about cleanliness as a method of preventative
health measures. Family is highly valued in Nicaragua, and the session merely reasserted
conscious protection of family life within the context of home.

Day 3 was titled “Beyond Youth,” and the sessions on this day were designed to push the
youth to formulate plans/dreams/goals. I designed a workshop on assisting each youth to
identify their personal strengths and weaknesses, and then each person spend intensive
one-on-one time with a Change the Subject staff member to brainstorm goals for career and
roles within the community. This was perhaps the most thrilling day, to see almost every
individual come up, and plan to tackle real-life goals, with the hope of a future not steeped
within an endangering paradigm.

The final day, titled “Going Forward,” was a conclusion in a sense. There was a session on
reviewing and reasserting self-discovery. The final session, however, was important also.
The end of the day presented the students with concrete ideas for how to confront and safely
reject offers by gangs or other hostile groups to join their cause.
I believe the education could have a powerful impact on those youth who have determined to
participate and implement the suggestions offered and developed in the program. It was a
highly rewarding task that I was privileged to help create and institute.

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Judgment of Supervisory Bodies

SFU DIR Supervisors

My experience working under the SFU International Relations faculty has always been a
privilege. I have always had an interest in and deep respect for the work performed under
the umbrella of International Relations organizations; consequently, I have a desire to
become a colleague and member of this important international body. Most individuals in
this field have altruistic goals, are humble, and compassionate towards those with whom
they seek to engage. Dr. Vettan was, and continues to be, a profound influence in guidance
throughout my internship and the months since. She is committed to empowering students
such as myself, while at the same time offering sound advice and assistance whenever

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needed. She was organized, tactful in resolving discrepancies, and always sought to
promote our abilities in the best possible capacity. Her attention to supervising my task as
curriculum builder for the Nicaragua internship program was always helpful and enthusiastic,
while never overbearing.

Change the Subject

The organization Change the Subject does remarkable work. Their goal to move into
communities where youth are on the cusp of crippling involvement with gangs or other
hostile groups, and to educate them towards a brighter future is so very important. They
have an obvious rapport with youth in Nicaragua, and in Leon specifically. In connection to
the SFU internship and program, the Change the Subject staff were organized, helpful, and
supportive both practically and through input. They acted as a kind of natural gateway into
the community, and did so almost seamlessly. I am very grateful to their help translating the
content I developed in a meaningful and precise manner.

Concluding Remarks
Rather than altering my course of action with respect to a career in International Relations, I
am convinced this internship and those who supervised me have made a distinct impact in
assuring my continuation in this field. The Nicaraguan people, who are generous, kind, and
very community-oriented, are in such a critical time in the current socio-political upheaval; it
is my hope and belief that organizations such as Change the Subject might assist at-risk
youth to become leaders of tomorrow instead of victims of an unstable country. This
internship was carefully organized, scheduled, and tasks were delegated with consideration
of the individual. I feel that this internship was highly successful, and I would like to once
again extend my thanks to those involved.

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