10.09.15 / Category: Impact - School Build Projects

Nicaragua Trek—Florida State University

My name is Alessandra Saracco and I was the Alpha Chi Omega representative on the Florida State University Circle of Sisterhood Trek. Our campus’ Trek was to the village Esperanza Apantillo in Nicaragua. For the last few years, I have had a pending gut feeling telling me that my role in this world was to help others and to strive to make a difference; a feeling that was finally put to action with Circle of Sisterhood’s Trek.

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The trek was seven days long, and in those seven days, I learned more about myself, other cultures, and humanity than I had my entire life. While at first I thought the goal was just gifting the community with a school, no more than 24 hours after landing, did I realize Circle of Sisterhood is much more than that. During our trip, we spent hours building and painting the school, working alongside members of the community to provide the students a better life. In the afternoons, our team would learn and participate in their culture, exchanging values, beliefs, and customs between one another.

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While there, interacting with both Panhellenic sisters and community members allowed me to be a witness to the impact we were each having on one another. As our week went on, we viewed how a school in the making was already transforming both the students and parents we were surrounded by. The kids talked about their new aspirations of being doctors and teachers, claiming to want to help others as we had helped them. Additionally, though we were providing Esperanza Apantillo with a school, they were providing us with lessons of love, faith, and community that have changed our lives forever.

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With just seven days of interaction, my values and priorities completely altered, as I began to learn what it truly means to find grace and love in life. By the time I left, I felt as though this community had given me so much, from confidence to a deeper meaning of life, and the school I was leaving behind was just but a small token of my gratitude. Never will I be able to thank them enough for guiding me and teaching me about the importance of life.

I realized, with the help of Circle of Sisterhood, that many communities such as this one have so much to offer the world and are only missing the voice that the power of education offers them.

I am honored to say that I have provided the community of Esperanza Apantillo that voice. My hope for them is that they will stand up to the world and show them the true meaning of life. I know that they will continue to show others the love and life that they have shown me. Through this experience, Circle of Sisterhood has not only changed the lives of all those girls and women now able to attend school, but mine as well.

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This post is brought to you by Alessandra Saracco, a senior at Florida State University and a proud member of Alpha Chi Omega. Have your own Circle of Sisterhood story to share? Contact blog@circleofsisterhood.org!